The nominees for the 80th Annual Academy Awards were announced this morning. The big question, though, is whether the Oscars broadcast will happen at all. It's slated for Feb. 24, which is, like, 5 minutes from now in writers' strike years. And the stakes are very high. As Lynette Rice of Entertainment Weekly puts it, "If putting the kibosh on the Globes put the hurt on NBC and made the world pay attention to the strike, imagine what stopping the 80th Annual Academy Awards would do?"

I hope they find a way for the show to go on. Meanwhile, here are the Best Picture nominees:

Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

That's right, Juno! Woo hoo! I still haven't seen Atonement. I liked Michael Clayton well enough, but not more than Juno. And I won't be seeing those last two very male-oriented films. So, yay, Juno!

Several other AfterEllen.com favorites nabbed some nods. Here are the actress categories: … continue reading

The nominations for the 2008 Golden Globe Awards were announced this morning, and there are many AfterEllen.com favorites among the nominees. Here are the highlights:

MOVIES

• Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
• Julie Christie, Away From Her
• Jodie Foster, The Brave One





• Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
• Keira Knightley, Atonement

I'm thrilled to see Jodie on that list (especially considering the lukewarm reviews for The Brave One), but I'm even happier about Angelina's nomination. A Mighty Heart deserves a bigger audience, and Angelina deserves much more credit for her performance in it. I thought it was some of her finest work yet. Meanwhile, I can't wait to see Atonement — everybody's raving about it. … continue reading

When I saw Hairspray last month, I was treated to the trailer for Across the Universe, Julie Taymor's new project. Taymor is best known for the Broadway smash The Lion King and for the movies Frida and Titus.

The press release describes Across the Universe as a "stunning love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s amid the turbulent years of anti-war protest, mind exploration and rock 'n' roll." It stars Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess as star-crossed lovers Lucy and Jude. And Wood looks much more like herself in this one (not that she could look less like herself than she did in that Marilyn Manson video).

The film flies from Liverpool to Greenwich Village to Detroit to Vietnam, following Lucy and Jude as they explore all the nooks and crannies of the counterculture. Their guides along the way are played by Bono and Eddie Izzard. (Sounds like a surefire way to get lost.) Throw in a soundtrack composed entirely of Beatles songs, plus Taymor's trademark flights of fancy — manifested in "a combination of live action and painted and three-dimensional animation" — and it promises to be trippy indeed. … continue reading