• While the price of gold skyrockets, the Oscars are having to make this year's statues with less money in the kitty. Michael Cieply reports, "net assets for the fiscal year ended June 30 fell slightly, to $228.8 million, from $235.3 million the year before, as cash dwindled a bit and investments fell." And says Cieply, "Income from the Academy Awards rose about 3.5%, to $76.3 million from $73.7 million in 2008. Still, this year’s awards ceremony was more expensive. Awards-related expenses rose 6.8%, to $33.2 million from $31.1 million." NEW YORK TIMES

• Among the tasty tidbits offered up by Greg Ellwood in his comprehensive preview of the Golden Globes are the notion that Sandra Bullock ("The Proposal," "The Blind Side"), Meryl Streep ("Julie and Julia," "It's Complicated"), George Clooney ("The Men Who Stare At Goats," "Up in the Air") and Stanley Tucci ("Julie and Julia," "The Lovely Bones") "all have a legitimate shot at double acting nods" and that "global critical standouts such as Neil Bloomkamp's 'District 9' may receive the deserved recognition Oscar may deny them." HIT FIX

• Jeff Wells conducts a compelling interview with "Crazy Heart" star Maggie Gyllenhaal. Jeff prefaces his three-part video chat by commenting, "her performance works for everyone and then some, but is it leading or supporting? I saw it as supporting from the get-go, which didn't strike me as a problem in the least. The Fox Searchlight guys were feeling differently about this a week or two ago, but maybe they've come around." HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE

• Melinda Newman has put together a fun and fact-filled photo gallery of possible contenders for the new artist award at this year's Grammys. As Melinda notes in her intro, "Lady GaGa, the obvious winner, isn’t eligible because 'Just Dance' was nominated for best dance recording last year. Two other possible contenders, Phoenix and Kid Cudi, are also not eligible." HIT FIX

• "Superior Donuts," the well-received new play by Tracy Letts, is shuttering after just 16 weeks on Broadway. As Gordon Cox writes, "The show was Letts’ Rialto follow-up to his Tony and Pulitzer-winner 'August: Osage County,' but unlike that play, 'Donuts' never gained much momentum at the box office. Helmed by Tina Landau, 'Donuts' stars Michael McKean as the owner of a doughnut shop in a run-down part of Chicago. Co-star Jon Michael Hill has attracted attention for his well-reviewed perf as the shop owner’s young employee." VARIETY

• Pete Hammond reports, "Quentin Tarantino turned moderator for a SAG screening of 'Inglourious Basterds' Sunday, with 10 of his actors fielding questions at the post-screening Q&A. Guild members reportedly started lining up at 8:30 a.m. for the noon event that also featured a casual and bearded Brad Pitt, who was mobbed by paparazzi when the panel finally ended. Quentin, who loves doing this sort of thing, kept it going even after publicists were waving at him to end it for nearly 20 minutes." NOTES ON A SEASON

• Steve Pond does a crackerjack job interviewing Oscar contender Viggo Mortensen ("The Road"). Mortensen admitted, "I’ve never been in a movie where the character was dealing with this much sadness and dread all the way through. There are scary moments and entertaining moments, but still, inside he’s carrying a burden emotionally. How do you do that realistically, as an actor, and get it across so that it’s as real as the open wound of nature around us? That was a measuring stick. We couldn’t be any less real than what we were traveling through, these dead or dying landscapes." THE ODDS

Photos: HFPA, Playbill

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If Johnny Depp is the actor most overdue to win an Oscar, is Michelle Pfeiffer his female equivalent? Twenty-one years ago, she earned the first of her three Oscar nods for playing the innocent in "Dangerous Liaisons." Michelle Pfeiffer lost the supporting actress race to Geena Davis at her quirkiest in "The Accidental Tourist." Since then she has contended twice for lead actress, losing her 1989 bid for "The Fabulous Baker Boys" to "Driving Miss Daisy" star Jessica Tandy and her 1992 nod for "Love Field" to Emma Thompson for "Howards End."

Following a fallow period in her career, Michelle Pfeiffer returned to the screen two years ago as the campy villainess in "Hairspray," which earned a SAG ensemble nod. (It lost to eventual Oscar champ "No Country for Old Men".) In that frothy musical, Pfeiffer put the moves on Christopher Walken in a sizzling song and dance number. In "Cheri," due out June 19, she stars as a seductress who woos the young son (Rupert Friend) of her courtesan friend (Oscar winner Kathy Bates, "Misery").

The film reunites Michelle Pfeiffer with "Dangerous Liaisons" director Stephen Frears ("The Queen") and screenwriter Christopher Hampton, who won an Oscar back then for adapting his play. Now he has worked his magic on the landmark 1920 novel by Colette ("Gigi"). In and out of gorgeous costumes, Michelle Pfeiffer certainly does not look her 50 years. If any veteran actress can keep pace with the younger fillies in the awards derby it is this stunner.

Certainly, Michelle Pfeiffer is likely to be a Golden Globe nominee, especially if the film is categorized as a comedy where there is always a need to fill the ranks. She earned six consecutive Golden Globe nominations beginning in 1988. She lost her first comedy Globe nod for "Married to the Mob" in 1988 to "Working Girl" Melanie Griffith and her second in 1991 for "Frankie and Johnny" to Bette Midler in "For the Boys." Michelle Pfeiffer did win the drama Globe for "Baker Boys" and contended three other times for that award. She lost all three of those races to the eventual Oscar winner — in 1990 for "The Russia House" to Kathy Bates ("Misery"), in 1992 to Emma Thompson, and in 1993 for "The Age of Innocence" to Holly Hunter ("The Piano").

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Does being nominated by both the Golden Globe and Screen Actors' Guild Awards guarantee you an Oscars bid? Nope, say me and my Envelope colleague Scott Feinberg (Feinberg Files). Stars like Robert Downey Jr. ("Tropic Thunder") and Brad Pitt ("Curious Case of Benjamin Button") are in danger of being snubbed when Academy Awards nominations are unveiled next week, but overlooked stars like Clint Eastwood ("Gran Torino") can make a spectacular rally. Scott's done some in-depth analysis at his blog.

Camerawork by Daniel Montgomery

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In this harshly candid interview with Gold Derby, recent Golden Globes champ Mickey Rourke reveals what "The Wrestler" means to him personally and his big career comeback.

He acknowledges the parallels between himself and the lead character in "The Wrestler": "They put him on the bench because of his age and I could identify with the state of living in shame and living in disgrace. When you were somebody and then you're nobody anymore, it's like — they don't want you to come back. Very few can come back after 15 years. The only thing I was going on was hope and gas fumes."

Also, check out our video chats with other best-actor contenders Sean Penn ("Milk") HERE and Frank Langella ("Frost/Nixon") HERE.

Our media companies may be 3,000 miles apart, but when New York Times and L.A. Times Oscar bloggers hooked up after the Golden Globes, it was a close call. David Carr went for my throat!

Minutes after the Golden Globes last night, I tapped my Envelope colleague Pete Hammond and USA Today scribe Anthony Breznican for their views on what impact the award results might have on the Oscars. Please pardon the jittery camera action of the video with Anthony. I enlisted each journo to hold the camera for the other while I took turns gabbing with them and Pete, apparently, got a bit carried away playing with the zoom switch. And jiggling the camera to make it look as if it had been shot by a guerilla filmmaker. Hey, who do you think you are, Pete? Roger Deakins? Pick somebody else. Roger's still Oscarless!

Gawker.com combed through past threads in TheEnvelope.com's forums to round up some posts that probably got Tina Fey irked in the past, leading to her rant against them during her acceptance speech last night at the Golden Globes. See the posts HERE plus a video of Tina Fey's Golden Globes acceptance speech. See our own follow-up reports and videos about the hubbub HERE and HERE!

Photo: Gawker.com

For the past few weeks, Sean Penn promised the Golden Globes that, yes, he really will attend tonight's ceremony.

Golden Globes leaders were a bit surprised, but pleased with the news. Sean Penn snubbed the show when he won for "Mystic River" (2003) and the no-show was so embarrassing that, when his name was announced as winner, director Clint Eastwood raced up to the podium to accept on his behalf. Clint conveyed how sorry Penn was that he couldn't be there, but he said that Penn would return the next year to present.

Penn didn't show up that next year either. No surprise. He has a history of snubbing key HFPA events. This year, for example, he didn't bother to attend the HFPA press conference for "Milk," so director Gus Van Sant and Penn's costars had to carry on.

Well, now that Golden Globes ballots are in and there's widespread suspicion that voters may snub him back despite his sweep of early derby awards bestowed by the New York, L.A. and broadcast critics, he just sent word a short while ago, that, oops, he can't attend this year, after all. Will he be missed? Golden Globe voters don't seem to like "Milk" much. Aside from the best actor category, the movie got shut out of other top categories.

Photo: Focus Features

"You have to forgive me!" Kate Winslet gasped, thunderstruck up at the podium upon winning best supporting actress in a motion picture at the Golden Globes for "The Reader," beating front-runner Penelope Cruz ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona").

"I have a habit of not winning things," she explained breathlessly. That's an understatement. In the past, she has lost five times, just as she has at the Oscars, but now award gurus must re-think her Oscar odds, especially after her win three days ago at the Critics Choice Awards too.

But where will she show up at the Oscars, eh? It's virtually impossible for academy members to be influenced by Winslet's two recent award victories. Oscar nominations ballots are due in tomorrow. Academy accountants say that most voters submit ballots early.

Therefore, if there really is such strong kudos support for Winslet in "The Reader," and so little for her turn in "Revolutionary Road" (as seems to be the case), she could very well be nominated in lead for "The Reader." That will shake up the derby hugely, eh?

Remember, Oscar voters can put stars in whatever category they wish. Keisha Castle-Hughes ("Whale Rider") campaigned in supporting but was placed in lead. Ditto for Susan Sarandon ("Atlantic City"). James Cromwell campaigned in lead for "Babe," but got plopped in supporting. Now . . . whither Winslet?

Photo: Weinstein Co.

Thanks to our fast-fingered, sneaky spy at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, we nabbed this rundown of how the Golden Globes ceremony will break down tonight. Here's a chronology of the telecast — the order of when each award category and special segment will occur, plus details of participating celebs. See a full list of nominees HERE.

OPENING MONTAGE
Set to the song "When I Grow Up"

FILM SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Presented by (unknown).

FILM ORIGINAL SONG
Presented by Sting

MISS GOLDEN GLOBE (Rumer Willis)
Introduced by Demi Moore

TV SUPPORTING ACTOR
Presented by Simon Baker and Eva Longoria

TV SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Presented by Simon Baker and Eva Longoria

FILM CLIP FOR "BURN AFTER READING"
Introduced by Don Cheadle

HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSN. PRESIDENT (Jorge Camara)
Introduced by Eva Mendes

TV DRAMA ACTOR
Presented by Zac Efron and Hayden Panettiere

TV DRAMA ACTRESS
Presented by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto

FILM CLIP FOR "THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON"
Introduced by Jake Gyllenhaal

FILM ANIMATED FEATURE
Presented by the Jonas Brothers

FILM COMEDY ACTRESS
Presented by Johnny Depp

FILM CLIP FOR "HAPPY-GO-LUCKY"
Introduced by Ricky Gervais

TV MOVIE OR MINISERIES
Presented by Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange

FILM SUPPORTING ACTOR
Presented by Cameron Diaz and Mark Wahlberg

FILM CLIP FOR "FROST/NIXON"
Introduced by Tom Brokaw

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Presented by (unknown)

TV MOVIE OR MINISERIES ACTRESS
Presented by Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal

FILM CLIP FOR "IN BRUGES"
Introduced by Gerard Butler

FILM SCREENPLAY
Presented by Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen

TV COMEDY ACTOR
Presented by Patrick Dempsey and Amy Poehler

FILM CLIP FOR "THE READER"
Introduced by Renee Zellweger

TV MOVIE OR MINISERIES ACTOR
Presented by Megan Fox and Terrence Howard

TV DRAMA SERIES
Presented by Blake Lively and Rainn Wilson

FILM CLIP FOR "MAMMA MIA!"
Introduced by Pierce Brosnan

FILM ORIGINAL SCORE
Presented by Sean Combs and Jennifer Lopez

KEEP READING - THERE'S MORE!