In case you didn’t realize it, there’s a lot of groups in Hollywood that like to give awards. From the Screen Actors Guild to the Writers Guild to the big one, the Academy Awards, it often seems that Hollywod loves awards as much as it likes making movies.

Besides the ones mentioned above, there’s another group that gives awards each year: film and TV producers. That group, collectively known as the Producers Guild of America or PGA, has released its nominations today and we’ve got them for you, and the rest of their press release, below. Check it out.

LOS ANGELES, CA (January 3, 2012) – The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced today the motion picture and long-form television nominations for the 23rd Annual Producers Guild Awards. The categories include: The Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures; The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures; and The David L. Wolper Producer of the Year Award in Long-Form Television. The documentary film category and other television category nominations were already announced by the Guild in December 2011.

All 2012 Producers Guild Award winners will be announced on January 21, 2012 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. This year, the Producers Guild will also award special honors to Leslie Moonves (Milestone Award), Steven Spielberg (David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures), Don Mischer (Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television), Stan Lee (Vanguard Award), and IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY (The Stanley Kramer Award). The 2012 Producers Guild Awards co-chairs are Paula Wagner and Michael Manheim.

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There’s no doubt that this year has been a pretty impressive year for dramatic TV. Between True Blood, Game of Thrones, and Boardwalk Empire, HBO has managed to be on of the top networks to deliver quality content throughout the entire year.

So why wouldn’t they want to celebrate that fact with a killer supercut of their 2011 successes. From clips of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, How to Make it in America, and plenty others, there are more than enough classic TV moments to tie together.

So why not feed into the joy of the network and take a look at their 2011 Image Spot after the jump, and see what they have to offer in 2012, including the highly anticipated sequel season to Game of Thrones.

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Here we are, less than a week away from Christmas, and you’re without a clue for those last two folks you have yet to buy presents for. What’s a loving friend to do? That’s where we are here to help, with some awesome gifts that will be a hole in one for that special geek in your life.

For Him

Sure, there have been plenty of cool gifts out this year, but what about the one that speaks to his inner TV, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi geek? Here’s a good start

Love a good gag? Then the Prank Pack gift box set is for you, complete with practical joke boxes like the iArm, Dream Griddle, or the Beer Beard. Definitely worth a laugh or two on Christmas morning. - $19.99 for 3

HBO has got some great ideas for you to fill those stockings as well. Here are some of the great ideas for guys.

Wish you were Kenny Powers? Then this baseball cap with built-in mullet is for you. – $29.99

Open letters like a true king with this Game of Thrones sword letter opener. Mail is coming. - $19.99

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Even though this is technically a blog, we like to think of ourselves primarily as writers here at The Flickcast. Many of us have even been paid to write over the years and you can bet that pretty much everyone here has one or two screenplays, comic books or other literary works they are currently working on. It’s just the nature of things.

So, when the Writer’s Guild of America announces the nominations for outstanding writing for Television, we take notice and bring you all the details. That’s especially true when the top nominees are shows we really like.

One such show is Showtime’s freshman drama Homeland, which received 3 nominations including best drama series, best new series and best episodic drama. Homeland tied with perennial favorites Modern Family, Breaking Bad and Boardwalk Empire for the most nominations.

In addition to Homeland, Game Of Thrones, The Killing, New Girl and the Matt LeBlanc comedy Episodes all received nominations with Showtime getting a first time record of six for its shows. You may be wondering where Mad Men is in all of this?

Sadly, as the fifth season of the show was delayed, it didn’t make the cut for eligibility for this year’s awards. That’s probably okay as it gives a few other shows, like Homeland and Game of Thrones, a chance to shine. Can’t have Mad Men taking up all the awards, now can we?

The winners will be announced at the 2012 Writers Guild Awards on Feb. 19, 2012, at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York. Click through for the full list of nominee.

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When last we left Nucke Thomson and HBO’s Boardwalk Empire things seemed to be going pretty well for him. He had the girl and business was going the way he wanted it to go. Well, sorta.

The new season of the show debuts this Sunday and to get you ready we’ve got a whole slew of videos to bring to you. Among them are some previews of the new season, a clip from the premiere and several character profiles.

Boardwalk Empire has seen tremendous success on HBO and was given a second season after only airing one episode of its first. The show has built up quite a following and features a teriffic cast of characters.

Can’t wait to see what they do next. Fortunately, don’t have to wait too long.

Season two of Boardwalk Empire debuts Sunday night at 9/8C on HBO.

Click through for all the videos. And we do mean all.

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About a month ago, we brought you news that Zack Snyder’s Superman: Man Of Steel had finally cast its main villain, General Zod, to be played by Boardwalk Empire star Michael Shannon. It seems now Zod has a sidekick, as German actress Antje Traue has been cast as Zod’s right hand woman Faora.

Comic fans may know the name, but for those who aren’t inundated in DC’s lore as much, Faora was the main inspiration behind the character Ursa from Richard Donner’s Superman and Superman 2. Variety breaks down the origins of the character.

There are multiple Faoras in the Superman universe, so it remains unclear which one Traue has been tapped to play. The first Faora, Faora Hu-Ul, was introduced in Action Comics #471 as a beautiful Kryptonian woman with an intense unexplained hatred for all men.

She was an expert at the Kryptonian martial art of Horo-Kanu, which utilizes pressure points on the Kryptonian body and made her a dangerous foe for Superman to fight in hand-to-hand combat. In fact, he was forced to flee from their first encounter.

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It must be nice not to have to worry so much about ratings and instead focus primarily on quality. Oh, to have those kinds of problems like premiere cable netwrok HBO. What have they done this time?

Much like they did previously with shows such as Boardwalk Empire and Treme, HBO has given the greenlight for another season to its new drama Game of Thrones after only airing the premiere episode — even though its rating didin’t set any records. The ratings were solid, coming in between other premieres such as True Blood and Boardwalk Empire, but it’s the show itself that earned another season.

“We are delighted by the way David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have brought George R.R. Martin’s amazing book series to the screen, and thrilled by the support of the media and our viewers,” HBO’s head of programming Michael Lombardo said.

For its debut at 9 PM on Sunday, the show drew 2.2 million viewers, down 54% from the September premiere of Boardwalk Empire but up 57% from the 1.4 million who tuned in for the debut of True Blood 3 years ago. Overall, the premiere of Game of Thrones averaged 4.2 million viewers on Sunday for its 3 airings vs. 7.1 million for Boardwalk Empire in September.

So far HBO seems to be doing very well with most of its original programming, especially lately. With True Blood and Treme returning soon and the solid performance of Game of Thrones it looks like DVRs across the country are going to remain full of HBO programming for the foreseeable future. As fans of the new Game of Thrones as well as Treme, Boardwalk Empire, True Blood, Bored to Death and most of the other current HBO series, we’re going to be there too.

Game of Thrones stars Mark Addy, Sean Bean, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey. It airs Sundays at 9/8C on HBO.

Quite a big weekend for casting in the DC and Warner Bros. world, as it was recently announced that Josh Pence will be playing a young Ra’s Al Ghul in Chris Nolan’s upcoming Dark Knight Returns. However, that’s not the only caped crusader flick to get a villain.

THR is reporting that Boardwalk Empire and Revolutionary Road actor Michael Shannon will be taking on the role of the villain General Zod. Here’s what Snyder had to say about the decision.

“Zod is not only one of Superman’s most formidable enemies, but one of the most significant because he has insights into Superman that others don’t. Michael is a powerful actor who can project both the intelligence and the malice of the character, making him perfect for the role,”

Shannon compliments a pretty rounded out cast including Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, and The Tudors star Henry Cavill playing the titular role. It seems that the role of Superman/Clark Kent is the only role so far to be played by a British actor, which is normally the opposite plan of producer Christopher Nolan.

For those worried that Shannon may be too “mainstream” to play an evil, super powered general, this isn’t the actor’s first foray into the world of comics. Last year, he graced the screen as Doc Cross Williams in DC’s bastard stepchild of a comic adaptation, Jonah Hex.

Now that we have our baddie for the film, we just need some iconic supporting roles like Perry White and Jimmy Olsen filled in. But who will be chosen?

Indeed it is the time of year when inevitability the lists appear and people pick their favorites of 2010. Some have already done their lists and some, like me, like to wait a bit. That said and since I don’t want to be accused of not following trends, I will also be making a list (or two) of my picks of the best of 2010. However, in the interest of clarity and brevity (or neither), I’m going to pick my top 5 (or so) things in the main categories we cover here at The Flickcast.

Although, as our own John Carle covered the best of 2010 in games so well already, I won’t make much (if any) a list of those and will just mention my two favorites. In case you’re not familiar with those main categories we cover, they are as follows: Movies, TV, Comics, Games, Tech and all things Geek.

So, to that end, here’s my list (or lists really) of my picks of the top stuff of 2010.

Movies

Inception – I love smart movies and this one is pretty damn smart. Featuring great performances, a mind-bending plot and twists galore, director Christopher Nolan delivers with one entertaining ride I was talking about for weeks (and months) afterward. And with all the ways I can get distracted by other things, to still be taking about this movie now is a testament to just how great it is.

True Grit – I love Westerns and this one will go down as truly one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and the rest of the cast are superb and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld owns the screen. She is definitely one to watch. Plus, the Coen brothers have a genuine love and reverence for the classic Western conventions, even when they twist and turn them into new and even more compelling shapes.

The Social Network – When I first heard of this movie I was skeptical, as probably most were, about how interesting a movie about Facebook really could be. I had nothing to worry about. This brilliant film, directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, delivers on all levels and tells a compelling story of one of the most impressive success stories in history. Along the way it also shows us a little something about the nature of greed, friendship and the real cost of success.

Winter’s Bone - This tale of a real heroes journey to find out what happened to her father before the bank forecloses on her home resonated with me for quite some time after watching this film. Jennifer Lawrence as the young mother and John Hawkes as her meth-snorting uncle really deliver top performances. Part crime movie, part thriller and part coming-of-age-story this film’s stark realism takes you into a world you didn’t know existed and holds you there until the lights come up.

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As we approach the end of 2010, we will naturally see list start to appear. List of best movies, best TV shows, best video games, best gadgets and tech and a whole lot more. In fact, you’ll see a few lists from us pretty soon too. It’s just how this end-of-the-year thing works these days.

Until we start to roll out our own lists, we have one for you to kick things off. This one comes from the American Film Institute and highlight their picks of the best Movies and TV programs for 2010. When you read over their selections, most of them pretty much make sense.

Most of the films and most of the TV programs listed here are among our favorites as well and all are of a high quality. Of course, on every list there’s always some items that don’t seem to belong. However, we won’t disparage the AFI’s list, we will just counter with a list of our own (or three) soon.

Here are AFI’s picks:

Movies

• BLACK SWAN
• THE FIGHTER
• INCEPTION
• THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
• 127 HOURS
• THE SOCIAL NETWORK
• THE TOWN
• TOY STORY 3
• TRUE GRIT
• WINTER’S BONE

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In between all the shopping, cooking, and holiday planning, December is a great month to find some free time, curl up on the couch, and enjoy some quality television. Fortunately, this month is chock-full of that, with upcoming season finales of some of this season’s hottest shows, plus some new additions to the lineup.

Top Chef All-Stars

If you’ve read my TV Digests before you’ll know I really can’t stand most reality television, but Bravo’s Top Chef is one exception. Between Top Chef, Top Chef Masters, and Top Chef: Just Desserts, this series about up and coming chefs duking it out for the top spot is both addiction and appetizing.

This month, a new addition to the lineup is being added, Top Chef All-Stars. In this new show, 18 previous Top Chef contestants are returning to reclaim their honor, including Season 7 favorites Tiffany and Angelo. Top Chef All-Stars premiers December 1st on Bravo.

The Walking Dead

I’m sure I’m not the first person to tell you to watch The Walking Dead if you haven’t already, and I won’t be the last. AMC has finally given zombie fans a television show to love, with some amazing source material from The Walking Dead comics and an amazing showrunner in Frank Darabont.

The show’s sixth and final episode of the season will air on Sunday, December 5th on AMC, and while this season has been short, The Walking Dead has already been renewed for a second season with thirteen episodes.

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With the hype machine in full swing over the last few months promoting all of the new TV shows hitting the small screen this month, it’s nice to actually see a show that lives up to the hype. HBO’s Boardwalk Empire is such a show.

Debuting to record ratings and already renewed for a second season after one episode, Boardwalk Empire is that rare combination of elements that ends up being well worth the time it takes to watch. We’ve talked about the show before here at the site and today we’ve got some videos to get you ready for Sunday’s all-new episode.

In these videos you get a good preview of Sunday’s episode showing more of the action and intrigue as well as an extended scene of Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg) telling a story about how he has no trouble causing the death of people just for fun. Not a nice guy to be sure.

Check out the preview after the jump. Boardwalk Empire, which features Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt,  Kelly Macdonald and Dabney Coleman, airs Sunday at 9/8C on HBO.

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