According to People.com, multiple Oscar winner Sean Penn recently had this to say about Woody Harrelson, who is up for a best supporting actor Oscar Sunday night:

“‘The Messenger‘ is one of those rare platforms for a familiar American actor to reinvent himself. Woody Harrelson conjures a heart and presence of previously untapped immensity and emotional power. He deserves a BIG nod. He’s done the hardest thing an actor can do. He’s made something new.”

Oren Moverman is moving on to his next tragedy.

Coming off two Oscar nominations for his directing debut, “The Messenger,” Moverman is in negotiations to rework the screenplay for Universal’s untitled Kurt Cobain project and direct it as well. Screenwriter David Benioff (“Brothers”) first took on the project in fall 2007 for Working Title and Reveille.

Material on the life, music and 1994 suicide of the Nirvana singer-songwriter will come at least partially from Charles R. Cross’ 2001 biography, “Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain.” Universal originally purchased the life rights of both Cobain and his widow, Courtney Love, who had already optioned the film rights to the Cross book.

For anyone still looking for a cool Thursday night activity, Humanitas is presenting a killer writers panel to benefit the Writers Guild Foundation tonight.

Called “Writing in a Time of War,” the event features recently Oscar-nominated screenwriters Mark Boal (”The Hurt Locker”) and Alessandro Camon (”The Messenger”), as well as Kimberly Peirce (”Stop Loss”) and Evan Wright (”Generation Kill”). My buddy John Horn from the L.A. Times is moderating.

It starts at 6:45 pm at the WGA headquarters at 7000 West Third Street. And yes, there will be wine and cheese and dessert.

If that’s too hardcore for you, the WGF is sponsoring another event next Thursday, Feb. 11, on writing movie musicals. Leslie Dixon (”Hairspray”), Winnie Holzman (”Wicked”), Stephen Schwartz (”Wicked”) and Irene Mecchi (”The Lion King”) and Bill Kelly (”Enchanted”) are all scheduled to appear.

It’s an unpleasant business, but calling attention to those talents overlooked for deserving Oscar recognition is a standard part of the awards circus. And this year has its share of snubbed also-also-rans. Well, according to me.

First in my mind are Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for their “(500) Days of Summer“ original screenplay (and not just because I was wrong in predicting its inclusion). Their peers in the writers guild honored it with a nomination, and it represented a truly original take on a worn-out genre that delighted a lot of viewers and inspired a rookie director, Marc Webb, to show off his talents. On the other hand, original screenplay was an unexpectedly tight field for a change, and only five could fit, so Neustadter and Weber will have to make another run at it down the road.