A lot of news today that relates to the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike–seems like it’s becoming a bigger and bigger deal.  Therefore, for your reading enjoyment, we present the Writers’ Strike Round-up:

1. Juno for Best Picture!  The 2008 Academy Award Nominations were announced this morning, and everyone’s buzzing about the news.  This relates to the writers’ strike because the writers are currently planning to picket this year’s Oscar ceremony.  And actors and directors, in solidarity with the writers, might not be showing up either.  Academy Award producers say they have a plan in place to hold the ceremony without any of the writers or stars so that the show can go on. 

I’m personally a little skeptical that anyone will care to watch an Oscar ceremony without writers or stars, but then again, I wonder why people watch even when the writers and stars are there.  Sure, I want to know who won as much as you do, but I don’t usually spend 4.5 hours watching boring acceptance speeches just to find out.  There’s this thing called the Internet, and I can usually find out the winners in real time on a variety of websites. 

Anyway, I’m pulling for Juno for Best Picture, for many reasons.  First, it’s an underdog.  It’s this year’s “indie darling” film that critics and audiences are loving.  But it’s still a small-time competitor when you consider the competition.  Here are the nominees for Best Picture:

Juno (yay)

There Will Be Blood

No Country For Old Men

Atonement

Michael Clayton

I’m also rooting for Juno because I really liked it.  It’s quirky and fun and sweet, without having to be outlandish or overly strange.  It’s a much-more straightforward story than I expected, but the performances (especially by the lead, Ellen Page, who plays Juno) are exceptional.  Miss Page is also nominated for Best Actress. 

Lastly, I’m pulling for Juno for Best Picture because I haven’t seen any of the other movies that are nominated.  It’s tough to root for a movie you haven’t seen.  In fact, I think this is the year 0f the under-watched Best Picture nominees, because all of those films are smaller, more “indie-type” films that opened on a limited run.  There’s not a single blockbuster on that list–not a Titanic in the bunch–which means the award could go to any of them.  Let us know which film you’re backing for this year’s Best Picture Oscar in the comments below.

2. More people than ever are watching television episodes of their favorite shows online, according to this report.  This is nothing new.  We’ve covered this before–just recently, when we talked about Comcast’s new site for TV shows and movies, called FanCast.  But we get actual statistics this time: 

The number of broadband users who watched full shows online weekly doubled in 2007 from 8% to 16%, says market research firm Horowitz Associates.

Obviously, the connection here to the Writers’ Strike is that people are probably watching more TV episodes online more and more because there’s simply nothing on the real television anymore.  News, sports, and reality shows are basically all that’s left, as the strike has forced an end to production on new episodes of comedies and dramas.  Also, we’re becoming more wired….so, duh.  Of course we’re watching more TV episodes online.  More of us have broadband, there’s more accessibility as the networks and production companies make content more available.  It’s no surprise whatsoever…but it’s still interesting.  I think that percentage will spike even higher in the next few months if the strike isn’t resolved. 

3. Because of the writers’ strike, Americans are beginning to read more, according to this story (which, interestingly enough is from the UK).  See, without new episodes of our favorite TV shows to watch, we’re doing all sorts of things more often than we did just six months ago.  10% said they are reading more books (hooray for literacy!!), and a whopping 27% are simply going to bed earlier. 

Man, are we that dependent on our TV shows?  Without them we have nothing else we can do for entertainment but… go to sleep?!?!  That’s ridiculous!  Read a book like the other 10%.  Play a video game.  Exercise.  Go online and surf the web (or, as we just pointed out above…you can watch TV episodes and movies online people!!).  Talk to your wife or loved ones!  But just….going to sleep?  Wow, that’s pathetic.  We’re really too tied to our TV shows if the best we can do to replace them is…”Well, I guess I’ll go ahead and go to bed.”