In a year with no one film as a specific front-runner of the awards season, the National Board of Review has given a leg up to the Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men, honoring it as Best Picture, as well as with the group's ensemble cast award and adapted screenplay honor. In a reflection of the lack of heavyweight pictures and performances favored for potential Academy Award nominations, the National Board spread around its awards to a number of movies and actors. Tim Burton was named Best Director for Sweeney Todd, while former Oscar winners George Clooney (Michael Clayton) and Julie Christie (Away From Her) were honored as Best Actor and Actress; the supporting awards went to two highly acclaimed performances: Casey Affleck for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone (which also starred Affleck). The Diving Bell and the Butterfly won the Foreign Film Award, with Body of War and Ratatouille named the best documentary and animated films, respectively. A group of film aficionados and academics, the National Board is not a critics' group per se, but has gained its fame by handing out the first honors of the awards season. Winners named by critics' groups in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles will follow in the next week, with the Golden Globe nominations being announced on Thursday, December 13.

Other awards include: Breakthrough Performance by an Actor - Emile Hirsch, Into The Wild; Breakthrough Performance by an Actress - Ellen Page, Juno; Best Directorial Debut - Ben Affleck, Gone Baby Gone; Best Original Screenplay (tie): Diablo Cody, Juno and Nancy Oliver, Lars and the Real Girl.

In addition to its Best Picture award, the National Board of Review also names the top ten films of the year, in alphabetical order: The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Atonement, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Bucket List, Into The Wild, Juno, The Kite Runner, Lars And The Real Girl, Michael Clayton, and Sweeney Todd. --Mark Englehart, IMDb staff

Crash director Paul Haggis is suing one of his co-producers on the Oscar-winning movie over $4.7 million in unpaid royalties. Haggis claims he is owed the millions in profits from the 2005 box office hit and has accused Bob Yari of breach of contract. The filmmaker is disputing an agreement signed in 2002 regarding the distribution of royalties, which depended on the film's financial success. Crash, which went on to win three Academy Awards, was originally made on a budget of just $6.5 million plus $1 million in financing, but went on to gross over $100 million worldwide - more than 10 times its original cost. However, Yari has argued in court documents that the movie was not as profitable as it seemed, because various additional production costs had not been taken into account. Haggis is not the only person suing Yari over Crash's financial issues - legal suits have also been launched by Bobby Moresco, who co-wrote the film, and co-producer Cathy Schulman.

Russell Crowe has been confirmed as Brad Pitt's replacement in political thriller State Of Play after Hollywood-strike related issues forced the Troy star to pull out of the project. Director Kevin MacDonald flew to Crowe's native Australia in a bid to persuade him to take the role immediately as production begins this month. Pitt, 43, was onboard the film for months, but pulled out citing concerns with the script - sparking Hollywood fears the actor may face legal action from studio bosses at Universal Pictures after walking away from a film that was stalled by a strike. A star-studded cast including Edward Norton, Dame Helen Mirren and Rachel McAdams have already signed on to the film, an adaptation of the 2003 British TV miniseries.

Officials at Los Angeles' Department of Children and Family Services have grave concerns about the welfare of Britney Spears' young sons if the singer is left to care for them, according to a new legal document. Judge Scott Gordon has released 300 pages of a document, which features damning evidence against Spears, in her ongoing custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline. One document, obtained by Tmz.com, reads, "Based on its investigation to date, it should be noted that DCFS has concerns of its own regarding the safety and welfare of the children if the children are left in the mother's care." The release of the legal papers comes after Spears' legal team asked Gordon to keep the custody and visitation schedules private, arguing that the singer needs confidentiality "in order to minimize the chance that unscrupulous journalists will gain unwelcome access" to her.

Actress Mia Farrow has blasted Sudanese leaders for jailing a British schoolteacher accused of blasphemy, calling their treatment of her a typical act of "palpable insanity and cruelty." The UNICEF goodwill ambassador hopes the imprisonment of Gillian Gibbons - who was incarcerated for allowing her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad - will highlight the tyrannical control the downtrodden people of Darfur are forced to live under and, in turn, prompt Westerners to help them. However, Farrow - who was in London on Sunday to launch new campaign Fund4Darfur - is outraged that Gibbons' plight grabbed the headlines when the bigger issues facing the war-ravaged folk of Darfur are still being ignored by the media. She said, "One white woman in peril with a teddy bear has captured more media attention than the past three years of our brothers and sisters in the Darfur region. This is the first genocide of the 21st century and the one genocide that is ongoing as we speak. We have a regime that launched a military campaign on an unarmed population for no other reason than that they are not Arab." Fund4Darfur will aid the survivors of the fighting between Sudan's government and Darfur's rebels, who have been at war for four years, resulting in 200,000 casualties and 2.5 million being forced from their homes.

Twins Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen are downsizing their Hollywood dream after moving out of their $5 million Bel-Air pad and into a new home in Los Angeles' trendy Larchmont Village. The actresses have reportedly paid $1.6 million for their new Spanish-style home. According to American magazine In Touch Weekly, Mary-Kate spotted the four-bedroom home during a shopping trip to the area and fell in love with it. It seems the twins are planning to spend more time in Los Angeles after putting their 12-room apartment in New York City's West Village on the market for almost $12 million.

Lindsay Lohan ditched snowboarder lover Riley Giles after hooking up with single Oscar-nominated Brokeback Mountain star Heath Ledger, according to reports. The Georgia Rule actress split with Giles - who she met in rehab - last week, supposedly so the actress could concentrate on her career. But Australian magazine NW claims she dumped Giles after meeting Ledger in a New York club over Thanksgiving. The magazine reports, "Lindsay and Heath hit it off straight away. When she left the club she started texting him straight away and they hooked up a few times while she was still in New York. They were meeting late at night for sex. It was purely physical." Ledger has been single since splitting from fiancee Michelle Williams in September.

In Good Company actor Dennis Quaid and his wife Kimberly are convinced their newborn twins survived a shocking drugs overdose because a "miracle" took place. Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace were left fighting for their lives when they were mistakenly given 1,000 times the normal 10-unit dose of blood-thinning drug Heparin by staff at Los Angeles' Cedar's Sinai Medical Center shortly after they were born to a surrogate mother last month. The twins have now been discharged after doctors gave them the all-clear, and they are back home with their parents. The Quaids' lawyer Susan E. Loggins tells website People.com, "Their (babies) condition is fantastic, they're smiling... They've fully recovered from the accident and it's doubtful they'll suffer long-term effects from the overdose. The Quaids are very religious, and they believe their children's recovery is a real miracle." On Tuesday, the actor and his wife filed legal papers suing Baxter Healthcare Corp. for manufacturing the Heparin that they claim left the babies critically ill. The Quaids accuse the company of failing to properly label vials of its product - the 10 units-per-milliliter vial of Heparin looks almost identical to the 10,000 units-per-milliliter vial. They also insist the company executives has been alerted to past mix-ups, but chose to do nothing and are seeking $50,000 in damages.

Los Angeles police were called to Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony's Bel-Air home on Monday night after neighbors reported a suspicious man lurking in the shadows outside. A paparazzi photographer, who was outside the house when the authorities arrived, described the man as "disheveled." The unnamed photographer said the guy was wearing a Star Wars T-shirt and carrying a stack of CDs. He checked the couple's mailbox, left a mysterious package on the doorstep and then rang the doorbell. Police determined there was no threat and the individual was not arrested or taken into custody. Neither Lopez nor Anthony were at home at the time.

A beauty company is suing Teri Hatcher for allegedly breaking a contract by promoting rival products. Legal papers, filed by executives at Hydroderm skincare in Los Angeles on Tuesday, claim the Desperate Housewives actress promoted other beauty items, despite the fact she was paid $2.4 million to solely advertise Hydroderm products. The lawsuit reads: "Hatcher's name, image and likeness have been linked to so many competitors' products that it is anyone's guess as to what product keeps her skin and lips youthful." Hydroderm is seeking Hatcher's $2.4 million salary, unspecified damages and its legal costs.

TV star Jill Hennessy has given birth to a baby boy. The Crossing Jordan actress, 39, and her husband Paolo Mastropietro welcomed their second son, Gianni, on November 21in New York. The couple has another son, four-year-old Marco, reports website People.com.