Good night for television...

It's a crazy busy night for television today - somewhat odd for a summer night. On ABC at 9P, there's Game 6 of the NBA Finals (go Mavs!), on Oxygen at 9P, the series premiere of The Glee Project, the Tonys on CBS at 8P and, of course, Mob Wives/Audrina/Saddle Rance on VH1, starting at 8P. Think I'm going to watch the Finals, DVR the Tonys, and DVR the encores of Oxygen and Vh1 programming. Or, maybe I'll watch the Tonys and DVR the Finals. Then I can potentially live blog the Tonys.

Oscars 2011

It's that time of year again... Time for the 83rd Academy Awards... hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway. Both are intriguing choices for hosts, neither are comedians, though that doesn't always work (ref: David Letterman) and both are incredibly likeable.

Without further ado, below, please find the listing of nominees (with my choices bolded, natch and what will probably win in italics). To this point, I have seen all best picture nominees with the exception of Inception and 127 Hours. Inception because I just haven't gotten to it yet, and 127 Hours because I don't think I'll be able handle the arm cutting scene.

Best Motion Picture
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Kids are All Right
The Social Network
127 Hours
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
The Kings Speech has been racking up all the recent awards, and not only was it quite good, but I really enjoyed it. That said, I really thought The Social Network was a masterful film. HOwever, I wouldn't be annoyed if The Fighter, Winters Bone, True Grit or The King's Speech won. This was a great year for movies, though I do wonder which will stand the test of time.

Best Actress In A Leading Role
ANNETTE BENING-THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
NICOLE KIDMAN – RABBIT HOLE
JENNIFER LAWRENCE – WINTER’S BONE
NATALIE PORTMAN – BLACK SWAN
MICHELLE WILLIAMS – BLUE VALENTINE
Haven't seen Blue Valentine yet, but I won't be miffed if either Jennifer Lawrence, Natalie Portman or Michelle Williams wins. I heard she was that good.

Best Actor In A Leading Role
JESSE EISENBERG – THE SOCIAL NETWORK
COLIN FIRTH – THE KING’S SPEECH
JAMES FRANCO – 127 HOURS
JEFF BRIDGES – TRUE GRIT
Javier Bardem – BEAUTIFUL
Another ridiculously tough category. Jeff Bridges was great in True Grit, and Colin Firth was wonderful as the stammering Bertie. But, there was just something about Jesse Eisenberg's performance that I just adored.

Best Actress In A Supporting Role
AMY ADAMS – THE FIGHTER
HELENA BONHAM CARTER – THE KING’S SPEECH
JACKI WEAVER – ANIMAL KINGDOM
MELISSA LEO – THE FIGHTER
HAILEE STEINFELD – TRUE GRIT
I think it's a legitimate toss-up between Leo and Steinfeld, but I always feel that the best supporting actor award is give to the young actor. I though Amy Adams was good in The Fighter, mostly holding her own in her scenes with Leo. also heard very good things about Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom, though I have not seen that yet.

Best Actor In A Supporting Role
CHRISTIAN BALE – THE FIGHTER
JOHN HAWKES– WINTER’S BONE
JEREMY RENNER – THE TOWN
GEOFFREY RUSH – THE KING’S SPEECH
MARK RUFFALO – THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
Christian Bale was just smashing. I don't care that he's got quite the temper on him, he can act the heck out of his movies.

Achievement in Directing
DARREN ARONOFSKY – BLACK SWAN
DAVID FINCHER -THE SOCIAL NETWORK
TOM HOOPER – THE KING’S SPEECH
JOEL COEN, ETHAN COEN – TRUE GRIT
DAVID O. RUSSELL – THE FIGHTER
I think this will go the same way as Best Picture in that The Kings Speech will win, but honestly, any of these can win and I'll be content.


ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winters Bone
This wasn't actually included in the ballot I copied and pasted from, but I really want Aaron Sorkin to win, and I think he will be. That said, similar to best picture/director, I'd be okay with any of the winners.

Animated Feature Film
How to Train Yor Dragon Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet
Toy Story 3 Lee Unkrich
Since it's not going to win Best Picture, Toy Story 3 will notch another victory for Pixar.

Cinematography

“Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
“Inception” Wally Pfister
“The King's Speech” Danny Cohen
“The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth
“True Grit” Roger Deakins
This will probably be taken by either Inception or Black Swan. I'm thinking they're going to give it to Inception, sort of as a make-up for the dis in the Best Director category.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

* “Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
* “The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
* “Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
* “The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
* “The King's Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler
Yes, The Fighter could have been a generic sports story, but it was so much more. You really got to know the characters and the place, and while a lot of that credit goes to the director and actors, it always starts on the page.

And, the rest of the categories which quite frankly, I'm too lazy to go through. Though, in my own defense, I only decided to bring back the Oscar live-blog about an hour ago.


Art Direction
“Alice in Wonderland”
Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“Inception”
Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
“The King's Speech”
Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr
“True Grit”
Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

Another tough category. I'm leaning towards Harry Potter or Inception.

Cinematography

* “Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
* “Inception” Wally Pfister
* “The King's Speech” Danny Cohen
* “The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth
* “True Grit” Roger Deakins

Costume Design

* “Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood
* “I Am Love” Antonella Cannarozzi
* “The King's Speech” Jenny Beavan
* “The Tempest” Sandy Powell
* “True Grit” Mary Zophres

Documentary (Feature)

* “Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
* “Gasland” Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
* “Inside Job” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
* “Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
* “Waste Land” Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Documentary (Short Subject)

* “Killing in the Name” Jed Rothstein
* “Poster Girl” Sara Nesson and Mitchell W. Block
* “Strangers No More” Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
* “Sun Come Up” Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
* “The Warriors of Qiugang” Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

Film Editing

* “Black Swan” Andrew Weisblum
* “The Fighter” Pamela Martin
* “The King's Speech” Tariq Anwar
* “127 Hours” Jon Harris
* “The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Foreign Language Film

* “Biutiful” Mexico
* “Dogtooth” Greece
* “In a Better World” Denmark
* “Incendies” Canada
* “Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” Algeria

Makeup

* “Barney's Version” Adrien Morot
* “The Way Back” Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
* “The Wolfman” Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Music (Original Score)

* “How to Train Your Dragon” John Powell
* “Inception” Hans Zimmer
* “The King's Speech” Alexandre Desplat
* “127 Hours” A.R. Rahman
* “The Social Network” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song)

* “Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
* “I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
* “If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
* “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3" Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Short Film (Animated)

* “Day & Night” Teddy Newton
* “The Gruffalo” Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
* “Let's Pollute” Geefwee Boedoe
* “The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
* “Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)” Bastien Dubois

Short Film (Live Action)

* “The Confession” Tanel Toom
* “The Crush” Michael Creagh
* “God of Love” Luke Matheny
* “Na Wewe” Ivan Goldschmidt
* “Wish 143” Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Sound Editing

* “Inception” Richard King
* “Toy Story 3” Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
* “Tron: Legacy” Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
* “True Grit” Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
* “Unstoppable” Mark P. Stoeckinger

Sound Mixing

* “Inception” Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
* “The King's Speech” Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
* “Salt” Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
* “The Social Network” Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
* “True Grit” Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Visual Effects

* “Alice in Wonderland” Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
* “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
* “Hereafter” Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojansky and Joe Farrell
* “Inception” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
* “Iron Man 2” Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick





So, all in all, a particularly tough year for the voters as there were a slew of really good movies. I'll leave it to time to see which will be considered great.

From the Ausiello Files at ew.com...

Emmy host Neil Patrick Harris will "headline a Dr. Horrible-themed production number about midway through Sunday’s ceremony."

If you haven't seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along blog, starring Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion and written/directed by Joss Whedon during last year's writer's strike, you have missed a pop culture touchstone. Also, if you missed NPH hosting this year's Tony Awards, you also missed something grand. Basically, if Mr. Harris is going to be singing a little ditty, you owe it to yourself to watch. His song recapping the Emmys (written by the talented team who gave us Hairspray - Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman) made up for a rather lackluster telecast (not NPH's fault - he just wasn't on screen enough).

While I don't think the Primetime Emmys are in danger of being relegated to the interwebs, like their Daytime counterparts, and it's not like it has to be that spectacular a show to improve upon last year's travesty (hosted by reality tv hosts), I do have high hopes that we're going to see something special tonight.

Almost time for the 2009 Primetime Emmys!

Can you feel the excitement in the air? Not just because we get to see what hilarity Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will come up with, but because Neil Patrick Harris is following up his amazing Tony hosting gig with hosting the Primetime Emmy Awards. Let's face it, the man can host an awards show.

As I've done once or twice in the past, I will attempt to Live-Blog the ceremonies, but I warn you, it's up against the Giants-Cowboys, so my attention may be split.

Below, please find a list of the (major) nominees for your edification. Please note that major is just what Entertainment Weekly and every other site that created an easily cut/pasteable list of the Emmy nominees, but they didn't include the writing/directing awards, even though the portion of the awards when they announce the nominees for best writing of a variety, music or comedy program is among my favorite of the awards.

COMEDY

BEST COMEDY SERIES
Entourage
Family Guy
Flight of the Conchords
How I Met Your Mother
The Office
30 Rock
Weeds

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Jemaine Clement, Flight of the Conchords
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
Toni Collette, United States of Tara
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds
Sarah Silverman, The Sarah Silverman Program

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
Kevin Dillon, Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Jack McBrayer, 30 Rock
Tracy Morgan, 30 Rock
Rainn Wilson, The Office

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds
Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live
Kristin Wiig, Saturday Night Live
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty

GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alan Alda, 30 Rock
Beau Bridges, Desperate Housewives
Jon Hamm, 30 Rock
Steve Martin, 30 Rock
Justin Timberlake, Saturday Night Live

GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jennifer Aniston, 30 Rock
Christine Baranski, The Big Bang Theory
Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live
Gena Rowlands, Monk
Elaine Stritch, 30 Rock
Betty White, My Name Is Earl

DRAMA

BEST DRAMA SERIES
Big Love
Breaking Bad
Damages
Dexter
House
Lost
Mad Men

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Simon Baker, The Mentalist
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Glenn Close, Damages
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Christian Clemenson, Boston Legal
Michael Emerson, Lost
William Hurt, Damages
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
William Shatner, Boston Legal
John Slattery, Mad Men

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Rose Byrne, Damages
Hope Davis, In Treatment
Cherry Jones, 24
Sandra Oh, Grey’s Anatomy
Dianne Wiest, In Treatment
Chandra Wilson, Grey’s Anatomy

GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Edward Asner, CSI: NY
Ted Danson, Damages
Ernest Borgnine, ER
Michael J. Fox, Rescue Me
Jimmy Smits, Dexter

GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Brenda Blethyn, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Carol Burnett, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Ellen Burstyn, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Sharon Lawrence, Grey’s Anatomy
CCH Pounder, The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency

REALITY

REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM
The Amazing Race
American Idol
Dancing With The Stars
Project Runway
Top Chef

HOST FOR A REALITY OR REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars
Phil Keoghan, The Amazing Race
Heidi Klum, Project Runway
Padma Lakshmi (Host) and Tom Colicchio (Co-Host), Top Chef
Jeff Probst, Survivor
Ryan Seacrest, American Idol

REALITY SERIES
Antiques Roadshow
Dirty Jobs
Dog Whisperer
Intervention
Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List
MythBusters

VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY

VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Late Show With David Letterman
Real Time With Bill Maher
Saturday Night Live

VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SPECIAL
Will Ferrell: You’re Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush
Ricky Gervais: Out of England
Kathy Griffin: She’ll Cut a Bitch
The Kennedy Center Honors
Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger

MINISERIES OR MOVIE

MINISERIES
Generation Kill
Little Dorrit

MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE
Coco Chanel
Grey Gardens
Into The Storm
Prayers For Bobby
Taking Chance

ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR A MOVIE
Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance
Kenneth Branagh, Wallander: One Step Behind
Kevin Kline, Cyrano de Bergerac (Great Performances)
Brendan Gleeson, Into the Storm
Sir Ian McKellen, King Lear (Great Performances)
Kiefer Sutherland, 24: Redemption

ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR A MOVIE
Drew Barrymore, Grey Gardens
Jessica Lange, Grey Gardens
Shirley MacLaine, Coco Chanel
Sigourney Weaver, Prayers For Bobby
Chandra Wilson, Accidental Friendship

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Len Cariou, Into the Storm
Tom Courtenay, Little Dorrit
Ken Howard, Grey Gardens
Bob Newhart, The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice
Andy Serkis, Little Dorrit

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Shohreh Aghdashloo, House Of Saddam
Marcia Gay Harden, The Courageous Heart Of Irena Sendler (Hallmark Hall Of Fame Presentation)
Janet McTeer, Into The Storm
Jeanne Tripplehorn, Grey Gardens
Cicely Tyson, Relative Stranger

Emmy nominations....

Entourage was nominated again? Really? But, no Big Bang Theory? Seriously? Sigh...

Heroes

Alright, I suppose I should admit up front that I wasn't what one might call a religious viewer of Heroes last year. I watched the first four episodes and really enjoyed them, but then real life took over and it became too complicated a series to follow. It's the same problem I had with Lost last season. Since I really enjoyed the first episode this season, I suppose I'll have to catch up on Season 1 through the DVDs.

I watched the first episode with Seema, who as an avid viewer of Season 1, had to deal with my non-stop questions. Not that she actually answered any of them. But I'd paid enough attention to the various pop culture shows that discussed the show that I had a pretty good idea as to what was going on.

Heroes is, above all, a fun show. It's very reminiscent of (depending on your age) comic books or the old kiddie serials you used to be able to catch in movie theaters back in the 30s and 40s. The actors, for the most part are great, and due to its serial nature, the viewer gets a chance to really get to know the characters and to form an attachment to them. Like Lost (which, yes, I know did get better at the end of last season), Heroes ended the season with plenty of questions and while none were really answered with the first episode we got the sense of moving forward. And, we got the addition of David Anders (fka Sark from Alias)... In addition to Sark, we have the new friend of Claire's who can fly, the immigrants from South America, one of whom seems to have the ability to kill people, which does not mesh well for her religious upbringing. And, we have Hiro! Who remains as adorable as ever.

All, in all, I can't wait for episode 2.

Summer on the TV

In the old days, television was for the most part done live. It's one of the reasons that there are so few remnants of the early days of tv. what we have nowadays from the late 1940s and early 50s exist as kinescopes which basically means they filmed the televison screen. It's why the quality is so bad. The stars of radio were slow to gravitate to television and when they did, it wasn't with any sense of regularity. so, a number of shows might share the same time slot.

By the mid 50s, there was definite sense of a schedule, but even that followed the calendar set years earlier in radio. The A star's show would be on for 39 weeks and they would take the summer's off and another show would air in that time slot.

In around 1952, smart producers like Desi Arnaz realized that when you film your show, you have access to it after the show airs. It's not ephemeral. Desi retained ownership of I Love Lucy and pretty much printed his own money by selling them as reruns.

This little history lesson isn't just to show off, but to show how everything is cyclical - especially in television.From the 1960s to the mid 1990s, things followed the same schedule. shows would air from the Fall to the Spring and reruns would take over the summer months. As the years went on, the amount of shows being produced dwindled from 39 to 33 to the high 20s today.

And yet in the world of cable and even sometimes on the broadcast networks, there are more and more shows premiering at "off-peak" times.

This year, Lifetime, TNT and USA networks seem to be the big winners in the summer tv season. Lifetime has already renewed their new drama Army Wives for a second season. And tonight, USA premieres a 5th season of Monk and a second season of my personal favorite, Psych.

Summer on the TV

In the old days, television was for the most part done live. It's one of the reasons that there are so few remnants of the early days of tv. what we have nowadays from the late 1940s and early 50s exist as kinescopes which basically means they filmed the televison screen. It's why the quality is so bad. The stars of radio were slow to gravitate to television and when they did, it wasn't with any sense of regularity. so, a number of shows might share the same time slot.

By the mid 50s, there was definite sense of a schedule, but even that followed the calendar set years earlier in radio. The A star's show would be on for 39 weeks and they would take the summer's off and another show would air in that time slot.

In around 1952, smart producers like Desi Arnaz realized that when you film your show, you have access to it after the show airs. It's not ephemeral. Desi retained ownership of I Love Lucy and pretty much printed his own money by selling them as reruns.

This little history lesson isn't just to show off, but to show how everything is cyclical - especially in television.From the 1960s to the mid 1990s, things followed the same schedule. shows would air from the Fall to the Spring and reruns would take over the summer months. As the years went on, the amount of shows being produced dwindled from 39 to 33 to the high 20s today.

And yet in the world of cable and even sometimes on the broadcast networks, there are more and more shows premiering at "off-peak" times.

This year, Lifetime, TNT and USA networks seem to be the big winners in the summer tv season. Lifetime has already renewed their new drama Army Wives for a second season. And tonight, USA premieres a 5th season of Monk and a second season of my personal favorite, Psych.

Okay, at 11:05, the Globes are officially over and yet, Arnold had to leave the audience with a bad taste in our collective mouths, with a dated Terminator joke "Remember, next year, we'll be back." Bad governor, bad!

Overall, I thought the awards were good. Not great... little that stood out or that I'll be talking about the next day. Maybe Sasha Baron Cohen's acceptance speech, maybe Helen Mirren's double victory, definitely the Grey's win, but that's because of the ABC factor. Oh, and definitely Ugly Betty and America Ferrara's victory. Again for the ABC factor and also cause it's a damn fine show, and a surprise. And, I was mighty pleased with the Hugh Laurie win. Oh, and I almost forgot about Meryl Streep. And, I did enjoy the Warren Beatty tribute. So, I apparently do have a few things that I can chat about.

But, live blogging was fun. A) cause I was able to make it through the whole show and 2) because now the show is over and I'm done. I don't actually have to recap it because y'all can just read the preceding posts. I might have a post mortem tomorrow (check out that Grey's Anatomy reference), but now... it's on to the Daily Show. And, in case you're wondering, no I don't know why all my time stamps are PST, when I'm clearly in the EST. I'll try and fix it before my next posting.

And now, Gov. Arnold Schwarzennager... In spite of Warren Beatty's joke, I won't call him the honorable. Though, I am a fan of his new healthcare initiative.

Anyway, enough politics... the winner of Best Movie - Drama was Babel... Color me stunned. I'll take this as another out of left field film. Like I said earlier, I didn't see it and I don't think I'm gonna be seeing it.

I've heard nothing bad about it, and it's getting people to think about things they might not have thought about.

Teasing the governor about his immigration status. That takes guts, cause sometimes I get the feeling that Arnold doesn't like people teasing him.

I know I should be paying attention to his speech, but I think I'm all speechified out. He thanked his fellow producers, the cast (the beautiful cast, and I do agree that Brad Pitt remains beautiful - actually I like Brad Pitt, I just can't bring myself to see this film.). Okay, I liked the shout out to the Mexican film industry. And, Yay Paramount, Endeavor, his parents, kids, etc. And, the last award of the evening gets played off.

Ooooh... I love Felicity Huffman. And, her dress is awesome.

I don't know that I realized Leo was nominated for both his roles. Great group of nominees this year. And Forest Whitaker wins. Good for him. He's always good in everything he does. And, he seemed absolutely terrifying in The Last King of Scotland. But, he's so soft spoken, and now he seems to be legitimately broken up about it. And, Peter Morgan (well, co-wrote) wrote this film, as well as The Queen (which if you've been reading these posts in order won a Golden Globe earlier in the evening)? Damn, that's bloody impressive!

Okay, why is Courtney Cox and David Arquette giving out the award for Best Drama?

Grey's Anatomy won, which I'm okay with. It's a damn fine show, and Shonda Rhimes just seems like an awesome person and aside from the talent, how often have we seen either females or people of color on the stage that night? Not much, that's for damn show.

Love Shonda Rhimes.

And, the camera folks really did try to find as many African Americans who weren't part of the Dream Girls table as they cut away from the stage, didn't they?

But, damn... ABC had one hell of a night.

And now, Phillip Seymour Hoffman announces for Best Actress in a drama...

Very tough category. I don't think Helen Mirren will win again. Though, I now get my Dame Helen vs. Dame Judi fight, don't I?

And, I was completely wrong!

Helen Mirren won... AGAIN! It was a terrific movie and Helen Mirren was great in it. But, truly... any of the ladies nominated would have been a fitting win. So, she was nominated for three awards and won two. Impressive.

Dane Cook gets to introduce a film at the Golden Globes? Why? Anyway, he is introducing Thank You for Smoking, which looks pretty damn funny, but still have no desire to hear how good it is by Dane Cook.

And, Jennifer Lopez somehow gets the full Borat title out in one breath. And, Dreamgirls won! Good job, Dreamgirls! The producer Lawrence Mark gives the acceptance speech. And, he gives a shout out to David Geffen. At least somebody does. And, he gives a shout out to one of the original writers of the stage musical. And the composer has GOT to stop playing these guys off. And, he makes a good point just as he signs off, that he's sure they're going to be advertising the victory in about 10 seconds. I'll take the over on that one, but not by much.

Okay, not quite live blogging now because I had to reset the internet, so I had to pause the Tivo, but I think we've caught up. Or, at least I'll be caught up by the next commercial break.

And, Dustin Hoffman comes out to introduce Little Miss Sunshine, but before he starts the introduction, he informs Warrent Beatty that Ishtar was only onscreen for 0.5 seconds (true), but there will be an Ishtar II (though I think... hope! that was a joke).

And, I loved Little Miss Sunshine! Such a great film.

And, Spielberg comes out to introduce Best Director. I don't think he should be allowed to present a film that he produced. Or, two films he produced (both by Clint Eastwood). And, Marty Scorcese wins for The Departed. I think I've stated earlier that I"m going to add it to my list of films that I need to see, so yeah, I'll do that. And, that's kind of cool to see Spielberg give Scorcese the award. They're both great filmmakers, but they do such different types of films.

And, a shout out to Night of the Hunter, my favorite film, ever!! 1955 Charles Laughton film. If you haven't seen it, check it out. You won't be sorry.

And, I love that he's going to try to speak more quicker than normal. And, honestly, I can't tell. Oh, you don't rush Scorcese. It's just not polite.

Reese Witherspoon is introducing Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical. Sasha Baron Cohen or Will Ferrell? I just don't know who to root for.

And, Sasha Baron Cohen wins. Good for him. I think this is the first time I've ever seen him as himself. Wow... And, speaking with his real British accent. A little less posh than Hugh Laurie, but still damn nice. And, he's funny in real life, too. That's good to know. Of course, a two minute ode to his co-star's anus and testicles is possibly 100 seconds too long, but it's a different type of speech than one normally hears. And, he ends his speech by thanking every American who has not sued him. A noble bit of grace there, Master Cohen. A noble bit of grace.

These awards are just flying by. Two hours down, and approximately one to go.

Tom Hanks is introducing the award for Warren Beatty... is it me or is he slurring his words? Did Mr. Hanks have a little too much wine?

Hey... in 1962 the HFPA named Warren Beatty the Most Promising Newcomer of 1962 and now forty five or so years later, he gets another award from them. That's awfully nice of them. And Tom Hanks mentioned his fine work in the Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, so Yay Tom Hanks for knowing his tv history, cause it was a good show.

And, Mr. Hanks is right in that Warren Beatty has big balls... He's done a lot of great stuff, most recently for appearing as a voice on The Colbert Report. Bonnie and Clyde, Reds, Shampoo, Bulworth, Heaven Can Wait, Dick Tracy (with original songs by Stephen Sondheim), Bugsy (not my favorite film, but it was his vision). You know, I don't believe I've ever seen Reds. I think I've just added it to my Netflix queue. Or, since I don't currently have Netflix, I think I'll just add Warren Beatty to my Tivo queue so I can catch it the next time it comes across Time Warner Digital cable scheduler.

Okay, I've laughed out loud for the first time with Tom Hanks', "Ladies, show of hands" comment." That was funny.

Bravo Tom Hanks... good speech.

And, it's a Sondheim song... Sooner or Later.

Hey, it's Ishtar... They didn't ignore it. Fabulous!

And now Warren gets to speak... Damn, he still looks fine! What is he in his 70s? He was born in 1937, so we've just entered his 70th year. Impressive.

Oooh... is he gonna make another movie? I don't know, but his interplay with Eastwood and Nicholson? How freakin' funny is he? They're making him look bad. He can't understand why they won't just do what he says. He asked Arnold to become a Democrat, he did what he said. And, of course he's going to make another movie. So, sayeth Warren Beatty. Though, for a moment there, I thought he might say that he was gonna run for office. And, he's a fan of Borat. Nice job!

Okay, now he's rambling a bit. And, so far, nothing political. Which surprises me a little.

Okay, I laughed several times during Beatty's speech. Well, done. Awww... look how much he loves Annette and look how much she loves him. How bloody cute! And, he sends his kids to bed! Damn... he's good.

Up next is the special award going to Warren Beatty for lasting a long time in this industry. The Oscars call it the Irving Thalberg Award (even though he died too young to have lasted a long time in the industry), but I have no idea what the HFPA call it. But, in four minutes, Jack Bauer will be 1/6 of the way to saving the country for another year.

Jamie Foxx (he seems slightly bitter tonight... is it because he didn't get a nomination of his very own?) is introducing Dream Girls as one of the Best Movies... Yeah, I gotta see this film. And, there's Jay-Z (partial owner of the NJ Nets) sitting next to Beyonce.

It's time for Best Foreign Language film... And two English speakers have
Apocalypto - I just have no desire to see a Mel Gibson film now.
Letters from Iwo Jima - I've heard good things about this, but I haven't been in the mood to see another war movie.
The Lives of Others - Okay, I know nothing about this.
Pan's Labyrinth - Time Out New York just reviewed it and gave it a rave.
Volver - My brother saw this and tells me I must see this. He says Penelope Cruz is just oustanding.

Letters from Iwo Jima wins! I thought that it might, cause of Eastwood's star power (and Spielberg produced it, so that couldn't hurt), but I wonder what would have happened had Mel Gibson had won? Can we say it together? AWK-WARD...
And Eastwood brings the funny. And, he's looking good, no? He seems less craggly than normal. Either he's had work done or he's staying out of the sun.

Another commerical post...

I really don't like the new Direct TV commercial using Back to the Future. For the same reason I didn't like that stupid car? commercial using the same scenes (if not the same actors) from A Christmas Story. It's just stupid. In the Christmas Story one, I can't even remember what they were selling. Even minutes after the commercial ended, I could remember I did not like the commercial, but I had no idea of what they wanted me to buy. Totally defeating the purpose of buying, you know, commercial time.

Bah!

Okay, the problem with Live blogging the Golden Globes is that it's 9:15 and I'm really hungry, but I can't make it to the kitchen and back before the commercial break ends, and I guess I could pause the Tivo, but wouldn't that totally defeat the purpose of Live Blogging?

And, I'm sure there are people out there who are wondering exactly why I chose live blogging the Golden Globes to get back into blogging and to them, I say... why not? And, if you don't like that reason, then I just gotta say because it was there. And, if that reason still fails you, then I'm going with because I had nothing better to do.

Although, it is making me miss the fourth episode of the sixth season of 24, but I'm working on the assumption that my brother is DVR'ing it downstairs. So, let's hope I'm right. Or, they decided to use the fourth hour of the day to have Jack take a nap.

Ben Stiller is introducing Borat. And manages to confuse what looks like Sasha Baron Cohen at the same time. Now, that's probably a rarity. And, yes, it's just been confirmed that was Sasha Baron Cohen (a nice Jewish Englishman).

Selma Hayak introduces the

Bleak House... didn't see.
Broken Trail ... didn't see, but did great numbers for AMC
Elizabeth I... Yay, Helen Mirren
Mrs. Harris... Still didn't see.
Prime Suspect... Yay, Helen Mirren

And, Elizabeth the First wins... Apparently I'm going to have to check this out if only because it won so many (by my count 2 (at this point!) Golden Globes at this point). Ahhh... it was an HBO film, no wonder. Awww... the speech was nice. Both the writer and Dame Mirren got shout outs from the producer.

Rachel Weisz is introducing Best Supporting Actor in the Motion Picture
Ben Affleck is caught ordering something when he is announced as George Reeves for Hollywoodland. I'll catch this when it turns up on HBO or more likely, TNT.
Eddie Murphy ... still haven't seen, but I heard he was great
Jack Nicholson - I'm sorry, he's got to lose the glasses, and I'll see his flick when it turns up on HBO.
Brad Pitt - Didn't see and not gonna.
Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg... I'll see The Departed sooner or later
And, Eddie Murphy wins! I really am going to have to see this film. So far, only Beyonce has lost for the acting categories. Maybe this week.
Poor David Geffen... he's never remembered as being part owner of Dreamworks. Doesn't Dreamworks SKG stand for Spielberg Katzenberg Geffen? Did he kill one of their pets or something?