The Hiatus is Over...

After what have been two very hectic months I've been neglecting this blog like there's no tomorrow. However I just remembered my domain is turning 9 this year and what better way to celebrate him than by actually posting in him? So, without further ado, here's an interview I did with Cheyenne Jackson over at PopMatters.

If his clever responses aren't enough, then distract yourself with his beautiful face and biceps. Also, the shirt he's wearing epitomizes what's been of my life recently...but more about that later. What have y'all been up to during my absence?

How Does She Do This?

Everyone agrees that the fabulous Jane Krakowski has been the MVP in this endlessly brilliant season of 30 Rock, all of her scenes are pieces of pure comedic heaven. But in the newest episode she managed to steal the show's biggest laughs without even being there:

How is she doing such magic?

"I trust award shows, they tell me how much to care about different dead people."

You've Got Mail.

"A Mr. Brett Favre stopped by and dropped off this picture of a hot dog."


"Finally."

Y'all know I LOVE 30 Rock. After just watching the West coast version of their brilliant live ep, all I've got to say is: best comedy show of the decade.
Did you guys see the live ep? Which version did you prefer?

Don't Forget!

The season finale of 30 Rock tonight! With guest star Matt Damon!!!!!
No, NBC doesn't pay me.

Happy 40 Tina!

The sexiest woman in entertainment turns 40 today.

Go watch 30 Rock to celebrate or write something witty, just don't vote for Sarah Palin.

I'll Tell You What I Do Want.

"I want someone who will be monogamous and nice to his mother.
I want someone who likes musicals but knows when to shut his mouth when I'm watching Lost.
And I want someone who thinks being really into cars is lame and strip clubs are gross.
I want someone who will actually empty the dishwasher instead of just taking out forks as needed, like I do.
I want someone with clean hands and feet and beefy forearms like a damn Disney prince and I want him to genuinely like me, even when I'm old.
And that's what I want."

I think this rivals the Bridget Jones "workaholic, alcoholic" monologue in terms of romantic perfection.

Golden Globe Predictions.

If the Hollywood Foreign Press Association serves a purpose it's to deliver the wackiest awards show on the planet. This year, more than any other, they might just go ahead and also have one of their most surprising ceremonies, with several film categories literally up in the air.

People don't give the HFPA the credit they deserve and forget that unlike the Academy they aren't afraid to go for the edgiest choices from time to time and as much starfucking as they do, they actually deliver the acting awards to the best performances.
This year they will give their prestigious Cecil B. de Mille Award to the incomparable Martin Scorsese (who just last year handed it out to Steven Spielberg), let's keep in mind that the HFPA gave Marty their Best Director award twice and before the Academy.
So maybe they're not all about champagne, crassness and cursing. Maybe they're on to something.

Best Motion Picture (Drama)

Will win: "Avatar"
Should win: "The Hurt Locker"

"Up in the Air" might be the movie going in with the most nominations, but "Avatar" is all the rage right now. The Globes were one of the first to reward "Titanic" twelve years ago when "L.A. Confidential" was sweeping everything and whenever they have the opportunity to reward something epic, over something small they will usually choose that road.
It would be incredible to see them give their top award to "The Hurt Locker", but after last year's love for the slumdog, they might want to get back to being all Hollywood.

Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical)

Will win: "Nine"

Should win: "(500) Days of Summer"

Truth be told, their lineup in this category isn't so good. It's filled with average to good movies without a single truly outstanding thing in the mix. Sure "Julie & Julia" was fun, but is it really Best Picture material?
"Nine" stands as the second most nominated film this year and the HFPA loves musicals and stars, but the real shame here is that they went AMPAS' way and threw all the animated films to their own category. If they hadn't sent them to the ghetto, "Up" would've had this one in the bag and with reason, it's among the best films of the decade.

Best Director Motion Picture

Will win: Kathryn Bigelow "The Hurt Locker"
Should win: Kathryn Bigelow "The Hurt Locker"

The Globes already rewarded a woman in this category, so they have that whole "let's make history" thing out of their minds. So here they will perhaps establish one of those splits awards have become so fond of. Bigelow's film was the most taut thriller of the year and the best movie about the Iraq invasion released so far. James Cameron will have to sit down and applaud as his ex-wife begins her steady march towards Oscar.
Oh and that nomination for Clint Eastwood is a joke.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama)

Will win: Jeff Bridges "Crazy Heart"
Should win: N/A

As much as the Globes love George Clooney, they will not resist rewarding a man who epitomized cool decades before Clooney came to notoriety. The fact that they nominated Tobey Maguire for "Brothers" should be enough for them to make up by giving the award to someone who actually has been mastering the craft for decades.
If not for all of this, maybe they will realize that Clooney having two acting Globes already is way too much already...

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama)

Will win: Carey Mulligan "An Education"
Should win: Carey Mulligan "An Education"

Maybe I'm just trying to convince myself that Sandra Bullock's bizarre win in the Critics Choice Awards was a freaky accident that had Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe split each other's votes or maybe the HFPA will choose the best performance in the category.
If Mulligan has an advantage is that she doesn't have to compete with Meryl Streep here and that the Globes love the British ingenue more than the rest (last year's win for Sally Hawkins was extraordinary!) and again that she's the best in the category (I love Emily Blunt but I'll never understand what she's doing here over Abbie Cornish, yes I will bring up Cornish in everything Best Actress related this season).
Oh boy, but what if Mulligan and Sidibe split their votes all over and Bullock emerges winner?

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy)
Will win: Joseph Gordon-Levitt "(500) Days of Summer"
Should win: Joseph Gordon-Levitt "(500) Days of Summer"

It's been settled that everyone pretty much hates "Nine", so a win for Daniel Day Lewis here would be strange (especially because critics pretty much think he's the weakest link in the movie). A hunch tells me they might want to reward Matt Damon in "The Informant!" just so that he won't go home empty handed (he won't win Supporting...) but if something the Globes love more than the rest are the pretty boys delivering superb performances.
If Jonathan Rhys Meyers and James Franco are Golden Globe winners, how can they not love Joseph Gordon-Levitt's delightful turn in "(500) Days of Summer"?
I expect him to be the kind of slight shocker Colin Farrell was last year, even if his win totally makes sense.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy)
Will win: Meryl Streep "Julie & Julia"
Should win: Meryl Streep "Julie & Julia"

Come on they probably engraved her name in the award the day after the movie came out.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Will win: Christoph Waltz "Inglourious Basterds"
Should win: Christoph Waltz "Inglourious Basterds"

It's a shame that poor Christopher Plummer is getting nominated for awards for the first time in his entire career because he has almost no chance to win any facing the juggernaut that is Waltz. The HFPA won't merely be following in the footsteps of Cannes and the critics' awards, they will also be reminding people that they are above all an international committee seeking to reward the best from wherever in the world they are.
And yes, Waltz was brilliant.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Will win: Mo'Nique "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire"
Should win: Mo'Nique "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire"

I will never understand what everyone sees in those "Up in the Air" female performances and as much as I would love for Penélope Cruz to finally win a Globe if she lost for what have been her two greatest performances she won't be winning for "Nine" (HFPA unlike AMPAS doesn't really go for the whole "should've won last year so let's reward them now" policy).
Mo'nique delivered a stunner of a performance and she has a pretty clear path up til Oscar. The only question that remains is will she show up or not.

Best Animated Feature Film
Will win: "Up"
Should win: "Up"

It's ironic that the animated feature film lineup makes for a much more satisfying array of nominees than that whole Best Picture Comedy or Musical category.

Best Foreign Language Film
Will win: "The White Ribbon"
Should win: A case could be made for all the nominees.

HFPA has shown they love gritty in this category and a win for "A Prophet" wouldn't be a complete shocker. They have proved they love their legendary auteurs which is why Michael Haneke's stunning "The White Ribbon" seems like it could get it.
They adore Almodóvar, but maybe he's won too many times and "Broken Embraces" didn't have the appeal his previous films did awards wise.
And Chile's "The Maid" was such a surprising picture that they could want to reward it for the freshness factor.
I say Haneke's film wins here by a very slight margin.

Best Screenplay Motion Picture
Will win: Quentin Tarantino "Inglourious Basterds"
Should win: Quentin Tarantino "Inglourious Basterds"

Best Original Score Motion Picture
Will win: Michael Giacchino "Up"
Should win: Michael Giacchino "Up"

Best Original Song Motion Picture
Will win: "The Weary Kind (Theme From Crazy Heart)" – "Crazy Heart"
Music & Lyrics By: Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
Should win: N/A

Over at the TV side I'm predicting "Mad Men" and "Glee" to get the series awards (they love fresh but "30 Rock" should definitely be winning again) and Alec Baldwin, Toni Collette, Jon Hamm and Glenn close to get the lead acting awards.
"Grey Gardens" will obviously win the Made for TV Movie/Miniseries awards but I'll go on a limb here and predict Jessica Lange loses Best Actress to Drew Barrymore who will no doubt deliver the night's cutest speech.
I also say Jane Lynch wins Supporting Actress for "Glee" and Neil Patrick Harris gets the one Emmy stole from him.

The Golden Globes air Sunday Jan. 17 on NBC.

Two Paths.

"You can try to fight getting older, you can be like Madonna and cling to youth with your Gollum arms or you can be like Meryl Streep and embrace your age with elegance."

Gavin, Jack and Oscar.

"I am happy to co-host the Oscars with my enemy Alec Baldwin" - Steve Martin

The amazing Steve Martin is returning to host the Oscars and this time he's bringing Alec Baldwin with him.
The news are all over the internet by now (read here) and they truly fill me with joy.
When's the last time we had a truly funny Oscar show? I mean truly, outrageously funny...
Perhaps Ellen Degeneres' wonderfully offbeat hosting three years ago, but we've come little to be close to the glorious days of Billy Crystal.
I, for one, am sure that these two will kick major ass and somewhere in NYC Tina Fey (who should be at every awards show from here til the end of times) is smiling gladly at the idea of Gavin Volure and Jack Donaghy together one more time.

Most Creative Halloween Costumes.

"Don't you get it? I'm an Italian senator!"

30 F*ck.

Oh Tina Fey, my love for you grows bigger each day...

Best TV Opening Credits.

Television isn't something I discuss much here due to a couple of things: for starters the site isn't supposed to be about TV (it says "Movies" in the title), then there's the fact that I don't actually see as many TV shows as I used to and then there's also the slight incomprehension towards the medium that's a "must" for film snobs.
As a member of the aforementioned category, I actually have to acknowledge that even when cinema has taken a turn for the worst of sorts, television is actually going through a renaissance of sorts. With the internet, video games, DVDs and all the kinds of things that easily grab people's attention it's become true that TV shows now have to fight to gain someone's interest and even more maintain it.
Unlike movies where we have the chance to walk out of the theater mid-projection even if we've paid the ticket, with television it's important that we come back week after week and then wait for months, and sometimes years, between season and season.
I'm witness of how easy it is to lose interest in a show, "Lost" lost me after I missed three episodes and I really wasn't that interested in catching up with everything that happened while I was gone. Perhaps they don't care, but for every mammoth show like this one, there's a million "30 Rock"s that actually crave audience numbers.
How then do you maintain a constant between episode and episode? Most of the time a good opening credits sequence won't only help, but will enhance the viewing and the waiting.
How many of us hummed "I'll Be There For You" constantly? How many of us remember what happened to Carrie Bradshaw whenever we pass a bus with a huge billboard on it? How many of us feel like kings of the neighborhood just by playing a great song on the car radio like Tony Soprano? You get the idea...
Great screen titles were once a thing films were interested in. Mentioning Saul Bass is a cliché of sorts when it comes to this subject.
But as movies lose more and more interest in making a great first impression, TV has been delivering some outstanding work.
With that in mind I set out to look for some of the best TV opening credits; is it odd that the ones I found happen to belong to some of the most critically acclaimed shows on the air?

"Damages"

After "Battlestar Galactica" is gone in a few more weeks, I'll be bold and proclaim that this FX show will grab its title as "Best Television Show on the Air". A great combination of legal thriller and backwards drama, "Damages" has one of the most powerful opening credits as well.
Showing images of a dark New York City and alternating them with shots of the lead actresses (Glenn Close is perfection!), the credits reveal little by little pieces of something bigger, or merely hint at that.
Powered by the thump thump of The VLA's brilliant "When I Am Through With You", the credits roll by and you only wish you saw more. The lyrics are wicked and will put a smile on anyone who's ever had a dark thought and that shot of a bloodied pair of hands holding a purse could very well describe what the entire show is about.

"Mad Men"

They went with Saul Bass and spiced it up with a tongue-in-cheek nod at the terrors of the advertising world.

"30 Rock"

Even when the titles might seem too generic, truth is that three minutes into the show you're craving that they appear. The theme song is mischievous and clever and when the titles reach their end you understand what the hell the title means, but they're worthy if only for that maniacally sexy shot of Alec Baldwin who in a split of a second makes you understand why the show's energy is so contagious.

"United States of Tara"

Most elaborate screen titles? Absolutely.
The pop up book aesthetic makes for a delightful nod at the secrets lying in suburbia and the show about a woman with multiple personalities needs this sort of charm to avoid seeming too serious. Watching how each character, err personality, appears from an unexpected place resumes what each episode will be like and the indie vibe of the theme song screams "Diablo Cody" was here.
But as the last seconds show, this isn't about her as much as about the magnificent Toni Collette who rightfully gets the last shot, even if it's in animated form.

"Dexter"

Made me wish I watched the show...
Its combination of "saw" and breakfast is a hell of a tease and the smile Michael C. Hall throws us near the end is perhaps creepier than any single thing we saw before.

Shows that need better opening credits:
"Battlestar Galactica"
It might be effective, but it's also kind of lazy the way it sums up the whole episode in 20 seconds near the end. With this show we don't want to see what will happen, we need to be surprised!

"Gossip Girl"
It seems more like a teaser from a Skinemax flick than a show about horny, vapid teens in Manhattan.
Then again those two kinda go together right?

"Desperate Housewives"
It had the greatest credits sequence since perhaps "The Simpsons" and it went and spoiled it by reducing it to one of those dull title card things lazy shows do. Again it does make sense considering how dull the show has gotten by the season.

Although I have some troubles with the "Ugly Betty" opening credits, I'm not sure what exactly is it.

So, what about you guys? Anyone loves a particular credits sequence or is TV too last century?