The 85th Academy Awards

Seth MacFarlane danced the line of biting humor and respect for the institution of the Oscars perfectly as host. One of his best jokes from the opening monologue was "Ben, it's not your fault" in a Robin Williams-esque Good Will Hunting voice about Affleck not being nominated for Best Director. The many jokes about Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting were a great homage to how well they hosted the Golden Globes earlier this year. Seth tempting Sally Field with wine and Boniva was delightfully hilarious. Later his joke, "It's Sunday. Everybody is dressed up. This is like church only with more people praying," was priceless.

I was incorrect right out of the gates on the first award, Best Supporting Actor. I had thought that DeNiro had it but I could not have been more pleased that Christoph Waltz took home the statue. His speech was genuine and heartfelt. It has become quite fashionable for actors to thank and name their fellow nominees in their acceptance speeches. Waltz seemed very sincere when he named each of his cohorts. Tommy Lee Jones actually smiled after the clip of his nominated performance in Lincoln.

MacFarlane's jabs at Clooney and Affleck throughout the ceremony were fantastic. The six men of the Avengers amusingly bantered as they presented Cinematography and Visual Effects. The much promoted tribute to 50 years of Bond was disappointing in that it was simply a montage (and they showed T Dalt twice). Having Shirley Bassey sing Goldfinger was pretty cool. The Forrest Gump score popped up multiple times over transitions -- upon rewatching the show I realized this was because of the theme of the awards, music in movies. In this honoring of movie music my only complaint was that the sound team did not disable Russell Crowe's microphone during the Les Miserables performance.

I can not even talk about Anne Hathaway winning Best Supporting Actress or about how awful her dress was. Jennifer Lawrence fell on her way to the stage but she instantly regained her composure. She gave a simple and sweet speech. Daniel Day Lewis was also humbling and sweet in his acceptance speech and then in the next breath hilarious. Michelle Obama presenting Best Picture via satellite was a truly new idea kept a surprise by Jack Nicholson appearing on stage as if to present. I loved it when he asked, "Obama, do you have your envelope" and without missing a beat she replied, "not yet Jack, I'm about to." I was so pleased that Argo won. I loved Ben Affleck's speech. He had the seem frenetic energy that he had when he won for the screenplay for Good Will Hunting.

My 2013 Ballots

This year I have seen more of the nominees than I have ever before. The only categories that I did not complete were the documentary feature, documentary short and foreign film categories. I made sure to watch all of the trailers of those and have seen 21/24 of the categories nominees.

What follows are three ballots. The first is how I would vote if I were a member of the Academy. This is a fun exercise, particularly when I have seen all the movies. After all the effort and movie watching it is quite gratifying. Next is a ballot of my official predictions. The best I have predicted in the past is 19/24 categories and I have a goal to get 20 or more correct tomorrow. The third image is my "viewing ballot" as I have become accustom to calling it. It is the copy I printed the day the nominations were announced and have checked off as I watch the Oscar movies.

I am very excited that Argo has made its way to being the front runner and likely winner for Best Picture. Silver Linings Playbook is my favorite of this year's crop of Oscar movies and even though I have seen it twice, I would watch it again in a heartbeat. Happy Oscar Sunday all!

2013 Oscar Nominee Luncheon

Today was the annual event where all of the year's Oscar nominees gather for lunch and a class photo. The event seems to be one of the coolest parts of being a nominee and everyone is acknowledged.

Press is limited to three questions per nominee. Ben Affleck seemed genuinely modest, mentioning how much he wanted to work with the fellow Best Picture filmmakers as an actor and that years of watching from home in the 80s and 90s has made him impervious to the prognosticating. "I leave those sorts of calculations to the folks in the press and the pundits and the Oscarologists.... I don't get into worrying about who got what or didn't get what. I've had many, many, many, many, many years watching from home." This weekend the Director's Guild presented Affleck with Best Director for Argo. The rest of the awards seem bound to prove that Affleck deserved not only to be nominated for a Best Director Oscar for Argo but that he should also win. I suspect there will be a consolation Oscar in Affleck's future.

The pictures are an extremely fun outcome of the event.

The Impossible

As a birthday treat for myself, I attended a showing of The Impossible at Cinetopia in one of their unique parlor room theaters. I enjoyed an oatmeal stout, a turkey club sandwich on ciabatta bread with fries and a diet coke, in the comfort of an armchair next to a fireplace. It was heavenly. The comforts of the experience were in stark contrast to the events of the movie I was there to see. The real story of a family during the 2004 tsunami is emotionally wrought and beautifully told. I cried through most of the movie. It was a rewarding viewing, not one of those views that drains you and you feel as though you have merely endured, not enjoyed. In watching an interview with Ewan McGregor with Dave Karger, I recent found out that in one of McGregor's most emotional scenes, he was acting with actual survivors of the tsunami.

Naomi Watts is nominated for Best Actress in the movie and Ewan McGregor would have been equally deserving. The effects for the recreation of the event of the movie are not over the top and evoke emotions not usually felt when watching computer generated scenes. It could be knowing it actually happened but I think much is owed to the technical merits of the film.

In one brief scene, I recognized an actress as the same woman who played Aunt Glady in one of my all time favorite movies, Home for the Holidays (1995). Confirming this detail also led to the realization that the actress, Geraldine Chaplin, is indeed the daughter of Charlie Chaplin. Robert Downey Jr portrayed Chaplin in 1992 and Geraldine appeared in the film before working with Downey again in Home for the Holidays.

Silver Linings Playbook

I have been somewhat slow in posting my reaction to this amazing flick because I did not know what to say. It is fantastic. I suspect it will be my favorite Oscar movie of the season. The films that pair great comedy with real life drama, and do it right, in a well written way, are always my favorites. The Descendants was a favorite last year for this reason. It won Best Adapted Screenplay. There were many other movies I loved in the 2012 Oscar season (The Help, Beginners) and there will be others I love this year (Argo). Each year there are films that feel like homework (Warhorse, Les Misérables) and there are surprise gems (Albert Nobbs).

Silver Linings Playbook will always be a memorable movie going experience. Emily and I first attempted a sold out showing at one theater but ended up making the next showtime at another theater (the same thing happened on the way to seeing Zero Dark Thirty; apparently the Oscar nominated movies are making bank this year, or I am off my game).

The acting is strong to say the least -- four of the leads in the movie have been nominated for Oscars, Bradley Cooper for Best Actor, Jennifer Lawrence for Best Actress, Robert DeNiro for Best Supporting Actor and Jacki Weaver for Best Supporting Actress, not to mention Chris Tucker's delightful role. J La has a good shot at winning (just check out her monologue from this week's SNL) and both she and Cooper are incredible as emotionally off-kilter people trying to move past recent events in their lives. If Daniel Day Lewis was not a complete shoe-in for Best Actor as Lincoln, Cooper might have had a chance at the statue as well.

The film is also up for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Film Editing. And there's football, gambling and dancing.  David O Russell wrote and directed the picture, he also directed the Fighter and I Heart Huckabees. I am a fan of Russell's movies and if you have seen his previous pictures, you can see how Silver Linings Playbook incorporates the comedy of Huckabees and the family drama of the Fighter. I loved this movie and am tempted to see it again before Oscar season is over.

2013 Golden Globes

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler started the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards with a witty bang. Poehler said that Kathryn Bigelow, director of Zero Dark Thirty, would know about torture because she was married to James Cameron for three years. Then Tina said that when watching Anne Hathaway's nominated performance in Les Miserables, Fey had not seen someone so alone and abandoned since Hathaway was on stage with James Franco at the Oscars. Amy mentioned Julianne Moore's nomination for portraying Sarah Palin in HBO's Game Change. Tina chimed in with, "me too, I used to win prizes for that too" and found that she had lost her ability to impersonate Sarah Palin's voice.

The first award was presented to Christoph Waltz for Best Supporting Actor in Django Unchained. I was thrilled because I loved his performance as an 1850's bounty hunter. It will be interesting to see if this is an Oscar indicator as four of the five nominees are the same for both awards. Julianne Moore won the Globe for Game Change and the movie won Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television.

In an effort to revise the awards show drinking game for 2013, since Martin Scorsese is not nominated, I think the go-to drink will be for when anyone over-pronounces Les Misérables. Tina Fey was the first to and Catherine Zeta Jones was the second.

Damian Lewis won Best Actor in a Drama Series for Homeland and then Homeland won Best Drama. The real life CIA agent Ben Affleck played in Argo presented Argo as a Best Movie Drama nominee with John Goodman. It was delightful to continue to see George Clooney and Ben Affleck seated together throughout the show. Poehler's Boston accent jokes directed towards Affleck were great.

Adele won a Globe for Original Song for "Skyfall." Hope this one is an Oscar indicator as well. Taylor Swift lost and could not seem to put a graceful-loser look on her face when Adele accepted the award. Yeah, that's right Taylor, you are not as talented as Adele, get used to it.

Bill Clinton randomly presented Lincoln's nomination for Best Movie Drama and received a standing ovation. He even did a thumbs up. It was very cool. Immediately after, Amy Poehler appeared to resume her hosting duties in character as Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec and said, "that was Hilary Clinton's husband!"

Kristen Wiig and Will Farrell by far were the funniest presenters. The bit was that they were beyond excited to be there, had watched all the movies the five actresses nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical were in, yet clearly had not watched. They called Jennifer Lawrence, J La, which is fantastic, and she won. Megan Fox and Jonah Hill were also pretty funny as presenters.

One would anticipate Quentin Tarantino to be full on crazy when he accepted the Best Screenplay Globe. He was just standard Tarantino crazy. He thanked his actors and the people he reads his scripts to as he writes, but did not name them.

Another random presenter was Sacha Baron Cohen (third to over-pronounce Les Mis) in the Best Animated Feature Category. Brave's win and also Amour's win for Best Foreign Language Film may be additional Oscar predictors.

I loved Amy Poehler drinking champagne with George Clooney for her nomination shot. After the hosts lost to Lena Dunham for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, they pretended to be drunk and Tina told Taylor Swift, "you stay away from Michael J Fox's son!" 

Robert Downey Jr presented Jodie Foster with the Cecil B DeMille Award. Foster gave a big build-up so as if to come out, then she said she was single. Then she pretty much came out but never said it outright. She was strong and unique in her acceptance of the award and received a standing ovation from her peers.

Ben Affleck seemed genuinely shocked that he won Best Director for Argo. The audience was floored and he received a standing ovation. It would seem that all were pleased that he received the recognition the Academy withheld from him this week. Jennifer Gardner presented Best Actor in a Comedy and thanked two people he forgot, including Argo producer George Clooney. Then Clooney congratulated Affleck on his win when he presented Best Actress in a Drama to Jessica Chastain.

After Daniel Day Lewis won for Best Actor in a Drama for Lincoln, out of the blue Julia Roberts presented Best Picture Drama to Argo. The last line of the show was Poehler saying that she and Fey were going home with Jodie Foster.

A complete list of the winners follows my fashion coverage.
All in all there were a lot of misses on the red carpet at the Globes. Too many high neck lines, too many white or baby blue blah dresses. Kerry Washington who is gorgeous, looked terrible. On another actress the dress Jennifer Lopez wore may have been daring but for her it was run-of-the-mill. Jennifer Lawrence, Claire Danes and Jennifer Gardner looked great in reds and the hosts' red carpet looks and on stage ensembles were wins.

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

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

Skyfall

The latest installment in the Bond franchise is excellent and measures up to the standard set by the previous two Daniel Craig outings as 007. Skyfall is just what a James Bond movie should be -- fun, and exciting. What makes it a good Bond flick is that it is well plotted and paced, includes that trademark sense of humor, without going into cheesy territory, and it has a modern edge and style.

Skyfall received five Oscar nominations for Cinematography, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Score and Adelle's original song "Skyfall." The last Oscar nomination a Bond movie received was for Best Original Song in "For Your Eyes Only" in 1982. Bond has won two Oscars, Goldfinger for Best Sound Effects and Thunderball for Special Visual Effects. Both categories have since been reframed by the Academy. The Oscars will also honor 50 years of Bond in film during this year's telecast.

For the Bond traditionalists out there, you will truly enjoy the nods to the classic 007 references in the 23rd movie in the series. Skyfall is a perfect blend of the Daniel Craig, Bond for the 21st Century, with all the fun touches of old school Bond. I did a little research and the filmmakers even included character details about Bond that date back to Ian Flemings' novels. I won't spoil them for you here.

2013 Oscar Nominations

There were nine films announced in the Best Picture category by Emma Stone and Seth MacFarlane this morning in Hollywood. Early front runner Lincoln received the most nominations with twelve. Life of Pi follows in close second with eleven nods. Both Les Miserables and Silver Linings Playbook scored eight nominations each. Silver Linings Playbook is also the first film in 31 years to receive acting nominations in all four of the acting categories (the last was 1981's Reds). Skyfall is the first Bond film to be nominated in 30 years and it received five total nominations. Amour, Django Unchained and Zero Dark Thirty were also given five nods each.

While many were suprised that Ben Affleck was not nominated for Best Director, Argo did receive seven nominations. The Best Actress category features the eldest and youngest nominees ever in its category with Amour's Emmanuelle Riva, 85 and Beasts of the Southern Wild's Quvenzhané Wallis, 9. The Oscar host himself is a nominee; Seth MacFarlane wrote the lyrics to Best Original Song nominee "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from Ted. 

I have a lot of work to do. I have currently only seen two of the Best Picture nominees and am excited to get to it. I am most eager to check out Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook. It also looks like a majority of the films are readily available in theaters right now. When it comes to categories like Best Documentary Feature and when I really get down to the movies that only have one nomination each, it can get tricky. I am continuing with my annual goal to see all the films nominated for Best Picture, movies featuring all the acting nominees, and as many nominated films that I can consume after that. Oh and ps, Emma Stone really needs to eat something.

Check out all the nominees on the official Oscar website -- every year they make improvements and provide a more interactive experience. The 'View by Film' option on the Oscar site shows the movie poster and lists total nominations for each film and in what category. The classic one page ballot is missing for the second year in a row. I found an excellent one page ballot in minimal time here. This year the Oscar app is available for iPod, iPad and Android, for free.

And here are the nominees...
Best Picture
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight
Best Actress
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin, Argo
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Director
Michael Haneke, Amour
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Best Original Screenplay
Amour, Michael Haneke
Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
Flight, John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal
Best Adapted Screenplay
Argo, Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin,
Life of Pi, David Magee
Lincoln, Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell
Best Animated Feature:
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph
Best Cinematography
Anna Karenina, Seamus McGarvey
Django Unchained, Robert Richardson
Life of Pi, Claudio Miranda
Lincoln, Janusz Kaminski
Skyfall, Roger Deakins
Best Costume Design
Anna Karenina, Jacqueline Durran
Les Misérables, Paco Delgado
Lincoln, Joanna Johnston
Mirror Mirror, Eiko Ishioka
Snow White and the Huntsman, Colleen Atwood
Best Documentary Feature
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague
The Invisible War
Searching for Sugar Man
Best Documentary Short
Inocente
Kings Point
Mondays at Racine
Open Heart
Redemption
Best Film Editing
Argo, William Goldenberg
Life of Pi, Tim Squyres
Lincoln, Michael Kahn
Silver Linings Playbook, Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
Zero Dark Thirty, Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg
Best Foreign Language Film
Amour, Austria
Kon-Tiki, Norway
No, Chile
A Royal Affair, Denmark
War Witch, Canada
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Hitchcock, Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
Les Misérables, Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell
Best Original Score
Anna Karenina, Dario Marianelli
Argo, Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi, Mychael Danna
Lincoln, John Williams
Skyfall, Thomas Newman
Best Original Song
“Before My Time” from Chasing Ice, music and lyric by J. Ralph
“Everybody Needs A Best Friend” from Ted, music by Walter Murphy; lyric by Seth MacFarlane
“Pi’s Lullaby” from Life of Pi, music by Mychael Danna; lyric by Bombay Jayashri
“Skyfall” from Skyfall, music and lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
“Suddenly” from Les Misérables, music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil
Best Production Design
Anna Karenina, Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
Les Misérables, Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
Life of Pi, Production Design: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
Lincoln, Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson
Best Animated Short
Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole
Head over Heels
Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”
Paperman
Best Live Action Short
Asad
Buzkashi Boys
Curfew
Death of a Shadow
Henry
Best Sound Editing
Argo, Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
Django Unchained, Wylie Stateman
Life of Pi, Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
Skyfall, Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
Zero Dark Thirty, Paul N.J. Ottosson
Best Sound Mixing
Argo, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
Les Misérables, Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
Life of Pi, Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
Lincoln, Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
Skyfall, Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson
Best Visual Effects
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
Life of Pi, Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
The Avengers, Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
Prometheus, Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
Snow White and the Huntsman, Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson

Pre-Oscar Nomination musings

For me, nothing emulates the giddy joy of hopping out of bed early Christmas morning to see what Santa brought, like the morning the Oscar Nominations are announced at 5:30am Pacific time. The Academy announcement tomorrow January 10th will bring out similar squeals of delight and joy from me. Sometimes the nominations are even a birthday gift, nominations have been announced on my bday several times in the past few years. This year the Academy wanted to push the calendar up, beat award season fatigue and as a result the nominations are out before the Golden Globes air Sunday, January 13th at 5pm Pacific time/8pm Eastern on NBC.

Emma Stone and Seth MacFarlane will be announcing the nominations. This is the first time since 1972 that a host of the Oscar show has announced the nominees. 

Prior to the announcement, I couldn't help but wonder what the repercussions of the online Academy voting system might be. This is the first time voting has taken place online. The old Hollywood presence in the Academy often anchors the Oscars in honoring more traditional films. Older folks notoriously use less technology and it will be interesting to see how this change to the nomination process will affect the nominations.

There can be anywhere from 5-10 films nominated for Best Picture. I am predicting that 8 films will be nominated for Best Picture. Dave Karger, formerly of EW and my personal Oscar guru of many years, now found on Fandango, predicts 6 nominated films (Argo, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty). Check out his video for his full run down. Karger's EW replacement, Anthony Breznican, whom EW has dubbed their Prize Fighter (we'll see about that), is listing 10 Best Picture nominees and saying that just the first 6 are definite: 1. Lincoln 2. Zero Dark Thirty 3. Les Misérables 4. Argo 5. Life of Pi 6. Silver Linings Playbook 7. Amour 8. Beasts of the Southern Wild 9. Moonrise Kingdom 10. Skyfall.

Earlier this week on 1/8, the Director's Guild announced their nominees:
• Ben Affleck, Argo
• Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
• Hooper, Les Miserables
• Ang Lee, Life of Pi
• Steven Spielberg, Lincoln.

The Writer's Guild nominations were announced January 4th and are as follows. I did not include the Documentary Screenplay category because there is no equivalent in the Oscars and documentaries having screenplays seems odd, possibly even questionable.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
• Flight Written by John Gatins
• Looper Written by Rian Johnson
• The Master Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
• Moonrise Kingdom Written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
• Zero Dark Thirty Written by Mark Boal
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
• Argo Screenplay by Chris Terrio; Based on a selection from The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez and the Wired Magazine article “The Great Escape” by Joshuah Bearman
• Life of Pi Screenplay by David Magee; Based on the novel by Yann Martel
• Lincoln Screenplay by Tony Kushner; Based in part on the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower Screenplay by Stephen Chbosky; Based on his own novel
• Silver Linings Playbook Screenplay by David O. Russell; Based on the novel by Matthew Quick

Here is an interesting link to an EW article that discusses winners and nominated films prior to the kickoff of the Oscar race.

As we get into Oscar month I will also share and discuss the Independent Spirit Award nominations and the BAFTAs.

For today, in an effort to provide you with well-rounded information, the Screen Actor's Guild nominations that have been out since December 12th are listed below. The SAG Awards will be broadcast on TBS and TNT on January 27th.
FILM
Male Actor, Lead
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
Denzel Washington, Flight
Male Actor, Supporting
Alan Arkin, Argo
Javier Bardem, Skyfall
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Female Actor, Lead
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Female Actor, Supporting
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
Maggie Smith, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Cast in a Motion Picture
Argo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Misérables
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
TV
Male Actor, TV Movie or Miniseries
Kevin Costner, Hatfields and McCoys
Woody Harrelson, Game Change
Ed Harris, Game Change
Clive Owen, Hemingway and Gellhorn
Bill Paxton, Hatfields and McCoys
Female Actor, TV Movie or Miniseries
Nicole Kidman, Hemingway and Gellhorn
Julianne Moore, Game Change
Charlotte Rampling, Restless
Sigourney Weaver, Political Animals
Alfre Woodard, Steel Magnolias
Male Actor, Drama Series
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Damian Lewis, Homeland
Female Actor, Drama Series
Claire Danes, Homeland
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Asylum
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Male Actor, Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Louis CK, Louis
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Female Actor, Comedy Series
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland 
Ensemble, Comedy
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
Glee
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie
The Office
Ensemble, Drama
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Homeland
Mad Men
Life Achievement Award
Dick Van Dyke

2013 Golden Globe nominations

The Golden Globe nominations have been announced. The known Oscar build-up is of course where my focus is at. Some clues to what the Oscar nominees may include are the multiple nods given to Argo, Lincoln and Django Unchained. The best acting drama categories are often helpful hints towards the acting categories of the Academy Award nominees. The winners at the Globes tend to be more dead on predictors of actual Oscar nominees or even winners. The Academy announces its nominations on Thursday January 10 at 5:30am so they will be out before the Globes. I love me some quality tv programming as well so the entire Golden Globe experience is enjoyable.

The 70th annual ceremony broadcasts Sunday January 13th on NBC. The awards show will be hosted by Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. I am delighting in how amusing these two will be together (both are nominated for Best Actress in a comedy series as well). Check out the promo.

Here is the full list of nominees:

Best Motion Picture — Drama
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Richard Gere, Arbitrage
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight

 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea

Best Motion Picture — Comedy Or Musical
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Moonrise Kingdom
Salmon Fishing in the YemenSilver Linings Playbook

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Comedy Or Musical
Emily Blunt, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Judi Dench, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Maggie Smith, Quartet
Meryl Streep, Hope Springs

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Comedy Or Musical
Jack Black, Bernie
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Bill Murray, Hyde Park on Hudson
Ewan McGregor, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Alan Arkin, Argo
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

Best Director — Motion Picture
Ben Affleck, Argo
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

Best Screenplay — Motion Picture
Argo, Chris Terrio
Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
Lincoln, Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell
Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal

Best Original Score — Motion Picture
Anna Karenina, Dario Marianelli
Argo, Alexandre Desplat
Cloud Atlas, Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimet and Reinhold Heil
Life of Pi, Michael Danna
Lincoln, John Williams

Best Original Song — Motion Picture
“For You ” (music and lyrics by Keith Urban), Act of Valor
“Not Running Anymore” (music and lyrics by Jon Bon Jovi), Stand Up Guys
“Safe and Sound” (music and lyrics by Taylor Swift, John Paul White, Joy Williams and T Bone Burnett), The Hunger Games
“Skyfall” (music and lyrics by Adel and Paul Epworth), Skyfall
“Suddenly” (music by Claude-Michel Schonberg and lyrics by Schonberg and Alain Boublil), Les Miserables

Best Animated Film
Brave
Frankenweenie
Hotel Transylvania
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It Ralph

Best Foreign Language Film
Amour
The Intouchables
Kon-Tiki
A Royal Affair
Rust and Bone

Best Television Series — Drama
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Homeland
The Newsroom

Best Television Series — Comedy Or Musical
The Big Bang Theory
Episodes
Girls
Modern Family
Smash

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Drama
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Damian Lewis, Homeland

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Drama
Connie Britton, Nashville
Glenn Close, Damages
Claire Danes, Homeland
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Kevin Costner, Hatfields and McCoys
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock
Woody Harrelson, Game Change
Toby Jones, The Girl
Clive Owen, Hemingway and Gellhorn

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Nicole Kidman, Hemingway and Gellhorn
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Asylum
Sienna Miller, The Girl
Julianne Moore, Game Change
Sigourney Weaver, Political Animals

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Max Greenfield, New Girl
Ed Harris, Game Change
Danny Huston, Magic City
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Hayden Panettiere, Nashville
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Sarah Paulson, Game Change
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series — Comedy Or Musical
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Lena Dunham, Girls
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Amy Poehler, Parks And Recreation

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series — Comedy Or Musical
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Louis C.K., Louis
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
Game Change
The Girl
Hatfield and McCoys
The Hour
Political Animals

Cecil B. DeMille Award
Jodie Foster

Seth MacFarlane hosting the 2013 Oscars

It was announced today that the writer/director/star of this summer's Ted and the creator of Family Guy will be hosting the 85th Annual Academy Awards.

Despite never having hosted an awards show before, MacFarlane did a strong job hosting SNL this September. He will need to work on his cues, as evidenced by his appearance at last month's Emmy Awards as a presenter.

Hopefully the edgy humor that roars through the movie Ted will bring some new twists to the Oscar ceremony.  It seems like a much more calculated risk by the Academy than say the fail of 2011 with Anne Hathaway and James Franco. The Oscars will take place Sunday February 24th at the Dolby Theatre, formerly know as Kodak Theatre.

Jimmy Fallon not to host 2013 Oscars

I have an intense love for Jimmy Fallon. Have since his SNL days. He survived the 2010 Conan/Leno debacle after beginning his role as host of NBC's Late Night March 2nd 2009 before Leno ousted Conan by January of 2010 (Coincidentally, Conan's last turn as host of the Tonight Show aired on my 29th birthday and still resides in my DVR). On the flipside, Fallon has amazing rapports with his competitors, Jimmy Kimmel, Craig Ferguson and Stephen Colbert. Fallon has truly come into his own as of late. He is a class act nice guy and at the same time an utter screwball who also does ads for Capital One and Maker's Mark. This year alone he had a special post Super Bowl episode of his show, he Slow Jammed the news with the President of the United States, he and his amazing house band the Roots released a comedy album of the show's best songs and had a primetime music special just before the London Olympics began. He is it! And I really could go on.

I have often said I want to see Fallon host the Oscars. He hosted the 2010 Emmys with acclaim and he is nominated this year for two Emmys for his Late Night show and his return appearance to SNL as host of the pre-Christmas show. He has the experience and the pop culture relevance to host a big show like the Oscars. So why did Fallon shut down rumors when Matt Lauer interviewed him in London this week? Well, it seems Mickey Mouse may be to blame. Seems that ABC, the network that airs the Academy Awards, unofficially of course, was none to thrilled to see Fallon of NBC host on their network. ABC's Jimmy Kimmel is already booked as host of the Emmys which airs Sunday September 23rd on ABC. When Lauer asked Fallon about hosting the Oscars, Jimmy's response was serious and nondescript. He simple said "It's an honor to be asked by the Academy, but it's not my year."

In addition to the ABC shutout stories, apparently the president of the Academy's term change played a role. Tom Sherak was reportedly negotiating with Fallon and for Lorne Michaels to produce the Oscar telecast. Michaels is of course SNL's famed creator and producer as well as producer to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Conan O'Brien before it, and 30 Rock, Portlandia and Up All Night. Sherek commented today that the Academy's Board of Governors gave him the authority two months ago to find a producer for the 2013 show but he was not able to complete a deal before his term as president was up.

Main sources for info: LA Times article from 6 days ago that was updated today and the Today Show interview between Matt Lauer and Jimmy Fallon.