The entertainment industry’s awards season is in full bloom. This past week, the Directors Guild of America released a slew of its nominations for television, feature films, and documentaries.

Here are the nominees for the prestigious outstanding directorial achievement in feature films for 2011.

Woody Allen  “Midnight in Paris”
Fifth nomination. He won in 1977 for “Annie Hall”
David Fincher “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Third nomination.
David Hazanavicius “The Artist”
First nomination.
Alexander Payne  “The Descendants”
Second nomination.
Martin Scorsese  “Hugo”
Ninth nomination. He won this award in 2006 for “The Departed”

The DGA Award for feature film directing is a pretty good barometer for who is going to walk away with the Academy Award for Best Director. The DGA Awards began in 1948 and since then, only six times has the DGA Award winner not picked up the Best Director Oscar as well.

The winner will be announced at the 64th Annual DGA Awards gala later this month on Saturday, January 28 at The Grand Ballroom in Hollywood.

For the DGA Award nominees in television go here and for documentaries here.  Also, the winners in these categories will be announced at the DGA Awards dinner and ceremony on January 28.

 WGA 2011 awards

Some of Hollywood’s top writing awards were given out last night by the Writers Guild of America. The best original screenplay went to Christopher Nolan for the smart sci-fi actioner, “Inception.”  The ceremony was held simultaneously at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in the Southland and at the AXA Equitable Center in New York City.

Aaron Sorkin took home the best adapted screenplay trophy for the Facebook script, “The Social Network,” which is based on the book “The Accidental Billionaires” (2009) by Ben Mezrich. In accepting his award, Sorkin said: “I wrote a good screenplay, but David Fincher made a great movie.” More on the WGA awards ceremony on the Los Angeles Times website.  Also, the complete list of the 2011 WGA Awards winners here on the Writers Guild of America, West, website.

Catching up on some other recent awards events:

Major DGA Award goes to “The King’s Speech” director

Photo: DGA website -- Tom Hooper received the DGA film directing award for 2011 from last year's winner, Kathryn Bigelow on January 30, 2011

 Tom Hooper won the DGA Award for outstanding directorial achievement in feature film on his first feature film nomination, last Sunday, January 30, at the Grand Ballroom in Los Angeles. Hooper won for his work on ”The King’s Speech.” The list of all the 63rd DGA Awards winners here.

SAG Awards 2011  winners revealed

Also, last Sunday, the Screen Actors Guild Awards for outstanding performances in 2010 were presented during a ceremony at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center in L.A. The Actor for best performance by a cast in a motion picture went to the Oscar front-runner, “The King’s Speech.”  The full list of winners for the 17th Annual SAG Awards here.

“The Green Hornet” opens in theaters today

The new film version of “The Green Hornet” is going to try to make a killing over the long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. “The Green Hornet” has appeared in a number of different media including, a radio program, a television series, and comic books.

The 3D film hits domestic theaters today and stars, Seth Rogen as the wealthy playboy, Britt Reid, turned superhero/crime fighter who teams up with trusty sidekick/martial arts expert, Kato, played by Jay Chou. Cameron Diaz stars as Lenore “Casey” Case, Reid’s secretary and love interest.

 ”The Green Hornet” will be trying to topple the number one film, “True Grit.”

The western remake won last weekend’s domestic Box Office race with a tally of $14.6 million. Throughout the week, “True Grit” continue to out pace the competition and to hold on to the title of number one movie in the country.

The comedy “Little Fockers,” got bumped from the top spot to second place with earnings of $13.4 million, last weekend. The new horror flick, “Season of the Witch,” landed in third with $10.6 million. It stars Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman. The plot revolves around a woman accused of being a witch and causing the Black Plague.

The fantasy, “Tron Legacy,” took four with $10 million and rounding out the top five, the psychological thriller  flick, “Black Swan” with $8.1 million. It’s about to dancers fighting for the top role in a ballet. Natalie Portman, Winona Ryder, Vincent Cassel, and Mila Kunis are in the cast.

Catching up on other entertainment news…

Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Conrad Murray, has been ordered to stand trial in connection with the pop superstar’s death in June of 2009. Last Wednesday, after a six-day hearing, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled there was sufficient enough evidence to try Dr. Murray for manslaughter. An arraignment has been set for January 25.

Also, the judge revoked Dr. Murray’s license to practice in California. Murray could lose his medical licenses in two other states as well. Details here.

DGA feature film nominations for 2010

Earlier this week, the Directors Guild of America released the names of the five nominees for outstanding directorial achievement in feature films for 2010. No real surprises on the list. All of the directors and their films have been getting a lot of awards buzz lately.  

Here are the nominees:

• Darren Aronofsky  “Black Swan”
• David Fincher “The Social Network”
• Tom Hooper “The King’s Speech”
• Christopher Nolan “Inception”
• David O. Russell “The Fighter”

The winner will be announced on Saturday, January 29 at a ceremony and dinner in Hollywood. For more on the nominees, the DGA Awards, and the ceremony go here.

Photo from http://www.dga.org

Director James Cameron is king of the Box Office right now, but the Directors Guild of America picked filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow as the best feature film director of 2009. The winner was announced last night at the 62nd Annual DGA Awards dinner in Los Angeles.   

The 58-year-old Bigelow won for the highly acclaimed Iraq-war drama, “The Hurt Locker.” She is the first woman to ever win the prestigious award, considered a reliable predictor of who will walk away with the best director Oscar. Bigelow is quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying: “This is amazing. I’m so deeply stunned, honored and awed.”

Bigelow and the film have won numerous awards, including the Darryl F. Zanuck producer of the year award from the Producers Guild of America, last Sunday in Hollywood. The Academy Award nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, and the big money is on Bigelow’s name being mentioned for best director.

For a list full list of the 2009 DGA award winners click here.

DGA picks top five film directors of 2009

Today the Directors Guild of America announced a solid list of contenders for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2009. The nominees for the award are: Kathryn Bigelow “The Hurt Locker,” James Cameron “Avatar,” Lee Daniels “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” James Reitman “Up In The Air,” and Quentin Tarantino “Inglourious Basterds.”

If they weren’t already, these films and directors shot to the head of the Oscar contenders list with today’s announcement. The DGA Award is considered an accurate barometer for who will win the Oscar for Best Feature Film Director. Since 1948, only six times has the winner of the DGA Award not gone on to win the Academy Award, according to the guild’s website.

The winner will be announced at the 62nd Annual DGA Awards Dinner in Los Angeles on Saturday, January 30, 2010. More details on the nominees and the DGA Awards here.

2010 People’s Choice Awards

This year’s People’s Choice Awards were handed out earlier in the week. The winners include Sandra Bullock, Johnny Depp, Ellen Degeneres, Mariah Carey, Carrie Underwood, and Taylor Lautner. The Wrap has a nice recap of the winners and a tidbit about the controversy surrounding the newly designed People’s Choice trophy.  

Today several films got a boost in the Oscar race with the announcement of the contenders for top feature film director of 2008 by the Directors Guild of America. The five nominees for the DGA Award are Christopher Nolan for “The Dark Knight,” Gus Van Sant “Milk,” David Fincher “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Ron Howard “Frost/Nixon,” and Danny Boyle for “Slumdog Millionaire.”

This the first DGA nomination for Danny Boyle and David Fincher; the others have several nominations to their credit. Taylor Hackford, DGA Third Vice President, explained the significance of the award: “What makes this award truly meaningful to directors is the knowledge that only this award is decided solely by their peers – the men and women who live the passion, sweat and fear that goes into creating feature films.”

Also, the DGA Award nominees quickly become front runners for the best director Academy Award. They began handing out the DGA Award in 1948; since then only six times has the winner of that award not gone on to win the Oscar for best director. In 1995, Ron Howard won the DGA Award for “Apollo 13,” but Mel Gibson took home the best director Oscar that year for “Braveheart.” Howard had better luck in 2001 when he won both the DGA Award and the best director Oscar for “A Beautiful Mind.”

The winner of the 2008 DGA Award will be announced on Saturday, January 31, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in West Los Angeles.