It’s not just Posh Spice and David Beckham that are the newest flock of British invaders in America.

At the 2007 Oscar nominations not just the Brits, but also the Japanese and the Mexicans, et. al. have created an immigration problem in the Hollywood movie industry as well.

Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto could have joined the race but after that anti-Jewish slur incident, he can forever wave bye-bye to any chance of getting another Oscar nomination. Making a film about how the Jews killed Jesus is forgivable, but telling it straight to their faces is, well, career suicide.

Anyway, three top British actresses top the Best Actress category: Judy Dench, Kate Winslet, and Golden Globe winner Hellen Mirren. Now Winslet has been nominated many times now, but she always had the bad luck of facing off with equally great actresses with more popular roles.

This year is no exception. The last time she was in the race for the statue was for her role in Finding Neverland. And I’ll bet my secret Cayman Islands account that if Hillary Swank didn’t do Million Dollar Baby that year, Winslet would have won.

Only one American was nominated for Best Actress and it was Meryl Streep for The Devil Wears Prada. I don’t think even the devil can take away the Oscar from the Queen at this point. And to wrap up this category, Spanish Penelope Cruz for Volver, a film directed by fellow Spanish Pedro Almadovar.

The Best Actor Category has Leonardo DiCaprio snagging a nom for Blood Diamond. But he’s up against brilliant performances by Forest Whitaker, Will Smith, and (Irish actor) Peter O’Toole. Oh and Ryan Gosling got a nod, too, whoever that guy is. Good for him though, now he will have Academy Award Nominee tag attached to his name.

Read More » British and Other Immigrants Invade This Year’s Oscar Race

Cellphones pose NO cancer risk to users, for crying out loud. Or anyway, it’s too early to tell.

A study from Denmark is the biggest and strongest yet to come out in favor of the stance that mobile phones do not trigger cancer. It presents more overwhelming proof than previously that heavy cellphone users are no more likely to have cancer than rare to non-users.

It’s just that people have not been using cellphones long enough for experts to know for sure, and for that, we need time.

Questions linking cellphones to health risks have floated for as long as the words SMSing and txts have entered our vernacular. Radio frequency energy from mobile phones penetrates the brain’s outer edge, which may or may not increase the possibility of brain tumors, cancers of the head and neck, or leukemia in frequent and long-time users.

A concern has also been raised recently by a pan-European study regarding genetic damage. And then there is that issue of cellphones causing supermodels to hit their personal assistants or even unknowing passersby. The World Health Organization thus far has no definitive conclusion to these questions.

As you’re picking out who will win Superbowl 2007 for hours over the cellphone, could you be picking up the Big C? It’s all talk, according to the study from Denmark, where there are 5.118 million mobile cellular lines in use compared to…

Read More » Cellphones Don’t Cause Cancer, Wanna Bet?

We condemn discrimination against gays, and we condemn sex amongst gays.

The above mixed messages are brought to you by the United States Catholic bishops, who confered Tuesday to draft a document that advises followers of their faith on how to deal with gays, and gayness. The resulting statement contains gay outreach guidelines, which gay Catholic activists find only alienate the very people they attempt to reach.

The statement, Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination, was adopted at a meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops by a 194-37 vote, with one abstention. It is well intended on the outset, encouraging Catholics to make an effort to accept homosexuals; but all the same, discouraging efforts to accept homosexuality.

An example: welcoming gays to the Catholic flock but forbidding those who engage in gay sex to take the holy communion. Seriously, is this still a traumatic reaction to that kiss from one male to another that ended the last supper in bad taste?

Catholic bishops suggest it’s okay to be gay but not okay to live a gay lifestyle, as if the two should be separated. The statement proposes it isn’t a sin to be attracted to someone of the same sex – but it is a sin to act on these same-sex feelings. To wit: fall in love but don’t make…

Read More » Bishops Welcome Gays …with a Judas Kiss

It’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and you know what that means–amateur night at your local hometown bar and DUI check points on every corner. Yippee! In the spirit of Thanksgiving, today’s Cultural Oddsmaker will forecast the upcoming season of that spicy little girl school raunchfest, The Facts of Life. We’ve solicited ace handicapper Timmy Okeafor to give us the good, the bad and the there-you-have odds for the start of the new season. Put on your best Edna Garret costume and follow along after the jump!

Read More » Cultural Oddsmaker: The Facts of Life

We know it’s Tuesday. That’s why we’re happy. And we also know plenty of gamblers love Dawson’s Creek. The new season begins tonight and we’ve brought along handicapping sherpa Roland Barristoni to help us lay odds on what will happen to Dawson, Joey, Pacey and all the gang. After the jump, get a leg up on the new season and find out what we think’s going to happen at the Creek this year! ODDS · Dawson buys a flute. 2/1 · Pacey rides a tractor. 3/1 · Joey rides a tractor.

Read More » Cultural Oddsmaker: What Will Happen Next Season on Dawson’s Creek?

IN THE WAKE OF USC/ND SATURDAY · Matt Leinart is the front-runner in the Heisman Trophy race once again - 3/2 · Rumored new Leinart roommate Nick Lachey will spend the next month getting nothing better than his roomie’s castoff ass - EVEN · A two- or three-loss Notre Dame team will still find a way to get a BCS bowl bid -

Read More » Monday Morning Oddsline

It’s surprising that by now none of the online bookmakers have thrown up anything about the newly disengaged Paris Hilton at this point. We’ve waited. Patiently. But our patience wanes easily so instead we went out and recruited our very own Paris Hilton expert in the form of one Claire Zulkey: Journalist,satirist, pop culture enthusiast and Paris Hilton sycophant. And good Claire has not only presented us with a list of odds most likely to be put forth in the next few days about Paris, but also gives her own little commentary on their possible outcome. It’s a Cultural Oddjacking masterpiece. Follow the Zulkey-ized odds, after the jump. Paris gets fat.

Read More » Oddjack Cultural Oddsmaker: Paris Hilton’s Next Move

It is a glorious time of the year–crackling leaves, that wood-burning Halloween smell, and that unsettling feeling that we’re just getting older every day and all of our dreams are slowly disintegrating into a pile of ash. But we have the fall TV season to get us through. In celebration of the beginning of its second season, today’s Cultural Oddsmaker gives the breakdown on ABC’s Gilligan-esque hit show Lost. Our guest handicapper is Aileen Gallagher of the mighty Black Table, who shows us that she’s as adept at oddsmaking as she is at sneering. Proceed to the land of Lost, after the jump.

Read More » Oddjack Cultural Oddsmaker: Lost

Holla. This week’s Cultural Oddsmaker will pull together odds for this Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards ceremony. There stands to be much rock star posturing, shout-outs galore, and big ups all around, as the world’s most gigantic musical acts descend upon Miami for the weekend festivities. The event is hosted by Diddy and musical acts include Green Day, Kelly Clarkson, R.Kelly, 50 Cent, and Coldplay. It’s like Woodstock ‘94 all over again. Afer the jump, enjoy enough oddsmaking to kill a man in Reno. We find it impossible that MTV still has a video music award since we haven’t seen a video on MTV since the world premiere of Madonna’s ‘Justify My Love’.

Read More » Oddjack Cultural Oddsmaker: MTV VMA Awards

This week’s cultural oddsmaker follows the bouncing scary monster boob of Tara Reid as she embarks upon her new career as host of E!’s Wild On series, which premieres tonight on 9 p.m. Has there ever been a Hollywood marriage more suited than this unholy union of woman, sun, sand, and 58-gallon margarita? We don’t think so. After the jump, follow guest oddsmaker Chris Mohney of our baby’s momma’s best friend’s brother site, Gridskipper, as he takes a break from tracking Rugenbrau festivals in Berne to handicap the crap out of Tara.

Read More » Oddjack Cultural Oddsmaker: Wild on Tara!