The Batman blockbuster “The Dark Knight,” slighted in earlier Hollywood honors, was among best-picture nominees Monday for the Producers Guild of America Awards.
Other best-picture nominees were Brad Pitt’s romantic fantasy “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Ron Howard’s Richard Nixon saga “Frost/Nixon,” Sean Penn’s Harvey Milk film biography “Milk” and Danny Boyle’s rags-to-riches tale “Slumdog Millionaire.”
Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster in a decade and one of the year’s most-acclaimed films, “The Dark Knight” missed out on a best-picture slot for Sunday’s Golden Globes and was overlooked for an ensemble cast nomination at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
The Producers Guild lineup generally is a close match of best-picture nominees for the Academy Awards. The guild picks could give “The Dark Knight” and other contenders a last-minute nudge for the Oscars, whose nomination balloting closes Jan. 12. Oscar nominations will be announced Jan. 22.
Nominated for best animated feature by the Producers Guild were the dog tale “Bolt,” the martial-arts comedy “Kung Fu Panda” and the robot adventure “WALL-E.”
Contenders for television comedy: “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” ”Entourage,” ”The Office, “30 Rock” and “Weeds.” The TV drama nominees: “Boston Legal,” ”Damages,” ”Dexter,” ”Lost” and “Mad Men.”
Winners will be announced at a Jan. 24 ceremony in Hollywood.
Other nominees:
— Best documentary: “Man on Wire,” ”Standard Operating Procedure” and “Trouble in the Water.”
— Long-form television: “24: Redemption,” ”Bernard and Doris,” ”John Adams,” ”A Raisin in the Sun” and “Recount.”
— Nonfiction television: “Deadliest Catch,” ”Frontline,” ”Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List,” ”60 Minutes” and “This American Life.”
— Live TV and competition programs: “The Amazing Race,” ”The Colbert Report,” ”Project Runway,” ”Top Chef” and “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
TikTok’s Fate Arrives At Supreme Court; Arguments Center On Free Speech and National Security
In one of the most important cases of the social media age, free speech and national security collide at the Supreme Court on Friday in arguments over the fate of TikTok, a wildly popular digital platform that roughly half the people in the United States use for entertainment and information.
TikTok says it plans to shut down the social media site in the U.S. by Jan. 19 unless the Supreme Court strikes down or otherwise delays the effective date of a law aimed at forcing TikTok's sale by its Chinese parent company.
Working on a tight deadline, the justices also have before them a plea from President-elect Donald Trump, who has dropped his earlier support for a ban, to give him and his new administration time to reach a "political resolution" and avoid deciding the case. It's unclear if the court will take the Republican president-elect's views — a highly unusual attempt to influence a case — into account.
TikTok and China-based ByteDance, as well as content creators and users, argue the law is a dramatic violation of the Constitution's free speech guarantee.
"Rarely if ever has the court confronted a free-speech case that matters to so many people," lawyers for the users and content creators wrote. Content creators are anxiously awaiting a decision that could upend their livelihoods and are eyeing other platforms.
The case represents another example of the court being asked to rule about a medium with which the justices have acknowledged they have little familiarity or expertise, though they often weigh in on meaty issues involving restrictions on speech.
The Biden administration, defending the law that President Joe Biden signed in April after it was approved by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress, contends that... Read More