TV News: French corp, GE at impasse over valuation -- Vivendi has officially become a thorn in the side of Comcast Corp.'s takeover bid for NBC Universal.

Film News: Makes $72.7 million, beating 'Dark Knight' -- "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" tore up the box office record for best opening day.

Music Reviews: It's not that there's any tension on stage, but it was quite apparent that Swell Season is now more than ever Hansard's band.

Award Central: HFPA shakes up kudofest with a live show and host -- What's a venerable awards ceremony to do when ratings are down?

Award Central: She helps Beverly Hills hotel hold No. 1 ranking -- Who you gonna call when you need to organize a press junket?

Award Central: Veteran shows have advantage of familiarity -- Suburban sex. Political sex. Screwed up families. Paranormal freak-outs. And bunch of high schoolers that seem to always burst into song.

Award Central: Clues are found in the history of Globes category -- Which Golden Globe comedies might make the Oscar list of 10 best-picture nominees?

Technology News: New rule allows five noms, with many to choose from -- The HFPA can nominate five animated movies, any of which could break out to make the Oscar list.

Music News: Hollywood Reporter, Billboard among brands for sale -- According to a Paid Content report, Nielsen Business Media is about two weeks from selling its print and online properties to a consortium led by James Finkelstein's News Communications.

Legit Reviews: "Show Boat" can't hide an antiquated book that will appear ever so distant to 21st century auds.

Legit Reviews: This breezy song-and-dance show from 1930 aims only to deliver its saddle-bag full of song hits.

Award Central: Film editor and former president to be feted -- Film editor Carol Littleton ("The Big Chill") will receive her guild's Fellowship and Service award.

Reality TV: Ratings down, however, compared to last season -- Although the season-six finale of Lifetime's "Project Runway" was the highest-rated episode of the season, numbers were significantly down from the season-five finale on Bravo.

Legit News: Producer aims to transfer tuner revival next year -- "Enter Laughing," the musical comedy that drew rave reviews in two runs at Off Broadway's York Theater, is aiming for Broadway in fall 2010.

Oscar News: Academy announces 10 Oscar contenders -- From 37 contenders to 10, the Academy must now select its animated short film nominees.

Weekly: Film marketing evolves with Internet, 3D -- In the hyper-charged intersection of new media and marketing, the humble trailer is now being asked to not only entice movie fans but also target certain demographics in more sophisticated ways, and embrace new technology like 3D.

Weekly Music and Technology: iPhone, Zune among toys inspiring techno-lust -- There are plenty of Blu-ray devices on the market with different bells and whistles, but the video quality of the movies shown on the systems doesn't vary a whole lot.

Weekly Music and Technology: iPhone, Zune among toys inspiring techno-lust -- Not all industryites are techno-friendly, but our jobs increasingly demand it. With the holidays coming and so many products on the market, it's hard to figure out what to ask for: Variety has compiled a few items to make the job easier and, as a bonus, make colleagues and rivals jealous.

Weekly Music and Technology: iPhone, Zune among toys inspiring techno-lust -- There are a flood of devices hitting the market that decode and play your computer's video files, but none work as smoothly as FreeAgent's.

Weekly Music and Technology: iPhone, Zune among toys inspiring techno-lust -- It isn't the most energy efficient TV on the market and it may not have the gee-whiz factor of LED backlighting, but this plasma set delivers unmatched picture quality. Black-levels are incredible, colors pop and the Internet services (via Panasonic's VieraCast service) offer a wide variety of viewing options. And with four HDMI inputs, it can handle pretty much whatever input devices you throw at it.