Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises courtesy Focus Features
A surprising number of movies had to make do with single nominations in the major categoriesViggo Mortensen picked up a best-actor nom as an icy Russian Gangster in David Cronenbergs brutal thriller Eastern Promises ditto Johnny Depp for Tim Burtons gothic adaptation of Stephen Sondheims musical Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Sentimental favorite Hal Holbrook 82 hell be 83 by the time the ceremony takes place took a best supporting actor nomination for Sean Penns Into the Wild based on Jon Krakauers nonfiction account of a troubled young mans search for meaning that eventually takes him deep into the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness It was also ignored in all other major categories despite strong reviews for Penns direction and adapted screenplay as well as Emile Hirschs performance in the lead role Audiences failed to warm to the film Much-loved veteran character actress Ruby Dee 83 got the only nomination for best-supporting actress 15
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Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman have been cast as the leads in Doubt, the Miramax adaptation of the John Patrick Shanley play about a priest accused of pedophilia by a nun.... Ocean's Umpteen BFFs George Clooney and Brad Pitt will reteam in the Coen brother's hush-hush comedy Burn After Reading, about a CIA agent who misplaces the disc of the book he's been writing.... Did Louis Gossett Jr. accept nearly $40,000 in Lakers tickets without ponying up the dough? Not on your life, he tells TMZ.com, maintaining that someone forged his signature.... Erik Estrada has been given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Which means the only people left who don't have one are Jan Smithers and that dog from Frasier.
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Well, this film seems to be coming together quickly and promisingly. The big-screen take on Broadway's Mamma Mia! that I told you about just yesterday? Variety reports that Meryl Streep is already set to star as the mother of an altar-bound young girl determined to meet her biological dad. Yes, Streep sings, though Mamma Mia! will be her first full-blown musical.... Acclaimed crime novelist Michael Connelly (Love. Him.) and his longtime collaborator Terrill Lee Lankford (I'm sure he's nice, too) are penning the screenplay for a feature remake of the '80s series The Equalizer.... Per the Hollywood Reporter, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener and Michelle Williams are in talks to star in Synecdoche, New York, the directing debut of Oscar-winning scribe Charlie Kaufman. Hoffman will play a theater director, and Keener and Williams his first and second wives.
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Amy Sedaris, Strangers with Candy
Fans of the Comedy Central cult hit that chronicled 47-year-old ex-con junkie-whore Jerri Blank's rematriculation into high school are in for a big-screen treat as Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello and a veritable feast of famous faces bring
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Amy Sedaris, Strangers with Candy
Fans of the Comedy Central cult hit that chronicled 47-year-old ex-con junkie-whore Jerri Blank's rematriculation into high school are in for a big-screen treat as Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello and a veritable feast of famous faces bring
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Best-actor winner Philip Seymour Hoffman has signed on to play brother to Laura Linney in The Savages, a comedy-drama about adult siblings caring for their estranged and ailing elderly father. Filming begins in April in New York. Also, if you're itching to see this year's best picture — and, I don't know, never splurged for that VCR or DVD player — Crash is being re-released theatrically this Friday on about 150 screens, says Variety.
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Walk the Line's Reese Witherspoon
While favorites Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) walked away with the top acting honors at Sunday's Oscars, Crash pulled an upset by lassoing the best-picture trophy away from Brokeback Mountain. In the supporting slots, Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) and the never-fails-to-impress George Clooney (Syriana) grabbed gold. One of the night's other surprises came when rap group Three 6 Mafia's raucous "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" (from Hustle & Flow) merited the Academy Award for best song. (A complete list of winners can be found here.) Me, I couldn't help but be fixated on Keira Knightley's seeming inability to crack a smile for Jon Stewart. Geez, loosen up, girl.
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George Clooney
Joan & Melissa LIVE at the Academy Awards5:30: I'm so glad my colleagues over at the channel have decided to go blue for the red carpet. Setting the tone for the evening, Joan Rivers begins with a slightly disturbing scene in which she spreads 'em for Matt Dillon in Crash and groans a lot. And she warns us that there are many more such scenes from the nominated movies to come. Next she gives a nod to Isaac Mizrahi's infamously presumptuous Golden Globes coverage at rival E!. "I would never be so presumptuous!" she declares while she pokes Lisa Rinna in the boob. Instead of groping her interviewees, she'll be using cards to indicate whether they are wearing underwear and/or have real breasts. This'll be interesting.
5:33: Joan gives her own thank-you speech tailor-made to offend her entire crew: "We are color-blind here at TV Guide. Right, black person?" Then she fills the time
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Lead actress nom Keira Knightley
Nominations for the 78th-annual Academy Awards were announced Tuesday morning, and leading the herd was — yep — Brokeback Mountain, lassoing eight nods, including best picture, best director, and acting bids for Heath Ledger (in the lead category), Jake Gyllenhaal (supporting) and Michelle Williams. Challenging the cowboy romance for best-pic honors are Capote, Crash, Munich and Good Night, and Good Luck. The lead-actor race pits Ledger against SAG-Golden Globe winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), Globe winner Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line), Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow) and David Strathairn (Good Night), while the lead-actress contenders are SAG-Globe winner Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line), Globe winner Felicity Huffman (Tran
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Geena Davis, Commander in Chief
After the shell-shocked winners step off stage at the Golden Globe Awards, they go backstage to meet the press. When they find us reporters camped out in the Wilshire Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the stars are granted a second chance of sorts: They can either address the world with more eloquence than they mustered onstage, or simply make bigger fools of themselves! Once this TVGuide.com reporter got past surly security guards at the door, I took my seat and watched a parade of Lost thespians, Desperate Housewives and Brokeback Mountaineers take their shots. Read on to see how they fared in the media frenzy.
5:15 pm/PT What will Syriana scene-stealer George Clooney do with his best-supporting-actor trophy? "I'm going to put this on the hood of my car," he quipped. "Is that too much?" Everybody's a joker, George. But this time it's a plus: While Mr. Clooney couldn't resist making that Jack Abramoff crack onstage, at
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