breaking news

Some news tidbits:
-The 2008 Independent Spirit Award nominations were announced this morning and it has already got me salivating about award season. Sadly, I am a devoted follower of all the hoopla surrounding the magical time of the year that honors film and although just about ever year I am more and more disappointed ("Children of Men" coming up empty handed last year sticks out almost immediately), I come back for more. Let the self-congratulation begin:
Best Feature
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
“I’m Not There”
“Juno”
“A Mighty Heart”
“Paranoid Park”

Best Director
Todd Haynes, “I’m Not There”
Tamara Jenkins, “The Savages”
Jason Reitman, “Juno”
Julian Schnabel, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
Gus Van Sant, “Paranoid Park”

Best Female Lead
Angelina Jolie, “A Mighty Heart”
Sienna Miller, “Interview”
Ellen Page, “Juno”
Parker Posey, “Broken English”
Tang Wei, “Lust, Caution”

Best Male Lead
Pedro Castaneda, “August Evening”
Don Cheadle, “Talk to Me”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Savages”
Frank Langella, “Starting Out in the Evening”
Tony Leung, “Lust, Caution”

Best Supporting Female
Cate Blanchett, “I’m Not There”
Anna Kendrick, “Rocket Science”
Jennifer Jason Leigh, “Margot at the Wedding”
Tamara Podemski, “Four Sheets to the Wind”
Marisa Tomei, “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead”

Best Supporting Male
Chiwetel Ejiofor, “Talk to Me”
Marcus Carl Franklin, “I’m Not There”
Kene Holliday, “Great World of Sound”
Irrfan Khan, “The Namesake”
Steve Zahn, “Rescue Dawn”

Full list of nominations here.

-How do you go from working with Werner Herzog, Mary Harron, Todd Haynes, Terrence Malick, and Christopher Nolan to Mc Fucking G? Yeah, the director (or whatever you want to call him) behind those Smash Mouth and Sugar Ray music videos. I'm hoping this isn't true but apparently Christian Bale, perhaps one of the most obsessive and protean actors of his generation, is starring in McG's installment of the Terminator series, "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins." I thought those Batman paid the bills Mr. Bale. What a shame.

-Star in "Ocean's Thirteen" and change the world at the same time? That would be a resounding yes according to the World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates who will honor George Clooney and Don Cheadle for their efforts in raising awareness about Darfur at the upcoming World Summit in Rome. I bet Sean Penn is pissed he didn't get this kind of recognition for showing up in the aftermath of Katrina with shotguns and a boat.