In the news: Silver and gold; Oscar goes global

A Reuters story points out that if conventional wisdom holds up, Helen Mirren will join an exceedingly small club: Oscar-winning actresses over 50.

Also, AP observes that this year's nominees are truly a global bunch:

This year's lineup is the most ethnically diverse ever, with five black people, two Hispanics and an Asian among the 20 acting nominees. Best-picture nominee "Letters From Iwo Jima" is almost entirely in Japanese. Hispanics alone garnered a record 19 nominations, including three Mexican directors contending for some of the biggest prizes of the night.