Bowing to the very real possibility that the writers will still be on strike and picketing a month from now, Variety

reports the motion picture academy is devising a secret “alternative” ceremony that can be held in place of the usual big Oscar bash. Hopefully, it will be less embarrassing than the Golden Globes “press conference.” Meanwhile across the pond, “Atonement” to no one’s surprise

swept nominations for the British academy awards, with 14 to nine nods apiece for “No Country for Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood.”