From Juno to Jane Eyre

Amelia Earhart was just the first of many

(NEWSER) - In honor of Amelia’s celebration of the tough girl, James Brady Ryan of Nerve takes a look at the top 10 sexy tomboys onscreen and off:

• Nancy McKeon as Jo Polniaczek, The Facts of Life: Her entrance (on a motorcycle) and eventual career choice (police officer) speak for themselves.
• Ellen Page: The Juno star grew up climbing trees and playing with action figures, and she did her own roller-derby stunts in Whip It.

(NEWSER) - The Oscars are coming up, but that orgy of self-congratulation doesn’t celebrate what really matters in Hollywood: money. Forbes crunched the numbers for 2008 and selected the winners of a different award: the Rainmaker.

• Best Actor: Robert Downey Jr. returned $52.60 to Paramount for every dollar it spent to put him in Iron Man. The sky-high profit was enabled by Downey's then-low asking price, an aftereffect of his years of trouble with drugs and the law.

Small, 'self-involved' clique hands out the awards: NYT critic

(NEWSER) - Oscar night may seem like fun, but it has quietly turned the US market for serious films into a “brutal blood sport,” critic AO Scott writes in the New York Times. The highly commercial fare of January through August is followed by an “avalanche of art” after Labor Day—and those that are released too soon "will bear the stigma of failure," Scott laments. More»

A record four are up for screenwriting awards

(NEWSER) - When the Oscars for screenplays are awarded tomorrow, chances are pretty good that women's names will be on the envelopes. Three are up for best screenplay and one for adapted screenplay, an Oscar record. Women still make up only 19% of film writers, the AP reports, but the tide may be turning. "We all feel that a victory for one of us is a victory for all," said Diablo Cody, nominated for Juno. More»

Adoptive parents hurt by 'iPod scene'

(NEWSER) - Angry viewers are lobbying to axe "hurtful" lines from the trailer of quirky adoption flick Juno before showing it at the Oscars, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The offending scene—televised at the Golden Globes—has the title character quipping the Chinese "give away babies like free iPods." Screenwriter Diablo Cody says she was showcasing Juno's ignorance in a "wince-inducing, quintessentially teenage way." More»