The Academy Award nominations were announced this week, and there were some big surprises. The Academy snubbed Kathryn Bigelow and Ben Affleck in the Best Director category for Zero Dark Thirty and Argo, respectively. But Santa Fean Alan Arkin, who previously won an Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine, is nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his part in the Affleck-directed thriller. See the complete list of nominees at oscars.go.com/nominees.

Entertainment Weekly’s Jan. 9 cover story is about La Mitotera’s most-anticipated movie — and possibly yours, as well. But the pair gracing the cover of the Catching Fire issue isn’t Katniss and Peeta, or even Katniss and Gale. Instead, we’re presented the first official image of Sam Claflin as Finnick, a former Hunger Games victor and District 4 heartthrob (think Panem’s version of Ryan Gosling and Ryan Lochte mixed together). Another released image shows Claflin getting very close to Jennifer Lawrence’s character, smirking while he seems to be whispering in her ear. We also get glimpses of the Victory Tour and the Everdeens and their new digs, including our Albuquerque cutie Willow Shields.

Last Tuesday, Forbes contributor Adam Hartung called Amazon CEO and Albuquerque native Jeff Bezos the “greatest living CEO.” One reason is the phenomenal return on investment. Hartung says: “During [Steve] Jobs’ tenure, Apple investors achieved a return of 66.8 times their money. During Mr. Bezos’ tenure, shareholders achieved a remarkable 124.3 times return on their money.” One hundred and twenty four point three. Oh, and Kindle Fire sales have been strong. Not bad, Jeff. Not bad at all.

Downton Abbey is back (as if you didn’t already know) and it crushed it in the ratings. The PBS period drama premiere boasted 7.9 million viewers — compared with the 4.2 millions who tuned in to the season two premiere. Santa Fean Shirley MacLaine, who plays American socialite Martha Levinson on the show, declares that the filming location is haunted. “It was a fantastic experience; Highclere was haunted and the pictures came off the wall,” the actress told the New York Daily News, saying that the 400-year-old castle’s supernatural energy might be explained by artifacts from the tomb of King Tut that had once been stored there.

Ryan Murphy will direct the movie The Normal Heart starring Taos resident Julia Roberts, which HBO just announced will air in 2014. Murphy and Roberts last teamed up for Eat, Pray, Love in which Roberts played millennial spirit animal Elizabeth Gilbert. Roberts will play paraplegic physician Dr. Emma Brookner in the film about the rise of HIV in the 1980s.

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