HollywoodIdiocy.com

While it may do a lot for Hollywood investor relations, tonight’s 80th annual Academy Awards are nothing I care about all the much, other than the pending broadcast of the ceremony helped bring the writer’s strike to an end at last.

To be honest, there’s simply no actor, actress or movie nominated this year that I feel very strongly about, and given the recent trend toward blatently politicizing the Oscars anyway, I have plenty of more-pleasant ways to spend my evening. For exmaple, taking my wife out to a movie, if she’s up for it; or writing my blogs, or doing some Torah study, or flipping in a movie to watch.

No matter what I do, it’s certain to be a better use of my time than watching a bunch of HollywoodIdiots pat themselves on the back for being good at their craft. Never mind that fewer and fewer of these films are going over well with large audiences.

Charlie may be drowned and dead on Lost, but actor Dominic Monaghan is anything but; the actor is landing feet-first with a plum role in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie, which will focus in on the solo adventures of Hugh Jackman’s character.

Although his longevity may not be the stuff of low term life insurance quotes, Monaghan’s character in the mutant action film will be a character called Blackwing, whose powers are similar to Angel’s, the bird-like flying character in 2006’s X-Men 3: The Last Stand.

Like many former Lost-ies, Monaghan’s run on the ABC drama has earned him a rep as a hot property in Hollywood and adding this talented actor to the cast seems certain to further cement interest in the next X-flick.

It didn’t take long at a beer pong table to see that Vantage Point, the Matthew Fox vehicle, was the weekend’s top drama, raking in over $24 million to secure the top spot at the box office. Jumper, last weekend’s number one flick, could only manage just over half that total with $12.65 million for second place, just ahead of the children’s drama, the Spiderwick Chronicles.

Step Up 2 the Streets and Fools’ Gold rounded out top five, but only Vantage Point was a first-weekend debut release. New Line’s Be Kind, Rewind placed seventh overall, while the comedy Witless Protection and the heavily promoted Charlie Barlett took 13th and 14th place respectively. Indy comedy June remains strong, raking in another $4.1 million to add to its $130 million total so far.

ABC’s critically-acclaimed murder mystery series, based on the novels of James Patterson, Women’s Murder Club, has landed a showrunner just in time to crank our four more episodes before season’s end, giving the show a shot at renewal next fall. The Angie Harmon-fronted drama, based around the efforts of four female friends in positions of power in San Francisco to solve the city’s toughest crimes, has been teetering on the edge of cancellation largely due to losing its show-runners over the course of the 100-day writer’s strike, recently resolved.

Now, Robert Nathan, a veteran show runner on NBC’s Law and Order, has been tapped to come on board for at least the last four episodes this season and try to gently retool the show enough to get a ratings bump and secure a season renewal. Word is, if the network hadn’t found a show runner, the drama was doomed to see its sets struck, right down to the bathroom fixtures, and grind toward slow, painfel non-renewal death. At least now, it has a shot.

In a season with so little original program, it’s a wonder so many shows are rumored to be on the bubble right now. Some of those currently balancing between cancellation and renewal are silly shows to think of cancelling, while others seem long overdue and you’d need a magnifying glasses to see how they’ve lasted as long as they have.

Here’s the lowdown on the “bubble shows.”

CBS’ How I Met Your Mother: Though consistently winning its time slot demographically against stiff competition like NBC’s American Gladiators and Chuck, as well as Fox’ Prison Break and Sarah Conner Chronicles, this is a show ABC should be talking to about a multiseason renewal, not possible cancellation. But it’s produced by Fox, so it’s not their own money on the line. This is one bubble show that must not die.

CBS’ Moonlight: Although it does not involve Joss Whedon or David Greenwalt, the vampire drama has carved out an interesting niche all its own and deserves a full-season renewal.

ABC’s Women’s Murder Club: The James Patterson-based crime drama has a good pedigree and was stirring up some competition against CBS’ Friday night lineup; again, this one should get the “quality television” renewal.

Fox’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: A strong reboot of the Terminator franchise, the show has been tossed about the network schedule in the wake of the writers strike, never really given a chance to shine. It deserves another shot.

The rest are shows I don’t care for myself and won’t feel strongly one way or another if they bow after this season: NBC’s Friday Night Lights, CW’s Aliens In America, ABC’s Carpoolers, ABC’s Men In Trees, ABC’s October Road, CBS’s Cane, Shark and The Unit.

Bye and good riddance to all, if you ask me. I just hope The CW keeps Reaper around for a full-season run.