If Playback readers had their druthers, C.R.A.Z.Y.’s winning streak would continue at the 26th annual Genies.

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Last year’s winner: Roy DupuisPlayback predicts the winner: Michel Côté: MR * Marc-André Grondin: SD, MD, DD, MH * Luc Picard: MMH

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Alberta producer Tom Cox wasn’t entirely convinced about the prospects for the feature drama Brokeback Mountain when director Ang Lee was filming it in the province, but he did know he was part of something special.

Of all the films that Sony Pictures and MGM released in 2005, the one that’s making the most Oscar noise – with five nominations – is an unassuming little movie shot in Manitoba over winter 2004. And it all began with a sushi lunch.

It may not be considered Cancon on Genie night, but David Cronenberg’s acclaimed and most mainstream film to date, A History of Violence, about an unassuming husband and father (Viggo Mortensen) whose past comes back to reclaim him in small-town America, is in the hunt for a pair of major Oscars.

Paul Haggis (c) directs Matt Dillon (l) and Ryan Phillippe (r) while cowriter Bobby Moresco looks on during the filming of the drama Crash. The film’s six Oscar nominations include three for London, ON native Haggis: best picture (shared with Cathy Schulman), direction, and original screenplay (shared with Moresco). The film’s U.S. distributor, Canadian-based Lions Gate Films, has noted a bump in DVD revenue for the film since the nominations were announced. Crash is handled in Canada through Lions Gate spin-off Maple Pictures

Hollywood spending was down by almost a third last year, according to new numbers from the OMDC

The latest BBM/Nielsen numbers show Global with two in the top five — thanks to the Superbowl and a certain game show that followed. But CTV’s CSI still has the highest numbers for a series, followed by the juggernaut, American Idol

The makers of Jozi-H paid for their own ads and drew dismal ratings. And yet, they think CBC will want a second season of their blood-stained medical drama