Spike Lee - Defamer

might not be able to literally pit Leo vs.

Leo like at the Globes, but that doesn't mean he can't face off against himself in the trades: Warner Bros. has been using a picture of the actor in their The Departed FYC ads extremely similar to the one they're using in their Blood Diamond Best Actor campaign. Will the confusion benefit everyone, or will Academy members, brainwashed by repetitive Leo conditioning, award DiCaprio every available Oscar, including Animated Short, Sound Design, and Best Picture?

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But how did it play in Leeds and Humberside? U.K.

's regional film journalists name Pan's Labyrinth their film of the year, with Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker picking up the top acting , and Abigail Breslin being named "newcomer of the year." [ ]
Everyone involved in the telecast showed up for the annual production meeting powwow, including 16-year gag-writing vet Bruce Vilanch, who bragged that he can bang out an entire show's worth of one-liners in a night, simply by transcribing the top two drawers of his novelty T-shirt collection. [ ]
While porcupine-becoiffed superproducer (don't worry--we won't use the headshot) has long been developing a big screen treatment of 's life story with the cooperation of the legend himself, just two days after the singer's death comes a report that has signed on to direct. And although Grazer wasn't necessarily looking for a Hollywood ending, something about Brown hip-gyrating off this mortal coil on Christmas Day makes for to the life of a Soul Messiah:

"Like everybody, I was surprised and saddened that James Brown died," Daily Variety quoted Grazer as saying. "Having known him well, and after spending lots of time with him and researching his life, it's somehow not surprising that he died on Christmas Day.

He was the ultimate showman, all the way to the end."

We trust Lee won't take this theme to its ridiculous extremes, and surround his subject's hospital death bed with a variety of manger animals and three wise men--not even Brown's William Morris representatives and lawyer, who might have been lurking in the hospital corridors during his last hours to ensure the final paperwork hurdles to filming his life story were signed. Let the casting debates begin: We only pray the role doesn't land on the go-to guy for African American musical prodigy biopics, Jamie Foxx, and perhaps instead falls on the shoulders of the less obvious choice, who will convey everything we need to know about Brown's passion, pipes, and moves through the use of nothing more than .

The National Board of Review makes the first official penetration of the season orgy, naming Letters from Iwo Jima best film, Martin Scorcese best director, Forest Whitaker and Helen Mirren best actors, and Volver best foreign film. Brace yourself for the imminent deluge of awards and nominations announcements that may or may not have anything to do with a film's Oscar chances over the coming weeks. [ ]
The Grammy nominations are out!

And? These are probably the only words we're going to write about them: Mary J. Blige, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Justin Timberlake are all multiple nominees.

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At yesterday's HRTS luncheon, showrunners of scripted programming gathered together to bitch about reality television and the absurdity of network censorship guidelines concerning the number of pelvic thrusts one may display during sci-fi show sex scenes. (Answer: as many as you can squeeze in without depicting "rhythmic sex.") [ ]
This article about the five actors who've joined ' next directoring effort, In the Valley of Elah/The Untitled Paul Haggis Project, makes absolutely no mention of Crash or its Oscar victory.

For a very happy moment, we allowed ourselves to believe the win was just a very bad dream. And yes, we're still carrying around that pain. [ ]
's chooses as the directorial vessel through which the superproducer can explore the L.

A. riots in dramatic form, signing on to produce L.A.

Riots for . Negotiations are ongoing as to whether he can convince his director to bill the movie as "A Brian Grazer (with Spike Lee) Joint." [ ]
It still hasn't totally sunk in that is going to be running .

We think we all still need some time with this one. [ , ]
Robert De Niro and 50 Cent are in "final negotiations" to star as partners in cop thriller New Orleans, a project that is screaming out to be immediately reimagined as a Lethal Weapon-style buddy comedy. [ ]
Producer , , and a dump truck full of cash are close to convincing that a sequel to seemingly self-contained bank heist flick Inside Man is a good idea.

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Madonna-founded Maverick Films is suing a film production company for stealing its ideas for a movie Maverick is making on the Stanford Prison Experiment, which they themselves originally appropriated from a Psychology 101 college textbook. [ ]
Universal's Rogue Pictures will distribute legendary Paul W.S.

Anderson's Castlevania movie. [ ]
Someone or something has kidnapped the angry of yesteryear, and replaced him with lovable, huggy Spike, director of .

The ongoing fuzzy-wuzzification of Lee shows no signs of slowing down, as he has been recently spotted doing time as :

Filmmaker Spike Lee and actress attend a ceremony for Cartier at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York on June 8. The international jewelry company is launching a Love collection of jewelry, including the Love Charity bracelet. Some of the proceeds from the sale of the bracelet will benefit eight charities.

Seeing an open opportunity to pitch Parker, whose "edgy, dark" work in The Family Stone he so admired, Lee told the actress about an idea kicking around in his head he thought she'd be perfect for: a remake of his own Do The Right Thing, set this time entirely in a Manhattan department store during Christmas, with madcap, screwball romance stepping in for the original's racial rioting. Parker was immediately intrigued, and the two have since been busily developing the project during the commercial breaks of their regular Project Runway encore screening parties.