67th Primetime Emmy Awards: Year In Advance Predictions


OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
1. Game of Thrones
2. Mad Men
3. House of Cards
4. Downton Abbey
5. Masters of Sex
6. The Knick
(7. The Affair)

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
1. Modern Family
2. Orange is the New Black
3. The Big Bang Theory
4. Veep
5. Grace and Frankie
6. Louie
(7. The Comedians)

OUTSTANDING MINISERIES
1. Olive Kitteridge
2. American Horror Story: Freak Show
3. The Honourable Woman
4. 24: Live Another Day
5. Texas Rising

OUTSTANDING TV MOVIE
1. Killing Jesus
2. Salting the Battlefield
3. My Name is Love: The Darlene Love Story
4. Turks & Caicos
5. Deliverance Creek

OUTSTANDING VARIETY SERIES
1. Late Show With Stephen Colbert
2. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
3. Last Week Tonight
4. The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon
5. Jimmy Kimmel Live!
6. Saturday Night Live

OUTSTANDING REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
1. The Voice
2. The Amazing Race
3. Project Runway
4. Top Chef
5. So You Think You Can Dance
6. Dancing With the Stars

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
1. Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
2. Louis C.K., Louie
3. Billy Crystal, The Comedians
4. Don Cheadle, House of Lies
5. Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
6. Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
1. Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
2. Jon Hamm, Mad Men
3. Michael Sheen, Masters of Sex
4. Clive Owen, The Knick
5. Dominic West, The Affair
6. Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A MINISERIES/MOVIE
1. Bill Paxton, Texas Rising
2. Adrien Brody, Houdini
3. Kiefer Sutherland, 24: Live Another Day
4. Bill Nighy, Salting the Battlefield
5. David Tennant, Gracepoint
6. Oscar Isaac, Show Me a Hero

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
1. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
2. Taylor Schilling, Orange is the New Black
3. Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
4. Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
5. Jane Fonda, Grace and Frankie
6. Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
1. Robin Wright, House of Cards
2. Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
3. Kerry Washington, Scandal
4. Lizzy Caplan, Masters of Sex
5. Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
6. Claire Danes, Homeland

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES/MOVIE
1. Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Freak Show
2. Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge
3. Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honourable Woman
4. Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Freak Show
5. Anna Gunn, Gracepoint
6. Halle Berry, Extant

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
1. Ty Burrell, Modern Family
2. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
3. Tony Hale, Veep
4. Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
5. Fred Armisen, Portlandia
6. Martin Sheen, Grace and Frankie

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
1. Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
2. Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
3. Jon Voight, Ray Donovan
4. Jim Carter, Downton Abbey
5. John Slattery, Mad Men
6. Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES/MOVIE
1. Richard Jenkins, Olive Kitteridge
2. Bill Murray, Olive Kitteridge
3. Michael Chiklis, American Horror Story: Coven
4. Christopher Walken, Peter Pan Live!
5. Ralph Fiennes, Salting the Battlefield
6. Christian Borle, Peter Pan Live!

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
1. Julie Bowen, Modern Family
2. Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
3. Anna Chlumsky, Veep
4. Kate Mulgrew, Orange is the New Black
5. Allison Janney, Mom
6. Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
1. Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
2. Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
3. Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
4. Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
5. Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
6. Carrie Coon, The Leftovers

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES/MOVIE
1. Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Freak Show
2. Angela Bassett, American Horror Story: Freak Show
3. Judy Davis, Salting the Battlefield
4. Janet McTeer, The Honourable Woman
5. Frances Conroy, American Horror Story: Freak Show
6. Helena Bonham Carter, Turks & Caicos

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
1. Louie
2. Glee
3. Modern Family
4. Orange is the New Black
5. Grace and Frankie

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
1. Boardwalk Empire
2. House of Cards
3. The Knick
4. Downton Abbey
5. Better Call Saul

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A MINISERIES/MOVIE
1. Olive Kitteridge
2. The Honourable Woman
3. 24: Live Another Day
4. Gracepoint
5. American Horror Story: Freak Show
6. Houdini

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
1. Saturday Night Live
2. Portlandia
3. Late Show With Stephen Colbert
4. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
5. The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
1. Louie
2. Orange is the New Black
3. Veep
4. The Comedians
5. Grace and Frankie

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
1. House of Cards
2. The Leftovers
3. Game of Thrones
4. Better Call Saul
5. The Knick

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A MINISERIES/MOVIE
1. The Honourable Woman
2. Olive Kitteridge
3. Salting the Battlefield
4. Gracepoint
5. American Horror Story: Freak Show
6. 24: Live Another Day

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
1. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
2. Late Show With Stephen Colbert
3. Last Week Tonight
4. The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon

5. Saturday Night Live

My thoughts on the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards


THE GOOD

-Breaking Bad triumphantly ended its run at the Emmys with 5 Emmys last night including 3 for its main trio of actors, another for Moira Walley-Beckett’s standout work on “Ozymandias” and, of course, the big one, Outstanding Drama Series.  All were richly deserved, and it was great to see the greatest performance of all-time, Bryan Cranston as Walter White, get the credit that it deserves.  Cranston is now tied at 4 with Dennis Franz for the most Emmy wins in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series category, and he got that fourth one in what is arguably the most stacked category in Emmy history.

-If anyone deserved an Emmy last night, it was certainly Martin Freeman, who delivered not one, but two great performances during the 2013-2014 season.  With a victory for his performance on Sherlock, he is now an Emmy winner.  Martin Freeman has taken on an iconic role and made it his own, and that should be more than enough reason to win over Matt Bomer’s Emmy bait role that ended up being far last interesting than what fellow co-stars Jim Parsons, Taylor Kitsch and Joe Mantello did in The Normal Heart.

-I thought Seth Meyers was surprisingly good as host.  His opening monologue was funny and a lot of his banter throughout the ceremony worked.  Additionally, most of the non-Seth Meyers skits were entertaining (with the exception of Stephen Colbert’s imaginary friend bit).  The highlights were Billy Eichner’s on the streets of New York City video and “Weird” Al’s Game of Thrones song.

THE BAD

-It’s becoming clear that the format of the Emmys has to change.  There are just too many undeserving repeat winners (Modern Family, Jim Parsons, Ty Burrell, Jessica Lange etc.), and in most of those cases (Modern Family being the exception that I can think of) it was because they faced such weak competition.  Maybe it’s time to start combining all genres into one category?  It would allow more of the behind-the-scenes people to get a turn in the spotlight with less main categories, and many people already say that the current categories compare apples to oranges so you can’t worry about that excuse from people who would oppose such an idea.

THE UGLY

-There’s something seriously wrong with Glenn Weiss.  His work for the Tony Awards was solid so it wasn’t liked he deserved the award that he won while directing the Emmys.  However, there was no need to go on for almost 5 minutes (an exaggeration but it was one of the longer speeches of the night), and to play off Vince Gilligan with the Emmys still on track to finish ahead of schedule was not only a classless move but made his previous speech completely classless.


-My predictions were pitiful.  I went 9 for 26, which wouldn’t be so bad if there were a ton of upsets, but most of my wrong predictions were awarded to the frontrunner, co-frontrunner or the main challenger.

Final 66th Annual Primetime Emmys Predictions


OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES=Breaking Bad
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES=Orange is the New Black
OUTSTANDING MINISERIES=Fargo
OUTSTANDING TV MOVIE=The Normal Heart
OUTSTANDING VARIETY SERIES=The Colbert Report
OUTSTANDING REALITY-COMPETITION SERIES=The Voice
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES=Ricky Gervais, Derek
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES=Matthew McConaughey, True Detective
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A MINISERIES/MOVIE=Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES=Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES=Robin Wright, House of Cards
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES/MOVIE=Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES=Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES=Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES/MOVIE=Matt Bomer, The Normal Heart
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES=Allison Janney, Mom
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES=Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES/MOVIE=Julia Roberts, The Normal Heart
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES=Orange is the New Black
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES=Breaking Bad
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A MINISERIES/MOVIE=The Normal Heart
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL=67thAnnual Tony Awards
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES=Orange is the New Black
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES=Breaking Bad (“Felina”)
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A MINISERIES/MOVIE=Sherlock

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL=Billy Crystal: 700 Sundays

Under the Skin Review

 
  
         Under the Skin begins with a long stretch of eerie silence in a very similar fashion to 2001: A Space Odyssey, and just like Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, Under the Skin is a mysterious look at humanity that is as maddening as it is enlightening.  The Jonathan Glazer film is a fascinating portrayal of the loneliness that humanity can so easily be confronted with and features a performance that finally proves that Scarlett Johansson can be something more than just an A-List celebrity.

            Under the Skin follows a creature (Scarlett Johansson) that takes the shape of a woman and hunts down male humans with her sexual charm for the purpose of creating more energy.  As the creature begins to learn more about humanity, she becomes even more curious, which gets the attention of her supervisor (professional motorcyclist Jeremy McWilliams).  The film is directed by Jonathan Glazer (the director of Sexy Beast, which has similarities to this film but was much more frustrating) and is written by Glazer and Walter Campbell.

            This film can be quite esoteric and takes a lot of patience.  Very few words are spoken and there isn’t much going on in terms of plot.  However, Jonathan Glazer finds a way to mine so much power from this.  Glazer’s style for the film very much makes the viewer an observer to something that seems real as he just lets things play out through the imagery seen onscreen rather than make the characters explain everything that is going on.  There is also something very real that Glazer is trying to get to the bottom of with this film about human nature.  I saw it as being humanity finding itself stuck in a lonely world forcing us to naturally crave attention.  Maybe you will find something else within it, but even if you can’t find what it is that Glazer is trying to tell us, Glazer makes sure that this is one of the most beautiful films in recent memory.  The Scotland scenery is just gorgeous and Glazer finds a way to make it seem so otherworldly.

            That being said, this film doesn’t succeed at all without the unbelievable performance from Scarlett Johansson.  Johansson has always seemed like one of those actors that knew how to pick good films but would just get lost among better performances.  However, here she fully succeeds with a role that is really difficult to pull off.  Johansson does so much with quietness in this film as the camera lingers on her from beginning to end.  Despite not talking much and never being given an answer to what she is doing you can completely understand her motivations, and that takes a lot of skill to accomplish.


            Under the Skin can be quite a frustrating film but if you let yourself absorb it, it will be a hard film to forget.

9/10

A Most Wanted Man Review


In theory the combination of a John le Carre property-based script (whose books are almost always overly plotted, sometimes to an effective degree) and the direction of Anton Corbijn (whose previous effort, The American, was a beautiful film to look at but was brought down by a numbingly simple plot) should make a great film as the weaknesses of both are canceled out by the strengths of the other.  A Most Wanted Man makes a pretty solid case for this theory being true.  A Most Wanted Man is a slow-burning thriller done well as it has an interesting plot and fantastic performances from an all-star cast.

A Most Wanted Man takes places in Hamburg, Germany where Gunther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman) leads a secret anti-terrorism group.  With the government already putting pressure on him to get to the bottom of a possible terrorism connection with a local religious leader (Homayoun Ershadi), he is suddenly forced to get to a quick resolution when a Chechen with a dark past (Grigoriy Dobrygin) crosses through the German border.  Anton Corbijn directs from a script by Andrew Bovell (the writer behind the little seen Mel Gibson film, Edge of Darkness).

This is a really well done film with the only problems with it being from the source material rather than the film itself.  A Most Wanted Man has a message to get across and it does so rather bluntly.  Fortunately, the film doesn’t force the message to the viewer until the very end.  Beyond this, though, Corbijn and company make this film as good as it can possibly be.  The pacing is slow but still intense.  The visuals and cinematography are quite stunning.  The imagery is very subtle but still finds a way to be picturesque.

The thing that really makes this film click though is the performance from the cast.  Philip Seymour Hoffman delivers a performance that reminds you just how much of an acting giant we lost earlier this year.  It is a subtle performance from Hoffman but he nails the accent and brings a presence with him that is absolutely necessary yet difficult to pull off.  Rachel McAdams is the scene-stealer of the film, though, as she delivers the performance of her career.  As an attorney for immigrants to the country McAdams’ character has a lot to lose and her performance makes you completely aware with that.  She also makes it look easy holding her own against the rest of this all-star cast.  The other highlights are Willem Dafoe (as a nervous banker), Grigoriy Dobrygin (making it look easy despite being inexperienced as an actor) and Robin Wright (who is able to deliver a memorable character without much screen time).


A Most Wanted Man is a solid thriller that is allowed to rise above your typical film from the genre thanks to its cast.

8/10

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