About These Golden Globe Nominations . . .

Normally, I’m all amped up about the Golden Globe nominations because they combine both movie AND TV awards, which I like because the nominations usually help me determine which movies I’ll make a point to see in the theaters if they're not on my Must See list already. And because, as a TV critic, I watch a lot of TV, I’m genuinely interested in which shows and Hollywood folk get nominations. There’s usually some sort of discernible trend that you can glean from the nomination list.

Except for this year where, the general consensus seems to be, there’s no rhyme or reason to the nominations. And, given that AMC's Mad Men isn’t eligible this year because they haven’t aired anything in 2011 (thanks to prolonged contract negotiations), the fact that ABC's Modern Family hasn’t been having its best year and Friday Night Lights is now off the air and got blown off by the Hollywood Foreign Press anyhow, I don’t quite feel as invested in who’s going to come home a winner as I normally am.

Nevertheless, let’s delve into the good and the bad of the nominations, shall we?

TV

Good:

Homeland and Boss accolades. Showtime’s Homeland, about a CIA agent (Clare Danes) who is convinced that an American POW has been turned and is a sleeper terrorist, has been a wildly intense ride and I’ve loved watching it intelligently unfold. (Did you know that the guy who plays Marine Sgt Nick Brody – Damian Lewis – is English? Elevates his acting skills even more in my eyes.) Both Lewis and Danes, plus the show, received Golden Globe nominations It was also great to see Starz’ Boss, plus its lead Kelsey Grammer, snag Golden Globe nominations as well. While some folks may think that Boss, about the vicious, crooked big city mayor Tom Kane, can be a bit ham-fisted and bloviating at times, I sincerely enjoy it.

I was also happy to see Amy Poehler get nominated for her clever, quirky depiction of Leslie Knope on NBC’s Parks and Recreation. This fourth season has been loads of fun as she decided to become political and run for city council.

Bad:

The bulk of the nominations in the TV category, however, were a mystery to me. For example, why all the love for HBO’s Enlightened starring Laura Dern? I have tried to watch this show. Watched the first three episodes. I was thoroughly unmoved. Didn’t like it one iota. Yet Dern got a nomination as did the show for best comedy. Huh? Parks and Recreation and ABC's The Middle are heads and shoulders funnier. This is a head scratcher.

There was nothing for NBC's Friday Night Lights for its final season – which finally netted them some Emmy love this year. There was no Rescue Me (FX) for its last season when it finally got its act together. Men of a Certain Age was blown off as was NBC's Parenthood (Peter Krause was very good this year). Nick Offerman’s Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation is one of the funniest characters on TV. How could he have been ignored . . . again?

Film

Good:

The Descendants was a solid, unexpectedly moving film and George Clooney, ever the suave bachelor in real life, played a schlubby, distracted husband and father perfectly.

The Help, also nominated for best drama, was entertaining, in spite of the fact that many critics savaged it as a white hero version of the Civil Rights era, and I disagree with those critics. Viola Davis, nominated for best actress, delivered a solid performance.

I still want to see Moneyball and The Ides of March, all of which were also nominated for best drama.

Leonardo DiCaprio, who was nominated for best dramatic actor, was very good as J. Edgar Hoover in J. Edgar, even if the movie itself was wildly uneven, seemed to lack a unifying theme and featured some very bad face makeup.

On the comedy side, I saw both Bridesmaids and Midnight in Paris – was enthralled with them both – but am really pulling for the very funny Bridesmaids as I’d like to see more comedies like this one in the theaters instead of mindless, insulting dreck. Ryan Gosling – who was nominated in two categories – was surprisingly engrossing in the sweet, smart flick Crazy Stupid Love. Can’t comment on him in The Ides of March because I haven’t seen it yet.

Bad:

Nada for Melissa McCarthy who stole Bridesmaids with her utterly brave performance. Not a smidgen of love for the final installment of Harry Potter, which was wonderful. Margin Call, a powerful film about the genesis of the 2008 economic crisis, got a grand total of zero nominations.

Full list of nominations is available here.

Which nominations did you applaud and which ones puzzled you?

Golden Globes 2011 . . . Live Blogging

I'll be live blogging the Golden Globes tonight, rooting for all things Mad Men and Modern Family.

Please feel free to join in on the commentary and, if you're reading this AFTER the Globes have aired, I'd love for you to weigh in on the results.

I'm wondering how many times they'll have to bleep out Ricky Gervais' commentary . . .

UPDATE: Ricky Gervais had a glass of beer (or what is supposed to look like beer) waiting for him on the podium. Wonder if that'll be the standard for every person who arrives at the podium?

UPDATE: BRUTALLY going after The Tourist, Sheen, Cruise . . . Sex & the City 2 stars' ages. I'm waiting for them to throw tomatoes.

UPDATE: My son just asked, "Touched what?" I rolled my eyes.

UPDATE: A show of hands, who thinks that Gervais will NOT be asked back as host? (*hand raised*)

UPDATE: Christian Bale won for supporting actor in The Fighter. I was rooting for Jeremy Renner from The Town. But, to be honest, I haven't seen The Fighter.

UPDATE: Oooh, best actress in TV drama series . . . I wanted Margulies . . . but it's Katie Sagal for Sons of Anarchy . . . Can you say UP-set?! She was seated in Orange County, obviously she wasn't expected to win . . .  (Don't like how they cut her off! Better not be a trend for the evening.)

UPDATE: Best mini-series or TV movie. *yawn*

UPDATE: "He's a mean person," my daughter just said when Gervais appeared . . . Ashton Kutcher's dad?! Ouch!

Is It Time to Get Rid of Gender-Specific Acting Awards Categories? Not Yet.

Before the Academy Awards aired, the New York Times ran an op/ed where the writer asked whether it's about time for awards ceremonies like the Oscars and the Golden Globes to do away with the actor/actress categories and simply bestow awards for acting excellence. Kim Elsesser from UCLA’s Center for Study of Women wrote:

". . . separate is not equal. While it is certainly acceptable for sports competitions like the Olympics to have separate events for male and female athletes, the biological differences do not affect acting performances. The divided Oscar categories merely insult women, because they suggest that women would not be victorious if the categories were combined. In addition, this segregation helps perpetuate the stereotype that the differences between men and women are so great that the two sexes cannot be evaluated as equals in their professions."

Even though I was thrilled to see Kathryn Bigelow become the first woman to win a best director Oscar (in over 80 years) for her work on the excellent The Hurt Locker, you need to consider the context: Only a paltry 16 percent of the top 250 films from last year were directed, written or produced by women and of the 4,400 “speaking roles in 2009’s top 100 films, only about 30 percent were for women,” Reuters reported. Despite the fact that in the last year U.S. women bought 55 percent of all movie tickets, according to Women & Hollywood's Melissa Silverstein, women still are not yet equal to the men in Hollywood by nearly every measure you can think of.

My Mommy Tracked pop culture column this week asserts that we're a long way away from achieving gender equity when it comes to respecting women's work in the arts. "When women start taking home half the awards in the big gender neutral categories" that's when I'll be all in favor of ditching the actor/actress categories, I concluded.

What say you? Do you think that, if we got rid of gender-specific acting categories, women would best the men or get even half of the nominations?

Image credit: Paul Buck/EPA via The Guardian.

'Modern Family' Promo More Entertaining Than Oscars

Loved that The Hurt Locker won best picture. Found it refreshing and inspiring to see Academy Award winning director Kathryne Bigelow holding two awards, breaking Oscar's glass ceiling. Found myself cheering when I heard that a fellow journalist got an Oscar for penning the Oscar winning Hurt Locker screenplay. Eyes teared up when I watched the films of my high school years featured during an Academy homage to the late John Hughes.

But all in all, I was not a fan of the 82nd Academy Awards. As much as I like Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin -- Baldwin simply owns 30 Rock -- I found their performance last night to be just so-so. Only about a quarter of their jokes were amusing and their opening monologue (or is it duo-logue) dragged. Comparing the Oscars to the Golden Globe broadcast, I think Ricky Gervais was much more entertaining and cutting edge . . . because I hear that the Academy Awards folks were all into getting them there youngsters to tune in, what with them recruiting the Twilight stars (sans R.Pat.), Zac Efron's hair and the slouching teen known as Miley Cyrus to present awards. If you're reading, Oscar show people: I want Jon Stewart back.

And while, in theory, I like the personal touch of having someone who actually knows the men and women nominated in the best actor/actress categories say something specific about each nominee, by the time we got to that point in the show, it was annoying and it made a long show (ditch the dance number, this is not the Tony Awards!) even longer.

By the way, was anyone else, other than yours truly, confused by the weirdness that was the documentary short acceptance speech where one guy was speaking when a "Lady Kanye," as she's being referred to online, hijacked the mic? Well Salon got to the bottom of that and found out that there was indeed prior conflict over who was going to accept the Oscar in the event of a win because there was behind-the-scenes acrimony. Oh, the cut-throat world of documentary shorts.

I'm ashamed to say that I actually fell asleep and missed the last few big awards. That's what I get for failing to caffeine up. It was the Oscars, for God's sake, I should've known better than to go into it caffeine free. And when I went to watch the rest of the show on DVR, it cut off mid-way through Sandra Bullock's entertainting acceptance speech because the show went beyond the scheduled 11:30 p.m. ending. (Damn Helen Mirren. I knew I should've extended the taping time!) So I had to go to the Oscar web site and watch the remaining acceptance speeches there.

The most amusing thing I saw all night? The Modern Family promo where the characters had a movie-themed night of charades.



What'd you think of the Oscars, both the winners/losers and the show itself?

SAG Awards, A Lot Like the Golden Globes

If you wanted to predict who'd win the Screen Actors Guild Awards last night, all you needed to do was to look at the list of winners from the Golden Globes and put the bulk of your money on the Globe winners, the glaring exceptions being for the leading actor/actress categories.

In the film category, Slumdog Millionaire was again crowned king. (Still haven't seen it yet, but the incessant drum beat of critical and awards acclaim is going to prompt me to do so. Only hope that the massive hype doesn't lead to disappointment.) Kate Winslet and Heath Ledger each won awards for their supporting work in the films The Reader and The Dark Knight, respectively.

In TV land, 30 Rock won for best comedy, while my beloved Mad Men won again for best drama. Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin collected more statues as the best comedic actors on TV. Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney, who played John and Abigail Adams in HBO's fabulous miniseries John Adams, won for best actors in the TV movie/miniseries categories.

However it was in the lead actor/actress categories where the actors' votes differed from those of the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Meryl Streep won a SAG award for playing a nun in Doubt, while Sean Penn was victorious for playing gay activist Harvey Milk in Milk. (Golden Globes for actors in a dramatic film went to Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler and Kate Winslet for Revolutionary Road.)

The awards for best actors in TV dramas went to two network actors Hugh Laurie, who's a great curmudgeon as Dr. Gregory House on House, and Sally Field, who plays the matriarch on Brothers & Sisters. (The Golden Globes went to two HBO shows, Gabriel Byrne for In Treatment and Anna Paquin for True Blood.)

'Desperate' Mondays: Connect! Connect!

A pediatric power struggle.

Gabby versus The Girls.

And the ill-behaved Girls were winning, up until Gabby enlisted her new, deep-voiced gardener to scare her young charges into listening to her, plus do a little vacuuming to make up for their prolonged brattiness.

That was the best storyline in the latest installment of Desperate Housewives, which aired against the Golden Globe awards (and beat them during the 9-10 hour), for which it was up for none of the shiny statues. And after this episode, it's largely clear why not. Except for the Gabby story; Eva Longoria Parker has been sharp this season.

In this fresh episode, Gabby was paying the price for coercing Carlos into taking the six-figure job he didn't want (he wanted to work for a non-profit helping the blind) when he had to go on his first overnight work trip. Without Carlos the Authoritarian around, The Girls flagrantly flouted Gabby's authority, or lack thereof, and pushed her buttons by telling her they loved Carlos more.

In one pathetically amusing scene, Gabby literally dragged her 6-year-old by the arms from the sofa -- where the girl was watching a movie -- across the room and to the stairs in an attempt to make her go up to the bathroom for her bath. In the process, Gabby strained her back. While she was moaning in pain on the stairs, her daughter Juanita returned to the other room to resume her movie.

After two days of insubordinate rudeness, Gabby turned to the gardener, a guy with a very low voice, to yell at her daughters to scare them into obeying. When Carlos came home, Gabby told him if he didn't want her to keep turning to the gardener for discipline, he'd have to be Carlos the Enforcer for the first 15 minutes when he gets home from work each night.

Funniest exchange of the night was between Bree and Orson:

"You know, I'm feeling a bit randy tonight. Whaddya say we make a little love?" Orson asked.

"Well, we've got 15 minutes until the news is on," Bree said. "Why not?"

The Scavo story. Suddenly -- poof! --- no more legal troubles for Porter. The storyline that had been building for weeks was abruptly transformed into a thin device in order to segue into an examination of Lynette's sour relationship with the angry mother she put in a retirement home three years ago. When I think of all the potential the Scavo family had and how the characters have been wasted -- particularly the talents of Felicity Huffman -- I just get sad.

Oh, and stop the presses. Susan Mayer broke up with her absent painter boyfriend. Edie Britt took back Dave Williams, her psycho killer husband (only she doesn't know he's a killer, just thinks he's a wee bit off). Bree Van de Kamp Hodge fought with her son-in-law-to-be over her domineering style. Mike Delfino likes Katherine Mayfair, wait, is Katherine even a main character any more? If I sound a tad bored, it's because I am. This show started off its fifth season by busting down the doors, seemingly rejuvenated. Now, with the exception of Gabby Solis, I feel as though it has lost its way a bit. I hope the writers find the way back. Soon.

Next week's promo indicated that the new episode will be filled with more backstory, from way back, before season one. Maybe they're trying to capture some of that season one magic?

Your thoughts on the latest episode? What did you like/dislike?

Image credit: ABC.

Mad Men Wins Golden Globe for Best TV Drama

Now if the folks at Lions Gate will just sign Matt Weiner, the guru of Mad Men, I'll feel better about season three of our favorite AMC drama.

It's a shame that Jon Hamm and January Jones didn't go home with statues as well, but you can't have everything.

Image credit: Reuters.

Live Blogging the Golden Globe Awards

After being canceled last year due to the writers' strike and replaced by a wretched press conference that was about as exciting as watching C-SPAN, the Golden Globes are back baby.

I've spent the last hour-plus watching the insipid arrival shows (flipping back and forth between E! -- the network that is so exciting it requires punctuation -- and the TV Guide Channel).

Best moment I witnessed: Alec Baldwin hijacking the mike from Carson Daly and doing an Andy Rooney impersonation asking if anyone else found it irritating when they're asked irritating questions by E! reporters. My 10-year-old cheered when Miss Miley arrived with her Cyrus parents, when the Jonas trio and their ample hair set foot on the red carpet, as well as when she saw a slick-haired Zac Efron. (I must admit to laughing aloud when Carson tried to mug Bragelina with a mike on the red carpet and they blew him off.)

Once the Golden Globe show starts, I'll live blog my own Daly-esque commentary.

-- Best Supporting Actress, Drama, Film: Oh my God! What was presenter J. Lo. thinking with that dress? Was it a riff on her famous barely-there dress from years ago, the one Matt Lauer spoofed on the Today Show? ("Mama talkin'" J. Lo. told the overly chatty crowd. Maybe I should try that line at home and see if everyone shuts up.)

Kate Winslet won for supporting actress in The Reader. I adore her. Can't wait to see this film. She's so classy . . . We here in my house are taking bets on whether she drops the statue onto the floor while she tries to catch her breath . . . Good for her, she didn't drop the golden paper weight AND they didn't cut off her uninspiring speech.

-- Best Original Song, Motion Picture: What was up with Sting looking like a mountain man? . . . Bruce won for his original son for The Wrestler. My 7-year-old who's a Boss fan applauded. My 10-year-old daughter who worships Miley (up for her Bolt song) is irate.

-- Best Supporting Actor, TV: I'm hoping for Tom Wilkinson or Blair Underwood (In Treatment), the award went to Tom for John Adams, actually for playing Ben Franklin in John Adams not for playing Adams himself, a great HBO miniseries I highly recommend it.

-- Best Supporting Actress, TV: Loaded category here. I have many, many favorites. I can't decide who I want to win . . . the Golden Globe voters chose Laura Dern for HBO's Recount, a movie about the 2000 presidential election Florida gridlock.

-- Best Actor in TV, Drama: Jon Hamm . . . Jon Hamm. (Of Mad Men, don't you know . . . Though I wouldn't be crushed if Hugh Laurie of House won.) . . . Wow. Gabriel Byrne from HBO's In Treatment walked away with the award, symbolically, as he wasn't there in person. He WAS pretty solid and intriguing, definitely worthy, but I was rooting for Don Draper.

-- Best Actress in TV, Drama: I don't do vampire (otherwise known as Anna Paquin from True Blood who snagged this trophy). I wanted January Jones who killed this season in Mad Men as Betty Draper, to win. The Drapers better not go home empty-handed.

-- This presenter, Ricky Gervais cracks me up. He's so dry -- even though he showed up to the mike with a beer and drank it on stage -- I'm talkin' as dry comedically as Bob Newhart. He started off by chastizing the overly-chatty crowd for not shutting up: "Shh! How rude are you lot? Just because you're film stars. Shh! I'm not in charge. I'm not even nominated, which is kind of annoying . . . I'm like staff . . . Winslet, I told you, do a Holocaust movie and the awards come." (A reference to an episode of his HBO show Extras where his character had a conversation with Winslet about the propensity of Holocaust movies to be awards magnets.) I'm going to have to find this bit on YouTube and post it here later.

-- Best Animated Film: (Jonas fever from my gal; the boys are the presenters. Wonder what their voices will sound like in a few years . . .) Wall-E, winner. Unlike the rest of the world, I wasn't overwhelmed by this movie. My kids loved it though.

-- Best Actress, Film, Comedy/Musical: Could presenter Johnny Depp sound more bored (or stoned) by the way? Can you say Mamm. . . whaat? No Meryl? Who the heck is this chick, Sally Hawkins, from Happy-Go-Lucky? What IS Happy-Go-Lucky? Never heard of it. Nobody expected her to win, apparently, as she was seated in the theater's annex and took about 47 minutes to get to the stage . . . Emma Thompson was such a good sport for, even after losing in this category, cheering on the unknown actress. (Who were those people who were briefly on camera directly in front of the stage who were talking during the unknown actress' clipped, rambling speech chatting? Rude.)

-- Best Miniseries/TV Movie: I cannot speak highly enough of John Adams. Come to think of this, I need to watch it again. Note to self: Check "On Demand" or Netflix it.

-- Best Supporting Actor, Film: Heath Ledger for Dark Knight. This is so sad. The film's director, Chris Nolan was very respectful in his acceptance speech on Ledger's behalf.

-- NBC's Tom Brokaw announcing Frost/Nixon's best picture, drama, nomination. Hmm. Interesting choice. Grew up watching him. This is another film on my list.

-- Best Actress Miniseries/TV Movie: John Adams fevah. Laura Linney for her great performance as Abigail Adams.

-- Let's hear it for da writahs! The folks whose imaginations create all this good stuff. Best Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire. I've gotta see why everyone is talking about this movie. I don't even know what it's about.

-- Best Actor TV, Comedy: Alec "He Who Hath Stolen the Mike From Carson Daly" Baldwin from 30 Rock. "I feel so old. I remember when I used to bring Rumer Willis a juice box on the set of a movie," Baldwin said, referring to the Golden presenter Gal (Demi & Bruce's eldest daughter). Well deserved.

-- Best Actor Miniseries/TV Movie: It's a John Adams sweep my friends. (Paul Giamatti was fabulous, in his wretched teeth, or lack thereof.) Read your history kids. Or just watch it on HBO.
-- Best TV Series, Comedy: 30 Rock: 'tis the Divine Miss Fey's year. She be rockin' the Golden Globes house in her deeply V-cut dress (wonder what the folks who wrote that piece on the glamorization of Fey think of it). She, however, passed the award statue to co-star Tracy Morgan who was very, very funny, challenging Cate Blanchett and proclaiming himself the new face of "post-racial America." (Wonder if her gesture was a nod toward the notion that she's in danger of being overexposed?)

-- Best Actress TV, Comedy: Teee-na. Teee-na. . . 30 Rock. "I really love the Hollywood Foreign Press. As a kid I had all the Hollywood Foreign Press action figures," she said. ". . . If you're ever feeling too good about yourself they have this thing called the Internet" where you can find people who don't like you. Goin' after the haters. Like it.

-- Best Director, Film: Tough category. But it's a Slumdog kinda night. That's three awards thus far.

-- Best Actor, Film, Comedy: Colin Farrell, In Bruges. "They must've done the counting in Florida, an absolute shock, really," Farrell said.

-- Best Film, Comedy/Musical: Vicky Christina Barcelona. Wow. Guess they don't like Abba or Meryl Streep this year at the Hollywood Foreign Press. I was highly expecting Meryl's band of dancers and singers to box step their way to the win.

-- Best Actress, Film, Drama: Brilliant! Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road. I love how authentically excited she was to win this award. "Oh please wrap up? You have no idea how much I am not wrapping up! Gather," Winslet said. (Note to self: Incorporate the phrase, "Gather" into my daily vocabulary when in a tight spot.) ". . . My God, thank you so much."

-- Best TV Series, Drama: Made my night. Mad Men. The Drapers did NOT go home empty-handed after all. The best (or tied for best with Lost) show on TV right now got more deserved props. The second season of Mad Men was just as good as the first. . . So this means, by my calculations, that 30 Rock -- for Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and best comedy series -- was the only big three network show to win anything. All other TV awards went to cable shows.

-- Best Actor, Film, Drama: Shocker of the night (at least to me) . . . next to the Happy-Go-Lucky winner. Mickey Rourke won for The Wrestler, he and his sparkly scarf. (I recently read a review of this film in Entertainment Weekly recently. They loved this.) Rourke hiked up his pants when he stepped behind the microphone but didn't remove his shades. Interesting.

-- Best Film, Drama: Okay, you folks from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. You've convinced me. I'll see Slumdog Millionaire, but I wanna see Winslet in Revolutionary Road first, then we'll talk.

Thoughts on the award winners? The broadcast? Please feel free to chime in below.

Image credit: Getty Images/Canada.com.

Golden Globe TV Nominations: Mad Men!

Finally! January Jones, who regularly knocks it out of the park as the betrayed suburban housewife and mother Betty Draper on Mad Men, finally got some props from the people in the business of doling out awards.

When the Golden Globe nominations were announced this morning, Jones, along with the delicious Jon Hamm who plays her cad of a husband Don Draper, were officially placed on the shortlist to receive awards, as was their AMC show in the drama category. (Hamm won for best actor the last time around, as did Mad Men for best show, but because of the writers' strike and the canceled awards ceremony, Hamm was robbed of his chance to make a speech.)

Other TV standout nominations: HBO's intense therapy drama, In Treatment, received the most award nominations of any show at five, including one for the therapist in chief, Gabriel Byrne and one for best drama.

Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and 30 Rock are up for awards in the comedy arena, up against fellow NBC show The Office.

Brothers & Sisters' matriarch, Sally Field and Rachel Griffiths, who plays Fields' daughter, were nominated in the drama category.

House, as well as its star, Hugh Laurie also received drama nominations.

Shut out of the award nominations: Anyone from Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and, one of my favorites, Big Love.

Anyone left off the list who you think was robbed this season?

Image credit: AMC.