Posted by: Christine on Mar 22nd, 2008

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For the not-very-religious/non-Christians, Easter is a day for a nice dinner, time spent with family, and of course, all the candy you can shove in your face. One Easter favorite are those fluffy little marshmallow Peeps.

The Seattle Times ran a reader submission contest for scenes made out of Peeps. Among them, No Country for Old Peeps, the WGA strike staged in Peeps, and my personal favorite, Mrs. Lovett’s Peeps Pies (at left). There’s even a little Peep Sweeney Todd in the upstairs window.

You can see the gallery of all the submissions at The Seattle Times.

Posted by: Katy on Feb 24th, 2008

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The nominations for the 80^th Annual Academy Awards were announced January 2nd out in sunny, but at that time, somber Los Angeles. As of right now, Tinseltown is ready to party once more! While the WGA Strike has finally ended (Congrats, by the way!), the ongoing debate of whether the show would go as planned overshadowed the phenomenal nominees. Now that it’s back on and ready to go, I am more than thrilled to give you my predictions on winners in the categories below! Trust me, it’s been a tough call!

If you are jonesing for the list of all nominees and anything Oscar, be sure to take a look at the official website of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) at Oscars.org.

I had a pretty good track record last year with my predictions of who was getting the coveted award. How will I fare this year?

Best Supporting Actor: Massachusetts local Casey Affleck got his first Oscar nom this year, but my money is on Javier Bardem. As the antagonizing, calculating sociopath in No Country for Old Men, he positively outshines the other seasoned actors in this category.

Best Supporting Actress: Last year I was fixated on Jennifer Hudson’s phenomenal debut performance in Dreamgirls and then her not-so-surprising Golden Globe and Oscar wins. This year, I think one of the more well-established actors on this list will take it home. Between double-nominated Cate Blanchett, Ruby Dee, and Tilda Swinton, these ladies have got overflowing buckets of talent. My gut says either Blanchett or Tilda Swinton.

Best Actor: This one is going to be really hard to call. A five-way free-for-all! All these men are no stranger to A-list status, and it’s only fitting that they’re up against each other. However, Johnny Depp is long overdue for one of these bad boys! My personal vote is for Johnny, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Daniel Day-Lewis walks up to that stage.

Best Actress: In my review for Elizabeth: The Golden Age, I mentioned that if Cate Blanchett was denied both the nomination and win for this role a second time, I would be quite mad! I was ready for her to pick up the statue right then and there. That was my guess at that time, and I am sticking to it!

Best Director: That decision wasn’t hard to make! I’m betting on Joel and Ethan Coen. Again, they are such established and innovative filmmakers who always put forth 120% and like to mix things up.

Best Foreign Film: Unfortunately, I am not familiar with any of the nominees for this category, so I don’t think I could make an educated guess as to the winner. It looks like I’ll have to pass on this one until next year.

Best Picture: Here’s another major, major toss-up! Wonderful contenders all around! While I think that many are upset that Atonement was snubbed in the acting categories, I don’t think it will pick up this particular award. Sorry, but we aren’t having a Crash moment this year. I think that either No Country for Old Men or There Will Be Blood will win the biggest prize of the night.

So, there you have it, friends! The Oscars will be televised this Sunday, February 24^th on ABC, and I will be glued to that television for the entire show! As for my picks, I will be back early in the week with my Academy Awards recap!

Posted by: Christine on Feb 13th, 2008

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We reported a couple of days ago that an end to the WGA Strike was all but official, and now it is official.

According to Variety, the strike ended with a 92.5% vote to get back to work. Writers can now get back to those TV and movie scripts. This is great news, because I am really tired of seeing commercials for “the new #1 hit reality show” for a new show every week.

Posted by: Christine on Feb 11th, 2008

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The strike has been suspended, according to Information Week. The basic terms of the deal are “when they get paid, we get paid,” meaning when the producers get paid from internet advertising accompanying content, the writers will get paid as well. They’ll get 2% of the gross revenue.

While this isn’t final, union leaders believe the WGA members will approve the deal. In fact, the article states that the writers could get back to work as early as Wednesday, February 13th. Hopefully that means new episodes of “Heroes” and other TV shows will be coming soon, and the movie business will be able to get back to work.

Posted by: Christine on Feb 8th, 2008

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Former Disney exec Michael Eisner has announced to CNBC that the WGA strike is over. Eisner said,

It’s over. They made the deal, they shook hands on the deal. It’s going on Saturday to the writers in general.

CNBC points out the Eisner hesitated when asked if it was possible the writers could reject the deal, but he believes the strike is officially over.

Posted by: Christine on Feb 4th, 2008

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Apparently TV and movie fans aren’t the only ones sick of watching “American Gladiators” and “WWE Raw” to get through the strike (don’t judge – you’re probably watching crap too).

According to Reuters, a bunch of California Democrats sent a letter to Disney president and CEO Robert Iger and Fox president and COO Peter Chernin telling them to pick up the pace of negotiations. They point out that the impact on the rest of the workforce of California is too much to let them keep squabbling forever.

Posted by: Christine on Jan 14th, 2008

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No, he’s not running for Governator, I mean political office. According to IMDb News this morning, Mr. Clooney is offering his services as mediator to try for an end to the WGA Strike. He wants to bring in a panel of his Hollywood friends, such as Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, to bring this thing to an end.

Could this be Clooney trying his hand at political maneuvering? Or just Clooney trying to tell all of us that he’s out of gas money for his motorcycle and he’d like to get back to work? (Kidding, of course. I know he’s probably still making money off every time he showed his adorable dimples on “ER” fourteen years ago.)

After watching “American Gladiators” last week, and endlessly hearing about “Celebrity Apprentice” and “Celebrity Rehab,” I’d be cheering for anyone looking to work towards an end to the strike.

Posted by: Christine on Jan 14th, 2008

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After the news broke that the Golden Globes were being shortened to a press conference from the usual 3-hour ceremony after the news broke that Katherine Heigl and other stars were boycotting the Golden Globes due to the WGA Strike, I pretty much checked out of any news about the Globes.

I’m in it for the acceptance speeches and the stunning dresses.

Since I wouldn’t be getting either, I didn’t bother to watch. The guys over at /Film did, however, and they have a complete list of all the winners and the nominees.