In what has got to be the best quote of the WGA strike so far, NBC Entertainment Co-Chief (and former prom king, perhaps?) Ben Silverman, bitching about the Golden Globes being canceled, reportedly said about the writer's strike to Ryan Seacrest, "Sadly, it feels like the nerdiest, ugliest, meanest kids in the high school are trying to cancel the prom. But NBC wants to try to keep that prom alive."

Awww, isn't that sweet of NBC? They wanted to keep the prom going for all the cheerleaders and jocks but those dorky-ass kids at the writers' table had the audacity to band together and spoil all the fun. And here he already swiped a bottle of Everclear from the folks' liquor cabinet to spike the punch, too.

Seriously though, if we're going to compare Hollywood to high school (and I'm not saying I disagree with that) and the Globes to the prom, let's be realistic here. Since when are the kids relegated to the nerdy lunch table the "meanest" kids in school? At my high school, they were the ones getting the sh*t kicked out of them by the rich jocks, who only wanted anything to do with them if they were stealing their lunch money or getting the brainy kids to write papers for them so they wouldn't get kicked off varsity. Oh, wait ... that DOES sound a bit like Hollywood.

Having to cancel the Globes -- the highest rated awards show after the Oscars -- cost NBC a pretty penny. E! News reports that NBC paid between five and six million for rights to the show, off which the network makes back $10-15 million in ad revenue. Ouch. That's a lot of lunch money. Go nerds!

Best Original Score

Nominees:

Into the Wild

Grace is Gone

Kite Runner

Atonement

Eastern Promises

Predicted Winner: Atonement


Atonement is a powerful, beautiful, and heart-tugging achievement from Joe Wright, one that is strengthened by Dario Marianelli's haunting score. It's the sort that slides into your skin and stays with you well after the film is over and the curtain is closed. The staff here at Cinematical thinks Atonement will nab the prize for Best Original Score.

Now it's your turn to vote ...

Best Supporting Actor

Nominees:

Casey Affleck -- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Javier Bardem -- No Country for Old Men

Philip Seymour Hoffman -- Charlie Wilson's War

John Travolta -- Hairspray

Tom Wilkinson -- Michael Clayton

Predicted Winner: Javier Bardem

Once in awhile there comes to cinema a character, and a performance that goes with it, that goes on to haunt us for years. Such a timeless villain is played in No Country for Old Men by Javier Bardem. It's the actor's third Golden Globe nomination and will be his first win. How do I know? Here at Cinematical headquarters we were going to toss a coin to find out if Bardem would get the statue. But then we realized that this award isn't about chance (plus we were afraid of getting an air blast to the skull if it came up that he'd lose). Bardem will win because he deserves the award, because his is the most well-developed and most memorable performance of the bunch.

Now it's your turn to vote ...

Best Actor (Musical or Comedy)

Nominees:

Johnny Depp -- Sweeney Todd

Ryan Gosling -- Lars and the Real Girl

Tom Hanks -- Charlie Wilson's War

Philip Seymour\ Hoffman -- The Savages

John C. Reilly -- Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Predicted Winner: Johnny Depp

There was some stiff competition for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy this year, but we at Cinematical think it'll be winning year for Johnny and his slasher ways. He's musical, he's creepy, and he knows just how to pick the ingredients for a killer meat pie.

Now it's your turn to vote ...

Best Screenplay

Nominees:

Diablo Cody -- Juno

Joel & Ethan Coen -- No Country for Old Men

Christopher Hampton -- Atonement

Ronald Harwood -- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Aaron Sorkin -- Charlie Wilson's War

Predicted Winner: Diablo Cody -- Juno

Often, it's not the finest writing that wins the screenplay award, it's the flashiest. Cinematical doesn't think Globe voters will be able to pass up Diablo Cody's hyper-verbose, show-offy script, chock full of memorable one-liners and quotable dialogue. Plus, Hollywood just can't get enough of her stripper-turned-screenwriter tale. Juno what I'm saying?

Now it's your turn to vote ...

Best Picture (Musical or Comedy)

Nominees:

Across the Universe

Charlie Wilson's War

Hairspray

Juno

Sweeney Todd

Predicted Winner: Juno

From its surprisingly well-received sneak preview at Telluride to its box-office blowout, Ellen Page's spot-on performance as Juno, the smart, cynical teenager who gets pregnant after having sex with her best friend, struck a chord across demographics. Juno might get shut out of a Best Picture Oscar (don't count it out completely, yet, though -- it's still sitting pretty high on the roundup of critics' polls over on Movie City News); the Globes are still the film's best chance to pick up some awards' season gold.

Now it's your turn to vote ...

This just in from Deadline Hollywood: Though an official word has not hit the internets just yet, DH is reporting through their sources that NBC has indeed gone ahead and canceled the Golden Globes telecast currently scheduled to air live on January 13. Instead, what they are going to do is air a news broadcast announcing the winners. DH says: "It will consist of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association handing out Golden Globes to the winners, who will then pick up the awards and pass through a press room for photos and interviews." Sounds sort of lame, but at least the media will get their photos of the actors and actresses all dolled up (should they decide to dress for the event), which will come along with quotes and what have you.

By the sounds of it, there won't be any sort of ceremony whatsoever; kind of like a high school graduation where you walk up to the podium, shake hands with the Principal, and walk off stage. (Only instead of walking off stage to your parents smiling faces, you get a room full of media asking all sorts of boring questions.) Fun! Score one for the WGA -- they've brought down one awards show, now let's see if this thing carries over to the Oscars, which, once the whole Globes thing is over, will probably become a very hot topic. We here at Cinematical will still go ahead with our Globes prediction post later this week, and we'll bring you the winners as soon as they're announced. See the full list of Golden Globe nominees over here, or head on over to Moviefone's official Golden Globes page.

UPDATE: It's official.

While sites like ours struggle to decide how, in fact, we're going to cover the Golden Globes, Deadline Hollywood tells us that a number of key decisions were made late today. Firstly (and probably the most important), SAG has officially announced that none of the actors or actresses will cross the picket line and attend the awards ceremony on January 13. That was an expected decision, but still one that kind of shocks you. However, DH claims NBC is still moving forward with preparations to air the make-shift ceremony on their network. With who in attendance? Got me.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association issued the following statement: "The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has been placed in an extremely difficult position with the ongoing Writers Guild strike. We are making every effort to work out a solution that will permit the Golden Globes to take place with the creative community present to participate. We hope to announce a resolution to this unfortunate predicament on Monday." Personally, I'm not sure what the hell they're going to resolve by Monday, but I would expect NBC to fold and not televise the ceremony. How could they with no one showing up? And how ridiculous would it look if some fat studio exec was standing on stage, handing out award after award to folks who aren't there to accept them? This is what NBC wants the entire country watching? I don't think so.

Here's SAG's statement: "After considerable outreach to Golden Globe actor nominees and their representatives over the past several weeks, there appears to be unanimous agreement that these actors will not cross WGA picket lines to appear on the Golden Globe Awards as acceptors or presenters. We applaud our members for this remarkable show of solidarity for striking Writers Guild of America writers."

And here's the WGA's statement: "We are grateful to our brothers and sisters in SAG for their continued solidarity and support. The entire awards show season is being put in jeopardy by the intransigence of a few big media corporations. We urge the conglomerates to return to the bargaining table they abandoned and negotiate a fair and reasonable deal with writers to put this town back to work."

And here's Nikki Blonsky's statement: "Motherfu**ker son of a b*tch! This was my chance! You fu**kers!"

And here's Cinematical's statement: "We made up Nikki Blonsky's statement, but you have to imagine the poor girl is pretty pissed. Plucked from obscurity to star in Hairspray, nominated for an award, and she can't even show up. We feel you Nikki ... we feel you. Hug?"

While it's a new year, the same old back-and-forth continues. Yesterday, there appeared to be a light at the end of the Golden Globes tunnel, as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (or HFPA) sent out a press release claiming to have resumed talks with the WGA in an attempt to get that same sort of interim deal the WGA made with The David Letterman Show and Worldwide Pants, which would allow writers to pen scripts for the Golden Globes ceremony. That deal isn't so much about getting people to write the "witty" banter between stars on stage as it is finding a way to still televise the event and get people to show up.

But HFPA's play-nice propaganda was a bit premature, as the WGA later put out a statement saying they still intend to picket the Globes ceremony as planned: "Dick Clark Productions is a struck company. As previously announced, the Writers Guild will be picketing the Golden Globe Awards. The WGA has great respect and admiration for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, but we are engaged in a crucial struggle that will protect our income and intellectual property rights for generations to come. We will continue to do everything in our power to bring industry negotiations to a fair conclusion. In the meantime, we are grateful for the ongoing support of the talent community."

So where is this heading? Well, most likely the ceremony will not be televised (unless a miracle agreement is reached), and HFPA will cross their fingers and hope that the WGA will not picket if the event is not televised, allowing actors and actresses to attend the ceremony, as well as the more important (and expensive) after parties. And you should care ... why?

[via Deadline Hollywood]

I'm sure a lot of you don't care either way, but there's now a chance The Golden Globes ceremony scheduled to air live on NBC this January 13 may not show up on the boob tube at all. Anne Thompson reports over on her Thompson on Hollywood blog that word from within the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (or HFPA) is that one option -- should the writers still be on strike on that day -- is to not televise the ceremony in order to ensure a high celebrity presence. Call me a moron, but I'm not sure of the difference between televising an event and not televising an event as it pertains to "crossing the picket lines." Thompson's article makes it sound like actors are allowed to cross the picket lines if the Globes aren't televised, though I just assumed they wouldn't cross the picket lines regardless. Maybe I'm missing something though; feel free to clue me in.

As it stands right now, the Globes won't have any writers to pen those presentation speeches as the WGA has already turned down a waiver which would allow writers to work on the show. Additionally, it's believed that if the show was to go on as planned -- with the WGA out picketing in full force -- a good majority of actors and actresses would not cross the picket lines. Not televising the show, however, also brings into question what sort of contractual obligations HFPA has to NBC. As Thompson points out, "If the show is not televised, NBC will lose the revenue it would have generated via advertising (the Globes show earns strong ratings), and the Globes will lose the money they would have been paid. But at this point it is much more important to the HFPA (which has enough cash in its coffers to miss one year's telecast) for the Globes show to go on with celebrities walking down that red carpet (even with no writers to pen the presentation speeches) to present and accept awards than for them to face the possibility that most stars will not cross an active picket line."

What say you?

I'd just like to take a moment of silence for Jamie Lynn Spears' future career in the entertainment industry ...

...

And now to the business: Today, Variety reports that the WGA will indeed picket outside the Golden Globes ceremony on January 13, assuming the strike is still going strong. SAG has not decided yet whether or not they will cross the picket lines, and are "seeking reaction from members who have been nominated before announcing its plans." There might, however, be rules as to where the WGA can picket -- meaning if they set up a few blocks from the theater, there might be another way into the theater that allows SAG members to not, technically, cross the picket lines. So it's still up in the air.

Yesterday, when the whole waiver news broke, a fellow Cinematical writer asked if Cinematical would "cross the picket lines" and live-blog the ceremony. For the past few years, we have live-blogged both the Globes and the Oscars, and have had a pretty good time doing it. The way I see it, my fat ass is at home, in front of the television, and so I'm not technically crossing any picket lines by live-blogging the Globes. I told this to our writer, and they replied: "So then we don't support the writers?" No, we support the strike coming to an end in a way where both parties are happy with the outcome. That's what we've always supported. Personally, I'm not a part of the WGA, or SAG, and so my only loyalty is to our readers. And if our readers want some delicious, humorous color commentary to go along with what will probably be another boring awards ceremony, then I have no problem providing that to them.

But I wanted to ask you folks first. Keep in mind, we're not asking whether the ceremony is worth live-blogging, because most of you will say it sucks anyway. That's a fact. I'm asking whether you think we should live-blog the ceremony considering the WGA will be picketing it? Would you be offended if we "crossed the picket lines?" (Note: Our decision will not be based solely on this poll, but I wanted to get a general opinion before making the final call.)

As was expected, Hollywood's two major awards shows are starting to feel the sting of a prolonged strike, and if both sides do not make a deal before The Golden Globes and Academy Awards air, expect utter chaos. Last night, the WGA denied wavers from both the Hollywood Foreign Press (Golden Globes) and AMPAS (Oscars) that would allow writers to prepare material (in the case of the Globes) and clips from old Oscar telecasts as well as films (for the Oscars). AMPAS has not yet asked for a waiver to use writers to help pen their telecast, but it's believed the WGA will deny it once that happens. Additionally, a final decision to picket outside the Globes has not been made, but if the WGA do picket, there's a chance actors and actresses will not cross the picket line.

What does this mean for you, the viewer? Well, it potentially means that both awards shows will turn out pretty horrible. In the case of the Globes, if the writers were to picket, a good amount of stars would not show up. And the show's script would have to be written by non WGA members (the guy who cleans up the bathroom?). Oscars? Well, Jon Stewart's opening monologue would go something like this: "Um ... yeah." Here's part of a statement from WGAW President Patric Verrone:

"Writers are engaged in a crucial struggle to achieve a collective bargaining agreement that will protect their compensation and intellectual property rights now and in the future. We must do everything we can to bring our negotiations to a swift and fair conclusion for the benefit of writers and all those who are being harmed by the companies' failure to engage in serious negotiations."

The signatories producing the Golden Globes and the Oscars are West Coast signatories. The WGAW's Board of Directors concluded, reluctantly, that granting exceptions for the Golden Globes or the Academy Awards would not advance that goal."

Here's my question to you: Knowing all this, will you opt to not watch the telecast or will you tune in regardless of who shows up and who's writing the script?

[via Deadline Hollywood]

We've hit that spot in December where you'll start seeing tons and tons of year-end lists. We here at Cinematical usually reserve our year-end lists for the week after Christmas, though you'll be seeing two of them debut tonight and tomorrow. You'll read about awards being handed out from groups across the country; some of which you've never heard of. You'll see names of films that haven't even arrived in theaters yet, and you'll probably even see titles that never screened at your local theater. Then you'll see nominations announced for the Golden Globes and Oscars, and the same films mentioned earlier will probably show up in their lists too. But what do all of these lists have in common? Well, that the average moviegoer has no say whatsoever.

While I've always thought the People's Choice Awards and MTV Movie Awards were a little cheesy, I dig them because they allow the average person -- the dude or dudette who actually pays to watch these films -- to vote for their favorites. I've always thought it would be fun if the Oscars included a category that was voted on by moviegoers. This way, when fat Tony is sitting at home with his family and the category is announced, he can feel like he was a part of the process too. That awarding the best films of the year with an Oscar isn't exclusive to an elite group of people you've never met, heard of or even cared about. Heck, maybe more people would watch the damn telecast. Vote for your favorite film of the year below (based on what was popular at the theaters), or leave a comment if a particular film is not mentioned. Let's try to see how close (or far apart) the moviegoers and critics really are ...

F***!!!! All I know is that the Oscars better be A LOT more G**d***ed exciting than the Golden Globes ... or I'm gonna do something bad ... like tell you all what kind of debauchery I witnessed last week at 4:00 in the morning while hanging out at a Hollywood recording studio, and just who was doing who and who was snorting too much and who ended up crying ... I better see some exciting shit.

I wanna see innappropriately drunk red carpet disasters, clothes so remarkably made and fitted and put together that they are really costumes for the night's event rather than "dresses and gowns and suits." I wanna see provocative and attention seeking. I wanna be shamed ... I want everyone in the room to be ooooohing and aaahing and hitting each other on the shoulder saying "did you see that?!!!" I wanna feel as if I'm watching a fashion competition ... I want to be talking about what I saw that night on the red carpet the way everybody talked about Janet's nip or Pee Wee's indiscretion.