The Aussies have got bitten by the Wire bug, badly. Season 1 has just started on Australian ABC2 and is getting some fans. You definitely need to check out the video review on the link below as the characters presenting the show is absolutely hilarious.

Thanks to our aussie friends of f*ckingfanclub.com for the tip.

Namond The Wire (image from hbo.com)

A year after the Wire actor Julito McCullum who played the hopper Namond is moving on to new exciting opportunities. His next stop is in NYC at the Staten Island Fringe Festival.

“It’s sort of like ‘The Wire.’ We’re touching on topics and subjects that people are afraid to speak about,” says McCullum, who moved from Brooklyn to Mariners Harbor in December.

Get the full story at SIlive.com

The wire writer George Pelecanos says that watching the wire using subtitles is just criminal – you’ll miss the whole point.

“We wrote it so audiences would have to work at it!

We were not going to compromise in making it immediately accessible for everyone.

It [subtitling] kind of reminds me of scenes from that [1980 disaster film spoof] comedy, Airplane!, when two black guys speak, and subtitles appear on the screen.”

Apparently the Brits are having a difficult time to get to grips with the Baltimore street slang. Read the full story at the independent

When the real world catches up with fiction. Apparently a teen was killed during a gun battle at Jamie Hector’s, who plays gangster Marlo Stanfield, baby shower in New York. A massive 50 bullets were fired outside the  party.

“What a gun battle,” a police source told the Daily News. “They have been watching too much TV.”

Read the full Story at smh.com.au

Thanks for the heads up from my friends at Entourage F*cking Fan Club.

Michael K. Williams, or better known as Omar Little among the Wire fans, is keeping busy with a new project in life after the Wire. He plays Dax of the new eight part drama The Philantripist. The show also stars Neve Campbell and James Purefoy (from HBO Rome fame).

The story revolves around a billionaire globetrotting philantropist helping those in need.

Check out the full story and some behind the scene footage at NBC Philantropist website.

The Telegraph has an interesting article on the Wire cast and what they are up to now that the show has finished.

Last time i spotted my personal favourite “McNulty” was in Frank Millers 300.

With the announcement that BBC2 is going to air all five seasons of The Wire, everyone is quick to jump on the bandwagon and tell their praise. The show is scheduled for 1120pm, and will be on every night for the next 12 weeks.

• MSN reports on the Wire
• The Telegraph Emma Hartley Blog
• The Telegraph news post

If you’re in need of the wire rehab after finishing the five series, here’s a quick fix for you. Head over to Blu-Ray Film and get some counseling through their the wire top ten list of movies and series to take you through the cold turkey.

Love film has a published an interview with the Wire author Ed Burns.

LF: How far were any of the characters or cases in The Wire based on real people and situations?

EB: None of them were based on real people and real situations. I knew that world intimately and I did a lot of wire tap cases – with warrants too, I mean legally! – and I know the moves. I spent thousands of hours with all sorts of gunmen and drug dealers. So creating stories is easy because you’re drawing on all that wealth and then layering the details, again, because you’ve seen it.

Check out the full interview at Lovefilm

If you’re a Blu-Ray Film fan and based in the UK, you might want to check out our new blog aptly named Blu-RayFilm.co.uk. The focus is on reviews of new and old movies as they get released in HD format, in the same style as the McNulty blog; so be prepared for rants and raves about what we like.

Love this ad, really cool feel to it. Haven’t seen anything like this in the UK yet, but perhaps will do now that the wire is getting bigger over here also. Enjoy below.

Have you seen any other ” the Wire ” ads for other brands?

Little known to the wider audience perhaps, George Pelecanos is a DC based writer who also became producer of the show.

I’m yet to read any of his own novels, but according to the latest issue of Stop Smiling, his style seem quite similar to that of David Simon and Edward Burns; the gritty reality of the hustler. There doesn’t seem to be an excerpt online, but you can buy the magazine for a cheap $8.

Apparently the article authour and myself share the same faviourite scene, from season 2 when McNulty on purpouse drives his own car into a bridge two times after a night on the binge. So thankyou Pelecanos for writing that brilliant scene. Check it out below.