The nominees for the 84th Academy Awards are getting a lot of attention — the day after the big announcement. Yesterday, “Hugo” picked up 11 nominations — the most of any film — including best picture and best director. The movie is a 3D drama adventure about a 12-year-old boy who lives in a Paris train station tending to the clocks and his quest to fix a mysterious machine left by his father.  The film is based on the book, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” by American author and children’s book illustrator, Brian Selznick.

Here are some of the major nominations for the 2012 Oscars from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:

Best Picture

The Artist
Thomas Langmann, Producer
The Descendants
Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor,
Producers
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Scott Rudin, Producer
The Help
Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and
Michael Barnathan, Producers
Hugo
Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
Midnight in Paris
Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
Moneyball
Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt,
Producers
The Tree of Life
Nominees to be determined
War Horse
Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, producers

Actor in a Leading Role

Demián Bichir
A Better Life
George Clooney
The Descendants
Jean Dujardin
The Artist
Gary Oldman
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt
Moneyball

Actress in a Leading Role

Glenn Close
Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis
The Help
Rooney Mara
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep
The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams
My Week with Marilyn

Best Director

The Artist
Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants
Alexander Payne
Hugo
Martin Scorsese
Midnight in Paris
Woody Allen
The Tree of Life
Terrence Malick

For a complete list of the nominees as well as a chance to pick your favorites go  to the official Oscars website . The winners will be announced at the lavished Academy Awards ceremony set to be broadcast live, around the world,  on Sunday, February 26 beginning at 4 p.m. Pacific Time.

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Burbank's 2012 Rose Parade float "The Dream Machine" in the parking lot across the street from the Burbank Central Library at Glenoaks Boulevard and Olive Avenue January 4, 2012

Only a few more hours to view Burbank’s superb entry into the 2012 Tournament of Roses Parade. The float has been on display in the parking lot across from the Burbank Central Library at Glenoaks Boulevard and Olive Avenue since Wednesday, January 4.  Today is the last day to see the float up close, before it is dismantled.

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- A boy's sleeping dreams are depicted in the Burbank winning 2012 Rose Parade float, The Dream Machine" January 4, 2012

“The Dream Machine,” about a boy’s wishful dreams, won the Mayor’s Trophy for most outstanding presentation nationally and internationally.

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Burbank's "The Dream Machine" won the Mayor's Trophy at the 2012 Tournament of Roses Parade January 4, 2012

I dropped by to see the float a couple times. On Wednesday, I chatted with some of the Burbank Tournament of Roses Association members/volunteers/leaders. I learned that a volunteer team creates and decorates the city’s float, and it all begins around February of  each year. “The Dream Machine” was built on a city budget of $62,000. It’s hard to believe there were efforts to try to cut the funding for the Burbank Rose Parade float project, which produces an incredible amount of positive PR for the city and joy for volunteers and viewers.

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Folks watched the Burbank 2012 Rose Parade Float "The Dream Machine" come a live with animation in the parking lot across from the Burbank Central Library at Glenoaks Boulevard and Olive Avenue January 7, 2012

Oh, not only are you able to get up close to the float, but a food truck proves a yummy bargain lunch as well. Each day a different kind of cuisine. It was a terrific idea. I had a pastrami on rye from the Cantor’s truck last Wednesday and a taco special from the Don Chow truck last Saturday. Both lunches were quite good.

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- A line formed at the Don Chow food truck during the viewing of the winning Burbank 2012 Rose Parade float, "The Dream Machine," in Burbank on Saturday January 7, 2012

Today, lunch is from 11:30 to 2 p.m. and a food truck will be there offering deluxe crepes and fries. The entertaining animation on “The Dream Machine” will be in action several time today. You still have a chance to see it at 1 p.m, 3 p.m. 5 p.m. or 7 p.m.

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Hundreds of holiday baskets, boxes, and bags lined the walls outside the auditorium at George Washington Elementary school in Burbank December 16, 2011

More than 555 Burbank families are enjoying some holiday cheer, thanks  to this year’s very successful Holiday Basket Program sponsored by the Burbank Coordinating Council. The deliveries, by volunteers, began officially on December 17 and were completed a few days ago.

Four hundred of the families were adopted by local Churches, school PTAs, service organizations, studios, businesses, individuals, and city offices ..” according to the Holiday Basket Committee co-chair, Janet Diel.  

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Burbank City Councilman Dave Golonski among the volunteers who come back year after year to help create and deliver holiday baskets to needy families December 16, 2011

The  holiday baskets, boxes, and over-sized bags were stuffed with donated new clothes, games, toys, food, gift cards, movie DVDs and much more.  Each gift container was filled with items that reflected the needs of a specific family.  

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Former newspaper reporter Joyce Rudolph pitched in to help assemble holiday baskets at George Washington Elementary school December 16, 2011

Donations came Warner Bros, Disney, Universal Studios, Ralphs, Vons,  Ikea, and many small businesses, local shops, and individuals.

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Volunteers worked meticulously putting together holiday baskets for 155 unadopted families at George Washington Elementary school in Burbank December 16, 2011

The volunteers included city officials, community activists, Girl Scout troops, and local residents who took time out from their own holiday activities to lend a helping hand.  

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- The driving force behind the Holiday Basket Program, Janet Diel, fielded cell phone calls at George Washington Elementary school December 16, 2011

Speaking on behalf of the Holiday Basket Committee, Diel said:”It took hundreds/ thousands of people to donate money, gifts, food, and time to make this project a success. We are grateful to all who participated and thank you so much for making a huge difference in so many lives.”

The Hollywood award season is in full swing.  Today the Hollywood Foreign Press Association released its list of nominees for the 69th annual Golden Globes. “The Artist,” “The Descendants”,  and “The Help” got the most film nominations. All three films have Oscar buzz.

Check out the Golden Globes website for a complete list of the nominations. The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony is next month, January 15,  5 p.m. on NBC.

Some lucky thespians are celebrating nominations for the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards . The nominees were announced yesterday in West Hollywood and leading the film field “The Help” and “The Artist.” Toping the  TV list, “Broadwalk Empire,” “Breaking Bad,” and “Modern Family.”

The Los Angeles Times has extensive coverage here. The winners will be announced during the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which  will be simulcast live nationally on TNT and TBS Sunday, January 29  5 p.m. from the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center.

One of the most debated and scrutinized lists in the entertainment industry came out today.  The Black List is a collection of unproduced screenplays that for whatever reason rated as a “like” or “favorite” by a number of film executives. This year, 300 of them reportedly sent in suggestions to film executive, Franklin Leonard ,who started compiling The Black List back in 2004. Since then, scripts have been plucked from this list and whizzed into production, turning the lucky screenwriters into hot scribes. To many, that’s better than any award or trophy.

Over on deadline.com, there’s the full Black List followed by some interesting comments, as well as breakdowns by agencies and management firms.

To make the list, a script had to receive six votes. Here are the top three screenplays on The Black List for 2011.

THE IMITATION GAME by Graham Moore  (133 votes)

The story of British WWII cryptographer Alan Turing, who cracked the German Enigma code and later poisoned himself after being criminally prosecuted for being a homosexual.

AGENCY:  CAA
AGENT: JP Evans, Jacqueline Sacerio
MANAGEMENT:  The Safran Company
MANAGER:  Tom Drumm
FINANCIER:  Warner Brothers
PRODUCER: Ido Ostrowsky, Nora Grossman

WHEN THE STREET LIGHTS GO ON by Chris Hutton, Eddie O’Keefe (84 votes)

In the early 1980s, a town suffers through the aftermath of a brutal murder of a high school girl and a teacher.

AGENCY: WME
AGENT: Simon Faber, Sarah Self
MANAGEMENT: Tariq Merhab Management
MANAGER: Tariq Merhab
PRODUCER: Imagine Entertainment

CHEWIEby Evan Susser, Van Robichaux (59 votes)

A satirical behind the scenes look at the making of Star Wars through the eyes of Peter Mayhew who played Chewbacca.

AGENCY:  WME
AGENT: Mike Esola
MANAGEMENT: Industry Entertainment
MANAGER: Jess Rosenthal

The rest of The Black List here.

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Burbank Recycle Center 500 South Flower Street Burbank

After heated debate at its meeting Tuesday, December 6, the Burbank City Council voted to assign the operating agreement for the controversial  Burbank Recycle Center to Burrtec Waste Industries. The vote was 4-1 with Councilman, Dr. David Gordon, strongly opposing the arrangement.

The operation of the Burbank Recycle Center has been under scrutiny for some time and most recently when city officials decided to drop private contractor, Burbank  Recycling, Inc (BRI).  BRI is facing allegations from the state for allegedly cashing in out-of-state beverage containers under the California recycling plan. It was BRI that requested Burrtec take over it’s contract with the Burbank Recycle Center – that produced a lot of questions and suspicions among some Burbankers.

The council majority appeared to be swayed by the staff report, which suggested it would be cheaper to hook up with Burrtec rather than to go out for bids. Hopefully, the council’s decision will improve public confidence in the Burbank Recycle Center and not make a bad situation worse.

Anti-Walmart protesters plan new action

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- Stop Walmart in Burbank protesters out front of the site of a planned Walmart at 1301 North victory Place in Burbank October 19, 2011

The “Stop Walmart in Burbank” group is gearing up for an appearance at the city council meeting next Tuesday, December 13.  Walmart moving into Burbank is pretty much a done deal. However, this group is still determined to make city officials “… feel the pressure…” from “… their constituents…” who are against the giant retailer opening a store in the Empire Center.

Wind storm clean-up: It’s a wrap

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- A pile of tree limbs on East Providencia Avenue in Burbank December 1, 2011

The clean-up following last week’s powerful wind storm was a huge effort. Cheers for residents, Burbank city crews, and Burbank PD.

Funeral services will be held this Saturday, December 3, at Forest Lawn Glendale for long time Burbank community volunteer, Dan Linegar, according to a press release put out today by the Burbank Temporary Aid Center. Linegar passed away last Sunday.

Linegar was a long time BTAC volunteer and Board of Directors member, as well as the founder of the successful Burbank “Relay for Life” event.

“Dan was always the dream sort of board member, not one who just shows up for an occasional board meeting, and isn’t heard from otherwise,” said Barbara Howell, BTAC’s Executive Director, in the press release. “We have a very involved board at BTAC, but he was always especially one to raise his hand and volunteer to put in more time, to work on more projects, and to fill in where he was needed.”

Here’s the entire release, which includes a tribute to Linegar’s community service and details on the funeral arrangements.

“DAN LINEGAR SERVICES”

November 30, 2011

Burbank – Services will be held Saturday morning for Dan Linegar, a longtime member of the Board of Directors of the Burbank Temporary Aid Center.  Dan died Sunday, November 27.

Dan, a Burbank resident since 1991, had been a longtime volunteer with BTAC when he was elected to the Board of Directors in 2004.  By then he was already closely associated with BTAC’s “Santa’s Room” project, a program providing Christmas gifts to the children of Burbank’s homeless, poor and working poor.

“Santa’s Room” began as a few shelves in a shed behind BTAC’s previous headquarters building, or in similar locations around town in earlier years, where a handful of used toys – mostly stuffed animals cleaned and repaired by volunteers – were arranged for clients to select one as a gift for each of their children.

Under Dan’s guidance, especially once he became the official Chairman of the project in 2004, Santa’s Room grew to take up its own building space on a short-term basis each year, offering only new, donated toys to hundreds of children each year.  Last year the program distributed more than 7,000 toys to children in the city who otherwise would have received little or nothing.

Will Rogers, Co-Chair of the 2011 Santa’s Room project said, “Dan took the lead in charming landlords for the enormous space we require each year for 10 weeks, he created partnerships like the one we’ve enjoyed for years with the fire department’s “Spark of Love” program to obtain some of our toys, and he spent countless hours assembling gift packages for families, and leading volunteers.  Everyone associated with Santa’s Room in any way always has their path smoothed thanks to Dan’s sterling reputation and tireless efforts.”

“Dan was always the dream sort of board member, not one who just shows up for an occasional board meeting, and isn’t heard from otherwise,” said Barbara Howell, BTAC’s Executive Director.  “We have a very involved board at BTAC, but he was always especially one to raise his hand and volunteer to put in more time, to work on more projects, and to fill in where he was needed.”

“Better than that,” Howell said, “Dan was an exceptionally sweet, kind and thoughtful man.”

In addition to chairing “Santa’s Room” for six years, Dan also served for one term as BTAC’s Treasurer, and on the Operations Committee, and the Budget and Finance Committee.

Linegar’s charitable efforts went well beyond his service to BTAC.  He founded Burbank’s successful “Relay for Life,” an annual fundraising event for the American Cancer Society that is made up of local efforts across the country, and he became Chairman for the local American Cancer Society in 2004.  He also participated in “Builds” for “Habitat for Humanity,” and in the Revlon Walk/Run events, a fundraising effort to fight women’s cancers.

Dan grew up in Estes Park, Colorado, and received his Masters in Business from Colorado State University.  He worked in the mortgage industry.

Dan is survived by Victoria Sands, whom he once described as his “VERY significant other” when explaining how much work she put in helping him with Santa’s Room projects.  Dan also leaves behind his sister, Carol Smid, a daughter and son-in-law, Angela and Steve Macgregor, and one granddaughter, Brenna Macgregor.

Funeral Services for Dan will take place Saturday, Dec. 3 at Forest Lawn Glendale at 8:30am at the Wee Kirk o’ The Heather. A reception to which all friends and fellow volunteers are invited will follow at 2960 N. Myers, Burbank,CA.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Burbank’s “Relay for Life,” or to the Burbank Temporary Aid Center.

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The reboot of local news, video, and features website, Burbanknbeyond.com is  out to shake up the Media City and grab a bigger chunk of the online audience. There is probably more Burbank news, sports, and events on BurbanknBeyond than any other website. Now B-and-B is even better.

The new look of Burbanknbeyond debuted a few weeks ago with numerous upgrades, better organization of stories, and a much more readable front page. Executive Editor and driving force behind the site, Craig Sherwood, says more tweaks and improvements are on the way.

Here’s a Q&A with Sherwood about the site, where it started and where he wants to take it.

1. BurbanknBeyond has a dramatic new look, what are some of the major changes and why did you feel they were necessary?

When I started BurbankNBeyond back in April of 2010, I had a limited amount of experience as a website designer.  My goal at that time was to try and provide Burbank with a daily news source since all there existed was a twice weekly newspaper with a limited website and a bi-weekly paper with no web presence.  I found after about a year that the idea was working, but the website I had created was not able to keep up with or reflect the constant changes and updates.  I looked around at different media outlets and found most used a WordPress template, so I decided to go in that direction.  I taught the media department at Crespi High School for nine years and had some extremely talented students who went on to college and studied web design, so I turned to Matthew Majcher and started working out the new design.  What I was looking for was a fast paced layout, but something that would also archive past stories so that they were easy to find.  I thought it was very important to incorporate social media so people could interact as well as having areas where people could leave comments.  I had to also incorporate our videos since we are the only full content Burbank media outlet that offers video which hopefully makes us unique.  Bottom line was we had to redesign if we wanted to be a player.

2. In terms of readership, BurbanknBeyond has seen considerable growth, right?

Our growth has been amazing once the word started spreading.  I have the site hosted with Go Daddy and they send out a daily report of hits and locations.  In July of 2010 we were at about 5,000 hits a day and by July, 2011 we were averaging about 20,000 a day.  Once we launched the new design, we are now averaging about 35,000 a day with 3 different days we have exceeded 50,000.  What is interesting is that about 60% are from Burbank, 20% from Glendale and North Hollywood/Toluca Lake, and the rest all over the United States.

3. Is it part of your plan to actively challenge The Burbank Leader for the position as the main local news source in Burbank?

I would love to challenge the Burbank Leader as the main news source for Burbank but it is just not possible, yet.  Let’s face it, the Leader is part of the L.A. Times, and as much as Leader people will deny it, they do have resources from the Times that go into their local coverage.

 At what we do, I think my staff does beat the Leader for daily news, since we are all located and live in Burbank.  We know the City and the people.

I am also currently working to find some more people who can write a City Hall beat, school beat, and a couple of other areas that I have ideas about but can’t discuss because if I do it will give someone else that idea.  Right now I know most people come to us first when there is a big accident or fire or big event in the City, once I can get the editorial content daily I know that we will be a player.  I know the issues and the stories that people in Burbank want to know about, I just don’t have the resources to get the information out yet.  There are 100′s of untold stories in this city.  Hopefully things will start changing with this new design.

4. If there is something else you would like to add, go ahead.

I think the news business has no idea what the future holds.  Everyone is convinced that on-line is the future yet trying to find the revenue that will support it is tricky.  With that said, I think local news will always be the key and people will always seek out what is going on in their neighborhood that affect their daily lives.

Hopefully this new design will attract advertisers and once that happens I have no doubt that BurbankNBeyond will become the first choice for people in Burbank.

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Craig Sherwood writes a column for BurbanknBeyond, “Thoughts From The Bullpen.” You can check it out here.

Photo: FLLewis/Media City G -- The future site of a Walmart 1301 North Victory Place in the Empire Center Burbank

 Burbank is getting a Walmart with dirt cheap prices, questionable labor practices, and the retailer’s notorious Black Friday culture. Last month at the Empire Center, the future home of Burbank’s Walmart, the giant retailer held a promotional event boasting about the benefits its store will bring to the community. However, Burbank residents must realize that the retailer’s massive advertising campaigns, concerned mainly with profits, are going to attract some of those crazed Black Friday shoppers to the new Walmart in B-town.

Violence erupted at several Walmarts across the country yesterday and Thanksgiving night. One of the ugliest incidents occurred at the store in Porter Ranch. In a Los Angeles Times report, witnesses described a scene of chaos, mayhem, and a pepper spray attack by a woman police say was “competitive shopping.” 

The discount king did not release an official comment about the violence, but in a Times’ article Walmart spokesman, Greg Rossiter, referred to it as “… a few unfortunate incidents.” A brush-off to a Black Friday company culture that has fueled violence, which has resulted in injuries and one tragic death.

Three years ago, in an exclusive report, I wrote about this Black Friday culture and the first hand experiences of a former Walmart employee. In part 1, the ex-employee described how he was almost trampled by out of control Black Friday shoppers and in part 2, he recounts a disturbing incident where an announcement by a Walmart manager sent an anxious Black Friday crowd into a frenzy.

By the way, did you hear Bloomingdale’s is opening a store in nearby Glendale? And Burbank is getting a Walmart — wonderful.