Jorge Camara / WireImage/Getty Images

While we were on holiday, the Writer’s Guild denied the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s request for a Golden Globes waiver. If they go ahead with the show using non-Guild writers, the nominees won’t show up out of fear of getting pies thrown at them by WGA picketers, not to mention “you’ll-never-lunch-in-this-town-again” proclamations. Cancellation is more likely.

There’s a good chance the WGA will change their minds at the last minute - this could be a ploy for quick negotiations. After all, awards season is one of the few times that writers get to shine, and several Guild members are nominated. We support the writers whole-heartedly, but come on - don’t take the Gay Super Bowl away from us!

By the way, the dude pictured above is Jorge Camara, the President of the HFPA. He’s sweating bullets about now.

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Nickelodeon star and sister-of-Britney Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant. Some dude named Casey is the baby daddy. Looks like “Zoey 101″ is all grown-up. If you want more colorful commentary on the matter, look elsewhere. We just hope she takes care of the little lamb without the help of court monitors.

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After a prolonged slump, the box office bounced back in December with a few boffo performances - chief among them Will Smith’s actioner “I Am Legend,” which opened to a phenomenal $77.2 million the weekend of December 14. This was the biggest December bow in history, edging out “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”’s opening in 2003. Alvin and the Chipmunks, which analysts had written off as another holiday failure-in-waiting, shocked the industry by opening next to I Am Legend with a jaw-dropping $44.3 million. As of Christmas Day, Alvin has raked in an incredible $94 million.

The pre-Christmas weekend saw another strong showing, with Nicolas Cage’s family-friendly adventure sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets bringing in $44.8 million. The above holdovers were strong, making the last two weeks by far the biggest in December history, a badly needed bounce for a struggling year-end marketplace.

New openers were soft, though opening numbers at this time of year are less meaningful due to the holidays. Due to all the family movie-going, openers tend to have good legs. Charlie Wilson’s War led the pack with $9.7 million, Sweeney Todd followed with $9.4 million (at less than half the theatres of Charlie), P.S. I Love You was unimpressive with $6.5 million, and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story bombed with $4.2 million.

In limited release, Atonement and Juno had successful expansions. Juno is performing exceptionally well, and with all the awards buzz it will remain a strong contender for at least the next month. Numbers aren’t yet in for the Wednesday platform bow of There Will Be Blood, but analysts expect a massive per-theatre average.

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We hope everyone had a fabulous holiday! Back to the grind…with a completely incongruous shot of Daft Punk’s December 22nd show in Sydney. Robot rock!

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What’s that curious tingle coursing through my body? Could it be all the Lexipro I took this morning, in anticipation of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association shafting Paul Thomas Anderson in the Best Director category? Ridley Scott for “American Gangster” beat him out. Puh-leez. Scott is a bona-fide bad-ass (Alien, Blade Runner, etc.), but this was not among his best.

Still no major front-runner this awards season. At this point last year it was Dreamgirls, so we all know how accurate those predictions are. One of the biggest surprises of the announcement is the whopping SEVEN Best Motion Picture - Drama nominees. Typically, the HFPA nominates five like everyone else. Too many great films? I can think of a couple they could have knocked off, but in any case it’s a competitive field - with terrific films like Atonement, No Country for Old Men, Eastern Promises (hooray!), and There Will Be Blood battling for the Globe, things could get interesting. If American Gangster or Michael Clayton wins, I’m going on strike.

Atonement won the morning. With seven nominations, including Best Actress (Keira Knightley), Best Actor (James McAvoy), Best Director (Joe Wright), and Best Picture - Drama, it leads all films. The noms were short on surprises, save the following: Sean Penn’s Into the Wild, which cleaned up the Critics Choice Awards noms, was a no-show in the major categories, while Charlie Wilson’s War received five nods, including acting noms for Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.

Todd Haynes’s brilliant Bob Dylan fantasia I’m Not There received only one nomination, for Cate Blanchett’s supporting turn. R.I.P. Clearly, whoever phoned in Michael Clayton made a better impression.

Click here for the full list of nominees (including all the TV folk). Here are the major motion picture noms:

Best Picture - Drama
American Gangster
Atonement
Eastern Promises
The Great Debaters
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Best Picture - Comedy or Musical
Across the Universe
Charlie Wilson’s War
Hairspray
Juno
Sweeney Todd

Best Actress - Drama
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie, Away from Her
Jodie Foster, The Brave One
Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
Keira Knightley, Atonement

Best Actor - Drama
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
James McAvoy, Atonement
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
Denzel Washington, American Gangster

Best Actress - Comedy or Musical
Amy Adams, Enchanted
Nikki Blonsky, Hairspray
Helena Bonham Carter, Sweeney Todd
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Ellen Page, Juno

Best Actor - Comedy or Musical
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

Best Director
Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd
Ethan Coen & Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Ridley Scott, American Gangster
Joe Wright, Atonement

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Count on those feisty NoCal critics to throw some good awards juice our way - the San Francisco Film Critics Circle picked “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” as the Best Picture of 2007. Last year the group was equally contrarian with their choice, plugging for “Little Children,” which received little awards love despite being about 1000 times more interesting than “The Queen” or “Little Miss Sunshine.” Here are the awards:

Best Picture: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Best Director: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Best Actor: George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Best Actress: Julie Christie, Away from Her
Best Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Best Original Screenplay: The Savages
Best Adapted Screenplay: Away from Her
Best Foreign Language Film: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

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Statue watchers are abuzz with the blogosphere’s prediction that if the WGA Strike isn’t resolved soon, the 2008 Golden Globes (currently set for January 13) will be cancelled. SAG and DGA members are unlikely to cross picket lines for the event, which traditionally employs WGA writers. Plus the WGA would stage a massive picket at the event, and those folks definitely won’t be dressed as well as Jessica Biel.

Jigga what! No Globes? How will fashionistas cope? At least designers will save millions on stamping celebs with their custom outfits. But how will the industry deal with this latest development? Hopefully the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will apply pressure to the cash-rich overlords at the AMPTP to get this resolved quickly. After all, the HFPA really has no purpose beyond the Globes ceremony. Looking further in the future though…no Oscars? Let’s not talk about it. I wouldn’t want Ryan Seacrest to have a coronary.

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Sean Penn’s beautiful, moving, occasionally corny “Into the Wild” received a boost this week with the announcement of the Critics Choice Award nominees. The pic received nods for Best Picture, Best Actor (Emile Hirsch), and Best Director (Penn). It led the field with seven nominations.

Despite the ceremony’s broad moniker, the Critics Choice Awards is not a survey of major movie critics - rather, it is run by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, which has an excellent track record of picking Oscar wins. In other words, they aim for the middle. Here are some of the major category nominees, below. You can check out the full list here.

Best Picture
American Gangster
Atonement
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Into the Wild
Juno
The Kite Runner
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
Sweeney Todd
There Will Be Blood

Best Actor
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Ryan Gosling, Lars and the Real Girl
Emile Hirsch, Into the Wild
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

Best Actress
Amy Adams, Enchanted
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie, Away from Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
Ellen Page, Juno

Best Director
Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd
Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Sidney Lumet, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Sean Penn, Into the Wild
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Joe Wright, Atonement

Evening Standard/Getty Images; Mike Marsland/WireImage

Always in flux, Peaches Geldof is the picture of innocence at the Clothes Show Live in Birmingham, England wearing a simply adorned mini-dress and camel beret. She manages to strike the same balance between sophistication and naiveté that was captured on a model displaying an ensemble by Pierre Cardin in 1964.

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Purveyors of the movie awards season were choking on the rush of critics groups’ announcements today. “No Country for Old Men” continued its push towards Oscar gold, winning three of the four Best Pic prizes announced today. “There Will Be Blood,” however, hooked the Los Angeles Film Critics Association big-time, winning for Picture, Director (Paul Thomas Anderson), and Lead Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis). Amy Ryan’s little-seen performance in Gone Baby Gone has won every major Supporting Actress award so far. Here’s a selection of the awards:

New York Film Critics Circle
Best Picture: No Country for Old Men
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Best Actress: Julie Christie, Away from Her
Best Director: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone

Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Best Picture: There Will Be Blood
Best Actor: Daniel-Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Best Supporting Actor: Vlad Ivanov, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone 

Washington DC Area Film Critics Association
Best Picture: No Country for Old Men
Best Actor: George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Best Actress: Julie Christie, Away from Her
Best Director: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone

Boston Society of Film Critics
Best Picture: No Country for Old Men
Best Actor: Frank Langella, Starting Out in the Evening
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Best Director: Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone