The pair's political activism has dropped them in the line of fire on occasion.
Mullan, who ran with a knife gang in Glasgow as a child, compared the film industry to the underworld in a 2003 interview with the Guardian.
"Part of the reason why movie bosses are so obsessed with crime movies is because they know that world and the criminals. And that's what they are - they would not hesitate to act illegally to achieve profit and gain.
"What I knew when I was 14 was just a preamble for what was to happen when I met various movie studio bosses," he said.
Malcolm spearheaded an actors' union campaign against Sir Peter Jackson and Warner Bros to negotiate standard contracts for actors in his films.
Mullan is understood to be filming Sunset Song in Scotland with supermodel/actor Agyness Deyn.
TAIKA'S SWIPE AT PAQUIN SHOW
Taika Waititi caused a ripple on Twitter this week when he attacked Anna Paquin's show True Blood.
The actor and film director, who is reportedly making his own vampire film, compared the HBO TV series to "a school play shot in HD, by students. If you ever need proof that acting is embarrassing".
Oscar winner Paquin, who stars as Sookie Stackhouse, didn't retaliate. But some of her fans did. "Awesome, five people stopped following me after True Blood comment," Waititi tweeted. "Guess what, I also hate Coca-Cola!"
We weren't sure what was more surprising: That the new dad - who has more than 12,000 Twitter followers - is prepared to criticise the Time Warner-owned American cable network as he attempts to become a household name in that country; or that he keeps count of his social network followers.
URBAN LEGEND
Kiwi actor Karl Urban, who's just turned 40, joined some Hollywood legends this week in Vanity Fair's tribute to Paramount Pictures on its 100th birthday.
The former Shortland Street face was one of a 116 stars, directors and executives photographed together at the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood for the centennial homage.
Vanity Fair calls it a collection of "the greatest talents ever to work at the studio". It's hard to miss them.
They're Hollywood's biggest hitters. There's George Clooney, Steven Spielberg, Jack Nicholson, Harrison Ford, Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand and Jane Fonda.
The Aucklander - who stands next to Richard Gere and Josh Brolin in the pic - was part of Paramount's blockbuster Star Trek reboot.
You can see the picture here:
THE BOAG PANTOMIME
Michelle Boag was the everywhere-woman in Parliament on Tuesday. Plucked brow arched, she first stared down nemesis Judith Collins from the safety of the gallery perch.
One sharp-tongued observer suggested she'd come "disguised as a road cone". The former National Party president's neon number - in amber-alert orange - looked to be a pointed sartorial message.
It was Boag's surprise appearance on the 6pm news that created attention on Twitter. While TV3 political reporter Patrick Gower reported live from Parliament, Boag lurked behind on the stairwell waving at people as they walked by.
A flurry of Tweets sent to Gower warned: "She's behind you!"
Only, Patrick Gower of Kent, England, became the unwitting recipient. "I've received a slightly unnerving set of tweets about a woman behind me," he wrote on the social networking site.
Gower and Gower shared their experience, and their name, on The Breeze radio show yesterday.
HOW LONG WILL PAUL LAST?
Questions were raised yesterday about the future of Paul Henry's TV career in Australia. "The ratings are so tiny, so how long will the network persist with its Breakfast show," the Sydney Morning Herald asked.
Ratings for the Channel Ten brekkie show have dipped below 30,000 viewers, while rivals Today and Sunrise have more than 10 times that audience. Worse, Henry's show reportedly dived to a mere 22,000 viewers twice last month.
Henry and his boss, Anthony Flannery, have always acknowledged it will take time. But in this volatile media market, how much time have they got?
Channel Ten boss Lachlan Murdoch has always backed the show. But the family of media mogul Rupert haven't indicated they possess patience in spades.
More worrying for Henry are the rumours this week that Murdoch is luring Today breakfast host Karl Stefanovic to the network after his contract with Nine expires in November. He's tipped to front a week-nightly "light current affairs" programme.
