BUSY WEEK COMING UP!!!

This week we have major nominations coming out and it is going to be so amazing!

• Dec 9th - Critics Choice Award Nominations & Los Angelas Film Critics Award winners
• Dec 10th - New York Film Critics Award Winners
  
• Dec 11th - Golden Globe Awards Nominations
  
• Dec 14th - Satellite Awards & Boston Film Critics Award Winners

Also, I have many updates for the blog coming up

• Reviews for Milk, Rachel Getting Married & Slumdog Millionaires
• Reactions to Grammy Nominations =(
• Also, coming up soon the revealing the new Awards HQ website!!!

LOTS OF THINGS GOING ON AND IT IS ALL VERY EXCITING! STAY TUNED!!!

Critic Award Winners

The National Board of Review and the Washington D.C. Film Critics have announced their winners.

First Up, The National Board of Review

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire

Top Ten Films:

Burn After Reading
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Defiance
Frost/Nixon
Gran Torino
Milk
Wall-E
The Wrestler

Best Director: David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Actor: Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
Best Actress: Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Best Supporting Actor: Josh Brolin, Milk
Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Ensemble Cast: Doubt
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Viola Davis, Doubt
Best Directorial Debut: Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Best Original Screenplay: Nick Schenk, Gran Torino
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire and Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Spotlight Award: Melissa Leo, Frozen River and Richard Jenkins, The Visitor


Washington D.C. Film Critics Awards
Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire/Fox Searchlight
Best Director: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Best Actress: Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Best Supporting Actress: Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married)
Best Original Screenplay: Jenny Lumet (Rachel Getting Married)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Ensemble: Doubt/Miramax
Best Breakthrough: Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)

I know that the Washington D.C. Critics don't really mean much, but it allows us to see where the critics across the country are going. Right now it is a wise thing to think a few things...

• Slumdog Millionaire is gonna get major nominations including Picture, Adapted Screenplay and maybe even a Director nod.
• Doubt will probably be the front runner for the Best Cast in a Motion Picture award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards
• Dev Patel could get a surprise nomination for Best Supporting Actor
• One major thing, I don't think at this early point of the awards season, that we have a clear frontrunner in ANY of the categories, unlike past years.

SATELLITE AWARD NOMINATIONS!

Awards season is officially underway and it is going to be one exciting year. The first nominations out of the gate are The Satellite Awards. Normally this group has some really off the wall nominations, but this year most of them are pretty good. Don’t get me wrong, some of them are out there, but most of the categories are spot on. Actually, there are two major mistakes that the group made. When posting then nominations online they announced seven nominees for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, but then they removed Viola Davis from the list citing that they weren’t finished counting the votes before they posted all the nominees. BULLSHIT! Also, the TV show on F/X, Damages, did not air during 2008, but yet it still gets several major nominations. Press Academy, if you want to be the first out of the gate, don’t make yourselves look stupid.

The Good:
Angelina Jolie & Kate Winslet in Lead Actress Drama
Sean Penn & Leonardo DiCaprio in Lead Actor Drama
Meryl Streep being a double nominee
Michael Shannon in Supporting Actor
Most of the nominees for Best Motion Picture Drama
James Franco being nominated in Best Supporting Actor for Milk

The Bad:
The Dark Knight not being nominated for Best Motion Picture Drama
Sarah Jessica Parker not being nominated for Sex and the City
Viola Davis being removed from the Best Supporting Actress list
Sex and the City not being nominated for Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical

THE AMAZING!
HEATH LEDGER BEING NOMINATED FOR HIS AMAZING PERFORMANCE IN THE DARK KNIGHT.

Full Nominations are as followed…

Motion Picture, Drama
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Revolutionary Road
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Frozen River

Actress In A Motion Picture, Drama
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Kristin Scott Thomas, I’ve Loved You So Long
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, The Reader

Actor In A Motion Picture, Drama
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Mark Ruffalo, What Doesn't Kill You
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Leonardo Dicaprio, Revolutionary Road
Sean Penn, Milk

Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Happy-Go-Lucky
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Tropic Thunder
In Bruges
Choke

Actress In A Motion Picture, Comedy Or Musical
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Meryl Streep, Mamma Mia!
Lisa Kudrow, Kabluey
Kat Dennings, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Catherine Deneuve, A Christmas Tale
Debra Messing, Nothing Like the Holidays

Actor In A Motion Picture, Comedy Or Musical
Ricky Gervais, Ghost Town
Sam Rockwell, Choke
Josh Brolin, W.
Michael Cera, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Brendan Gleeson, In Bruges
Mark Ruffalo, The Brothers Bloom

Actress In A Supporting Role
Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married
Penelope Cruz, Elegy
Anjelica Huston, Choke
Sophie Okonedo, The Secret Life of Bees
Emma Thompson, Brideshead Revisited
Viola Davis, Doubt
Beyoncé Knowles, Cadillac Records

Actor In A Supporting Role
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder
Rade Sherbedgia, Fugitive Pieces
James Franco, Milk
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt

Director
Thomas McCarthy The Visitor
Ron Howard Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant Milk
Christopher Nolan The Dark Knight
Danny Boyle Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry The Reader

Screenplay, Original
Philip Roth, Elegy
Thomas McCarthy, The Visitor
Eric Roth, Robin Swicord, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Baz Luhrmann, Stuart Beattie, Ronald Harwood, Richard Flanagan, Australia
Dustin Lance Black, Milk

Screenplay, Adapted
John Patrick Shanley, Doubt
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
David Hare, The Reader
Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
Justin Haythe, Revolutionary Road

Like I said, the Press Academy always do some crazy nominations and this years TV nominations are no different. I am more worried about the film awards. Coming up next will be the National Board of Review winners and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Award Winners.

AWARDS SEASON HAS BEGUN!!!

First of all, thank you to all the people who have been asking me what has been going on with the blog and the site. I am slowly updating the site and changing the design. Still working on it, so bare with me, but since time does not stop, we have officially entered AWARDS SEASON!!! Yesterday, The Press Academy announced the nominees for the 13th Annual Satellite Awards. I am going to be posting a review of the nominees tomorrow. I wanted to get up a calendar for this years awards.

• Satellite Award Nominations - Nov 30th 2008
  
• Independent Spirit Award Nominations - Dec 2nd 2008
• Grammy Nominations Concert - Dec 3rd 2008
• Grammy Nominations - Dec 4th 2008
• National Board of Review - Dec 4th 2008
• Los Angeles Film Critics Association - Dec 9th 2008
• Critics’ Choice Award Nominations - Dec 9th 2008
• Golden Globe Award Nominations - Dec 11th 2008
• Satellite Awards - Dec 14th 2008
• SAG Awards Nominations - Dec 18th 2008
• WGA Nominations - Jan 7th 2009
• Critics’ Choice Awards - Jan 8th 2009
• DGA Film Nominations - Jan 8th 2009
• DGA TV Nominations - Jan 9th 2009
• Golden Globe Awards - Jan 11th 2009
• BAFTA Nominations - Jan 15th 2009
• Academy Award Nominations - Jan 22nd 2009
• SAG Awards - Jan 25th 2009
• DGA Awards - Jan 31st 2009
• WGA Awards - Feb 7th 2009
• Grammy Awards - Feb 8th 2009
• BAFTA Awards - Feb 8th 2009
• Independent Spirit Awards - Feb 21st 2009
• Academy Awards - Feb 22nd 2009

Most of the Critics Awards are missing from this list, because it is very hard to find out when a lot of these groups will announce, as soon as I find out the dates, I will post them.

As you can see this week is a very packed week with nominations coming from the Grammys and Spirit Awards and with the unveiling of the National Board of Review winners.

So stay tuned because this awards season is officially underway!!!

About the Lack of Updates...

Guys, I am so sorry, I have just been so crazy busy with the real life that I have not had the time to update the blog at all. With getting more hours at work and with family things, I just have not had the time. I am working on some blog entries right now and I will have them up soon. I am also working on updating Awards HQ site itself, so stick with me and hopefully I will be back to top form. ONCE AGAIN SORRY!

Clay Aiken is...WAIT FOR IT... GAY!

The worst kept secret is out and Clay Aiken tells People Magazine that he is indeed GAY! Wow big shocker. No offense Clay, but if you were willing to lie about it all these years then you are just a horrible person. Be true to yourself and don't try to make it seem like you just discovered this whole thing! BLAH BLAH BLAH AIKEN IS GAY!

Best Dressed

I can't even tell you how amazing these 5 women looked this year. They rocked it. Nuff Said.

#1 Felicity Huffman

#2. Evangeline Lilly

#3. Mariska Hargitay

#4. Kristin Chenoweth

#5. Kate Walsh

Worst Dressed

This year the red carpet was actually pretty good, but that doesn't mean that some people didn't miss the mark BIG TIME!


#5. SANDRA OH looked like a 60 year old woman in this gown, seriously it way to old for her. Sometimes I love what she wears, but this time she just looks bad.

#4. AMERICA FERRERA looked dreadful in this gown. After hitting a home run last year, this year it looked like she put on a trash bag and hit the red carpet.

#3. VANESSA WILLIAMS, prints don't work! The actual gown is awesome, but who the hell put that retarded print on it? I mean seriously, Vanessa get with the program!


#2. CHRISTINA HENDRICKS looked like a hot mess. YES ME KNOW YOU HAVE HAVE HUGE BOOBS, but seriously, put those away! You look like a hooker that should be on the street corner in downtown LA instead of walking the red carpet.

#1. O wow EVA LONGORIA what is wrong with you? You looked like a hot mess. Eva you are a short woman, never wear a short strapless dress, it makes you look even smaller. The whole overall look is just bad. Sorry Eva, I am sure you will do better.

60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards

Well, TVs biggest night had come and gone. Now we are left just picking through the rumble that remains. What could I possibly say that hasn't been said by almost every single person that watched the show.
I mean I just don't know, some of the winners were great (Smart, Cranston, Piven, & Ivanek), some were just okay (Wiest, Close, Mad Men) and some were terrible (All the 30 Rock love!). People will say that 30 Rock is the greatest Comedy on TV right now, but the show is so hit and miss. The writing can be awesome, but a lot of the time, it is lacking something. Maybe that is why Tina Fey was begging people to tune in, because the ratings suck!
The Hosts. What can I say, not the best choice, but we all knew that when it was first announced that it was going to be rough, but I think that The Academy was trying to get people to watch and it just backfired. I know people don't like the new Hosting Category, but Reality TV is a huge part of the TV Industry right now and I think that they just need to revamp the setup. I mean, why not just have it be hosting teams. Like instead of Ryan Seacrest alone, why not nominate the Team from American Idol. Whatever lol.
This year, the Emmy Awards were just boring, and rushed. Next year, get a great host, give each winner enough time to get a speech out. DON'T RUSH THINGS! Who cares if you go over 3 hours, if you put on a great show no one will care!!! I hope that the awful ratings show The Academy that they need to fix things and fix them soon.

I am going to be posting my Top 5 Best Dressed and Top 5 Worst Dressed. Plus coming this weekend I hope to post my reviews of the last few films that I have seen including The Women & Burn After Reading.

Final Emmy Predictions!!!

So, I just got back home from the wedding, but I am still running around trying to get myself free tonight to watch the show. Anyway, here are MY PICKS for the winners and who I think that THE EMMY AWARDS WILL PICK.

Outstanding Drama Series
My Choice: Lost
Emmy Choice: Mad Men

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
My Choice: Gabriel Byrne
Emmy Choice: Jon Hamm

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
My Choice: Mariska Hargitay
Emmy Choice: Glenn Close

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
My Choice: Michael Emerson
Emmy Choice: Ted Danson

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
My Choice: Rachel Griffiths
Emmy Choice: Chandra Wilson

Outstanding Comedy Series
My Choice: The Office
Emmy Choice: 30 Rock

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
My Choice: Steve Carell
Emmy Choice: Alec Baldwin

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
My Choice: Mary-Louise Parker
Emmy Choice: Tina Fey

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
My Choice: Neil Patrick Harris
Emmy Choice: Jeremy Piven

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
My Choice: Kristin Chenoweth
Emmy Choice: Amy Poehler


Outstanding Made for Television Movie
My Choice: A Raisin in the Sun
Emmy Choice: Recount

Outstanding Miniseries
My Choice & Emmy Choice - John Adams

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
My Choice & Emmy Choice - Paul Giamatti

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
My Choice: Phylicia Rashad
Emmy Choice: Laura Linney

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
My Choice: Stephen Dillane
Emmy Choice: Tom Wilkinson

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
My Choice: Audra McDonald
Emmy Choice: Eileen Atkins

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
My Choice: Damages - Pilot
Emmy Choice: Mad Men - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
My Choice & Emmy Choice: Pushing Daisies - Pie-Lette

Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or a Movie
My Choice & Emmy Choice: John Adams

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
My Choice: Mad Men - The Wheel
Emmy Choice: Mad Men - Smoke Get In Your Eyes

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
My Choice: The Office - Dinner Party
Emmy Choice: 30 Rock - Cooter

Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie
My Choice: Extras
Emmy Choice: John Adams

Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series
My Choice: The Colbert Report
Emmy Choice: Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program
My Choice: Stephen Colbert
Emmy Choice: Don Rickles

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
My Choice: Top Chef
Emmy Choice: American Idol

Outstanding Host For A Reality or Reality-Competition Program
My Choice: Howie Mandel
Emmy Choice: Ryan Seacrest

I will come back later tonight with my thoughts on the show and my reactions. Also I will have my best and worst dressed choices.

EVERYONE HAVE A GREAT EMMY NIGHT!

Hey Everyone!

Okay, so the 60th Annual Emmy Awards on THIS SUNDAY! I am super excited, but due to a Wedding that I am attending in about 14 hours, I am not going to be able to post my thoughts on all the races until moments before the show, AS SOON AS I GET BACK INTO TOWN I WILL POST THEM! I hope everyone enjoys watching the show and you guys can expect me to be blogging the whole night!

John McCain mad about SNL skit?

According to IMDB he is...

"Leading aides to U.S. presidential candidate John McCain have attacked the writers of comedy show Saturday Night Live for their "sexist" portrayal of the Senator's running mate Sarah Palin.

Comedienne Tina Fey, who has been compared to the Alaskan Governor, mocked Palin during a skit on Saturday's show, making the Republican Vice-President nominee appear a little stupid.

Fey also played up to Palin's one-time stint as a beauty queen, making pageant-type poses as fellow comedienne Amy Poehler - as political rival Hillary Clinton - talked about policy and sexism in politics.

Most found the skit hilarious, but John McCain's top advisor Carly Fiorina wasn't laughing.

She says, "The portrait was very dismissive of the substance of Sarah Palin... I think that continues the line of argument that is disrespectful in the extreme, and, yes, I would say sexist."

Fiorina was also upset with the fact Palin was portrayed as a lesser figure than Clinton: "Just because Sarah Palin has different views than Hillary Clinton does not mean that she lacks substance. She has a lot of substance."

But even Palin liked the skit. Her spokeswoman says, "She thought it was quite funny, particularly because she once dressed up as Tina Fey for Halloween.""

Look you all know I am not a big fan of Tina Fey, but that woman rocked on Saturday night with her appearance. I thought it was funny! I find it amazing that the McCain camp is mad about them doing a Skit about Palan when they have done MANY skits about Hillary!

Get the hell over it McCain! You chose a woman that should not be anywhere near the White House!

Tom O'Neil A Class Act!

I just wanted to send a special shout-out to Tom O'Neil, who gave my blog and site a huge shout out on his official blog. Here is what he had to say...

"The cyber-work of one of our posters deserves a shout-out: "Awardshq: The Blog" is a real headquarters for the company of fellow kudos nuts eager to share their knowledge and enthusiasm."

Tom thanks for the support! I have been a member of Goldderby for over 4 years now and it has been so much fun! I hope that one day I can be a big shot like you!

2008 Creative Arts Emmy Awards Part 2

Well Part One of Emmy week is over and we have some great winners. Here is the full list of winners.

Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) - The Simpsons
Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour Or More) - Imaginationland (South Park)
Outstanding Art Direction For A Miniseries, Or Movie - John Adams
Outstanding Art Direction For A Multi-camera Series - How I Met Your Mother
Outstanding Art Direction For A Single-camera Series - Mad Men
Outstanding Art Direction For A Variety, Music Or Nonfiction Programming - 80th Annual Academy Awards
Outstanding Casting For A Comedy Series - 30 Rock
Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series - Damages
Outstanding Casting for A Miniseries, Movie or A Special - John Adams
Outstanding Children's Program - *TIE* - Classical Baby (I'm Grown Up Now): The Poetry Show & Nick News With Linda Ellerbee
Outstanding Choreography - Wade Robson - So You Think You Can Dance
Outstanding Cinematography For Nonfiction Programming - Deadliest Catch
Outstanding Cinematography For Reality Programming - Carrier
Outstanding Cinematography For A Half-Hour Series - Californication
Outstanding Cinematography For A One Hour Series - Mad Men
Outstanding Commerical - Swear Jar - Bud Light
Outstanding Costumes For A Miniseries, Movie or A Special - John Adams
Outstanding Costumes For A Series - The Tudors
Outstanding Directing For Nonfiction Programming - This American Life
Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series - Tim Conway - 30 Rock
Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series - Glynn Turman - In Treatment
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Kathryn Joosten - Desperate Housewives
Outstanding Guess Actress In A Drama Series - Cynthia Nixon - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Outstanding Hairstyling For A Miniseries Or A Movie - Cranford
Outstanding Hairstyling For A Multi-Camera Series Or A Special - Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Hairstyling For A Single-Camera Series - Mad Men
Outstanding Lighting Direction (electronic, Multi-Camera) For VMC Programming - 50th Annual Grammy Awards
Outstanding Main Title Design - Mad Men
Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music - Pirate Master
Outstanding Makeup For A Miniseries or A Movie (non-prosthetic) - Tin Man
Outstanding Makeup For A Multi-Camera Series Or A Special (non-prosthetic) - Dancing With The Stars
Outstanding Makeip For A Single-Camera Series (non-prosthetic) - Tracey Ullman's State Of The Union
Outstanding Prostheic Makeup For A Series, Miniseries, Movie Or A Special - John Adams
Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics - I'm Fucking Matt Damon - Jimmy Kimmel Live
Outstanding Music Composition For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Speical (Original Dramatic Score) - The Company
Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (original Dramatic Score) - Pushing Daisies
Outstanding Music Direction - Movies Rock
Exceptional Merit In Nonfiction Filmmaking - White Light/Black Rain
Outstanding Nonfiction Series - *TIE* American Masters & This American Life
Outstanding Nonfiction Special - Autism: The Musical
Outstanding Picture Editing Of Clip Packages For Talk, Performance, Award Or Reality Competition Programs - *TIE* - American Idol & Jimmy Kimmel Live
Outstanding Picture Editing For A Special (single Or Multi-Camera) - Justin Timberlake: FutureSex/LoveShow
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Miniseries Or A Movie - Recount
Outstanding Picture Editing For Nonfiction Programming - Austism: The Musical
Outstanding Picture Editing For Reality Programming - Top Chef
Outstanding Picture Editing For a Comedy Series (single or multi-camera) - Pushing Daisies
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series - Breaking Bad
Outstanding Reality Program - Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List
Outstanding Sound Editing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special - John Adams
Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series - Smallville
Outstanding Sound Mixing for A Miniseries Or A Movie - John Adams
Outstanding Sound Editing For Nonfiction Programming (single or multi-camera) - The War
Outstanding Sound Mixing for Nonfiction Programming (single or multi-camera) - American Masters
Outstanding Sound Mixing for A Comedy Or Drama Series (half-hour) And Amimation - 30 Rock
Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (one-hour) - Lost
Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Variety Or Music Series Or Special - 50th Annual Grammy Awards
Outstanding Special Class - Awards Program - The 61st Annual Tony Awards
Outstanding Special Class - Classical Music/Dance Programs - New York City Opera: Madama Butterfly
Outstanding Special Class - Not-exclusively-mad-for-television Variety, Music, Comedy Event Programs - Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Chicago
Outstanding Special Class - Short-format Animated Programs - Camp Lazlo
Outstanding Special Class - Short-format Live-action Entertainment Programs - Battlestar Galactica
Outstanding Special Class - Short-format Nonfiction Programs - Great Moments From The Campaign Trail
Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special - John Adams
Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series - Battlestar Galactica
Outstanding Stunt Corrdination - Chuck
Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special - 50th Annual Grammy Awards
Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video For A Series - Dancing With The Stars
Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Special - Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
Outstanding Writing For Nonfiction Programming - The War

Overall a great night for John Adams with 8 wins and Mad Men with 4. I am so happy for Nixon, Thurman and Kathy Griffin for winning her category for the second straight year!!! Lets hope that good things happen next week.

2008 Creative Arts Emmy Awards

Okay, so I lost track of time and totally forgot to post my thoughts on the Guest Acting races, but I did pretty well over all. 3 out of 4. I will be posting the full list of winners later, but here are the winners for the Guest Acting categories...

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

Tim Conway as Bucky Bright on 30 Rock

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

Kathryn Joosten as Karen McCluskey on Desperate Housewives

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

Glynn Turman as Alex Sr. on In Treatment

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series

Cynthia Nixon as Janis Donovan on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Coming this weekend...

Well after all those amazing trailers, this weekend is shaping up to be a great one. Tomorrow I will be posting my review of the new Coen Brothers film Burn After Reading. Also tomorrow is the start of Emmy week! The Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be presented tomorrow live at the NOKIA Theatre in L.A., they will be airing on E! next Saturday, but tomorrow I will be posting most of the winners and my Best and Worst Dressed of the evening. Also, tomorrow before the Semi-Big ceremony, I will be posting my thoughts on the Guest Acting Categories. I will also post my predictions on some of the other categories that will be announced. On Sunday, I am planning on seeing the other new movie releases The Women & The Family That Preys. So this weekend is going to be quite busy, but it is going to be a great one!

Revolutionary Road!

The last film of the day, is not really a trailer, but a first look from Entertainment Tonight. I must say, this movie looks amazing already!

Revolutionary Road stars Academy Award Nominees Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond, The Aviator & What's Eating Gilbert Grape) and Kate Winslet (Little Children, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Iris, Titanic and Sense and Sensibility) as April and Frank Wheeler are a young, thriving couple living with their two children in a Connecticut suburb in the mid-1950s. Their self-assured exterior masks a creeping frustration at their inability to feel fulfilled in their relationships or careers. Frank is mired in a well-paying but boring office job, and April is a housewife still mourning the demise of her hoped-for acting career. Determined to identify themselves as superior to the mediocre sprawl of suburbanites who surround them, they decide to move to France where they will be better able to develop their true artistic sensibilities, free of the consumerist demands of capitalist America. As their relationship deteriorates into an endless cycle of squabbling, jealousy and recriminations, their trip and their dreams of self-fulfillment are thrown into jeopardy.

This is the first time that Leo and Kate have been on screen together since Titanic, and boy does it look amazing! The film is directed by Academy Award Winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty) and it will be released on December 26th!

Doubt!

Our third film is Doubt written and directed by Academy Award Winning Screenwriter John Patrick Shanley (Moonstruck). The film stars 2 time Academy Award Winner Meryl Streep (Kramer vs. Kramer & Sophie's Choice), Academy Award Winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) and Academy Award Nominee Amy Adams (Junebug).

Set at a Catholic school in the Bronx, it centers on a nun who grows suspicious when a priest begins taking too much interest in the life of a young black student. Is she being overly protective or not protective enough? And can she work within the system to discover the truth?



AHHH! It looks so great! Could the most nominated person in the history of the Academy Awards finally add her 3rd statue to her mantle this year? or will Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road) or Angelina Jolie (Changeling) take her down? Only time will tell! Doubt will be released on December 12th.

The Soloist!

Our second trailer of the day is The Soloist...

Journalist Steve Lopez, Academy Award Nominee Robert Downey Jr. (Chaplin), discovers Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, Academy Award Winner Jamie Foxx (Ray), a former classical music prodigy, playing his violin on the streets of L.A. As Lopez endeavors to help the homeless man find his way back, a unique friendship is formed, one that transforms both their lives.

The film is directing by Joe Wright (Atonement) and is written for the screen by Academy Award Nominee Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich). The Soloist is scheduled to be released on November 21st.

Changeling!

The next few updates will feature all the amazing trailers that have been released this weekend.

First up is Changeling from Universal Pictures, here is the synopsis from their website...

4-Time Academy Award Winner Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby & Unforgiven) directs Academy Award Winner Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted) and Academy Award Nominees John Malkovich (In the Line of Fire & Places in the Heart) and Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) in a provocative thriller based on actual events: Changeling. In the film, Christine Collins' (Jolie) prayers are met when her kidnapped son is returned. But amidst the frenzy of the photo-op reunion, she realizes this child is not hers. Facing corrupt police and a skeptical public, she desperately hunts for answers, only to be confronted by a truth that will change her forever.

Los Angeles, 1928: On a Saturday morning in a working-class suburb, Christine said goodbye to her son, Walter, and left for work. When she came home, she discovered he had vanished. A fruitless search ensues, and months later, a boy claiming to be the nine-year-old is returned. Dazed by the swirl of cops, reporters and her conflicted emotions, Christine allows him to stay overnight. But in her heart, she knows he is not Walter.

As she pushes authorities to keep looking, she learns that in Prohibition-era L.A. women don't challenge the system and live to tell their story. Slandered as delusional and unfit, Christine finds an ally in activist Reverend Briegleb (Malkovich), who helps her fight the city to look for her missing boy. Based on the actual incident that rocked California's legal system, Changeling tells the shocking tale of a mother's quest to find her son, and those who won't stop until they silence her.

The film is scheduled to be released on October 24th.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

The Nominees Are…

Gabriel Byrne as Paul on In Treatment
Bryan Cranston as Walt White on Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan on Dexter
Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men
Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House on House
James Spader as Alan Shore on Boston Legal

Wow what a great bunch of nominees, for the most part. I truly don’t understand the love for Hugh Laurie and Bryan Cranston, Laurie’s tape is okay, but it is kind of boring and very drawn out. I don’t know if the Academy will watch his tape and truly see Emmy worthy in it. Also, in the last 30 years, it Emmy for Lead Actor has only gone to a medical show 4 times, so the odds are against him. As for Cranston, I think that people are embracing his performance because it is so completely opposite from his performance on Malcolm in the Middle, which is great because the characters are so different. Cranston is great, don’t get me wrong, but is this really all he had to give the voters? I mean, watching the tape, I am waiting for this great moment to come along that screams give me the Emmy, but it isn’t there and for the most part, the show itself isn’t that great. I think it is safe to say that Laurie and Cranston are both out of this race. Which leaves us with 4. Michael C. Hall is fantastic on Dexter, he is dark, he is mysterious, and he is a serial killer. I understand that the voters would be turned off by this and I think that it is seriously going to work against him, but at the same time can the voters really not give him the Emmy because of what the character does, I mean they embraced James Gandolfini’s character on The Sopranos, who was a killer and a cheat. At the same time, I don’t think that Hall submitted his best work of the season and I think that it is going to hurt him in the end. Now, we are down to three. Jon Hamm is the start of probably the most talked about new series on TV last season and he is great on it, but his tape is very short compared to the others in this category and really he has only one great moment in his tape, but what a moment it is. I am not sure if it is enough to pass up the other two men in this category, but he is seriously a dark horse. Which now leaves us with two nominees, Gabriel Byrne and James Spader. I am going to be completely honest, I do not like Boston Legal, I have always found it to be very blah and Spader’s character really doesn’t do anything for me, but after viewing his tape, well I am going to eat a big plate of humble pie, because he is just amazing. Yes, the subject matter is so out there that it could never happen in the real world and I am sure that the Supreme Court would throw Alan Shore on his ass if he ranted like that, but that is why it is TV, we are suppose to believe what is happening, and there is no way in hell that anyone can say that James Spader wasn’t absolutely captivating in that court room. Any Actor can tell you that performing a monologue is one of the hardest things to do, but Spader knocks it out of the park. If had hadn’t already won three awards in the past I would probably be choosing him as the winner, but in the end I think that the voters will have his wins in the back of their mind when watching his performance and I think that many of them would want to check off another name. Which leaves us with Gabriel Byrne, I think that the format of this show is going to help Byrne out so much, I mean you literally get to sit there and watch two brilliant Actors do there thing, there is no fluff, there is no gimmick, it is just pure acting. I truly think that if the voters actually watch the tapes that they can not deny Byrne this award.

My Rankings:
1. Gabriel Byrne
2. James Spader
3. Jon Hamm
4. Michael C. Hall
5. Bryan Cranston
6. Hugh Laurie

In the end though, I don’t see the Academy doing the right thing. I have a feeling that they are going to award the Actor that has the most buzz around his show and not really around his performance. Which in the end, means that Jon Hamm will probably walk away with the award. If Laurie or Cranston wins, it is because of the “Overdue” factor and not the tape.

Emmy Rankings:
1. Jon Hamm
2. James Spader
3. Hugh Laurie
4. Bryan Cranston
5. Gabriel Byrne
6. Michael C. Hall

End of an Era...

No Day Like Today, the smash Broadway hit Rent is closing the doors for good. When the show closed a few hours ago, it had played 5, 124 performances, it had won the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for Best Musical. It launched the careers of Idina Menzel, Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, & Jesse L. Martin. The show was written by Jonathan Larson, who tragically died at the age of 35 on January 25th 1996, the day before the shows first Off-Broadway preview.

MILK DOES A BODY GOOD!!!

Well finally we have a trailer for a movie which is on my top 5 most anticipated of the year. Milk stars Academy Award winner Sean Penn (Mystic River) as Harvey Milk, a Gay Rights activist and city politician. The film also stars Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild), Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men), James Franco (Pineapple Express), and Alison Pill (Dan in Real Life). The Film is directed by Academy Award Nominee Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting) and is written by Dustin Lance Black (TV's Big Love). The film opens in Limited Release on November 26th.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

So, I had some time on my hands this weekend and I decided to start judging the Emmy tapes. I know I put up a schedule a few days ago on which categories I would do when, but I changed my mind! So sue me lol. Anyway. The first categories is Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

AND THE NOMINEES ARE...

Candice Bergen as Shirley Schmidt on Boston Legal
Rachel Griffiths as Sarah Walker on Brothers & Sisters
Sandra Oh as Cristina Yang on Grey’s Anatomy
Dianne Wiest as Dr. Gina Toll on In Treatment
Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey on Grey’s Anatomy

When you look over these nominees you can’t deny that all of these women are brilliant on their shows, but when it comes down to it, the Emmy Awards should be about one thing and one thing only, The Tapes. After viewing all five tapes, it comes down to this, 2 of these actress don’t belong in this category. Not over the work of the other actress’ on the top 10 list and not over the group of women left off the top 10 list.

Candice Bergen
I will admit that I am not a viewer of Boston Legal, to me it will always be the wannabe version of The Practice (when it was good.) Let me first start off by saying that Candice Bergen is an amazing actress and not surprisingly she is great in this tape! Shirley’s father, who has Alzheimer’s, injures himself after he attempts to jump out his hospital room window. Shirley knows that the man in front of her is not the man her father was, but a man who’s Alzheimer’s has taken over his life. Shirley wants to end his suffering and ask Alan (James Spader) to go to court to fight for a Morphine drip so that her father can die peacefully. This tape is exactly what Emmy voters love. First it is a show that the Emmy’s love. Second, the nominee is a multiple Emmy winner and third, the tape is “bait.” Now, if you guys know me, you know that I hate that work bait, but I am sure I will be saying it a lot more in the next few days. Anyway, Candice is perfect from the moment she is on the screen and she is heartbreaking throughout, but there is one small problem. Well, it is not a small problem, it is a big problem, James Spader basically outshines her for about half of her tape. The director really let her down basically almost cutting her out of most of the trial scenes and Spader totally takes over the tape. Of course, she has a great moment at the end of her tape when her father does die and she has a breakdown, but I think with that huge chunk of her tape being taken over by Spader will hurt her chances. She is for sure a dark horse, but I don’t think she is the lead pony in this race.

Rachel Griffiths
First, let me start off by saying that I think it is pure crap that Rachel doesn’t have an Emmy for her amazing work on Six Feet Under, but I am going to judge her based on this tape alone. Sarah and her Husband Joe are getting divorced, when they go into a meeting to discuss the divorce with their lawyers, Joe comes out of nowhere and says that he is going to petition the court for full legal custody. This tape is so subtle, Rachel has this way of taking these highly emotional scenes and she plays them so differently than most other actors or actress would play them. That is what makes her such a great actress. We see her character wanting to fight, and she does, but she really only lets her emotions show full out in two scenes, the scene with Joe when she finds out that he has already been collecting letters and the scene where she is talking to the judge. In her other scenes, she keeps her emotions right under the skin, almost ready to pour out, but willing them back. It is quite a remarkable trait in an actor. To watch a person give a performance with so much emotion, yet not choosing the “normal” theatrics is very powerful. The only part that doesn’t deal with her children is when she is at her family’s house watching the debates and what is great about this scene is that she is there, but the whole scene has nothing to do with her character, but you never forget she is there and at the same time it is nice to see that her character can try and distract herself enough to be with her family even though she is fighting to keep her kids with her. The very last moment of her tape, with Sally Field on the steps is very powerful and could very well win her the Emmy.

Sandra Oh
To be honest, I don’t have much to say about Sandra’s tape, because I don’t find one second of it Emmy worthy. Christina finds out that Dr. Burke has won a medical award and she is crushed, but instead of her tape going the emotional route, we are stuck listening to Christina singing “Like a Virgin” in the morgue for most of the episode. Then at the very end she has a small monologue where she tells Dr. Webber that she was Burke’s hands the past year. Don’t get me wrong, Sandra Oh is an awesome actress and she probably should have won in the past for any of her nominations, but this is not an Emmy worthy tape. Not at all.

Dianne Wiest
I just want to say that I love the setup of this show, it truly give two actors 30 minutes to play. The idea of this show, as an actor, just thrills me, but to see it is just heaven. Dianne Wiest is a brilliant actress, I mean hell the woman has two freaking Oscars and she is great on this show, but she screwed up her submission big time. Wiest plays Gina, a retired therapist, who gets a visit from Paul (Gabriel Byrne), another therapist who stopped his therapy with her nearly ten years ago. He says that he is back because he is afraid that he is losing his patience with his patients, but in the end Gina doesn’t think that is true at all and thinks that the real issue is actually the trouble in his marriage. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that this is the worst tape in the category, like I said that honor goes to Sandra Oh, but Wiest has at least two other tapes that she could have submitted that could have put her in a dead heat for the win, but in the end, what hurts her most is that the tape is mostly about Paul and I have to say, that with this tape she shouldn’t have been nominated.

Chandra Wilson
Here is the setup, Miranda and her husband are having marriage problems. Instead of sitting down and discussing it, Tucker chooses to talk to her about it minutes before she has to leave for work, and Miranda tells him that she doesn’t have the time and rushes out for work. Tucker continues to call Miranda all day and finally pages her, she finally calls and finds out that her baby Tuck has been injured because someone left the baby gate opened and the bookshelf fell on him. Don’t get me wrong, just from reading that you can tell that this episode was surely bait for Chandra Wilson to have an Emmy tape, but here is the thing. It doesn’t matter, because Wilson’s hits this performance out of the park! I have heard people say that it is Wilson’s worst performance on the show, but the pure raw emotion of the performance is amazing. I find it funny about these people because a lot of the time they are the ones to come out and complain about baity performances, but in the end, the writers are the ones who write the episode and it is the actors job to perform them. In the end, don’t downgrade the performance because you find the tactics of the writers wrong. Anyway, Wilson is fantastic in this tape.

Overall
This is basically a two person race, with one dark horse. Oh and Wiest are out, if either of them win it is pure bullshit. If Wiest wins it would be because of who she is and if Oh wins it would be because people felt she was “overdue.” Bergen is the dark horse here, she has a great tape, her show is nominated for Best Drama Series and the Emmy Voters love her, this is her 9th nomination and she has 5 prior wins. In the end though, it comes down to two women, Chandra Wilson and Rachel Griffiths. It is going to be a tough race to the stage for both to get that Emmy, and I would totally be happy if either of them won. In the end, I have to give it to Rachel Griffiths. Don’t get me wrong, Chandra Wilson is great, but both tapes deal with children and the quiet way that Griffiths is in her tape is just remarkable to watch. I think that her control with the material will give her the slight edge.

My Rankings:
1. Rachel Griffiths
2. Chandra Wilson
3. Candice Bergen
4. Dianne Wiest
5. Sandra Oh

My Top 10 Favorite Emmy Moments (At least the ones I could find on Youtube)

1. Barbra Streisand Sings You’ll Never Walk Alone @ 53rd Annual Emmy Awards



2. Sarah Jessica Parker finally wins Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her amazing work on Sex and the City @ the 56th Annual Emmy Awards



3. Debra Messing wins Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on Will & Grace @ the 55th Annual Emmy Awards



4. Mariska Hargitay wins Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her work on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit @ the 58th Annual Emmy Awards



5. Drea de Matteo wins Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her work on The Sopranos @ the 56th Annual Emmy Awards



6. S. Epatha Merkerson wins Lead Actress in a Mini-Series or Movie for Lackawanna Blues @ the 57th Annual Emmy Awards



7. Felicity Huffman wins Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on Desperate Housewives @ 57th Annual Emmy Awards



8. Brian & Stewie sing @ the 59th Annual Emmy Awards



9. Mary-Louise Parker wins Supporting Actress in a Mini-Series or Movie for her brilliant work in Angels in America @ the 56th Annual Emmy Awards



10. Katherine Heigl wins Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Grey’s Anatomy @ the 59th Annual Emmy Awards

Halle & Baby Nahla!!! HOW FREAKING CUTE!!!

This is why I love Halle Berry! Instead of following the recent trend of selling baby photos, Halle chose not to. So here is the publics first viewing of baby Nahla. Hally, Nahla and Grandma Judy were taking in the sites and sounds of the LA Zoo! HOW CUTE IS SHE!!!

TWILIGHT TRAILER!!!

Okay, so since Harry Potter moved it's release date until the Summer of '09, TWILIGHT has moved up and will no be released on November 21!!! And personally, I am so freaking happy! Here is the second teaser trailer...

THE DARK KING!

Well, it might be able to take down the King of the World Titanic, but since I posted my review of the film way back in the middle of July, The Dark Knight has grossed over 502 MILLION DOLLARS! With that total it blows past Stars Wars by more than 35 Million bucks to claim the #2 spot on the All Time Domestic Box Office list. That is just nuts! Seriously! The film has only been in theaters for 45 DAYS! I mean seriously, that has to be a record in itself to make over 500 Million dollars in 45 days! Worldwide The Dark Knight has made over 919 Million dollars. It sits at #10 on the All Time Worldwide Box Office list. I have no doubt that it will at least add on another 50 million before it leaves the theaters, which would only put to behind Titanic by about 49 million or so on the All Time Domestic list and it would move it up to the #5 spot on the All Time Worldwide! I will try to keep you updated as much as I can as we try to see if The Dark Knight can break more and more records!!!

60th Annual Emmy Awards

Okay guys, the 60th Annual Emmy Awards are in 3 Weeks! So to gear up for the awards, I will be posting my thoughts on each of the tapes submitted in certain categories. Here is the schedule of when I will be posting:

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series - Sept. 6th
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series - Sept. 7th
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series - Sept. 8th
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series - Sept. 9th

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series - Sept. 10th
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Sept. 11th
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - Sept. 12th
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series - Sept. 13th

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series - Sept. 14th
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series - Sept. 15th
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Sept. 16th
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series - Sept. 17th

Outstanding Comedy Series - Sept. 18th
Outstanding Drama Series - Sept. 19th


So starting Sept. 6th I will post the first Guest Actor in a Drama Series and ending with Drama Series. So please check back on these dates for the posts. I know right now that this years Emmy races will be very interesting!

Sorry...

Guys I want to say sorry about the lack of posts on the site, I am working hard on updating some things on the main site and the Blog has just been push aside for a little while, but now I am back to the world of blogging. The big thing about me taking the time out of my day to blog is my worries that people aren't reading, so please, if you enjoy reading the site please post a few comments. I am going to be posting some movie reviews soon and also the schedule for my predictions for the 60th Annual Emmy Awards. So please keep with me and remember to comment so that I know people are out there reading!

The Dark Knight

Directed By: Christopher Nolan
Written By: Jonathan Nolan & Christopher Nolan
Staring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman & Morgan Freeman

Before I start my review for The Dark Knight, I just want to let you people know how dedicated I was to see this movie. I got to my local REGAL theater at 9:30pm to wait in line. I got lucky that they were already seating for the film. By Midnight, the theater was packed and the atmosphere was incredible! People were dressed up as all of the characters and everyone was excited to see the biggest movie of the year. Well, then it started to go down hill. When the movie didn't start by 12:15am people started to get restless, by 12:45am when the movie still hadn't started, people started to get pissed! Finally, a "manager" came in to let us know that they were having problems with the film and that they were doing their best to work out the problem. Let me just remind you, I have litterally been sitting in the theater for 3 and a half hours by this point. So at around 1:20am, the screen comes to life and the lights go down and people start to go nuts. Not even 2 minutes into the first trailer the screen shuts off!!! I will let you fill in the black for what the crowd did. We sat in the dark for about ten minutes before the lights finally came back on. By this time it was 1:35am. So we sat there, we waited. Not a single worker came in to tell us what was happening. At this point, I would say about 20-25 people left and got their money back. Finally, at 2am, the film started...WITH NO SOUND! We sat thru two trailers before they finally got everything in working order. You would think that after starting a movie TWO hours late that all the problems were behind us, well you are wrong. Halfway thru the movie the sound cuts out again for about 5 minutes. To say that the crowd was pissed off when they left that night is a understatement. Of course, we were all happy to see the film, but the theater and the management totally mishandled the situation and guess what they gave us for our trouble. Two free passes. What a crock! I am just saying this to you now, if you have a choice between going to a Regal Movie Theater or another companies theater, please go to the other one because I will only be going back to the Regal theater two more times and that is to use my two free passes.

Now that you have the back story, let me get to the real reason I am posting. THE DARK KNIGHT!!!


I don't know if I can really say anything more which hasn't been already said about the film, but I am going to try. The Dark Knight is one of the best films I have ever seen that has come out of
this Genre. I will even go as far as saying that it is probably in my Top 10 of my favorite movies that I have seen. I know that is saying alot, but in my eyes this film is ALMOST perfect.

The moment the film starts, you don't see it as a comic book, but more of a gritty crime drama. It is raw and although you will laugh at certain points, you know that this isn't your typical popcorn flick.

Christian Bale is probably the best Batman out of all the films. I think that his casting is probably one of the smartest things that the creators did. That doesn't mean that I don't have some problems with him as the caped crusader. I know that I am not the only one to mention this, but the voice that Bale uses when he is Batman is hard to understand and is very monotoned. It gets kind of annoying, but thankfully most of the time he is fighting and not really talking. As Bruce Wayne, Bale is charming and sexy.

Aaron Eckhart is perfectly cast as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. His passion as Dent is amazing, and he is charming. His connection with Maggie Gyllenhaal was there, you never doubted that his character loved this woman. When he tranforms into Two-Face it is a complete 180. He is raw, driven by emotion and Eckhart hits all the right notes. He could have totally missed the mark by taking the character to far over the top, but he is a good enough actor to know how to bring it down and take it to the right level. I hope for the sake of the series, that he wasn't dead at the end of the film, but just KOed. I think it would be a huge mistake to not capitalize on the character that Eckhart was able to create as the secondary villain of the film.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is a breath of fresh air after the horrible miscasting of Katie Holmes. Katie is not a bad actress, but she just didn't fit into the character or the film at all. On the other hand, Maggie is just perfect, she has that hard edge that Rachel needs and that soft sensual side that we need to see with her when dealing with the emotions of knowing Bruce's huge secret. The moment she realizes that Harvey is saved and that she is going to die is just heartbreaking, because Maggie was able to play it so well. She almost made you feel okay with her death knowing that the man that she loved was "okay." It's a shame that Gyllenhaal wasn't cast in the first film because she made the character of Rachel a human being, something that Holmes never did. It is sad that the character had to die, but in the end it was needed to push the storyline along.

Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine were all great in their roles. There isn't much you can say about Freeman & Caine, I mean their roles are important to the film, but I don't think that either one of them took the roles to be the main attraction. I just think that they are in these roles to have fun. Oldman was very very good, throughout the film, with all its twists and turns you knew that Oldman was having an amazing time. I found it shocking that the audience was shocked when he was alive, I mean how do you not know that he is going to be alive so that he can become the commish...

And now I come to the part of the review that I have looked so forward to, Heath Ledger as The Joker. Before I start, there is a certain bittersweetness about this film. as a huge Ledger fan, I was shocked and saddened by his death. It is still very jarring to me that this incredible actor is no longer with us, but walking into the theater, you had to take a pause to realize that you were about to see the final, full performance of this generations James Dean. As hard as it is to deal with his passing, I think that all of his fans can say that he went out with a bang. Heath didn't play the part of The Joker, he was The Joker. I don't think that you can honestly watch that film and not see that this man completely stripped himself as a person and as a performer and made himself this character. From the moment you see him on the screen, you knew that you were seeing the performance of his career. Heath's performance is raw. I don't think there is another word I could use, it is very raw. He is creepy, but yet at the same time tragically funny. I didn't think that I would laugh at all in this film, but to see Heath in full Joker makeup wearing a nurses outfit was hilarious. The little dance he does and the brief moment he almost loses it when the bomb doesn't go off. Its brilliant. I am not going to start talking about Oscar chances right now, I am going to do a full post on that later. I will say this Heath's performance as The Joker should be consider on a list with some of the greatest movie Villains of all time. I don't think that anyone can deny him of that. I just wish that he was here to see it.

Overall, The Dark Knight is one of the best movies I have seen, I know people are saying that they prefer Batman Begins, but I think that Christopher Nolan gave us a much better film with The Dark Knight. The storyline has you guessing, the transitions were incredible. The script was just perfect.

I just have one thing to say... WHY SO SERIOUS? =)

The Dark Knight - A

Mamma Mia! Mamma NO!

Directed By: Phyllida Lloyd
Written By: Catherine Johnson
Staring: Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard & Dominic Cooper

I went into this film wanting so much to love it, but I can't. Let me start off by saying that the film is okay. Not great, not horrible, just okay.
I will start with the good. MERYL STREEP is a god! I mean can this woman do anything wrong? She took what she was given with this role and she had a great time. There is never a point in the film when it doesn't look like Meryl is having the time of her life. Even when the director has let her down in every way possible, Ms. Streep is having a great time. Amanda Seyfried does a good job in her role, I think that she would have been fantastic in the hands of a better director.
Now for the bad, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, and Pierce Brosnan are so miscast it is horrible. HELLO casting directors, it is a musical! Sure, they can carry a tune, but it is does not mean that they should be making musicals! Dominic Cooper is great, but he was so underused that it was pointless in casting him. He did have some nice moments with Amanda, but other than that he was only cast for his good looks, and not for his acting, which is a shame.
As for Julie Walters & Christine Baranski, I loved them in these roles, even tho I felt that the screenplay really hurt them. Seeing them together with Streep was awesome, they looked so comfortable together. It was one of the high-points of the film.
Here is what it comes down to, the writers made a huge mistake by not filling in some of the gaps of the original stage show. They could have cleaned up the large chunks that the audience missed and still made a fun, well made musical. They chose not to and in the end it really really hurt the film. As for the director, I know that the producers wanted to keep the original director attached to the project, but the should have let her go. It was her first major film, and as much as she loved the material, her lack of experience showed. ALOT!
Overall, like I said I liked the movie, I had fun watch most of the musical numbers and it was fun to see Meryl perform in a full movie musical. I just wish that she would have been cast as Ms. Lovett in Sweeney Todd instead...

Mamma Mia! - C

Katherine Heigl + Emmy + Grey’s Anatomy = Murder?

There are reports coming in that claim that Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes is thinking about killing off Heigl’s on screen character Izzie Stevens because Heigl complained about the writing of her character when she was asked why she didn’t submit her name this year. So because the woman didn’t lie and cover for Rhimes when she was asked about the “Emmys snub” she is going to get killed off? I am sorry, but that is just plain bullshit! So what’s next, are they going to bring back the gay basher and say that everything is great over in Grey’s land? Hey Shonda Rhimes, I have a great idea for you, why not just start producing some better scripts and then maybe you wouldn’t have actors speaking out against you. Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn’t Katherine Heigl out supporting the writers during the strike? This is exactly what Heigl said to the press about not submitting her name, Heigl said, "I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention. In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials." In my eyes, I think that she did the right thing. She didn’t come out and say that the writing was terrible this season for her character and that she felt that the writers dropped the ball. She was very polite about the situation and I think that Rhimes needs to get off her ass and start writing the show that was so good when it premiered instead of trying to win awards with stunt episodes aimed at getting Emmys. Now, my rant is over. Thank you.

In Bruges

Written & Directed by: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson & Ralph Fiennes

I have wanted to see this film since it came out, but unfortunately I was stuck in Florida and it didn’t come out anywhere near me. Well, I had the great pleasure of viewing this film tonight and I loved it. Written and Directed by Academy Award Winner (78th Annual Best Short Film, Live Action) and four time Tony Award Nominee (The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Lonesome West, The Pillowman, The Lieutenant of Inishmore) Martin McDonagh comes a film about two hit men, Ray (Farrell) and Ken (Gleeson) who have been sent to Bruges, the medieval city in Belgium, by their London boss Harry. The reason they have been sent to Bruges is because Ray has botched the job (or so we think, you have to watch the movie to see that, don’t want to spoil anything.) Basically, Ray and Ken have to wait around until they get a call from Harry (Fiennes) to find out what the next move is. Ray is dealing with messing up the job, Ken is dealing with the orders that have been handed down to him, and Harry just wants everything done. The movie is funny, sad and thrilling all at the same time. Ralph Fiennes gives a great performance in a true supporting role and Brendan Gleeson plays so well against both Fiennes and Farrell, but the true star of this film is Colin Farrell. Say what you will about his film choices in the past, (everyone remembers Alexander and Miami Vice), but Farrell is just plain awesome in this film. When you look at Farrell you don’t expect him to be great at Comedy, but he is. He nails every joke and he has these awesome facial expressions that really make his character come alive. With a very strong script and good direction from first time full length director Martin McDonagh, I tell everyone to go out and rent this film. Its too bad that the Academy will probably look it over in the Lead Actor and Original screenplay categories.

In Bruges - A

Welcome!!!

Welcome to Awardshq: THE BLOG! I am very happy to be opening this site up. If you don't know this Blog is the companion website to Awardshq, which you can view HERE. Please enjoy the site that I have worked so hard on. I will be updating the Blog with entries discussing nominees and winners of all the major award shows. At the same time, I will be adding the nominees and winners on the main site. The first major event coming up next will be the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Award Nominations on July 17th. I will be posting my predictions of the nominees in the next fews days, until then please look around and ENJOY!

P.S. If you guys happen to catch any mistakes on any part of the site please let me know. It is very hard to double check everything. Thanks again!