· The National Society of Film Critics have a few surprises, including naming Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth as their best picture, and awarding best supporting actor to Mark Wahlberg for The Departed—rendering that creepy thing with eyeballs on his palms crushed for being overlooked once again. [Backstage]
· The Visual Effects Society Awards announced their nominees, with Best Single Visual Effect of the Year category going to sequences from Children of Men, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Poseidon, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Borat's nude wrestling scene, which, suprisingly, was accomplished by placing thousands of mapping nodes all over Sacha Baron Cohen and actor Ken Davitian's naked bodies, then later adding folds of hairy, lifelike manflesh through cutting-edge CGI techniques. [THR]
· The Palm Springs International Film Festival cannily presented an "ensemble" award to the cast of Babel, meaning for the price of one award, they got a Brad Pitt, a Cate Blanchett, and a Rinko Kikuchi and Adriana Barraza thrown in free of charge. [Desert Sun]
· The Online Film Critics Society named United 93 best picture, Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker best actors, and Little Children's Jackie Earle Haley and Little Miss Sunshine's Abigail Breslin rounding out the supporting categories for their pedophile/pageant-princess-pedophile-bait roles. [Variety]
· The National Board of Review will award Deepa Mehta their vaguely named Freedom of Expression Award tomorrow for her film Water. [CBC.ca]

PrivacyWatch celebrity sightings are submitted by our readers, and are now posted several times a week—so start sending them in more often. Send yours to tips[AT]defamer.com (please put "sighting" or "PrivacyWatch" in the subject line) and let the world hear all about your spotting of a rare and elusive yellow-headed Van Der Beek.

• We told you about the stellar job Martin Landau was doing on Entourage, and we're not the only ones noticing. Old-school producer Bob Evans is pissed at seeing himself being played so well. [Gatecrasher]
• After modeling underwear for years, and fortifying his thespian resume by playing a well-endowed pornstar, Marky Mark (that's still how we remember you) is delighted about an opportunity to showcase his privates for children. [Lowdown, 2nd item]
• Mariah says, "I AM not a diva!" We say, "Errr, then why did you do that VH1 Divas Live concert back in the days?" [Liz Smith]
• Simple Life V? Ugh. We're not watching, but perhaps they should team up with Survivor, both shows seem familiar with riding a dead horse into the ground. [TMZ]

Mark Wahlberg, colorless star of the silver screen and Entourage's inspiration, was once just Marky Mark, a Calvin Klein underwear gigolo and hip-hop-lite star with big aspirations. A shopper at the Venice Beach Out of the Closet thrift store stumbled upon a VHS demo reel, which, aside from mispelling his name on the label (easily the error of the dubbing facility entrusted to make copies), appears to be a shoddily, self-assembled time capsule of the star's collected masterworks up to that time. It's now available to the highest bidder:

PrivacyWatch celebrity sightings are submitted by our readers. Send yours to tips[AT]defamer.com (please put "sighting" or "PrivacyWatch" in the subject line) and let everyone know about the time you saw Dylan McKay brooding in the Target toy department.

· MGM is close to a deal with the Weinstein Co. to become their exclusive distributor. The pact will be reflected in an update of their classic logo, replacing Leo the Lion with Bob Weinstein lying flat on his belly, roaring ferociously at an assistant who brought him a regular Diet Coke instead of a Diet Coke with Splenda. [Variety]
· The WGA gives its top screenwriting awards to Crash and Brokeback Mountain, for original and adapted screenplays, respectively. Paul Haggis tearfully dedicates the award to "all the carjackers I've known, or know, or will be blessed enough to come to know." Then, kissing his index finger and pointing it to the back of the room, he concluded, "This one's for you guys." [Variety]
· David Cronenberg's next film will be the Bruce Wagner-written Maps to the Stars, in what promises to do for showbiz what Dead Ringers did for gynecology. Hollywood execs with gaping head wounds: a marriage made in heaven! [Variety]
· Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg reteam with The Yards director James Gray for We Own the Night, in which the duo play campus feminists who mount a candlelight vigil, that they may fear for their safety no longer. [Variety]
· Sexual Healing, the Marvin Gaye biopic long in turnaround, has finally been greenlit, with Jesse L. Martin in the lead, with the contingency that all the depressing "shot by his father" ending stuff be replaced with an uplifting Rent-inspired finale revolving around the number of seconds in a week. [THR]

Sadly, the real-life inspiration for Entourage's beloved bong-enthusiast and hanger-on Turtle has died from an asthma attack over the weekend:

If this week has made one thing clear to us, it's that the stars are bursting at the seams with Thanksgiving spirit. First, Eva Longoria taught a Koo Koo Roo parking attendant what the holiday is all about. Then, on Thanksgiving day itself, a reader has a turkey moment with Marky Mark at a Beverly Hills gas station: