Golden Globes 2011 commentary

Well, of course I watched the Globes last night.  And as expected it was an eclectic mix of winners to match the crazy group of nominees.  However, with the host, Ricky Gervais, I think Robert Downey Jr. said it best.  The tone of the show was "hugely mean-spirited with sinister undertones".  There's a fine line between funny and mean.  An example, when introducing RDJ, Gervais listed some of his movies (Iron Man, Wonder Boys, Two Men and a Girl) and laughed that they sounded like porn films.  Funny.  Then summed up by saying more people might recognize him from the Betty Ford Center and Los Angeles County Jail.  Mean.  The night was definitely overwhelmed by awkward laughter and strange humor (why did Robert DeNiro make fun of people for not seeing his lesser known movies?)

But there were some moments that were terrific and brought the tears to my eyes.  Watching all the color drain out of Chris Colfer's face when he won for Supporting actor over some wonderful veteran actors, and then to see him pull it together and give a heartfelt speech with a little humor, many thanks, and social commentary was impressive for a first time winner.  Also, while Melissa Leo had a big year recently with Frozen River, this year seems to be hers for the taking in the supporting category and she looks so excited to enjoy it all.  Colin Firth was the expected (and deserving) winner, and his speech was perfectly British and kind.  I wasn't disappointed to see The Social Network take so many awards.

Also, just to put this to rest for me - I saw The Tourist yesterday and it most definitely, in no way possible could be considered a comedy.  I definitely enjoyed it, but it's a very romantic, heist and crime thriller.

Golden Globe Nominations 2010

The Globes announced their nominations for the year, and I found myself raising my eyebrows in surprise, good and bad, fairly frequently.  For odd things, like "I didn't know The Tourist was a comedy", and "What is Barney's Version?"  "How is it possible that all the nominated songs are from movies I would like, that's odd."  But here's the list in a very disorganized way.  What did you think?

1.    Best Supporting Actress in a series, mini-series or TV movie
Hope Davis, The Special Relationship
Jane Lynch, Glee
Kelly MacDonald, Boardwalk Empire
Julia Stiles, Dexter
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

2.    Best Actress in a TV series, comedy
Toni Collette, United States of Tara
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Bic C
Lea Michele, Glee

3.    Best TV movie or mini-series
Carlos
The Pacific
Pillars of the Earth
Temple Grandin
You Don't Know Jack

4.    Best original song – motion picture
Bound to You - Burlesque
Coming Home - Country Strong
I See the Light - Tangled
There's a Place for Us - Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
You Haven't Seen the Last of Me - Burlesque
                      
5.    Best Actor, TV series comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matthew Morrison, Glee
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

6.    Best Actress in a TV series, drama
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Piper Perabo, Covert Affairs
Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy
Kyra Sedgwick, the Closer

7.    Best original score – motion picture
Alexandre Desplot, The King's Speech
Danny Elfman, Alice in Wonderland
A.R. Rahmin, 127 Hours
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, The Social Network
Hans Zimmer, Inception

8.    Best screenplay – motion picture
Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, Kids are All Right
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David Seidler, The Kings Speech
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Netowrk

9.    Best Supporting Actor in a series, mini-series, or TV movie
Scott Caan,  Hawaii Five-0
Chris Colfer, Glee
Chris Noth, The Good Wife
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
David Strathern, Temple Grandin

10. Best TV Series, comedy
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
The Big C
Glee
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie

11. Best foreign language film
Biutiful, Mexico, Spain
The Concert, France
The Edge, Russia
I Am Love, Italy
In a Better World, Denmark

12. Best animated feature film
Despicable Me
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Tangled
Toy Story 3

13. Best Actor in a mini-series or TV movie
Idris Elba, Luther
Ian McShane, Pillars of the Earth
Al Pacino, You Don't Know Jack
Dennis Quaid, The Speicla Relationship
Edgar Ramirez, Carlos

14. Best Actress in a mini-series or TV movie Hayley Atwell, Pillars of the Earth
Claire Danes, Temple Grandin
Judi Dench, Return to Cranford
Romola Garai, Emma
Jennifer Love Hewitt, The Client List

15. Best Actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Anne Hathaway, Love and Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie, The Tourist
Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone, Easy A

16. Best Actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy
Johnny Depp - Alice in Wonderland
Johnny Depp - The Tourist
Paul Giamatti -  Barney's Version
Jake Gyllenhaal -  Love and Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey - Casino Jack
                      
17. Best supporting Actor in a motion picture
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Michael Douglas, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

18. Best supporting Actress in a motion picture
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

19. Best Actor in a TV series, drama
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie - House

20. Best Director – motion picture
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David Fincher, Social Network
Tom Hooper - King's Speech
Christopher Nolan Inception
David O. Russell - The Fighter

21. Best motion picture, musical or comedy
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right
Red
The Tourist
        
22. Best TV series, drama
Broadwalk Empire
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men
The Walking Dead

23. Best Actress in a motion picture, drama
Halle Berry, Frankie and Alice
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

24. Best Actor in a motion picture, drama
Jesse Eisenberg - Social Network
Colin Firth - The King's Speech
James Franco - 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling - Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg - The Fighter

25. Best motion picture, drama
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network

New Release (Kind of): Winter's Bone

Jennifer Lawrence - keep an eye on her.

Every Monday, a theater about an hour away shows very second run indie or foreign flicks.  It's usually the only way those kinds of movies make an appearance in theaters.  However, they pay no attention to the DVD release date, so I've often already seen the movie by the time it appears on the big screen.  Winter's Bone was released on DVD recently, but thanks to the encouraging comments by Scott and Whitney at Frankly, My Dear and The Mad Hatter during our podcasting this weekend, I trekked to the theater to see it on the big screen.  They were right - this is a movie that was meant to be seen in a dark theater with no distractions. 

The story is simple: Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) takes care of her younger brother, sister, and infirm mother.  Her absentee father has been arrested and in order to get bonded out of jail, put up their house and land for collateral.  Now he's missed his court appearance and the bail bondsman wants his due.  Ree decides she needs to find her father to be sure she doesn't lose the house.  Basically, this was what I knew when I went into the theater, and was the better for it.  The only reference in the movie to where it takes place is near and Arkansas border, so the Ozark mountains likely.  Ree is related, in some fashion, to all the people she goes to to try to find her dad, but that doesn't mean they won't kill her if she crosses them.  There are obviously family feud's going on, and since they're all part of illegal meth operations, it's not surprising they fight to the death (either by blowing up their houses, or actually dumping them in a 'holler').  Lawrence is amazingly bad-ass trying to stay strong.  The gender roles among the families are strong - only women can beat up other women, men shoot other men.  They govern their own, and at least at a minimum level take care of their own.  There are moments of levity from the tension building as we find out the level of difficulties Ree faces, but mostly they continue to build tension throughout the film, with a few OMG moments, a few "jump in your seat, this is going to end badly" moments.  One thing that struck me in particular is the relatively unknown status of the actors.  There were a few I recognized, but only in a very general sense, and it added to the tension of who would survive or help our heroine.  Overall, the pacing, cinematography, and design of the movie are terrific - award worthy in almost every aspect.  5 of 5 lambs/stars

HBO Movie: Temple Grandin

When Temple Grandin cleaned up at the Emmys a few weeks ago, I was intrigued about Claire Danes' biopic.  While I haven't seen all the other nominees in the categories they won, this is one of the best movies I've seen this year.  There aren't many movies where you just sit there when the credits start playing, thinking about what you've just seen and most of those include a tragic death or world-saving battle.  So it was all the more remarkable when it happened at the end of a movie about a still-living autistic woman who redesigned slaughter houses.   Claire Danes plays Grandin, from her early college days through graduate school in the late 1960s and 1970s.  She was diagnosed with autism as a toddler when she hadn't spoken by age 4, and her mother (played by Emmy winner Julia Ormond) fought like crazy to keep her daughter around and prevent her from losing out on a "normal life" - her mantra is something like "different, but not less". 

Claire Danes with the real Temple Grandin

We meet Grandin when she's arrived for the summer at her aunt's cattle ranch before going on to college (an idea that scares the crap out of her because there are so many people she doesn't understand and who don't understand her).  Catherine O'Hara is her understanding aunt who tries to help her figure out how to approach college.  One day when they're inoculating the cattle, Temple see this machine that holds the cattle still, calming them before their shot.  She realizes this could work for her too - the calming effect of a hug without actually having to touch another person.  When she arrives at college, with her own "hug machine", the university says no way (they think it has something to do with sex) until she does a scientific study showing that it helps most people feel calm, not just her. 

This sets her on a path of scientific inquiry - because she "sees in pictures" abstract thought is something really difficult (like learning a language or creative writing).  But the absolutes of science appeal to her nature and disposition, particularly because of the autism.  She continues after college at the University of Arizona studying animal husbandry and life sciences.  She is in a stockyard when she starts wondering why some cattle moo louder than others, and starts studying their behavior.  Because she can relate images together, she pieces together reasons for different cattle behavior, like moving in curves and not wanting to walk downhill.  She can relate to what scares them because she's particularly sensitive to sights, sounds, and textures.  She tricks her way into the stockyard for her masters thesis, and when she graduates she's asked to re-design a cattle "dip" (where they dip the cattle in a debugging liquid).  The old designs had a high mortality rate (from drowning) and would take more time and more people to run them than the design Temple creates which plays to cattle's own behaviors.  She finds a way to make cattle willing to enter the dip because they feel safe.  Ultimately, she figures out how to do the same for slaughterhouses, creating humane ways to herd the cattle right up until the moment they die.  Throughout all her schooling, her high school science teacher, David Strathairn, supports her vision, describing every step of her journey as "another door to walk through".  Visualizing walking through a door helps Temple actually do the next step in her career. 

The movie helps us get into the mind of Temple by showing some of the constant pictures she sees, and how they might relate.  It does a good job explaining her place on the autistic spectrum without having lots and lots of monologue.  She's actually quite aware of her own issues with the world, which is where the movie comes to an end - when she realizes she's a terrific candidate to educate the world about what it means to live with autism.  I'm not doing the movie justice, but you'll have to take my word that it's not cheesy, it's not cliched, it doesn't oversimplify her life too much, and yet, it still tugs on your heartstrings and gives your outlook on life a boost.  5 of 5 stars/lambs

Emmy Predictions 2010

I'm feeling a bit off my game this year.  I honestly don't feel like I can accurately predict the Emmys, so I'll mostly go with my own opinions.  Will they go to the terrific cast of newbies (Glee, Modern Family, The Good Wife) or to terrific returning shows (30 Rock, Mad Men) or even a last nod to canceled but great shows (Lost, The New Adventures of Old Christine)???  I know who I would pick in each category, so here you go for the big ones.  My picks are in italics. 

Outstanding Comedy Series
Nominees:
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2000)
"Glee" (2009)
"Modern Family" (2009)
"Nurse Jackie" (2009)
"The Office" (2005)
"30 Rock" (2006)

Outstanding Drama Series
Nominees:
"Breaking Bad" (2008)
"Dexter" (2006)
"The Good Wife" (2009)
"Lost" (2004)
"Mad Men" (2007)
"True Blood" (2008)

Outstanding Made for Television Movie
Nominees:
Endgame (2009/I)
Georgia O'Keeffe (2009) (TV)
Moonshot (2009) (TV)
The Special Relationship (2010) (TV)
Temple Grandin (2010) (TV)
You Don't Know Jack (2010) (TV)

Outstanding Miniseries
Nominees:
"The Pacific" (2010)
"Return to Cranford" (2007)
 
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Nominees:
Alec Baldwin for "30 Rock" (2006)
Steve Carell for "The Office" (2005)
Larry David for "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2000)
Matthew Morrison for "Glee" (2009)
Jim Parsons for "The Big Bang Theory" (2007)
Tony Shalhoub for "Monk" (2002)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Nominees:
Kyle Chandler for "Friday Night Lights" (2006)
Bryan Cranston for "Breaking Bad" (2008)
Matthew Fox for "Lost" (2004)
Michael C. Hall for "Dexter" (2006)
Jon Hamm for "Mad Men" (2007)
Hugh Laurie for "House M.D." (2004)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Nominees:
Jeff Bridges for A Dog Year (2009)
Ian McKellen for "The Prisoner" (2009)
Al Pacino for You Don't Know Jack (2010) (TV)
Dennis Quaid for The Special Relationship (2010) (TV)
Michael Sheen for The Special Relationship (2010) (TV)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Nominees:
Toni Collette for "United States of Tara" (2009)
Edie Falco for "Nurse Jackie" (2009)
Tina Fey for "30 Rock" (2006)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus for "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (2006)
Lea Michele for "Glee" (2009)
Amy Poehler for "Parks and Recreation" (2009)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Nominees:
Connie Britton for "Friday Night Lights" (2006)
Glenn Close for "Damages" (2007)
Mariska Hargitay for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999)
January Jones for "Mad Men" (2007)
Julianna Margulies for "The Good Wife" (2009)
Kyra Sedgwick for "The Closer" (2005)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Nominees:
Joan Allen for Georgia O'Keeffe (2009) (TV)
Claire Danes for Temple Grandin (2010) (TV)
Hope Davis for The Special Relationship (2010) (TV)
Judi Dench for "Return to Cranford" (2007)
Maggie Smith for Capturing Mary (2007) (TV)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Nominees:
Ty Burrell for "Modern Family" (2009)
Chris Colfer for "Glee" (2009)
Jon Cryer for "Two and a Half Men" (2003)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson for "Modern Family" (2009)
Neil Patrick Harris for "How I Met Your Mother" (2005)
Eric Stonestreet for "Modern Family" (2009)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Nominees:
Andre Braugher for "Men of a Certain Age" (2009)
Michael Emerson for "Lost" (2004)
Terry O'Quinn for "Lost" (2004)
Aaron Paul for "Breaking Bad" (2008)
Martin Short for "Damages" (2007)
John Slattery for "Mad Men" (2007)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Nominees:
Michael Gambon for "Emma" (2009)
John Goodman for You Don't Know Jack (2010) (TV)
Jonathan Pryce for "Return to Cranford" (2007)
Patrick Stewart for Hamlet (2009) (TV)
David Strathairn for Temple Grandin (2010) (TV)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Nominees:
Julie Bowen for "Modern Family" (2009)
Jane Krakowski for "30 Rock" (2006)
Jane Lynch for "Glee" (2009)
Holland Taylor for "Two and a Half Men" (2003)
Sofía Vergara for "Modern Family" (2009)
Kristen Wiig for "Saturday Night Live" (1975)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Nominees:
Christine Baranski for "The Good Wife" (2009)
Rose Byrne for "Damages" (2007)
Sharon Gless for "Burn Notice" (2007)
Christina Hendricks for "Mad Men" (2007)
Elisabeth Moss for "Mad Men" (2007)
Archie Panjabi for "The Good Wife" (2009)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Nominees:
Kathy Bates for "Alice" (2009)
Catherine O'Hara for Temple Grandin (2010) (TV)
Julia Ormond for Temple Grandin (2010) (TV)
Susan Sarandon for You Don't Know Jack (2010) (TV)
Brenda Vaccaro for You Don't Know Jack (2010) (TV)

Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series
Nominees:
"The Colbert Report" (2005)
"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" (1996)
"Real Time with Bill Maher" (2003)
"Saturday Night Live" (1975)
"The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" (2009)

Outstanding Reality Competition Program
Nominees:
"The Amazing Race" (2001)
"American Idol" (2002)
"Dancing with the Stars" (2005/I)
"Project Runway" (2005)
"Top Chef" (2006)

Things I learned from the SAG awards this weekend.

I enjoy watching the Screen Actors Guild awards because they don't bother with anything beyond the actors. They line up as many actors as possible, and rarely because they're promoting a new movie, just popular actors. The speeches tend towards the sincere and self-deprecating, but attempt at as much humor as possible. This year, I keep thinking about some of the things I learned from this year's ceremony.

1. Betty White has touched all kinds of people, has a racy mind, and is probably an incredibly good person and fun to be around.

2. The SAG voters only chose 1 (yes only 1!) category different than the Golden Globes - Tiny Fey took the actress in a comedy instead of Toni Collette, which I agree with, though maybe it is time to share the wealth. There are of course categories from each ceremony not included in the other, but all the winners of individual SAG awards also won a Golden Globe last week.

3. Julianna Marguiles taught me how to finally pronounce Matt Czuchry's last name - Zoo-Cray. Since he also appeared in Gilmore Girls for several seasons, I've often wondered how it was actually pronounced.

And for some fun, here's the trailer for Marguiles' new movie that I thought looked interesting, and very well cast.

City Island Official Trailer
Uploaded by thatsfunny. - Watch feature films and entire TV shows.

Golden Globes Predictions 2010: And winners

The start of the big awards season has arrived. I love it. I thought I'd share all my predictions for winners of Sunday night's awards. I'm really excited to see Ricky Gervais host it given how funny and off the cuff he was at last year's award just presenting. Should be lots of fun to watch.

Best Motion Picture - Drama - Predicted: The Hurt Locker, Actual - Avatar (not surprised or dissappointed)
Nominees:
Avatar (2009)
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
Up in the Air (2009/I)

Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Predicted - Julie and Julia, Actual - The Hangover
Nominees:
(500) Days of Summer (2009)
The Hangover (2009)
It's Complicated (2009)
Julie & Julia (2009)
Nine (2009)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - Predicted - Jeff Bridges, Actual - Jeff Bridges
Nominees:
Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart (2009)
George Clooney for Up in the Air (2009/I)
Colin Firth for A Single Man (2009)
Morgan Freeman for Invictus (2009)
Tobey Maguire for Brothers (2009/I)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - Predicted - Sandra Bullock, Actual - Sandra Bullock
Nominees:
Emily Blunt for The Young Victoria (2009)
Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side (2009)
Helen Mirren for The Last Station (2009)
Carey Mulligan for An Education (2009)
Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Predicted - Robert Downey Jr., Actual - Robert Downey, Jr.
Nominees:
Matt Damon for The Informant! (2009)
Daniel Day-Lewis for Nine (2009)
Robert Downey Jr. for Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt for (500) Days of Summer (2009)
Michael Stuhlbarg for A Serious Man (2009)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy --Predicted - Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia), Actual - Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia)
Nominees:
Sandra Bullock for The Proposal (2009/I)
Marion Cotillard for Nine (2009)
Julia Roberts for Duplicity (2009)
Meryl Streep for It's Complicated (2009)
Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia (2009)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Predicted - Christoph Waltz, Actual - Christoph Waltz
Nominees:
Matt Damon for Invictus (2009)
Woody Harrelson for The Messenger (2009/I)
Christopher Plummer for The Last Station (2009)
Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones (2009)
Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Predicted Mo'Nique, Actual - Mo'Nique
Nominees:
Penélope Cruz for Nine (2009)
Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air (2009/I)
Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air (2009/I)
Mo'Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
Julianne Moore for A Single Man (2009)


NOTE: I finally went 4/4 for acting nods. It rarely happens.

Best Director - Motion Picture - Predicted - Kathryn Bigelow, Actual - James Cameron
Nominees:
Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2008)
James Cameron for Avatar (2009)
Clint Eastwood for Invictus (2009)
Jason Reitman for Up in the Air (2009/I)
Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture - Predicted - Quentin Tarantino, Actual - Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner
Nominees:
District 9 (2009): Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
The Hurt Locker (2008): Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds (2009): Quentin Tarantino
It's Complicated (2009): Nancy Meyers
Up in the Air (2009/I): Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

Best Original Song - Motion Picture - Predicted - T-Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham, Actual - T-Bone and Ryan
Nominees:
Avatar (2009): James Horner, Simon Franglen, Kuk Harrell("I See You")
Brothers (2009/I): U2, Bono("Winter")
Crazy Heart (2009): T-Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham("The Weary Kind")
Everybody's Fine (2009): Paul McCartney("(I Want To) Come Home")
Nine (2009): Maury Yeston("Cinema Italiano")

Best Original Score - Motion Picture - Predicted - "Where the Wild Things Are", Actual - UP
Nominees:
Avatar (2009): James Horner
The Informant! (2009): Marvin Hamlisch
A Single Man (2009): Abel Korzeniowski
Up (2009): Michael Giacchino
Where the Wild Things Are (2009): Carter Burwell, Karen Orzolek

Best Animated Film - Predicted - UP, Actual - UP
Nominees:
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
Coraline (2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Up (2009)

Best Foreign Language Film - Predicted - Broken Embraces (Los abrazos rotos), Actual - Das weisse Band (The White Ribbon)
Nominees:
Los abrazos rotos (2009)
Baarìa (2009)
Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009)
La nana (2009)
Un prophète (2009)

Best Television Series - Drama - Predicted - Dexter (though House will probably win), Actual - Mad Men
Nominees:
"Big Love" (2006)
"Dexter" (2006)
"House M.D." (2004)
"Mad Men" (2007)
"True Blood" (2008)

Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy - Predicted - Glee, Actual - GLEE!!!! So happy.
Nominees:
"Entourage" (2004)
"Glee" (2009)
"Modern Family" (2009)
"The Office" (2005)
"30 Rock" (2006)

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television - Predicted - Grey Gardens, Actual - Grey Gardens
Nominees:
Georgia O'Keeffe (2009) (TV)
Grey Gardens (2009) (TV)
Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
"Little Dorrit" (2008)
Taking Chance (2009) (TV)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television - Predicted - Brendan Gleeson, Actual - Kevin Bacon
Nominees:
Kevin Bacon for Taking Chance (2009) (TV)
Kenneth Branagh for "Wallander" (2008)
Chiwetel Ejiofor for Endgame (2009)
Brendan Gleeson for Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Jeremy Irons for Georgia O'Keeffe (2009) (TV)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television - Predicted - Jessica Lange, Actual - Drew Barrymore (well deserved - she has consistently given good performances, but this was really over the top and Jessica Lange won the Emmy instead.)
Nominees:
Joan Allen for Georgia O'Keeffe (2009) (TV)
Drew Barrymore for Grey Gardens (2009) (TV)
Jessica Lange for Grey Gardens (2009) (TV)
Anna Paquin for The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (2009) (TV)
Sigourney Weaver for Prayers for Bobby (2009) (TV)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy - Predicted Alec Baldwin (though I want Matthew Morrison to win), Actual - Alec Baldwin
Nominees:
Alec Baldwin for "30 Rock" (2006)
Steve Carell for "The Office" (2005)
David Duchovny for "Californication" (2007)
Thomas Jane for "Hung" (2009)
Matthew Morrison for "Glee" (2009)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy - Predicted - Courtney Cox, Actual - Toni Collette
Nominees:
Toni Collette for "United States of Tara" (2009)
Courteney Cox for "Cougar Town" (2009)
Edie Falco for "Nurse Jackie" (2009)
Tina Fey for "30 Rock" (2006)
Lea Michele for "Glee" (2009)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama - Predicted - Michael C. Hall, Actual - Michael C. Hall
Nominees:
Simon Baker for "The Mentalist" (2008)
Michael C. Hall for "Dexter" (2006)
Jon Hamm for "Mad Men" (2007)
Hugh Laurie for "House M.D." (2004)
Bill Paxton for "Big Love" (2006)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama - Predicted Julianna Margulies, Actual - Julianna Margulies
Nominees:
Glenn Close for "Damages" (2007)
January Jones for "Mad Men" (2007)
Julianna Margulies for "The Good Wife" (2009)
Anna Paquin for "True Blood" (2008)
Kyra Sedgwick for "The Closer" (2005)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television - Predicted John Lithgow (though maybe it's NPH's year!), Actual - John Lithgow, can't wait to finally see this season.
Nominees:
Michael Emerson for "Lost" (2004)
Neil Patrick Harris for "How I Met Your Mother" (2005)
William Hurt for "Damages" (2007)
John Lithgow for "Dexter" (2006)
Jeremy Piven for "Entourage" (2004)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television - Predicted - Jane Lynch!, Actual - Chloe Sevigny
Nominees:
Jane Adams for "Hung" (2009)
Rose Byrne for "Damages" (2007)
Jane Lynch for "Glee" (2009)
Janet McTeer for Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Chloë Sevigny for "Big Love" (2006)

Emmy Predictions 2009

I thought I'd put together my predictions for the upcoming Emmy awards just in case people were interested.

Outstanding Comedy Series
Nominees:
"Entourage" (2004)
"Family Guy" (1999)
"The Flight of the Conchords" (2007)
"How I Met Your Mother" (2005) - Should win - this show has grown and yet still stayed so funny, I hope it wins, but it'll probably go to 30 Rock again.
"The Office" (2005)
"30 Rock" (2006) - Will Win
"Weeds" (2005)

Outstanding Drama Series
Nominees:
"Big Love" (2006)
"Breaking Bad" (2008)
"Damages" (2007)
"Dexter" (2006) - Should Win - The 3rd season was wonderful and brought the show up to a totally new level
"House M.D." (2004)
"Lost" (2004)
"Mad Men" (2007) - Will Win - I thought the second season was not as good as it's premiere, but I wouldn't be terribly disappointed when they win.

Outstanding Made for Television Movie
Nominees:
Coco Chanel (2008) (TV)
Grey Gardens (2009) (TV) - Will win and Should Win - It's an amazing series, see it.
Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Prayers for Bobby (2009) (TV)
Taking Chance (2009)

Outstanding Miniseries
Nominees:
"Generation Kill" (2008)
"Little Dorrit" (2008) - Will win (though I don't know anything about either, it already won tons of technical awards!)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Nominees:
Alec Baldwin for "30 Rock" (2006)
Steve Carell for "The Office" (2005)
Jemaine Clement for "The Flight of the Conchords" (2007)
Jim Parsons for "The Big Bang Theory" (2007) - Will win and Should win - He's the funniest guy in this list, and everyone else has been recognized (except Jemaine, but I don't think he's funny)
Tony Shalhoub for "Monk" (2002)
Charlie Sheen for "Two and a Half Men" (2003)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Nominees:
Simon Baker for "The Mentalist" (2008)
Gabriel Byrne for "In Treatment" (2008)
Bryan Cranston for "Breaking Bad" (2008)
Michael C. Hall for "Dexter" (2006) - Should win - see comment above for Dexter!
Jon Hamm for "Mad Men" (2007)
Hugh Laurie for "House M.D." (2004) - Will win

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Nominees:
Kevin Bacon for Taking Chance (2009)
Kenneth Branagh for "Wallander" (2008)
Brendan Gleeson for Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Kevin Kline for "Great Performances: Cyrano de Bergerac (#37.8)" (2009) - I hope he wins, but I have NO idea! This was the only one I saw.
Ian McKellen for "Great Performances: King Lear (#37.11)" (2008)
Kiefer Sutherland for 24: Redemption (2008) (TV)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Nominees:
Christina Applegate for "Samantha Who?" (2007)
Toni Collette for "United States of Tara" (2009)
Tina Fey for "30 Rock" (2006) - Should Win and Will win - I'm not sure this category has the best set of acting on TV, they just seem to keep nominating the sames set of women. Not sure why I can't get behind these nominees, but I don't really care about this category this year.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus for "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (2006)
Mary-Louise Parker for "Weeds" (2005)
Sarah Silverman for "The Sarah Silverman Program." (2007)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Nominees:
Glenn Close for "Damages" (2007) - Will win - she's pretty amazing, even if this past season wasn't.
Sally Field for "Brothers & Sisters" (2006)
Mariska Hargitay for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999)
Holly Hunter for "Saving Grace" (2007)
Elisabeth Moss for "Mad Men" (2007) - Should Win - she did a terrific job making her character interesting and important every time she was on screen
Kyra Sedgwick for "The Closer" (2005)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Nominees:
Drew Barrymore for Grey Gardens (2009) (TV)
Jessica Lange for Grey Gardens (2009) (TV) - Will win - she was pretty amazing, but I chose Chandra.
Shirley MacLaine for Coco Chanel (2008) (TV)
Sigourney Weaver for Prayers for Bobby (2009) (TV)
Chandra Wilson for Accidental Friendship (2008) (TV) - Should win - this was a throwaway little made for TV movie, but her performance was terrific.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Nominees:
Jon Cryer for "Two and a Half Men" (2003)
Kevin Dillon for "Entourage" (2004)
Neil Patrick Harris for "How I Met Your Mother" (2005) It should be a tie between NPH and Jack McBrayer, but I think it will be NPH.
Jack McBrayer for "30 Rock" (2006)
Tracy Morgan for "30 Rock" (2006)
Rainn Wilson for "The Office" (2005)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Nominees:
Christian Clemenson for "Boston Legal" (2004)
Michael Emerson for "Lost" (2004)
William Hurt for "Damages" (2007)
Aaron Paul for "Breaking Bad" (2008) - Will win - I've heard great things about him, and I don't think any of the others had stand out performances this year.
William Shatner for "Boston Legal" (2004)
John Slattery for "Mad Men" (2007)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Nominees:
Len Cariou for Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Tom Courtenay for "Little Dorrit" (2008)
Ken Howard for Grey Gardens (2009) (TV)
Bob Newhart for The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice (2008) (TV)
Andy Serkis for "Little Dorrit" (2008) - Will win - the series was wonderfully well received so I'm guessing here.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Nominees:
Kristin Chenoweth for "Pushing Daisies" (2007) - Should win - I just loved Pushing Daisies, mostly because of Kristin
Jane Krakowski for "30 Rock" (2006)
Elizabeth Perkins for "Weeds" (2005)
Amy Poehler for "Saturday Night Live" (1975)
Kristen Wiig for "Saturday Night Live" (1975) - Will win - she's had a terrific year, and created some wonderful characters, and they already honored Justin Timberlake for all of his wonderful work on SNL.
Vanessa Williams for "Ugly Betty" (2006)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Nominees:
Rose Byrne for "Damages" (2007)
Hope Davis for "In Treatment" (2008)
Cherry Jones for "24" (2001)
Sandra Oh for "Grey's Anatomy" (2005)
Dianne Wiest for "In Treatment" (2008)
Chandra Wilson for "Grey's Anatomy" (2005) - Should win and Will win - I think this is her year again, she had wonderful stories and did a terrific job.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Nominees:
Shohreh Aghdashloo for "House of Saddam" (2008) - Should win - I just love her and think she can do no wrong, but I doubt they'll choose something called House of Saddam.
Marcia Gay Harden for The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (2009) (TV) - Will win - she got such amazing reviews for this that I'm guessing she'll win.
Janet McTeer for Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Jeanne Tripplehorn for Grey Gardens (2009) (TV)
Cicely Tyson for Relative Stranger (2009) (TV)

Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series
Nominees:
"The Colbert Report" (2005)
"The Daily Show" (1996) - Will win - they're just awesome.
"Late Show with David Letterman" (1993)
"Real Time with Bill Maher" (2003)
"Saturday Night Live" (1975) - Might win - I think if SNL was ever going to win this will be their year.

Outstanding Reality Competition Program
Nominees:
"The Amazing Race" (2001) - Will win - they've never lost so I'm not going to bet against them.
"American Idol: The Search for a Superstar" (2002)
"Dancing with the Stars" (2005/I)
"Project Runway" (2005) - Should win - it's just a fantastic show and had a terrific season.
"Top Chef" (2006)

Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality - Competition Program
Nominees:
Tom Bergeron for "Dancing with the Stars" (2005/I)
Phil Keoghan for "The Amazing Race" (2001)
Heidi Klum for "Project Runway" (2005) - Should win - Heidi was awesome so she should win.
Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio for "Top Chef" (2006)
Jeff Probst for "Survivor" (2000) - Will win - he won last year, so I'm guessing he'll win again.
Ryan Seacrest for "American Idol: The Search for a Superstar" (2002)

Those are my predictions, we'll see how close I get on Sunday night!!

Emmy Nominations 2009

This morning the Emmy nominations were announced by Chandra Wilson and Jim Parsons, both of whom got nominated, Chandra twice! I recently posted my own list of the top 10 performances of 2009. Now, mine are based only on shows I watch, so I can appreciate that there are shows that would be nominated and thus kick out some of my choices, but there are a few snubs I'm surprised by. However, I did pick 2 that were in fact nominated: Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory and Simon Baker for The Mentalist. The other thing about this year's nominations that struck me was the increased number of nominations in certain categories. There were 6 nominated actors or actresses in most categories and 7 nominations for Best Comedy and Drama series and only 2 nominations for Best Miniseries. There were a lot of new faces nominated which is terrific for Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men) and Jack McBrayer (Kenneth on 30 Rock), and even some recent winners not even nominated, like Jeremy Piven (Entourage). I was very disappointed to see no love for Fringe or its actors, Joshua Jackson or John Nobel. I hope that doesn't affect the show's longevity. Ah well, it'll be an interesting awards ceremony, I'll make predictions in September!

The Tonys

I love awards shows, I like the insider jokes (many of which I'm sure pass me by as I'm not actually an insider of any industry) and I like the hosts who try to bring their own personality to the show while staying out of the way of the people desperate to know if they won. I thought Neil Patrick Harris was terrific. A few too many off-color jokes, but overall it was extremely well done, and his obvious personal attachment to Broadway is inspiring. I saw him perform in Sondheim's Assassins a few years ago and he's wonderful on stage. The rest of the Tonys was generally well done. They chose big-name presenters so more people might be included in the fun (it's no fun to watch an awards show for people you don't know at all). My other good point was Dolly Parton coming out to start the song for 9 to 5, but then handing off to the cast (both were nominated, Dolly for writing the songs, Allison Janney for her performance, and others). It was fun, and there are lots of shows I want to go see, as always.

SAG awards, lots of fun.

There weren't a lot of surprises at the SAG awards last night (though I liked that Meryl Streep admitted she hadn't even bought a dress cause she didn't think she'd win). When Sean Penn won for Milk, he even said that now that TV people have their horse race for the Oscar (between him and Mickey Rourke). As expected "30 Rock" took all TV comedy awards (cast, actor, actress), and "John Adams" gave Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti more of their due (it's such a great mini-series, that I'm not upset they keep winning). The part I actually look foward to about the SAG awards is the opening sequence when they put the camera on lots of actors who give 30 second stories about how they became actors - Will Arnett and Steve Carrell were really funny. I enjoyed watching the whole show, and for the most part, everyone was dressed in fun, appropriate dresses (though Amy Adams looked pretty strange with "boob cups" on top of a pretty dress, which thankfully don't photograph the same way they looked on TV). Be sure to check out the LAMB soon as we all start discussing the nonminees and predicting winners.

Golden Globes review

I really like awards shows. I'm probably in the minority, but I do enjoy them, and I watch nearly all of them. I really liked the Golden Globes last night, it's organized, but rarely goes too far. Why can't the Oscars be hosted but still have such a great quick flow? They gave away 25 awards last night, and the Cecil B. DeMille award. The Oscars is almost exactly the same, yet it always takes much longer, and though there are more technical awards that few people viewed or understand the nominees (live action short, documentary short, etc.) so that's less exciting than seeing famous people win awards, they still should be able to get through them faster. Anyway, since I haven't yet been able to see Slumdog Millionaire, I guessed wrong on quite a few awards, but got all the TV awards correct - it's definitely the year of "30 Rock" and "John Adams". They did really well. I was surprised Gabriel Byrne won over Jon Hamm, but he won last year and actually this season he was pretty confusing (still good, but not rock solid like the first season), so that made sense too. And totally thrilled Anna Paquin won for "True Blood", she's terrific.
For the movie awards I was really surprised and happy that Colin Farrell won for In Bruges. He was really good, and probably deserves a little recognition for that. I will definitely see Slumdog Millionaire after all the awards it picked up - Best Picture - Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Original Score. It must just be a wonderful, unique drama. Can't wait. Kate Winslet's acceptance speeches were wonderfully heartfelt. She was self-deprecating joking about how she's not used to winning. Given that she's often been nominated for Oscars, I assumed she'd won Golden Globes (there are twice as many nominees given the drama and comedy categories) but no, these were her first two Golden Globes as well. I hope she finally gets her Oscar. I haven't seen either The Reader or Revolutionary Road yet, but she's obviously done fantastic work in the past, so I can believe she was able to give two tours de force in a single year. It was a terrific evening of winning, with the added bonus of getting to see Steven Speilberg's film history.