Thursday, December 31, 2009

There Will Be Lists

Lisa Schwarzbaum has picked her 10 Best Movies of the Decade:

1. There Will Be Blood (2007)
2. Sideways (2004)
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
4. Yi Yi (2000)
5. The New World (2005)

6. Zodiac (2007)
7. The Dark Knight (2008)
8. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)
9. Moolaade (2005)
10. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005)

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Heavenly

Owen Gleiberman has listed his 10 Best Movies of the Decade:

1. Far from Heaven (2002)
2. Sideways (2004)
3. The Century of the Self (2004)
4. Gladiator (2000)
5. Chuck & Buck (2000)

6. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
7. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
8. Munich (2005)
9. Lilya 4-Ever (2003)
10. Casino Royale (2006)

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Another Report

Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune has selected his 10 favorite movies of the decade:

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Ratatouille
3. Climates
4. Once
5. Y Tu Mama Tambien

6. Zodiac
7. United 93
8. Mulholland Drive
9. Gosford Park
10. Minority Report

Friday, December 18, 2009

Mad Men in a Modern Family

The nominees for the 16th annual Screen Actors Guild awards have been announced.

The nominees for film are:

best cast-
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' By Sapphire

best lead actor-

Jeff Bridges in
Crazy Heart
George Clooney in
Up in the Air
Colin Firth in
A Single Man
Morgan Freeman in
Invictus
Jeremy Renner in
The Hurt Locker

best lead actress-
Sandra Bullock in
The Blind Side
Helen Mirren in
The Last Station
Carey Mulligan in
An Education
Gabourey Sidibe in
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' By Sapphire
Meryl Streep in
Julie & Julia


best supporting actor-
Matt Damon in
Invictus
Woody Harrelson in
The Messenger
Christopher Plummer in
The Last Station
Stanley Tucci in
The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz in
Inglourious Basterds

best supporting actress-
Penelope Cruz in
Nine
Vera Farmiga in
Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick in
Up in the Air
Diane Kruger in
Inglourious Basterds
Mo'Nique in
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' By Sapphire


best stunt ensemble-
Public Enemies
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen


The nominees for television are:

best drama series cast-
The Closer
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men
True Blood

best comedy series cast-
30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Glee
Modern Family
The Office


best actor in a drama series-
Simon Baker in
The Mentalist
Bryan Cranston in
Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall in
Dexter
Jon Hamm in
Mad Men
Hugh Laurie in
House

best actress in a drama series-
Patricia Arquette in
Medium
Glenn Close in
Damages
Mariska Hargitay in
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Holly Hunter in
Saving Grace
Julianna Margulies in
The Good Wife
Kyra Sedgwick in
The Closer

A tie yielded six nominees in this category.



best actor in a comedy series-
Alec Baldwin in
30 Rock
Steve Carell in
The Office
Larry David in
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Tony Shalhoub in
Monk
Charlie Sheen in
Two and a Half Men

best actress in a comedy series-
Christina Applegate in
Samantha Who?
Toni Collette in
United States of Tara
Edie Falco in
Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey in
30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus in
The New Adventures of Old Christine


best actor in a movie or miniseries-
Kevin Bacon in
Taking Chance
Cuba Gooding Jr. in
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
Jeremy Irons in
George O'Keefe
Kevin Kline in
Great Performances: Cyrano de Bergerac
Tom Wilkinson in
Salter

best actress in a movie or miniseries-
Joan Allen in
Georgia O'Keefe
Drew Barrymore in
Grey Gardens
Ruby Dee in
America
Jessica Lange in
Grey Gardens
Sigourney Weaver in
Prayers for Bobby


Stunt ensemble-
24
The Closer
Dexter
Heroes
The Unit

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Big, Mad, True Love

The nominees for the Golden Globe Awards for television are:

best drama series-

"Big Love" (HBO)
"Dexter" (Showtime)

"House" (Fox)
"Mad Men" (AMC)
"True Blood" (HBO)


best musical or comedy series-
"30 Rock" (NBC)
"Entourage" (HBO)
"Glee" (Fox)
"Modern Family" (ABC)
"The Office" (NBC)


best actor (drama)-
Simon Baker in "The Mentalist"
Michael C. Hall in "Dexter"
Jon Hamm in "Mad Men"
Hugh Laurie in "House"
Bill Paxton in "Big Love"

best actress (drama)-
Glenn Close in "Damages"
January Jones in "Mad Men"
Julianna Margulies in "The Good Wife"
Anna Paquin in "True Blood"
Kyra Sedgwick in "The Closer"


best actor (musical or comedy)-
Alec Baldwin in "30 Rock"
Steve Carell in "The Office"
David Duchovny in "Californication"
Thomas Jane in "Hung"
Matthew Morrison in "Glee"

best actress (musical or comedy)-
Toni Collette in "United States of Tara"
Courteney Cox in "Cougar Town"
Edie Falco in "Nurse Jackie"
Tina Fey in "30 Rock"
Lea Michele in "Glee"

best miniseries or movie-
"Georgia O'Keeffe" (Lifetime Television)
"Grey Gardens" (HBO)
"Into the Storm" (HBO)
"Little Dorrit" (PBS)
"Taking Chance" (HBO)


best actor (miniseries or movie)-
Kevin Bacon in "Taking Chance"
Kenneth Branagh in "Wallander: One Step Behind"
Chiwetel Ejiofor in "Endgame"
Brendan Gleeson in "Into the Storm"
Jeremy Irons in "Georgia O'Keeffe"

best actress (miniseries or movie)-
Joan Allen in "Georgia O'Keeffe"
Drew Barrymore in "Grey Gardens"
Jessica Lange in "Grey Gardens"
Anna Paquin in "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler"
Sigourney Weaver in "Prayers for Bobby"


best supporting actor (series, miniseries or movie)-
Michael Emerson in "Lost"
Neil Patrick Harris in "How I Met Your Mother"
William Hurt in "Damages"
John Lithgow in "Dexter"
Jeremy Piven in "Entourage"

best supporting actress (series, miniseries or movie)-
Jane Adams in "Hung"
Rose Byrne in "Damages"
Jane Lynch in "Glee"
Janet McTeer in "Into the Storm"
Chloe Sevigny in "Big Love"


Wednesday, December 16, 2009

The Glorious and the Precious

Nominees for the Golden Globe Awards were announced yesterday by John Krasinski, Diane Kruger, and Justin Timberlake. "Up in the Air" has a leading six nominations, followed by "Nine" with five nods. Each movie has three acting nominations.

The finalists for film are:

best picture (drama)-

Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire, Up in the Air

In general, "Up in the Air" is thought of as a comedy, so its inclusion in the drama category is surprising. This may help its Oscar chances since comedies do not fare as well as dramas with the Academy. "Up in the Air" was reportedly submitted by its distributor Paramount to the Globes in the musical or comedy category.


best picture (musical or comedy)-
500 Days of Summer, The Hangover, It's Complicated, Julie & Julia, Nine


best director:

Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker"
James Cameron for "Avatar"
Clint Eastwood for "Invictus"
Jason Reitman for "Up in the Air"
Quentin Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds"

Cameron is in the running against his ex-wife Bigelow.


best actor (drama)-

Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart"
George Cloone
y in "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth in "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman in "Invictus"
Tobey Maguire in "Brothers"

The biggest surprise in this year's announcements may have been the inclusion of Maguire in this category.

Fox Searchlight submitted Crazy Heart as a musical, but Bridges nabbed a nod for best actor in a drama.


best actress (drama)-

Emily Blunt in "The Young Victoria"
Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren in "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan in "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"


best actor (musical or comedy)-

Matt Damon in "The Informant!"
Daniel Day-Lewis in "Nine"
Robert Downey Jr. in "Sherlock Holmes"
Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "(500) Days of Summer"
Michael Stuhlbarg in "A Serious Man"

best actress (musical or comedy)-

Sandra Bullock in "The Proposal"
Marion Cotillard in "Nine"
Julia Roberts in "Duplicity"
Meryl Streep in "It's Complicated"
Meryl Streep in "Julie & Julia"

Streep, Bullock, and Damon are double nominees. Streep is nominated twice in the same category, and so are both of her movies.


best supporting actor-
Matt Damon in "Invictus"
Woody
Harrelson in "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer in "The Last Station"
Stanley Tucci in "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds"

War movies did well, with nominations going to Brothers, The Messenger, and The Hurt Locker.


best supporting actress-
Penelope Cruz in "Nine"
Vera Farmig
a in "Up in the Air"
Anna Kendrick in "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Julianne Moore in "A Single Man"


best foreign-language film-

Baaria, Broken Embraces, The Maid (La Nana), A Prophet, The White Ribbon

best animated film-

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, Up


best screenplay-

Neill Blomkamp for "District 9"
Mark Boal for "The Hurt Locker"
Nancy Meyers for "It's Complicated"
Jason Reitman for "Up in the Air"
Quentin Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds"


Inglourious Basterds's four nods seem like a surprise.


best original score:

Michael Giacchino for "Up"
Marvin Hamlisch for "The Informant!"
James Horner for "Avatar"
Abel Korzeniowski for "A Single Man"
Karen O, Carter Burwell for "Where the Wild Things Are"

best original song:

"Cinema Italiano" (written by Maury Yeston) for "Nine"

"I Want to Come Home" (written by Paul McCartney) for "Everybody's Fine"

"I Will See You" (written by James Horner, Simon Franglen, Kuk Harrell) for "Avatar"

"The Weary Kind (Theme from 'Crazy Heart')" (written by Ryan Bingham, T Bone Burnett) for "Crazy Heart"

"Winter" (written by U2) for "Brothers"


The Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to Martin Scorsese.

The awards are to be presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which is comprised of about 85 critics and reporters for overseas publications and other media.


The Globes will be presented on January 17, six days before the Oscar deadline for voting on nominations. Therefore, the awards may help in landing an Oscar nod.

Friday, December 4, 2009

The Fierce, The Fearless, and the Heartless




Beyonce led nominations for the 52nd Grammy Awards announced Thursday with 10 nods.

Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" is nominated for Song of the Year, but was not submi
tted for Record of the Year. She is represented in this category, however, by "Halo." This is her fourth nod for Record of the Year, having been nominated before for "Say My Name" (when she was still with Destiny's Child), "Crazy in Love" (with Jay-Z), and "Irreplaceable."

She is nominated for Album of the Year for the first time with "I Am... Sasha Fierce," her third solo album.

Beyonce and Taylor Swift are competing for the top three categories, along with Lady Gaga. Madonna did n
ot get bids in the top three in the same year until "Ray of Light" (1999).

Swift is second with eight nominations. She is the first female country solo artist to be tapped for the top three since Shania Twain in 1999 (for the album "Come on Over" and the song "You're Still the One). She is also the youngest solo artist ever to be a finalist for Album of the Year (for "Fearless," the best-selling album of the year). She will be 20 years and one month old on Grammy night. The record was previously held by Janet Jackson, who was 20 years and n
ine months old in 1987 when she was in the running for "Control."

The nominees for Album of the Year are:

I Am...Sasha Fierce (Beyonce)
The E.N.D. (Black Eyed Peas)

The Fame (Lady Gaga)
Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King (Dave Matthews Band)

Fearless (Taylor Swift)


This is the first time that the Black Eyed Peas have been nominated for Album of the Year. Dave Matthews Band has been one of the best-selling artists in the last 15 years, but this is their first Album of the Year nomination. Kings of Leon could have been nominated for Album of the Year, but "Only by the Night" was released before the eligibility period (October 1, 2008 to August 31, 2009).



The nominees for Record of the Year are:

Halo (Beyonce)
I Gotta Feeling (Black Eyed Peas)
Use Somebody (Kings of Leon)
Poker Face (Lady Gaga)
You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift)


This is the third nomination for Black Eyed Peas in this category, having been previously nominated for "Where is the Love?" (with Justin Timberlake in 2004) and "Let's Get It Started" (in 2005).


The nominees for Song of the Year are:

Poker Face (Lady Gaga and RedOne)
Pretty Wings (Maxwell Musze and Hod David)
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) [Beyonce Knowles, Thaddis Harrell, Terius Nash and Christopher Stewart]
Use Somebody (Kings Of Leon)
You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift and Liz Rose)


Lady Gaga could have been nominated for best new artist, but was ineligible because she had been nominated for best dance recording last year for "Just Dance," when her album was not yet eligible.


The nominees for Best New Artist are:

Zac Brown Band, Keri Hilson, MGMT, Silversun Pickups, The Ting Tings


David Cook, the latest American Idol, did not get nominated for best new artist. Carrie Underwood won the category in 2006, the only one to be nominated from among eight American Idols. Also not making the cut are Owl City, who had a number one single recently with "Fireflies," and the Lonely Island, the comedy troupe of Adam Samberg (he of Sat
urday Night Live).



Black Eyed Peas, Maxwell, and Kanye West each received six nods. Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, and DJ David Guetta each have five.


Surprisingly- perhaps not- Kanye West was shut out of the top three. Surprising because his first three albums all won best rap album and were nominated for Album of the Year. "808s and Heartbreak" is not even a finalist for best pop vocal album. The year saw his hit "Heartless" covered by The Fray and Kris Allen, yet it was snubbed for Record of the Year. However, it may not be much of a surprise if his poor showing is read as a backlash from the MTV Vid
eo Music Awards fiasco.

Others passed over were Bruce Springsteen for best rock album ("Working on a Dream"), Diana Krall for best jazz vocal album ("Quiet Nights"), and Whitney Houston for best R&B album ("I Look to You").

The Grammy Awards will be held January 31.