I must have a touch of something...

This post is part of Nathaniel's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" series in which the participants must post a single image from a movie he or she deems as the "best shot" for any particular reason.

College was the first time I was exposed to Todd Haynes work. My school did a screening of the luscious Far from Heaven and soon after that my friends and I rented the trippily fun Velvet Goldmine. I loved both of those films and so it's a wonder why I never checked out [safe] until it was chosen for this series. Certainly, it's a film that's still quite well-regarded by critics and film lovers alike and any attention being paid to it now is a credit to the increased renowned of its director Haynes and lead star, and now Academy Award winner, Julianne Moore.

The movie, however, is admittedly not for everyone. Its aesthetics are impeccable, but the story is an uncomfortable watch, which is certainly the point. Moore plays Carol White, a suburban and well-to-do housewife who develops a mysterious illness making her incredibly sensitive to chemicals and the environment. We're never given straightforward proof what her illness entails, but be it psychological, physiological, or both, it forces her to change her lifestyle moving to a new-age retreat. In picking my favorite shot then, I first want to talk about that unique ending.

Most movies would show us the protagonist overcoming their illness or completely and hopelessly succumbing to it. [safe] plays it slightly more ambiguously as Carol looks at her sad reflection in the mirror of her equally sad-looking hermetically sealed room. And yet, she finds the strength to declaratively say "I love you" to her reflection, to herself. Rewind to an earlier part of the film when she was still living in her well-kept house and my pick for best shot:

Best Shot

This shot, while relatively dark, is still full of colors and trappings of her suburban homemaker life which provide contrast to that final scene of the film. Here she is turning her back to everything she knew and loved. Her husband, the rest of her house she most likely decorated all by herself, and most especially herself. Notice that the mirror reflects all of this, but she's unable to look at any it, to accept her situation. She has no idea what's happening to her and it's more than frustrating as she utters helplessly to her husband, " I know it's not normal." This film is not "normal" as well and thank goodness for that.

Birdman Tops Academy Awards

"Stay weird. Stay different." That's from Graham Moore's speech last night as he accepted the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Imitation Game. It's also a very apt way of not only describing this year's Oscars ceremony or the films that were honored, but of the entire awards season as well. But first the full list of winners:

Best Picture: Birdman
Best Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman
Best Lead Actor: Eddie Redmayne, Theory of Everything
Best Lead Actress: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Best Animated Film: Big Hero 6
Best Original Screenplay: Birdman
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Imitation Game
Best Foreign Language Film: Ida
Best Documentary: Citizenfour
Best Original Score: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Original Song: "Glory," Selma
Best Editing: Whiplash
Best Production Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Cinematography: Birdman
Best Costume Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Makeup and Hair: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Sound Editing: American Sniper
Best Sound Mixing: Whiplash
Best Visual Effects: Interstellar
Best Live Action Short: The Phone Call
Best Animated Short: Feast
Best Documentary Short: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1

4 - Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
3 - Whiplash
1 - Boyhood, The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game, Still Alice, Selma, Ida, Big Hero 6, Citizenfour, American Sniper, Interstellar, The Phone Call, Feast, Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1

Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel walked home with the most hardware with 4 each with Birdman taking the top two prizes of Picture and Director while Grand Budapest's haul consisted of technical awards most notably for Production Design, a first for a Wes Anderson film. Whiplash was the only other film to win more than one award with 3 wins including Supporting Actor for J.K. Simmons. Early frontrunner Boyhood only went home with one award for Patricia Arquette's Supporting Actress role, but it wasn't alone as 13 films received only one win including all of the other Best Picture nominees. In fact, this is the first time since the category expanded to more than five nominees that this has happened. Other Best Picture films' wins include Theory of Everything's Eddie Redmayne for Actor, the aforementioned Imitation Game for Adapted Screenplay, Selma's song "Glory" for Best Song, and American Sniper for Sound Editing. So literally, everyone got a trophy. The biggest surprise there is probably Redmayne's win over Michael Keaton since Keaton's film was the star of the night. Another notable wins include Julianne Moore finally winning her long-awaited first Oscar for Actress and Big Hero 6 upset win in Animated Feature. For my part, I got 18/24 in my predictions which was fine, I guess.

The show opened up with a wonderful ode to Moving Pictures from singing-dancing host Neil Patrick Harris accompanied by Anna Kendrick and Jack Black. It started the night off on a high note, but things quickly came back down to earth as the first few speeches were hilariously/tragically drowned out by an overzealous orchestra and them Harris stumbling often coming off as snappy instead of charming. I personally thought he did a solid B, but some of his jokes did fall flat and his whole locked box trick could've been executed far better. He did take off his clothes for the middle part of the ceremony, for which we were all grateful. And while the show went long, there were plenty to like. I personally enjoyed most of the Best Song performances especially the wacky and energetic "Everything is Awesome" and the powerful and emotional "Glory." Lady Gaga's pitch perfect Sound of Music medley was fantastic albeit coming in way too late in the ceremony and Meryl Streep's speech prior to the In Memoriam segment was elegant and touching.

What made this year's Oscars memorable though were the many, many wonderful speeches that the winners gave when accepting their trophies from Simmons' personal plea for everyone to call their moms to Alejandro G. Iñárritu's call for immigration reform. Common and John Legend talked about incarceration rates while Arquette spoke about women and wage inequalities (prompting Streep and Jennifer Lopez to leap out of their seats with agreement, the most gif-worthy moment of the night). Others tried to raise awareness for important issues, personal or film-related, like teen suicide, Alzheimer's care voting rights, veteran's care, privacy, and ALS funding. The award ceremony wasn't perfect, but is it ever? Let's do this again next year, folks!

Birdman Flies at the Spirit Awards

Yesterday, the Spirit Awards, celebrating its 30th year, picked their winners and, for the most part, felt more like a prediction list for tonight's Oscars. There were a few unique choices, but essentially if you're a frontrunner to win an Academy Award tonight, then you probably won a Spirit Award yesterday as well. The winners were:

Best Feature: Birdman
Best Director: Robin Linklater, Boyhood
Best Lead Actor: Michael Keaton, Birdman
Best Lead Actress: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Best Screenplay: Nightcrawler
Best First Feature: Nightcrawler
Best First Screenplay: Dear White People
Best International Film: Ida
Best Documentary: CITIZENFOUR
Best Cinematography: Birdman
Best Editing: Whiplash
Robert Altman Award: Inherent Vice
Piaget Producers Award: Chris Ohlson
Someone To Watch Award: Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia, H
Truer Than Fiction Award: Dan Krauss, The Kill Team
John Cassavetes Award: Land Ho!
Special Distinction Award: Foxcatcher

As has been the case the past few weeks, Birdman came out on top, winning Best Picture and grabbing two more wins for a leading 3 wins at the Spirit Awards. Its rival Boyhood won 2 including a Best Director win (Ethan Hawke accepted on behalf of absent Richard Linklater) setting up the two-film, two-man fight everyone's expecting for the Oscars tonight. All of the acting awards went to the respective Oscar nominee front-runner and all should repeat their wins tonight give or take Eddie Redmayne making good on his precursor successes. Whiplash (Supporting Actor and Editing) and Nightcrawler (Screenplay and First Feature) were the only other films who won multiple awards making the latter's lack of Oscar love all the more egregious.

Apart from Nightcrawler though, other Spirit-winning films that won't be honored much at the Oscars tomorrow include Dear White People, Inherent Vice, and Land Ho!. So on the one hand, it's heartening that so many of the Oscar front-runners come from "independent films" but on the other hand, I'm saddened for the sameness of the films and performances being awarded. So shout out to Love is Strange, Obvious Child, The One I Love, The Guest, Jenny Slate, Tilda Swinton, David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Jessica Chastain, Alfred Molina, etc.

Guild Awards Recap

The deadline for Oscar voters to submit their picks is later today so I thought it was the perfect time to offer up my belated thoughts on the guild results from the past couple of months. While critics, the Golden Globes, and the BAFTAs are all well and good, it's the guilds that really speak to the industry support for films and performances. The fact that their winners are announced during the sweet spot of the Oscar voting period make them all the more influential. First stop, the producers...

Producers Guild Awards Winners

Motion Picture: Birdman
Animated Motion Picture: The LEGO Movie
Documentary Motion Picture: Life Itself
Drama Television: Breaking Bad
Comedy Television: Orange is the New Black
Long Form Television: Fargo

I'm including the TV winners for completeness sake, but I love all three shows so neither here nor there. The LEGO Movie has been dominant all season long so its exclusion at the Oscars really opens up that category while Life Itself was also left out giving a clear path to victory for Citizenfour. Birdman winning here though was the first signal that Boyhood's Cinderella award season trajectory was going to be a bit more complicated than expected. And then the actors chimed in with their favorite picks...

Screen Actors Guild Awards Winners

Best Ensemble, Motion Picture: Birdman
Best Actress: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne, Theory of Everything
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Best Ensemble, TV Drama: Downton Abbey
Best Ensemble, TV Comedy: Orange is the New Black
Best Actress, TV Drama: Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Best Actress, TV Comedy: Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black
Best Actor, TV Drama: Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Best Actor, TV Comedy: William H. Macy, Shameless
Best Actress, Miniseries: Frances McDorman, Olive Kitteridge
Best Actor, Miniseries: Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart

Not much to say about TV only to say that I was thrilled to see Orange if the New Black winning ensemble just to see its fantastic and diverse cast of mostly women take the stage. In the film side, however, the winners here solidified their front-runner status for an eventual win especially Moore, Arquette, and Simmons who had dominated all season long. The tricky result was Redmayne winning Actor over Keaton giving him the trio of Globes-BAFTA-SAG that seems unstoppable and yet Keaton didn't go home empty-handed either winning as part of the winning ensemble of Birdman, aka the top prize of the night. If anything, Birdman's triumph here just made its Best Picture case stronger and why wouldn't Keaton also see that love in the end?

A coupleof smaller guild awards were given out after this as Boyhood and Grand Budapest Hotel won the top awards at the ACE Eddie Awards (editing) while Birdman, Grand Budapest Hotel, and Guardians of the Galaxy won the top awards from the ADG for best production design. If these wins says anything, it's that maybe Grand Budapest Hotel will be the film to look out for not only in the technical awards but also in the bigger awards if people are looking for a viable alternate to Boyhood/Birdman. Of course the big kahuna of guild awards was next...

Directors Guild Awards Winners

Feature Film: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
Documentary Feature: Laura Poitras, Citizenfour
TV Drama Series: Lesli Linka Glatter, Homeland
TV Comedy Series: Jill Soloway, Transparent
TV Movie/Miniseries: Lisa Cholodenko, Olive Kitteridge

With Iñárritu's win, Birdman suddenly went from "possible spoiler" to "frontrunner" as many expected Richard Linklater to win for Boyhood here. Even now people are STILL predicting Linklater to prevail at the Oscars, but this win here clearly shows where the wind is blowing and Birdman has the momentum. All of that is well and good, by the way, but can we also just take a moment to appreciate that ALL of the other top directing winners were women? That was a really happy development. Finally, we get to the writers...

Writers Guild Awards Winners

Original Screenplay: Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Adapted Screenplay: Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
Documentary: Brian Knappenberger, The Internet's Own Boy
Drama Series: Nic Pizzolatto, True Detective
Comedy Series: Louis CK, Louie
New Series: Nic Pizzolatto, True Detective
Comedy Episode: "The Last Call," Robert & Michelle King (The Good Wife)
Drama Episode: "So Did the Fat Lady," Louis C.K. (Louie)

Winners were announced just this past weekend and though the film nominees differ from the Oscars (due to various ineligible films and Oscar snubs), they're still of note. Grand Budapest was always going to be the winner in its category, but it will have to go against Birdman (WGA ineligible) at the Oscars. Imitation Game is perhaps slightly more vulnerable either from Whiplash (which was nominated in Original by the WGA) or Theory of Everything (not eligible). With regards to the latter though I had wish those Oscar snubbed-films could've won (Gone Girl, Wild, Guardians of the Galaxy), but alas. Not much to comment regarding the TV winners only to say YAY for The Good Wife!

All in all, Birdman is clearly running ahead with big wins from SAG, PGA, DGA as well as smaller guilds while its biggest competition is not Boyhood, but Grand Budapest Hotel. I'm hoping many people remember the early and effusive love Boyhood received in its debut though, but regardless the Picture/Director categories will come down to the wire. Acting is less unpredictable, but at least Lead Actor is also still up for grabs as are the Screenplay categories making this one of the more exciting Oscars in terms of predicting winners. Less than a week away.

BAFTA picks Boyhood, Theory of Everything, & Grand Budapest Hotel

I just posted my thoughts on Oscar nominations after a few weeks late, so it's not a big surprise that I completely forgot to make predictions for the BAFTA Awards which were held earlier today. I'd like to say I would've done well if I proceeded to, but that doesn't matter now. Anyways, the winners:

Best Film: Boyhood
Best British Film: The Theory of Everything
Best Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of the Everything
Best Actress: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Best Original Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Theory of Everything
Best Foreign Language Film: Ida
Best Documentary: Citizenfour
Best Animated Film: The LEGO Movie
Best Film Editing: Whiplash
Best Production Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Cinematography: Birdman
Best Costume Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Makeup & Hair: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Original Music: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Sound: Whiplash
Best Visual Effects: Interstellar
Best British Debut: Stephen Beresford and David Livingstone, Pride
Orange Rising Star: Jack O'Connell

After a slightly disappointing showing with the guilds stateside, Boyhood gained its awards season mojo back picking up 3 wins including Best Film and Best Director. Theory of Everything also received 3 wins including Best Actor and Best British Film and in fact it was the British film of choice as its main competitor and fellow Oscar BP nominee The Imitation Game walked away empty-handed. The Grand Budapest Hotel walked home with the most awards at 5 dominating the techs and winning Adapted Screenplay. Whiplash was the only other film to win more than one award with 3 wins including surprise wins for Editing and Sound. Oscar front-runner Birdman picked up a lone Cinematography award. Meanwhile, the BAFTAs decided to stick with the SAG winners for acting further solidifying Redmayne, Moore, Simmons, and Arquette's front-runner status especially considering that the BAFTAs could've shaken it up if they really wanted to. Finally, I was happy to see one of my favorite films of last year, Pride, get some recognition with its makers winning British Debut.

Posters by Malika Favre

Boyhood's and Redmayne's wins mean that at least three big categories are still in doubt come Oscar time as the winners for Picture, Director, and Actor are still very much in flux. The broad support as well for The Grand Budapest Hotel and Whiplash shows that the below-the-line awards might also be competitive including both Screenplay awards. To finish, I just want to take a final moment to praise this year's interpretive posters for the Best Film nominees annually commissioned by BAFTA. My favorites were for Boyhood and Theory of Everything (above), but all of them were brilliantly executed (see below for the others).

Golden Globes Pick Boyhood & First-Time Winners

If I'm being honest, this was probably the least successful hosting stint of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler at the Golden Globes (which still means it's better than average, just not as great as what they've done the past couple of years). I'm sure some if it was due to their North Korea bit with Margaret Cho falling flat a bit as well as people's uncomfortableness with the Bill Cosby jokes, but to Fey and Poehler they had to go there so to speak and knowing it was their last time hosting gave them the freedom to do whatever. They still managed to make a brilliant joke at Cecil B. Demille recipient George Clooney's expense and their "Who'd You Rather" skit is already a classic, so it was all worth it. So, the winners...

Best Motion Picture, Drama: Boyhood
Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Best Actress, Drama: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Best Actress, Comedy or Musical: Amy Adams, Big Eyes
Best Actor, Drama: Eddie Redmayne, Theory of Everything
Best Actor, Comedy or Musical: Michael Keaton, Birdman
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Best Supporting Actor: J.K, Simmons, Whiplash
Best Animated Film: How to Train Your Dragon 2
Best Foreign Language Film: Leviathan
Best Screenplay: Birdman
Best Score: Theory of Everything
Best Song: "Glory," Selma

Boyhood led with 3 wins picking up Best Drama Film, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress followed by Birdman and Theory of Everything which both picked up two awards each, one for their leading actors and another for Screenplay and Score respectively. The Grand Budapest Hotel was the surprise winner for Best Comedy/Musical over Birdman while one of Oscars' front-runners The Imitation Game went home empty-handed. J.K. Simmons continued his awards season dominance by picking up Supporting Actor. Julianne Moore and Amy Adams picked up the Best Actress awards solidifying one as the front-runner (Moore) and the other as possible spoiler to the short list (Adams). Selma might yet figure importantly in the Oscar race, but its momentum this awards season is sorely lacking. Their win in Original Song, however, gave them an opportunity to talk about the film in relation to current events and that's not nothing. Finally, How to Train Your Dragon 2 won Best Animated Film in a bit of an upset to the presumed front-runner The LEGO Movie. I went 8 out of 14 with my predictions thinking the HFPA would pick Birdman and Cumberbatch among a few other misses.

Best TV Series, Drama: The Affair
Best TV Series, Comedy: Transparent
Best Actress, Drama: Ruth Wilson, The Affair
Best Actress, Comedy: Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Best Actor, Drama: Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Best Actor, Comedy: Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
Best Mini-Series or TV Movie: Fargo
Best Actress, Mini/TV Movie: Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman
Best Actor, Mini/TV Movie: Billy Bob Thorton, Fargo
Best Supporting Actress: Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
Best Supporting Actor: Matt Bomer, The Normal Heart

On the TV side, the big winners were new series and first-time winners. In fact, every single acting award went to first-time winners from the CW's first Golden Globe win ever with Gina Rodriguez picking up Best Comedy Actress (her win and speech were the highlights of the night) to 8-time nominee Kevin Spacey finally winning his first Golden Globe. The HFPA really went niche this year honoring not only Netflix and the CW, but Amazon as well with two wins for its ground-breaking show Transparent for Best Comedy and Best Comedy Actor. Showtime's freshman series The Affair also picked up two awards for Best Drama and Best Drama Actress. Fargo faced stiff competition, but came out on top over True Detective and The Normal Heart winning Best Mini-Series/TV Movie and winning Best Actor for Billy Bob Thorton (notably beating Matthew McConaughey). The Normal Heart did walk away with one award for Matt Bomer as Downton Abbey and The Honorable Woman also pick up an award each. I did horribly in my predictions this year getting only 4 out of 11 correctly, but two female-created shows winning the top two awards plus acting wins with roles dealing with race, trans, gay, and sexual abuse issues? As Fey/Poehler made the crowd chant tonight... TV *IS* BETTER.

Screen Actors Guild Nominations

Meant to write about the SAG nominations much, much earlier today but didn't have the time. So in an effort to be complete, here's a few quick thoughts on the nominees even though all everyone will be talking about tomorrow are the Golden Globe nominees. Oh well!

BEST ENSEMBLE

• Birdman
• Boyhood
• Grand Budapest Hotel
• Imitation Game
• Theory of Everything

Both Boyhood and Birdman have been a favorite in the awards circuit so far and it's pretty much a two-movie race for now and this guild did little to rock the boat. Birdman does lead with 4 nominations, but Boyhood is right behind it at 3 including this ensemble nod consisting of only its four leads. Thrilled to see Grand Budapest show up here and Imitation Game makes sense. I did love Theory of Everything, but I really thought it would've been replaced by Gone Girl, Selma, or Into the Woods. Those latter two films though were hurt by their late release. But whither Gone Girl? It's lack of awards momentum so far has left me confused.

BEST ACTRESS

• Jennifer Aniston, Cake
• Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
• Julianne Moore, Still Alice
• Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
• Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Jennifer what now? I mean in the back of my head she was going to get a Golden Globe nod, but that's it so this surprise nomination is just that. Can she go all the way or is the TV-dominated SAG just voting for their old pal Rachel Green? The rest seem set for Oscars. It'd made sense for critics favorite (so far) Marion Cotillard to get left off here. Would've loved to have seen someone like Gugu Mbatha-Raw or Jenny Slate though.

BEST ACTOR

• Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
• Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
• Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
• Michael Keaton, Birdman
• Eddie Redmayne, Theory of Everything

Even before "awards season" began this category has always been about Keaton vs. Redmayne vs. Cumberbatch so it makes sense to see them here and they'll most likely take this fight to the Oscars as well. They'll most likely go up against not nominated David Oyelowo and perhaps Timothy Spall. If so, Keaton would be the lone American... food for thought. Is it just me or is Carell and his film slowly fading from people's mindset? I didn't particularly enjoy the film so I'm okay with that.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
• Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
• Emma Stone, Birdman
• Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
• Naomi Watts, St. Vincent

Even with Watts surprise nomination, I thought this was pretty much expected, but I had expected Watts to have been nominated for her work in Birdman NOT St. Vincent. How she vaulted past Jessica Chastain for her work in either Interstellar or A Most Violent Year is pretty crazy. I was also banking on a Tilda Swinton or Carrie Coon nod, but it's not to be. With that said, I love all of these actresses so I'm all good.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Robert Duvall, The Judge
• Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
• Edward Norton, Birdman
• Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
• J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

So enough people actually saw The Judge and liked it enough to nominate Duvall? I'll take their word for it. Then again the next best choice was who? Andy Serkis for Apes? Josh Brolin for Inherent Vice? Tyler Perry for Gone Girl? For all the talk about the Best Actress field being "weak," I think this category could use some more options.

BEST STUNT ENSEMBLE, FILM

• Fury
• Get On Up
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• Unbroken
• X-Men: Days of Future Past

I had been banking a nomination for those two awesome Marvel films this year, Captain America and Guardians of the Galaxy, but alas. Get On Up though? Really? Again, I'll take their word on it.

With Breaking Bad not eligible this year and the nominating committee finally recognizing streaming networks, there were a lot of new shows and faces. It's not perfect, but it's not bad overall.

BEST COMEDY ENSEMBLE

• Big Bang Theory
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine
• Modern Family
• Orange is the New Black
• Veep

I'm really, really happy to see Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Orange is the New Black, and Veep on this list. When the first two weren't nominated last year for their outstanding freshman seasons I was livid so nice to see them make right. I get that Big Bang and Modern Family are two of the biggest comedies on TV right now, but man we get it. How about some love for Parks & Recreation and Shameless? Maybe next year? I won't hold my breath.

BEST DRAMA ENSEMBLE

• Boardwalk Empire
• Downton Abbey
• Game of Thrones
• Homeland
• House of Cards

I bet all of these shows are relieved to not have to compete with Breaking Bad this year. I'm hoping this means Game of Thrones win, because that cast is just ridiculous. I have nothing negative to say about the other nominees, but it is hard to take this list seriously with such obvious snubs as The Good Wife, Mad Men, Masters of Sex, The Americans... I can go on and on.

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY

• Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black
• Julie Bowen, Modern Family
• Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
• Julia Louis Dreyfus, Veep
• Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation

If we must nominate someone from Modern Family, can we at least nominate Sofia Vergara? She, Falco, and Louis Dreyfus were nominated last year, so whatever (though yay Veep). I am glad to see Poehler back in the mix after missing out last year and MY GIRL EMMY-WINNING UZO ADUBA! YES! To be perfectly frank, I would've been 100% okay if all five nominations went to Orange is the New Black here.

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY

• Ty Burrell, Modern Family
• Louis C.K., Louie
• William H. Macy, Shameless
• Jim Parsons, Big Bang Theory
• Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

God, this is the worst category. Two actors from Modern Family? Parsons... again? I don't doubt their talents, but the lack of new nominees here year in, year out bugs me. Where's Adam Scott, Andre Braugher, Adam Driver, Chris Messina, Nick Offerman, Andy Samberg, and on and on and on.

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA

• Claire Danes, Homeland
• Viola Davis, How To Get Away With Murder
• Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
• Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
• Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
• Robin Wright, Homeland

If they had to add another nominee to make sure to honor Maslany then I'm all for it. She's now won 2 Critics Choice Awards and been nominated for a Golden Globe and a SAG award. Fuck you, Emmys. But hey, real talk now... Maggie Smith? Doesn't care if she wins or gets nominated. So stop it. Keri Russell, Lizzy Caplan, Elisabeth Moss, and plenty of other actresses would love to take her wasted spot.

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA

• Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
• Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
• Woody Harrelson, True Detective
• Matthew McConaughey, True Detective
• Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

The more distance I get from True Detective, the less positive things I have to say about it. With that said, however, I still think those two guys were pretty great so I guess I'm okay with their double-dipping here and plenty thankful they didn't nominate the show for Ensemble. That said, hey SAG committe Mad Men does still exist you know. Jon Hamm, Matthew Rhys, Matt Czuchry are guys who exist.

BEST ACTRESS, MOVIE/MINISERIES

• Ellen Burstyn, Flowers in the Attic
• Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honourable Woman
• Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge
• Julia Roberts, The Normal Heart
• Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful

No big surprises here though it's worth to note that the Gyllenhaal siblings have bookend nominations so it's a good awards season for the household! I wish Alison Tolman had been nominated though.

BEST ACTOR, MOVIE/MINISERIES

• Adrien Brody, Houdini
• Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: His Last Vow
• Richard Jenkins, Olive Kitteridge
• Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart
• Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo

They do love them some Cumberbatch. Were there any snubs? The only two I can think of is Martin Freeman for either his work in Fargo or Sherlock and Matt Bomer for The Normal Heart.

BEST STUNT ENSEMBLE, TV

• 24: Live Another Day
• Boardwalk Emppire
• Game of Thrones
• Homeland
• Sons of Anarchy
• The Walking Dead

I mean sure. What is there to say really? Maybe Agents of SHIELD especially with so many more fight sequences this season, but whatever.

Spirit Awards Nominations

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Of course, Thanksgiving not only signals the beginning of the holiday season but the start of awards season as well. In fact on Wednesday the Spirit Award nominations were announced. Below are the nominees and my brief thoughts on them...

BEST FEATURE
Birdman
Boyhood
Love is Strange
Selma
Whiplash

Birdman leads all films with 6 nominations followed closely by Boyhood and Selma with 5 nominations. Nightcrawler also surprised with 5 nominations but couldn't crack Picture/Director. Love is Strange and Whiplash meanwhile received 4 nominations. A few films like Foxcatcher, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Theory of Everything weren't eligible but The Imitation Game, Wild and to a lesser extent The Skeleton Twins were and were surprisingly shut out.

BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash  
Ava DuVernay, Selma
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
David Zellner, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

Looks like this is going to be a race between Iñárritu and Linklater, but DuVernay's nomination seems like a game-changer to me. Regardless, it's nice to see Linklater here after this group ignore his Before Midnight masterpiece last year.

BEST FIRST FEATURE
Ana Lily Amirpour, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Justin Simien, Dear White People
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Gillian Robespierre, Obvious Child
Anja Marquardt, She's Lost Control

Unfortunately I've only seen Robespierre's delightful Obvious Child, which I'm glad is getting some year-end awards recognition. Had been meaning to catch Dear White People and Nightcrawler, but haven't yet!

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant
Rinko Kikuchi, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Jenny Slate, Obvious Child
Tilda Swinton, Only Lovers Left Alive

I know nothing about Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter but getting Director/Actress nominations is a testament to that film. I have seen Slate and Swinton and thrilled both are nominated. The day of the nominations I also checked out Cotillard's turn in The Immigrant and I compared it to Streep's Sophie's Choice turn so that's where I am with THAT performance. Finally, Moore is the prohibitive frontrunner to win here AND at the Oscars though she'd likely have to go up against Reese Witherspoon who was inexplicably snubbed here. Shout out to Kirsten Wiig, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Elisabeth Moss.

BEST MALE LEAD
André Benjamin, Jimi: All Is By My Side
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton, Birdman
John Lithgow, Love is Strange
David Oyelowo, Selma

Benihana Cumberband's non-nomination for The Imitation Game is really quite strange and really supports the theory that the committee just wasn't sure if it was eligible or not. That said, it does give a few men who need support early on like Lithgow, Gyllenhaal, and Oyelowo the boost they need for awards season momentum. Keaton is the likely favorite, but again that's without facing his biggest rivals of the season, the aforementioned Belichick Cumbaya and Theory of Everything's Eddie Redmayne.

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Carmen Ejogo, Selma
Andrea Suarez Paz, Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
Emma Stone, Birdman

Arquette! Chastain! Stone! Already with those three this feels like such a fun line-up though how amazing would it have been to see Swinton pop up here for her turn in Snowpiercer, which I'm sure is being largely forgotten in awards campaigning. Arquette seems like the favorite for now, but it's early days and I'm more excited at the prospect that Stone COULD get her first Oscar nomination. Again, still early days.

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Riz Ahmed, Nightcrawler
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Alfred Molina, Love is Strange
Edward Norton, Birdman
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Molina is supporting while Lithgow is lead? I liked Love is Strange and any award recognition this small film gets is a good one, but category fraud is super annoying. Moving on! I *love* Norton in Birdman and Hawke was pretty good in Boyhood (and I'm seeing his nomination as a make-up for the Before series as well). Simmons is the front-runner right not for this and the Oscars.

BEST SCREENPLAY
Big Eyes
Love is Strange
A Most Violent Year
Nightcrawler
Only Lovers Left Alive

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Appropriate Behavior
Dear White People
Little Accidents
The One I Love
She's Lost Control

It's a bit weird to see the screenplay categories have little overlap with the feature categories, especially Birdman and Nightcrawler but I'll chalk it up as a positive in that voters are actually thinking about each category. With that said, I've only see three of the ten films cited here so I need to up my game a bit.

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Low Budget Films)
Blue Ruin
It Felt Like Love
Land Ho!
Man From Reno
Test

I've heard good stuff about Land Ho! so I can't wait to check that out and I have seen Test which I liked, but thought it just okay.

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Force Majeure, Sweden
Ida, Poland
Leviathan, Russia
Mommy, Canada
Norte, the End of History, Philippines
Under the Skin, UK

Wow, this feels like a stacked category already that could repeat at the Oscar with only Under the Skin not eligible for the latter award. I've only see Under the Skin on this list, but I've already heard very good stuff about most of these and it's cool to see the Philippines represented.

BEST DOCUMENTARY
20,000 Days on Earth
CITIZENFOUR
The Salt of the Earth
Stray Dog
Virunga

I'm ashamed to say I haven't ever heard of any of these. Are all worthy to check out?

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
The Immigrant
It Felt Like Love
Selma

BEST EDITING 
Boyhood
The Guest
Nightcrawler
A Most Violent Year
Whiplash

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Inherent Vice

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD
Foxcatcher      

Not much to say about the rest of the categories except to say how ecstatic I am to see Adam Wingard's The Guest nominated for anything. It's one of the pleasant surprises for me this year and if it was up to me I probably would've nominated it for Feature, Directing, and Lead Actor.

Looking Forward To...

Don Jon
Release: September 27, 2013
Distributor: Relativity
Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Brie Larson, Tony Danza, Glenn Headly, and Julianne Moore

Screen Actors Guild Vote for Argo & Downton Abbey

Lincoln may have walked away with the film with the most wins tonight at the SAG Awards for Actor and Supporting Actor, but it's Ben Affleck's Argo which came out on top unexpectedly winning Best Ensemble putting it firmly in the lead especially after its PGA, Golden Globes, and BFCA wins earlier in the season. Katniss and Catwoman, I mean Jennifer Lawrence and Anne Hathaway, solidified their advantage over their fellow Oscar nominees by winning here and each giving gracious and beautiful acceptance speeches to boot.

Best Ensemble: Argo
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Best Supporting Actor: Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

Shockingly enough even with the actors giving Alec Baldwin his 8th award and Modern Family still being honored as the Best Comedy Ever, the TV awards actually provided some nice surprises like Bryan Cranston's first ever SAG win (compared to his three Emmy Awards) and Downton Abbey picking up Best Drama Ensemble aka the biggest shock of the night. Phyllis Logan, who looked astonishing all glammed up unlike her character Mrs. Hughes, accepted the award surrounded by her surprised and gleeful co-stars.

Best Ensemble, Drama: Downton Abbey
Best Ensemble, Comedy: Modern Family
Best Actress, Drama: Claire Danes, Homeland
Best Actress, Comedy: Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Best Actor, Drama: Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Best Actor, Comedy: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Best Actress, Miniseries: Julianne Moore, Game Change
Best Actor, Miniseries: Kevin Costner, Hatfields & McCoys

The motto of the night though seemed to be to spread the love around, which I endorse, with no one TV show or movie getting more than two wins. 30 Rock got two wins for Tina Fey and Baldwin and as many times as they have already been awarded, it's kind of nice to honor them especially with their show having its final episode this week. Lincoln also got two wins and while Daniel Day-Lewis is a lock to win his third Oscar, his fellow SAG winner Tommy Lee Jones is in a 3-way fight with Golden Globe winner Christoph Waltz and BFCA winner Philip Seymour Hoffman. But the big story moving forward is definitely Argo's win (which also makes Cranston the only double-winner tonight). With how open the Oscar race has been all season, can Argo really go all the way after its most recent big wins especially with its director not nominated for Oscars? People will keep asking this, so buckle up.

Girls Night at the Golden Globes; Affleck Also Wins Big

The big winners of the night were undoubtedly a couple of girls, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who both confirmed what everyone already knew when they were announced as host of the show months ago, that they were going to be THE reason to tune in. While I wished they were used more throughout the show, their opening monologue killed especially with hilarious barbs against a couple of James, Cameron and Franco. Whenever they appeared, witticisms just came out of them delighting not just the room, but as my twitter timeline could attest, the millions watching at home. Really if the entire show had been just them riffing with each other, the Golden Globes would have been the best. But alas awards were given out...

Best Motion Picture, Drama: Argo
Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical: Les Misérables
Best Director: Ben Affleck, Argo
Best Actress, Drama: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress, Comedy or Musical: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor, Drama: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Best Actor, Comedy or Musical: Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Best Animated Film: Brave
Best Foreign Language Film: Amour
Best Screenplay: Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
Best Score: Life of Pi, Michael Danna
Best Song: "Skyfall," Skyfall

Les Misérables was the night's top film netting three wins for Picture, Actor, and Supporting Actress. It was a great showing for the divisive musical who had to go up against Weinstein-backed Silver Linings Playbook which still walked home with an award for Actress for Jennifer Lawrence. For Drama, Argo was tops taking home Picture and Director, giving Hollywood's newest golden boy Ben Affleck two wins probably making that Oscar snub sting less. The love was spread around though as all of the other films got some love with Lincoln and Zero Dark thirty picking up Actor and Actress respectively, Django Unchained surprising with two awards for Screenplay and Supporting Actor, and Life of Pi not walking home empty-handed with its win for Score. Amour and Adele, who just wanted a night out with friends, predictably won their categories while Brave took home its first major award of the season. Prediction-wise, I did pretty respectably getting 9 of 14. But now the question must be asked, what does this mean for Oscars? With Affleck's win here and at the Critics' Choice, he and his film would be the absolute front-runner now except for the small detail of him not getting a Best Director nomination from the Academy. Top film Les Misérables also didn't get a Director nomination, which means the race is as confusing and exciting as ever!

Best TV Series, Drama: Homeland
Best TV Series, Comedy: Girls
Best Actress, Drama: Claire Danes, Homeland
Best Actress, Comedy: Lena Dunham, Girls
Best Actor, Drama: Damian Lewis, Homeland
Best Actor, Comedy: Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Best Mini-Series or TV Movie: Game Change
Best Actress, Miniseries/TV Movie: Julianne Moore, Game Change
Best Actor, Miniseries/TV Movie: Kevin Costner, Hatfields and McCoys
Best Supporting Actress: Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Best Supporting Actor: Ed Harris, Game Change

The big loser tonight on the TV side would have to be the broadcast networks as they were completely shut out unless you count PBS's lone win for Downton Abbey's Maggie Smith. The rest of the winners came from cable or premium channels with Best Show honors going to Game Change, Homeland, and Girls. Actors, like Smith, who repeated their Emmy wins from a few months back include Julianne Moore, Damian Lewis, Claire Danes, and Kevin Costner. But it was Girls' creator Lena Dunham who made the biggest splash by winning Actress and for her show winning Best Comedy. In terms of predictions, I got a pretty good 8 of 11, but I could've done better if I had just remembered that the HFPA just loves to reward the new, fresh thing (Girls) as well as movie stars (Don Cheadle, Kevin Costner, etc.). But still, can the broadcast networks mount a comeback?

As for the rest of the show, I think it went pretty swimmingly. As I said above Fey and Poehler were just dynamite and I feel ever so sorry for Seth McFarlane trying to top that at the Oscars. Bill Clinton made a fun surprise guest appearance to present Lincoln enabling the Hollywood people present to be sufficiently starstruck while Austrian Arnold Schwarzenegger presented an award to Austrian Michael Haneke. And then there was "girl" of the night, Jodie Foster who had everyone buzzing with her sincere and idiosyncratic speech as she accepted the Cecil B. DeMille award wherein she talked about one's right to privacy as she announced that she already came out "about a thousand years ago, back in the stone age." For that speech and for many more, this 70th Golden Globes will certainly be remembered in years to come.

The Emmys: The Winners

I wouldn't exactly call these Emmy Awards the worse in recent history, but it was tough to get through early on with some winners that were at best boring (Modern Family) and at worst utterly disappointing (Jon Cryer?!). Most of that was relegated to the comedy categories which were subpar to begin with, but it set the tone for a night filled with many repeat winners and thus very little surprises. It also didn't help that towards the middle and end of the ceremony, the producers started getting really serious about keeping the show on time cutting off many of the major winners' speeches. Of course they still felt the need to insert in as many inane skits as they could like making fun of the In Memoriam segment or a initiating a social media prank about Tracy Morgan fainting. Jimmy Kimmel was actually pretty game for most of the night, with his opening sketch and monologue making the highlights.

As for the actual winners, as I said above, repeat winners were the big winners as 8 of the 12 acting awards given out tonight went to actors who have won an Emmy previously. Three of those first time winners came in the TV Movie/Miniseries categories with Kevin Costner and Tom Berenger winning for their performances in Hatfields & McCoys and Julianne Moore taking home Best Actress for playing Sarah Palin in Game Change. Speaking of Game Change, it also took home Director, Writing, and Best TV Movie/Miniseries. Its writer, I have to point out, is Danny Strong who is an alum of Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and also guest starred on Mad Men, which technically means at least one actor from that show has now won an Emmy. But it really was a night to forget for Mad Men.

Of course, Mad Men was the slight favorite to win Best Drama tonight and many had hoped someone from its main cast would finally win as well. Unfortunately, not only did they lose out on all of that, but they also got an unprecedented 0 out of 17 nominations this year. Homeland broke the winning streak of Mad Men this year winning Best Drama Series and three other awards including double Actor/Actress wins for Damian Lewis and Claire Danes. Aaron Paul and Maggie Smith picked up Supporting awards, which made me happy despite my heart wanting to give it to Giancarlo Esposito and Christina Hendricks respectively.

Modern Family won a handful of awards tonight as they have done the past three years winning Series, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, and Directing. I like the show, but their Emmy dominance harbors real resentment. More depressingly, Cryer picked up Actor while Julia Louis-Dreyfus won for Actress, which was one of the more pleasant comedy wins tonight even if Amy Poehler should've won instead. Poehler, by the way, saves the Emmy Awards yet again by seemingly swapping acceptance speeches with Louis-Dreyfus to expected hilarious results. Louis C.K. winning Writing was also pretty cool, but I really wanted Community's "Remedial Chaos Theory" to win.

Here is a complete list of winners from tonight...

DRAMA
SERIES: Homeland (SHO)
ACTOR: Damian Lewis, Homeland (SHO)
ACTRESS: Claire Danes, Homeland (SHO)
SUPP. ACTOR: Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad (AMC)
SUPP. ACTRESS: Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey (PBS)
DIRECTING: Tim Van Patten, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
WRITING: Alez Ganza, Howard Gordon, Gideon Raff, Homeland (SHO)
GUEST ACTOR: Jeremy Davis, Justified (FX)
GUEST ACTRESS: Martha Plimpton, The Good Wife (CBS)

COMEDY
SERIES: Modern Family (ABC)
ACTOR: Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men (CBS)
ACTRESS: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep (HBO)
SUPP. ACTOR: Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family (ABC)
SUPP. ACTRESS: Julie Bowen, Modern Family (ABC)
DIRECTING: Steve Levitan, Modern Family (ABC)
WRITING: Louis C.K., Louie (FX)
GUEST ACTOR: Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live (NBC)
GUEST ACTRESS: Kathy Bates, Two and a Half Men (FOX)

MINISERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIALS
MINISERIES OR MOVIE: Game Change (HBO)
ACTOR: Kevin Costner, Hatfields & McCoys (HISTORY)
ACTRESS: Julianne Moore, Game Change (HBO)
SUPP. ACTOR: Tom Berenger, Hatfields & McCoys (HISTORY)
SUPP. ACTRESS: Jessica Lange, American Horror Story (FX)
DIRECTING: Jay Roach, Game Change (HBO)
WRITING: Danny Strong, Game Change (HBO)

VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY PROGRAM
SERIES: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
DIRECTING: Saturday Night Live (NBC)
WRITING: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)

REALITY
COMPETITION PROGRAM: The Amazing Race (CBS)
PROGRAM: Undercover Boss (CBS)
HOST: Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars (ABC)

Prediction-wise, I did only slightly better than last year getting 9 out of 19, but still pretty damn dreadful. I pretty much nailed the drama categories, but was woefully wrong on the comedy ones.

Emmy Nominations and Predictions

I've been so remiss in talking about the Emmy Awards this year to the point that I didn't even blog about my instant reaction to the nominations a couple months ago. Suffice to say, my feelings have largely stabilized and so I am now able to calmly discuss this year's nominations and give my predictions just in time for this year's ceremony which airs tomorrow. And so my thoughts...

BEST DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
Mad Men

Can someone stop Mad Men from a winning a record fifth time? If there was ever a year, this would be it. Breaking Bad has built up so much buzz and goodwill that it may be seen as timely to give it the big win, but it'd also be foolish to underestimate new show Homeland and everyone's obsession Downton Abbey. I was shocked that The Good Wife didn't make it in, but it's not as if these nominees aren't worthy. I'm thinking Mad Men's streak ends this year.

Prediction: Homeland
Alternate: Breaking Bad
Should Win: Breaking Bad
Should've Been Nominated: The Good Wife

BEST DRAMA ACTOR
Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Damian Lewis, Homeland

Jon Hamm had his chance last year, but it wasn't meant to be and it is even harder this year with 3-time winner Bryan Cranston back in the line up as well as newcomer Damian Lewis. I'm pretty sure one of those men will get the prize, as I predicted before they even got nominated, but which one is anybody's guess. No one really got robbed of a nomination here, but I wished another leading man from Downton Abbey made it in. Or even Jason Isaacs for his under-appreciated show Awake.

Prediction: Damian Lewis
Alternate: Bryan Cranston
Should Win: Damian Lewis
Should've Been Nominated: Dan Stevens, Jason Isaacs

BEST DRAMA ACTRESS
Kathy Bates, Harry's Law
Glenn Close, Damages
Claire Danes, Homeland
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

I'd complain about a few snubs like Emmy Rossum or Madeleine Stowe, but this category is stacked like whoa with very talented ladies. I honestly can say I'm equally rooting for about four of them to win so I think my chances are good for the big night. The frontrunners are obviously past Emmy winners Claire Danes and Julianna Margulies, but anything can happen. I'd say they'd randomly give it to Bates, but she finally won her first Emmy last weekend for Guest Actress. I also want to take this moment to FREAK OUT over Dockery's nomination. I seriously thought it was a long shot!

Prediction: Claire Danes
Alternate: Elisabeth Moss
Should Win: Michelle Dockery
Should've Been Nominated: Emmy Rossum, Madeline Stowe

BEST DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jim Carter, Downton Abbey
Brendan Coyle, Downton Abbey
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Giancarlo Esposito, Breaking Bad
Jared Harris, Mad Men
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad

Definitely didn't expect the Emmy voters to go Downton crazy this year, at least to this extent, but it's quite evident in this category. Their nominations are their reward though while the other four men will duke it out. Initially I really thought this category was going to pit last year's winner Dinklage against 2010's winner Paul, but perhaps another Breaking Bad actor will take it all. In my heart, I think Esposito could upset, but I still think I will predict Paul or Dinklage to win.

Prediction: Aaron Paul
Alternate: Peter Dinklage
Should Win: Aaron Paul
Should've Been Nominated: Gabriel Mann, John Noble

BEST DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey

I love the actress, but Froggatt's nomination is hilarious. On the other hand, I am over the moon ecstatic that Anna Gunn was recognized for her stellar work. I think Lena Heady was robbed a bit, but not to the extent that I'm super angry about it. As for who has the edge, I'm actually going to pick Christina Hendricks to be the first Mad Men actor to win an Emmy! Yes, even over the great dame Maggie Smith who can just as easily win of course.

Prediction: Christina Hendricks,
Alternate: Maggie Smith
Should Win: Christina Hendricks
Should've Been Nominated: Lena Heady, Maisie Williams

BEST COMEDY SERIES
The Big Bang Theory
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Girls
Modern Family
30 Rock
Veep

I understand the snub of Community YET AGAIN, but this category is pure and utter bullshit without Parks and Recreation. In fact, I'd probably only support two of these shows to make the shortlist, so I have pretty negative feelings about the Comedy categories overall. I mean at least they didn't nominate Glee or Smash, but seriously this category is useless with Parks and Recreation. Repeating myself? YES I AM.

Prediction: Modern Family
Alternate: Girls
Should Win: None since it belongs to Parks and Recreation
Should've Been Nominated: Parks and Recreation, Community

BEST COMEDY ACTOR
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Louis C.K., Louie
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

See my comment above about having negative feelings about these comedy categories. Of course it doesn't help that I only watch two of these performances regularly, but even those don't really inspire strong feelings within. I was a bit shocked that Elijah Wood didn't get nominated for Wilfred, but I guess that show was off their radar or something. I don't even have a rooting interest really. Moving on.

Prediction: Jim Parsons
Alternate: Alec Baldwin
Should Win: Louis C.K.
Should've Been Nominated: Adam Scott, Elijah Wood

BEST COMEDY ACTRESS
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Lena Dunham, Girls
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Kind of annoying that there's seven nominations, but at the very least they included Amy Poehler even though they snub her show (still not over it). If there was any justice in the world she would win this award, but I think the front runner here is Emmy favorite Julia Louis-Dreyfus, which in her defense would be completely deserved. Deschanel and Dunham as the new kids in town also have the edge for being new and cool. Was a bit bummed about Plimpton's snub, but she won a guest Emmy last week so it's all good!

Prediction: Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Alternate: Zooey Deschanel
Should Win: Amy Poehler
Should've Been Nominated: Courtney Cox, Martha Plimpton

BEST COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
Max Greenfield, New Girl
Bill Hader, Saturday Night Live
Ed O'Neill, Modern Family
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Look, I like Modern Family as much as any other guy, but chill the fuck out Emmy voters. The show is NOT THAT GOOD. With that said, I'd be shocked if anyone from another show wins, because the odds are just so stacked against them. Greenfield's nomination was a bit refreshing though, but Nick Offerman, Jim Rash, and Damon Wayans Jr. should've been nominated as well. This category just saddens me.

Prediction: Ed O'Neill
Alternate: Ty Burrell
Should Win: Casting director of Modern Family
Should've Been Nominated: Jim Rash, Nick Offerman, Damon Wayans Jr., and more

BEST COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Kathryn Joosten, Desperate Housewives
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie
Kristin Wiig, Saturday Night Live

Joosten gets her posthumous nomination and her show's one and only. As crass as it is to talk about, her death does give her an edge here. Last year's winner Bowen could just as easily repeat, but I think Joosten's biggest challenge is from Sofia Vergara. Bialik's nomination gives me immense joy as she's the one consistent bright spot on her show. Never underestimate Wiig though especially for her farewell season. Lots of snubs particularly Jane Krakowski and my fave girl in Girls Zosia Mamet.

Prediction: Kathryn Joosten
Alternate: Sofia Vergara
Should Win: Mayim Bialik
Should've Been Nominated: Zosia Mamet, Jane Krakowski

OTHER CATEGORIES
Best Miniseries or Movie: Game Change
Best Actor, Miniseries: Clive Owen, Hemingway and Gellhorn
Best Actress, Miniseries: Julianne Moore, Game Change
Best Supporting Actor, Miniseries: Martin Freeman, Sherlock
Best Supporting Actress, Miniseries: Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
Best Guest Actor, Comedy*: Michael J. Fox, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Best Guest Actress, Comedy*: Melissa McCarthy, Saturday Night Live
Best Guest Actor, Drama*: Mark Margolis, Breaking Bad
Best Guest Actress, Drama*: Joan Cusack, Shameless

Please take my predictions with a grain of salt as historically I have NOT done well. Last year, I predicted 7 of 19 awards correctly which is quite pathetic. *With the Creative Emmys already giving out the awards for guest acting last week, I start off with a whimper in my predictions getting a grand total of zero correct. Though if I really thought about it, I should've realized Bates was the easy pick in her category. On to the show!

Critics' Choice Television Awards Winners

It was only last year when the Broadcast Television Journalists Association held the inaugural Critics' Choice Television Awards and just tonight they handed out their second set of winners. I unfortunately didn't get to talk about the nominees when they came out a couple of weeks ago since I was still in blogging limbo-hiatus land, so just wanted to quickly give my thoughts on the nominees below and the eventual winners.

BEST COMEDY SERIES
The Big Bang Theory
COMMUNITY
Girls
Modern Family
New Girl
Parks and Recreation

Community surprised everyone by notching the most nominations of any show and it shocked everyone again by taking the top prize. While it wouldn't be my personal choice (my vote would have been for Parks & Rec), I can't help but feel ecstatic for the show and the cast. Nomination-wise, no big shockers. Happy Endings and Cougar Town really should be here, but it is what it is.

BEST DRAMA SERIES
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife
HOMELAND
Mad Men

I would have loved for them to find room for Fringe, but how can I really complain with a nomination list so obviously full of quality? My own pick would probably be Breaking Bad, but I do mean it when I say that any of these shows would've been a worthy winner. This year the prize went to Homeland.

BEST MOVIE/MINISERIES
American Horror Story
Luther
SHERLOCK
Page Eight
The Hour
Game Change

Weirdly enough I've seen four out of the six nominees though not the one starring Julianne Moore. Sherlock took the win and it probably would've gotten my vote as well from the choices.

Birthday Hotties: Julianne Moore & Amanda Seyfried

Before time runs out, just wanted to give a quick shout-out birthday wishes to two very lovely ladies, Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried. They both appeared in last year's sexually-charged thriller Chloe where they shared a pretty steamy scene together. Other than sharing a birthday, another thing they have in common was that they both started off their careers in the soap opera As the World Turns!

Of course Moore is better known for her movie work now especially with her four Academy Award nominations. Seyfried is also known for her films, but I personally think she has done her best work in TV such as Veronica Mars and Big Love. Though of course if I had to pick her "best work" it'll probably be dim-witted turn as Karen in Mean Girls. Picking a favorite performance for Moore is a bit more difficult since she's done so many, but her Oscar-nominated roles in Far From Heaven and The Hours are definitely up there.

Up next, they'll both play controversial American women. Seyfried will take on Linda Lovelace while Moore will try to do Sarah Palin justice. Best of luck to both.

Looking Forward To...

Crazy, Stupid, Love
Release: July 29, 2011
Distributor: Warner Brothers
Director: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa
Starring: Steve Carrell, Julianne Moore, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon, Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, John Carroll Lynch, Dan Butler, and Josh Groban

Golden Globes: Film Nominations

The King's Speech lead with 7 nominations followed by strong showings by prohibiive Oscar front-runner Social Network and underdog The Fighter, both with 6 nominations. In terms of the Academy Awards, most of the favorites were nominated, but the Comedy/Musical section is downright embarrassing.

And so the nominees are...

Best Director

• Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
• David Fincher, The Social Network
• Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
• Christopher Nolan, Inception
• David O. Russell, The Fighter

The top four nominees are definitely the front-runners right now for Oscars with David O. Russell possibly fighting for the fifth spot with Danny Boyle or the Coen Brothers. The Academy could also nominate Lisa Cholodenko. As for who could win? Well, Fincher and his film has dominated the landscape so far, so bet against him if you dare.

Best Motion Picture, Drama

• Black Swan
• Fighter
• Inception
• King's Speech
• Social Network

These five will easily be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards with Social Network the favorite to win as already it's been crowned as the critics' favorite. Still, last year the HFPA were one of the few organizations to go against The Hurt Locker tide so anything is possible.

Best Actor, Drama

• Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
• Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
• James Franco, 127 Hours
• Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine
• Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter

The first three should get Oscar nominations especially with how their films and performances have been received so far. The winner will also come from those three with Firth probably the favorite here and at the Oscars. Wahlberg and/or Gosling most likely knocked off Jeff Bridges, Robert Duvall, or Leonardo DiCaprio for the last two spots. The snub of the latter, so far, is an intriguing, and odd, awards seasons development.

Best Actress, Drama

• Halle Berry, Frankie & Alice
• Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
• Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
• Natalie Portman, Black Swan
• Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Sure everyone's a bit surprised to see Halle Berry in the mix all of a sudden, but the HFPA do love those stars, probably at a cost for Lesley Manville. It's a testament to Lawrence, that she made it in at all among the big Hollywood names. Very happy for Michelle Williams (and Ryan Gosling up top) especially since ex-Dawson's Creek co-star Katie Holmes had to announce her name this morning! Too awesome for words. Portman is the front-runner here.

Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical

• Alice in Wonderland
• Burlesque
• The Kids Are All Right
• Red
• Tourist

Did the HFPA not see enough comedies this year? How about Easy A, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Greenberg, Cyrus, or I Love You Phillip Morris? Instead they give us this embarrassing lineup which wouldn't be half-bad if these were the only films they could nominate. With that said, Kids Are All Right has this one in the bag.

Best Actor, Comedy or Musical

• Johnny Depp, Alice in Wonderland
• Johnny Depp, The Tourist
• Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version
• Jake Gyllenhaal, Love & Other Drugs
• Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack

Now it's getting silly. I love Johnny Depp, but two nominations and for THESE performances? Ben Stiller, Michael Cera, John C. Reilly and Jim Carrey must be screaming at their agents right now. Plus as much as I love Gyllenhaal, I actually didn't think much of his (or Hathaway's) performance. But their nominations were inevitable.

Best Actress, Comedy or Musical

• Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
• Anne Hathaway, Love & Other Drugs
• Angelina Jolie, The Tourist
• Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
• Emma Stone, Easy A

See above about my thoughts on Hathaway and it's difficult to expect the HFPA not to nominate Angelina Jolie, so I won't say anything. However, kudos for nominating Moore alongside her more buzzed about Kids co-star. And FUCK YEAH on nominating Emma Stone. FINALLY a worthy nomination in a sea of WTF MAN? Though again, why ignore her delightful film?

Best Supporting Actor

• Christian Bale, The Fighter
• Michael Douglas, Wall Street 2
• Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
• Jeremy Renner, The Town
• Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Take out Michael Douglas and put in Mark Ruffalo and you probably have the Oscar line-up. Though I guess one can't totally count out Sam Rockwell nor any of the other guys (Hammer? Timberlake?) in Social Network. This race, as is the Oscar, is between Bale and Rush.

Best Supporting Actress

• Amy Adams, The Fighter
• Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
• Mila Kunis, Black Swan
• Melissa Leo, The Fighter
• Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Good solid list, especially for the Academy Awards, but one of them may have to go if the Oscars go for Hailee Steinfeld and her film True Grit in a big way, which they might. Weirdly enough Weaver might be in the weakest position since the other ladies will most likely be in Best Picture nominees. Then again Amy Adams shouldn't get too comfy either.

Best Animated Film

• Despicable Me
• How to Train Your Dragon
• The Illusionist
• Tangled
• Toy Story 3

If the Academy had five nominations this year, this would've been the five. As it is, we have to get rid of two of these films and most likely Despicable Me, Tangled, and The Illusionist will be fighting for that third spot. Toy Story 3 will still win though, here and at the Oscars. All hail Pixar!

Best Foreign Language Film

• Biutiful (Mexico/Spain)
• The Concert (France)
• The Edge (Russia)
• I Am Love (Italy)
• In A Better World (Denmark)

I've only since I Am Love, which I really liked, so I'll cheer that on. Although if they chose to honor the film, why not the lovely Tilda Swinton as well? Also don't know which films are in the running for Oscars. I wished that whole thing was more transparent.

Best Screenplay

• 127 Hours
• The Kids Are All Right
• Inception
• The King's Speech
• Social Network

The bulk of early awards have gone to Aaron Sorkin's work on The Social Network so that will be the overwhelming favorite. The others, save for 127 Hours, have won at least one award though so they're no slouch. All of these will easily make it into Oscars as they'll be divided int Original and Adapted.

Best Score

• The King's Speech
• Alice in Wonderland
• 127 Hours
• Social Network
• Inception

I'm so not getting the Alice in Wonderland love the HFPA seem to have, but the others should be safe bets for Oscars barring a weird eligibility ruling, which can totally happen. I actually have no idea who is the front-runner year. Let's just say it was a good year for film scores and applaud them all.

Best Song

• “Bound To You” (Burlesque)
• “Coming Home” (Country Strong)
• “I See The Light” (Tangled)
• “There’s a Place For Us” (The Chronicles of Narnia)
• “You Haven’t Seen The Last of Me” (Burlesque)

Too bad these won't be performed. Would have liked to have seen Cher up on stage or even Mandy Moore/Zachary Levi do their Tangled duet. Not sure who sings the others. I'm guessing a few bleached blonde babes... Christina Aguilera, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Carrie Underwood?