For Hollywood, it was a tough 2010

Sales of DVDs, CDs, video games and theater tickets all declined in 2010. And swift changes in technology will make it difficult for Hollywood to capture pre-recession levels of revenue.

The industry that was supposed to be immune to economic downturns looks like it's going to have some re-entry problems as the economy begins to recover.

Broad swaths of the entertainment business declined in 2010. DVD sales were off 13%. Music CD purchases plummeted 19%. Video game sales as well as concert and theater attendance also fell. Even the turnout for America's favorite pastimes — baseball and NASCAR — was down. And swift changes in technology will make it difficult for Hollywood to capture pre-recession levels of revenue.

...

But perhaps most ominously, last summer the pay-television industry suffered an unprecedented net loss — for the first time — of customers, a yellow warning light that consumers may no longer regard cable TV as a must-have utility on par with electricity and phone service.

Get all your Hobbit news here every Friday.

Our buyer is at Sundance [link]

This is interesting: Orson Welles's unseen masterpiece set for release

Major Oscar noms:

Best Supporting Actress

• Amy Adams, The Fighter
• Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
• Melissa Leo, The Fighter
• Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
• Jackie Weaver, The Animal Kingdom

Best Supporting Actor

• Christian Bale, The Fighter
• John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
• Jeremy Renner, The Town
• Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
• Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

Best Actress

• Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
• Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
• Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
• Natalie Portman, The Black Swan
• Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Best Actor

• Javier Bardem, Biutiful
• Jeff Bridges, True Grit
• Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
• Colin Firth, The King's Speech
• James Franco, 127 Hours

Best Director

• Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
• David O. Russell, The Fighter
• Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
• David Fincher, The Social Network
• Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit

Best Original Screenplay

• Another Year - Mike Leigh
• The Fighter - Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
• Inception - Christopher Nolan
• The Kids Are All Right - Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
• The King's Speech - David Seidler

Best Adapted Screenplay

• 127 Hours - Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
• The Social Network - Aaron Sorkin
• Toy Story 3 - Michael Arndt
• True Grit - Joel & Ethan Coen
• Winter's Bone - Debra Granik & Anne Rossellini

Best Foreign Film

• Biutiful (Mexico)
• Dogtooth (Greece)
• In a Better World (Denmark)
• Incendies (Canada)
• Outside the Law (France)

Best Animated Film

• How to Train Your Dragon
• The Illusionist
• Toy Story 3

Best Picture

• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The Kids Are All Right
• The King's Speech
• 127 Hours
• The Social Network
• Toy Story 3
• True Grit
• Winter's Bone

I'm surprised Nolan didn't get nominated for director. It's also so weird still to see so many Best Picture nominations. Too many choices!

I still need to see a lot of those movies.

Me, too. So far I've only seen Inception, Black Swan, and Toy Story 3, which is just sad.

I'm not sure I can sit through Rabbit Hole, though, although it's supposed to be fantastic.

I'm surprised Nolan didn't get nominated for director

I'd imagine he was a close sixth. Those are pretty decent names, although I haven't watched the movies. I do have a phantom hate on for The Social Network, but that's entirely my anti-Zuckerberg stance.

I hope Hailee Steinfeld wins for Best Supporting Actress, but I haven't seen the other films of that category.