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.

“Jumping the Broom, “The Help, “Pariah,” and Tower Heist” among the films receiving multiple nominations for the 43rd NAACP Image Awards. The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights organization. The Image Awards celebrate the accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, film, and literature as well as honoring individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors.  The nominees were announced yesterday.

Here are the major film nominations for the 43rd Image Awards:

Outstanding Motion Picture

“Jumping the Broom”

“Pariah”

”The First Grader”

“The Help”

“Tower Heist”

Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture

Eddie Murphy “Tower Heist”

Laurence Fishburne “Contagion”

Laz Alonso “Jumping the Broom”

Oliver Litondo “The First Grader”

Vin Diesel  “Fast Five”

Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture

Adepero Oduye “”Pariah”

Emma Stone “The Help”

Paula Patton “Jumping the Broom”

Viola Davis “The Help”

Zoë Saldana  “Colombiana”

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Anthony Mackie “The Adjustment Bureau”

Charles Parnell “Pariah”

Don Cheadle “The Guard”

Jeffrey Wright “The Ides of March”

Mike Epps  “Jumping the Broom”

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

Bryce Dallas Howard “The Help”

Cicely Tyson “The Help”

Kim Wayans “Pariah”

Maya Rudolph “Bridesmaids”

Octavia Spencer “The Help”

For the complete list of nominees go to the NAACP Image Awards website. The winners will be announced during a live broadcast on NBC, February 17 . The show begins at 8 p.m.

Still  a lot of talk about last Sunday’s 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony in Beverly Hills. For the third year, British comic, Ricky Gervais, was the host of the TV broadcast, however, he reportedly doesn’t intend to do it again. Deadline.com has a post on what Gervais is saying about his latest stint as the emcee of the Golden Globes. Warning: graphic language in that post.

Here’s a recap of some of the top winners at the 2012 Golden Globe Awards.

Best motion picture drama
“The Descendants”

Best performance by an actress in a motion picture drama
Meryl Streep “Iron Lady”

Best performance by an actor in a drama
George Clooney “The Descendants”

Best motion picture comedy or musical
“The Artist”

Best performance by an actress in a motion picture comedy or musical
Michelle Williams “My week with Marilyn”

Best performance by an actor in a motion picture comedy or musical
Jean Dujardin “The Artist”

For all of the winners and nominees click here. For more on the 2012 Golden Globe Awards including interviews, photos, videos, and the fashion on the red carpet go to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Golden Globes website.

“Little White Corvette”  — Action/comedy screenplay by Michael Diliberti reportedly sold in a deal worth a cool million bucks to GK Films. It’s about money-strapped siblings who set out to peddle a load of cocaine discovered in the trunk of their late father’s white corvette. Diliberti wrote the story with David Branson Smith. Script is on the Black List 2011, a collection of unproduced screenplays favored by Hollywood executives. Emma Stone is attached to star and will executive produce along with Diliberti. Both Stone and Diliberti are repped by WME. Stone is managed by Anonymous. Diliberti managed by New School Media.

“Cult”   — A mystery crime drama from sci-fi writer/producer, Rockne S. O’Bannon, has been greenlighted by the CW Network. TV series revolves around an inquisitive female production assistant on a popular TV show called “Cult,” who teams up with a journalist blogger to investigate copycat crimes which appear to be perpetrated by zealous fans of the show. In a strange twist in the deal, the CW ordered the pilot after rejecting it six years ago. O’Bannon is the creator and executive producer of the sci-fi series “Farscape.”

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.

Movie fans turned out in a big way for the latest in the “Twlight” film series this weekend, which debuted with an estimated $139 million. ”The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1,” the first part of the final and fourth installment of the romantic fantasy, captured the number one spot at the box office and is now the top movie in the country.

In “Breaking Dawn” young lovers, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) marry, but things get complicate really quick when Bella becomes pregnant and the vampire baby she’s carrying threatens her life. The film is based on the final book of the blockbuster series by Stephenie Meyers. Melissa Rosenberg, who wrote the screenplay for the previous films, is the writer of this script as well.

Another new flick the animated sequel, “Happy Feet Two,” danced into second with an okay $22 million debut. In third the fantasy drama, “Immortals,” with around $12.2 million, followed closely by the Adam Sandler comedy, “Jack and Jill,” with $12 million. Rounding out the top five, the animated feature, “Puss in Boots,” earned about $10  million.

Actress Jenny McCarthy isn’t above showing off her body or book smarts. The former Playboy model is the author of a number of bestsellers including, “Life Laughs”, “Baby Laughs,” Belly Laughs,” and ”Love, Lust & Faking It.” Also, McCarthy has written serious books about autism including,  ”Louder than Words: A mother’s journey in healing autism. ”

Now McCarthy, is going back to her comedic roots with a new book, “Sinner: Confessions of a Recovering Catholic.” The book industry site, Galleycat, has a post today about the new deal Hyperion has to publish McCarthy’s latest book next fall.

In the post, McCarthy is quoted as saying she grew up intending to be “a nun”, but all sorts of things happened during her childhood, which had her changing course and taking a road that led to her becoming Playmate of the Year (1994) and eventually an entertainer. McCarthy has been a regular on television with appearances on popular series like “Baywatch”, ”Home Improvement,”  ”Just Shoot Me,” and “Two and a Half Men.”

“The Help” got a boost to number one at the domestic box office with a weekend estimate of $20 million. The comedy-drama is about a young southern white woman and her relationship with the black “help” during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Emma Stone, Viola Davis, and Octavia Spencer star.

“The Help” is based on the 2009 bestselling novel of the same title by Kathryn Stockett. The film’s budget, $25 million. In two weeks, it has made around $71 million and is getting some Oscar buzz as well.

After two weeks at number one, “Rise of the Apes,” fell to number two with around $16.3 million. Followed in third place, by the fourth installment of the “Spy Kids” movie series, which generated about $12 million. “Spy Kids: All the Time in the World” stars Jessica Alba and Joel McHale.

The attempted reboot of  “Conan the Barbarian” fell flat, coming in fourth with an estimate $10 million. This new telling of the mythical warrior Conan’s revenge story features Jason Momoa in the starring role. In two earlier film versions, “Conan the Barbarian” (1982) and “Conan the Destroyer” (1984) a rising action star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, played the lead character.

Rounding out the top five, the aninmated family film, “The Smurfs” with somewhere around $8 million. Final box office numbers out tomorrow.

“Captain America: The First Avenger” remains at the top of the box office today. Over the weekend, the Marvel comic book-inspired movie  debuted with a mighty $65 million. That’s the best superhero film weekend opening so far this summer.

On Monday, “Captain America” held onto its title as the number one flick in the country, by scoring $7.7 million. Yesterday, another top performance by the patriotic crusader with the film earning $7.8 million.  It stars Chris Evans as the physical weak, but strong in heart patriot, Steve Rodgers, who gets transformed into the super soldier Captain America during World War II. 

Here’s the rest of the weekend’s top five.  “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ slipped to second after only one week in the number one spot — with $47.4 million.  New romantic comedy, “Friends with Benefits” collected $18.6 million — good enough for third place. Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis star as a couple of wanta-be friends/business associates who try to keep their relationship light, but end up falling for each other.

The sci-fi actioner, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” lands in fourth with $12 million, and in fifth, the comedy “Horrible Bosses” with $11.8 million.

Photo courtesy Guest Blogger Jean Youn

Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Muhammad Ali, Elvis Presley, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor … etc. These names bring out different thoughts and feelings depending on the person who’s having these thoughts and feelings.

However, for me and probably many other people who were growing up in different countries around the time I was, those names are the names we thought of when we thought of America. Another name that I’ve come to associate with America is Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, though he had a very different background from those other people. Louis Armstrong was almost synonymous to America in my mind when growing up because America reminded me of jazz music and jazz music reminded me of Louis Armstrong.

Louis Armstrong was born in the streets of New Orleans to a mother who was a prostitute in 1901. After age 11, he was often sent to the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs for general delinquency. However, it was there where he developed his cornet playing seriously. (He would later switch to the trumpet and become famous). So though his early life seemed rather hopeless, he was able to grow into a legendary jazz musician.

As a child, it is said that Louis Armstrong asked a teacher why is it that everyone works but only some succeed and others fail. The teacher responded to him that people who fail, fail because they put all of their energy into things they can’t do instead of on doing things they can do. People that succeed, succeed because they put all of their energy into things they can do instead of on things they can’t do.

Those words from Louis Armstrong are of great importance to me as an immigrant in this country working in a dry cleaners. I like to think that as I work hard at something I can do, which is dry cleaning, that I am helping to make America the great country that I knew it to be as a child when I used to hear about those great names that were from this country.

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Jean Youn is the owner of Value Village Cleaners at 912 West Glenoaks Boulevard in Glendale 91202. For details on services, coupons and more, check out the Value Village Cleaners website  here.

The sci-fi mega-hit, “Transformers 3,” held on to the title of number one film in the country for a second straight week. Over the weekend, the third installment of the “Transformers” movie series pulled in $47.1 million, according to the final figures released today. That brings the two week total for “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” to around $260 million at the domestic box office.

In second place, a new R-rated comedy, “Horrible Bosses,” with a debut of $28.3 million. The movie revolves around three friends who decide there would be less grief in their lives if they murder their abusive bosses. The cast includes Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, and Kevin Spacey. 

Another new flick, “Zookeeper,” captured third place. The family-friendly comedy stars Kevin James and did much better than expected by opening with $20 million. The film is about some very bright animals who help a struggling zookeeper with his love life.

The animated flick, “Cars 2″ drove into fourth place with $15.2 million and rounding out the top five, the comedy “Bad Teacher” with $8.9 million.

It’s going to be a hot, sizzling July 4th holiday weekend — and I’m not talking about just the weather.  The box office is fired up. The sci-fi action sequel, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” opened yesterday with  around $37 million –  which means it’s on track to make some serious bucks over the next few days.

The other major  movies opening this weekend are romantic comedies: “Larry Crowne” starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and  “Monte Carlo”  featuring Selena Gomez.

The final box office numbers for the weekend are out today. The animated sequel, “Cars 2″ leads the pack with a debut of $66 million winning bragging rights as the number one film in the country. In second place, the Cameron Diaz-Justin Timberlake new R-rated comedy, “Bad Teacher,” with $31.6 million, followed by the superhero actioner “Green Lantern” $18 million,  the sci-fi flick “Super 8 ” $12 million, and rounding out the top five, the family comedy ”Mr. Popper’s Penguins” with $10 million.

Movie star’s poetry book published

The star of the “Matrix”  sci-fi action movie trilogy, Keanu Reeves, is now a published author  or  should I say poet.  The  actor ‘s new book of poetry is called, “Ode to Happiness.”   The  price , 55 bucks.  More on Galleycat.

Rewind! Lindsay Lohan in court again

Living on the edge actress, Lindsay Lohan, gets another break in court today. Lohan tested positive for alcohol, but a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ruled it was not a violation of her probation. Details on Lohan’s latest court drama over on  the  Los Angeles Times website.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Strange Tides” sailed right to the top of the box office on its opening weekend. The fourth installment in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie series earned an estimated $90.1 million to easily become the number one flick in the country. This bountiful debut clearly shows movie audiences are willing to throw down some money at theaters to see sequels.

“Pirates 4″ stars Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz,  Ian McShane, and Geoffrey Rush in a plot based on the book, “On Strange Tides” (1987)  by Tim Powers.  In this action adventure, Depp and his crew tangle with the infamous pirate, Blackbeard, during their search for the fountain of youth.

Far behind in second, but still doing boffo box office, the chick flick, “Bridesmaids,” with around $21 million. In two weeks this comedy has earned nearly $60 million. The superhero, “Thor,” landed in third with an estimated $15.5 million, followed by the action film, “Fast Five,” with about $10.6 million, and rounding out the top five the animation, “Rio,” with an estimated $4.6 million.

Chick flicks are packing them in at movie theaters. Two in the last couple of weeks have beaten projections and grabbed a lot of attention away from the front runner, “Thor”.

While the superhero actioner held onto first place over the weekend, the debut of the raunchy female comedy, “Bridesmaid” is the talk of Tinseltown. The comedy about a down-on-her luck woman whose experiences as a maid of honor are hilarious, painful, and finally life changing.

“Saturday Night Live” cast member Kristen Wiig, co-wrote the screenplay with Annie Mumolo, and stars in the film along with Maya Rudolph, and Rose Byrne. In the actual box office numbers released today, “Bridesmaids’ scored an impressive $26.2 million — good enough for second place.

On the previous weekend, the low-budget but audience pleasing wedding comedy, “Jumping the Broom,” out paced expectations as well. This film cost around $7 million and in two weeks it has made around $26 million. Clearly, there is plenty of life left in the wedding comedy genre.

Box Office final numbers for May 13-15, 2011

1.”Thor” —–  $34.7 million

2. “Bridesmaids” —– $26.2 million

3. “Fast Five” —– $20.4 million

4. ”Priest” —– $14.9 million

5. “Rio” —– $8.2 million

6. “Jumping the Broom” —– $7 million

“Thor” hammered the competition into submission at the box office this weekend. The superhero action flick debuted with an estimated $66 million to become the number one film in the country.

“Thor” is based on the Marvel comic book hero who is punished for his arrogance by being banished from his mythical homeland of Asgard and sent to Earth. The cast includes Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins.

Last week’s top movie, “Fast Five,” put the pedal to the metal, but managed only second place this time. “Fast Five” generated around $32.5 million for a two week total of $139.5 million.

Two new romantic comedies battled it out for third place, and it appears “Jumping the Broom” has won that skirmish. The film, about two families from different socioeconomic backgrounds who clash during a wedding weekend on Martha’s Vineyard, beat expectations and earned about$13.7 million.

“Jumping the Broom,” the title comes from the African American tradition of a couple jumping over a broom as part of the marriage ceremony, is a small film. The budget reportedly around $7 million. Nevertheless, it looks like this little movie is going to beat the odds and make a nice profit. Laz Alonso, Paula Patton, Angela Bassett, and Loretta Devine star.

The other new rom com, “Something Borrowed,”  had to settle for fourth with around $13.1 million. The movie is about  a woman who falls for her best friend’s fiancé. It’s based on the best selling novel of the same name by Emily Giffin. The film stars Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Colin Egglesfield.

Rounding out the top five, the animation “Rio” with an estimated $8.2 million.

A high octane debut at the box office for the fifth sequel to “The Fast and the Furious”  (2001).  ”Fast Five” burned rubber on the competition, left them in its smoke, with a huge opening estimated at $83.6 million. “Fast Five” is now the number one film in the country.

“Fast Five,” stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, The Rock, and Tyrese Gibson. The plot revolves around fast cars and a big money heist — $100 million.  

Far, far behind in second place, the animation “Rio” with around $14.4 million. Next in third, the comedy “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family” with about $10 million. The drama based on the book of the same name, “Water for Elephants,” took in about $9 million good enough for fourth.

Rounding out the top another new flick, ”Prom.”  This teen comedy about a high school prom stars Aimee Teegarden, DeVaughn Nixon, and Danielle Campbell.

Three new films grabbed the top spots at the box office this weekend. Out front and the new number one film in the country, “Hop,” with an estimated $38.1 million. The animated flick is a fantasy about a series of mishaps that almost derail Easter. The cast includes James Marsden, Russell Brand, and Hank Azaria.

In second place, “Source Code,” debuted with $15 million. The action thriller revolves around a soldier who wakes up in the body of another man — part of the Source Code program — his mission, to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. This very clever sci-fi thriller has received some pretty good reviews, but the debut was disappointing. The reason for the film’s weak opening — most likely, Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays the lead character. Gyllenhaal has not developed into the kind of leading man that draws movie fans.

Another new film, “Insidious,” claimed third with an estimated $13.3 million. This very low budget film focuses on several paranormal events that terrorize a young family. Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, and Ty Simpkins star.

Last week’s top film, the family-friendly “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules” landed in fourth with around $10.4 million and fifth place went to the thriller, ”Limitless,” with about $9.4 million.