THE BUZZ.

Byline: -- Staff and Wire Services

THE REAL `BREAK-UP': Representatives for Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn have confirmed that the Hollywood couple have called it quits, People magazine reported on its Web site.

``Jennifer and Vince mutually agreed to end their relationship but continue to be good friends today,'' said representatives Stephen Huvane and John Pisani, according to People.com, in a story posted Tuesday.

Their representatives said the former co-stars decided to end their romance after Aniston visited Vaughn in London in October.

Aniston, 37, and Vaughn, 36, spent much of the last year and a half battling rumors about their relationship -- first that it was starting, then that it was headed toward marriage, and most recently that it was sputtering. The actors met while filming ``The Break-Up'' in 2005. Reports of a romance quickly swirled, but the two initially said they were simply friends.

They were spotted together in various places over the ensuing months but said little about their liaison. Still, by this summer, they were denying whispers of an engagement.

Within months, they were denying that they were breaking up. In October, Vaughn threatened to sue British and American tabloid newspapers that had reported that he was breaking it off with Aniston and had been seen kissing someone else.

WILL GRAMMY NOMINEES EVEN BE AWAKE?: Grammy Award nominations will be announced this morning, starting at 8:30 a.m. Mary J. Blige, James Blunt, Chris Brown, Josh Groban, Justin Timberlake and Corinne Rae Bailey are some of the stars who will be delivering the good news from the Music Box in Hollywood. Check out www.dailynews.com/redcarpet for an up-to-the-minute blog from the scene.

FILM AWARDS: ``Letters From Iwo Jima,'' the second of Clint Eastwood's two-part look at World War II, is the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures' pick as best film of 2006.

Also on the list, announced Wednesday: ``Flags of Our Fathers,'' in which Eastwood shows the aftermath of war through the eyes of the military men who raised the American flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

``Letters,'' which depicts the war from the Japanese perspective with a mostly Japanese cast, originally was scheduled to hit theaters in February 2007, but Warner Bros. recently bumped up the release date to Dec. 20.

The rest of the group's top 10, in alphabetical order: ``Babel,'' ``Blood Diamond,'' ``The Departed,'' ``The Devil Wears Prada,'' ``The History Boys,'' ``Little Miss Sunshine,'' ``Notes on a Scandal'' and ``The Painted Veil.''

Martin Scorsese nabbed best director for ``The Departed.''

Forest Whitaker landed the prize for actor as Idi Amin in ``The Last King of Scotland,'' and Helen Mirren was named best actress for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in ``The Queen.''

Djimon Hounsou of ``Blood Diamond'' and Catherine O'Hara from ``For Your Consideration'' were the surprise winners in the supporting actor and supporting actress categories.

Pedro Almodovar's woman-centric ``Volver'' won the prize for foreign film. Al Gore's environmental warning, ``An Inconvenient Truth,'' won documentary while Pixar's ``Cars'' nabbed the prize for animation feature.

Other winners include Ryan Gosling for breakthrough performance by an actor and Jennifer Hudson and Rinko Kikuchi sharing the nod for breakthrough actress. Zach Helm won for original screenplay with ``Stranger Than Fiction'' and Ron Nyswaner for adapted with ``The Painted Veil.''

The group -- composed of film historians, students and educators -- is the first out of the gate each awards season, but their picks aren't necessarily predictors of the eventual Academy Award winners. Last year they picked ``Good Night, and Good Luck''; the surprise Oscar winner was ``Crash.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Were Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn ever dating? They're not now.

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

(2 -- color) ``Letters From Iwo Jima,'' directed by Clint Eastwood, is the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures' pick for best film of 2006. His ``Flags of Our Fathers'' is also among the top 10.