· Josh Brolin will make his feature directing debut with Pitz and Joe, an adaptation of Dominique Cieri's semi-autobiographical play about "the misfortunes of a young man with brain damage from an accident and his sister, who tries to coax him into believing again that life is worth living." Brolin will also produce and co-star. [Variety]
· Eminem led the Grammy nominations field this morning with 10, while Cee Lo Green's "F*ck You" earned both Song and Record of the Year nominations, which should make for intriguing censor-button duty when he presumably performs the song live during the Feb. 13 telecast. Lady Gaga, Lady Antebellum, and Jay-Z were among the other high-placing nominees. [Grammy.com]
· "If the latest fatal turn in the Ronni Chasen murder investigation had been inserted into a screenplay about Chasen's bizarre death, it would be dismissed as an example of poor plotting -- a mystifying, incomprehensible occurence that adds nothing and leads nowhere." Huh. I guess that's one way of looking at it. [Hollywood Elsewhere]
· Annnnd your Controversial Scientific Research Finding of the Year goes to University of Hawaii researcher Milton Diamond, who crunched some disturbing numbers on child pornography: "In those three countries where child porn is legal the sex abuse against children is very low and it has gone down compared to when it was illegal." Wait -- child porn is legal in three countries? And we invaded Iraq? [KITV.com]
· Anyone wanna buy a part of the Boston Red Sox? The NY Times -- which bought a 17.5 percent stake in the team in 2002 -- is selling, and is expected to fetch as much as $100 million for its shares. [Reuters]
· Extended unemployment benefits will officially run out at the end of December because Republicans did not get the compromise they sought on extending the Bush tax cuts. Why did the Democrats balk? Try this on for perspective: "For comparisons sake, the average millionaire will receive $103,809 in tax breaks next year if the Bush tax cuts are extended. Unemployment benefits, meanwhile, average about $290 per week" -- or roughly $15,000 per year. [ThinkProgress]
· Hey, what's shakin' with North Korea? Enh, same old same old, but here's an unusually fun treat from the DPRK: "Kim Jong-Il Looking at Things" [Tumblr]