Slumdog Millionaire got a boost when it won top prize from the Director’s Guild. It also recently secured honors from the Producers Guild. But will accusations of unfair wages  hurt it’s chances?

Charges were lobbied against the film’s producers that some of the child actors were not paid a decent wage. Previously Citizen Kane was harmed by bad press from  William Randollph Hearst. Bonnie & Clyde and A Clockwork Orange may have been similarly affected.

AMC film historian Tim Dirks says that Slumdog’s independent status may save it. “Since Slumdog Millionaire is a low-budget independent film…it will probably hold its underdog edge and not lose votes from Academy members,” he said.

Wall-E may not have a lock on the Best Animated Picture category. Kung Fu Panda, one of  its competitors, swept the Annie Awards. Panda took 10 trophies in tota.

Finally, if Heath Ledger should win at the Oscars (heh, IF, I so wanted to type WHEN because he’s pretty much a lock), his family will accept it. Dark knight director Christopher Nolan made this announcement at the DG awards. This would probably mean his father, mother and older sister.

Okay, we have an intro that is very Quentin Tarentino-esque. I don’t really care for it. My call for bottom three: Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud and Anoop Desai/Kris Allen (it’s a toss-up). But I’ve heard some say that Danny (put the go in) Gokey will be there. Let’s find out!

But not before the Ford music video where they’re doing interesting things to “Freeze Frame” by The J. Geiles Band. And then the group song from “Flashdance”, “Maniac”. I love Allison Iraheta singing to Simon. And even with Scott McIntrye gone, the dancing still is bad.

Now we get to the results. Maybe. Ryan questions the contestants about working with Mr. Tarentino. And now tape of the Idols going to the premiere of “17 Again”. LOL, Lil pawns Danny at the end of the segment there. Love it.

Results! Finally. Allison Iraheta stands. She is safe. I hate how Ryan puases, trying to build tension as well as waste time. Adam Lambert is next. He’s safe, I don’t know why Ryan bothers to try and build tension there. Anoop Desai is next. Anoop says he feels comfortable on stage and wants Ryan to give it up. Anoop’s in the bottom three. I don’t think he’s going home (I hope not!).

Jennifer Hudson is going to sing next. Ryan mentions she’s the only Idol to have an Oscar. So far. Who knows who might go on to act or win a Best Song Oscar?

Ryan asks Anoop about being on the silver stools of doom. He says he’s frustrated. I don’t blame him. More results. Kris Allen is up and so is Lil Rounds. Simon pipes in that Kris was brilliant as he didn’t get to comment on the performance last night. Lil is defending herself. Kris sits and Lil is back in the bottom three. So far I’m right. Matt Giraud and Danny (put the go in) Gokey stand. Danny is safe and Matt returns to the silver stools. The three come to the center of the stage. I called it. I kind of hate being right as Anoop is my favorite. Ryan is going to send someone back. Anoop is safe (thank you!).

Miley Cyrus is performing now. I think it sounds like she’s trying to hard with her counrty twang, but Brad says it’s the sound mixing for the show. Apparently the sound is bad this season and it would sound better live. I’ve read this from many other pundits as well. So it begs the question, is America really hearing the singers? I highly doubt it and that kind of calls into question the results. If the home audience isn’t getting the best sound quality, should they charge the show with fraud? I know it’s a big claim, but I think it’s true.

Ryan is asking the judges if they would use the save. He says they would for one and it would be a surprise to that person. I think it’s Matt Giraud they would save after the comments he gave Lil Rounds yesterday.

Back from commercial and Ryan says 36 million voted. Lil Rounds is still safe. So will they save Matt? So he gets to sing for his life. Paula AND Kara are both dancing. What happened to deliberating? The crowd is cheering to save him. I’ve never heard them do that before. And he’s safe!!! But that means two people have to go next week. Simon just reminded them of that fact and announced next week’s theme, Disco! See everyone next week.

The Oakland Press: The best place for news in and around Oakland County

Ex-dropouts attribute success to alternative high schools
Story Tools

Saturday, November 1, 2008 7:39 AM EDT

By DIANA DILLABER MURRAY
Of The Oakland Press

Former dropouts gave credit to alternative high schools Friday for providing a sense of belonging and individual academic help that has made them successful in school.

Several students at an Oa k land Dropout Prevention Summit Friday morning told of their heartaches and successes and praised principals and tea chers from Niles Alternative High School in Troy, Walled Lake Community High School and Ferndale’s high school completion program. In Oakland County, the combined dropout rate is 9 percent. Statewide, 21,000 students drop out annually.

Chelsea Hotchkin, 17, told the packed audience she just didn’t fit in at her former large high school. She would pretend to be sick to stay home.

“I went to Walled Lake Community High School. I had heard bad things about it. But they were like a family. They welcomed you. Now I am a mentor and an ambassador.

“I never before passed a class,” Chelsea said. Now she plans to go to Wayne State University and major in chemistry.

“When I saw my first report card, I started crying. It was my first A.

“My parents were so proud of me, they bought me a car,” she said.

Marlana Krolicki, Oakland Schools consultant, organized the countywide event and Robert Martin, a consultant in school quality, introduced the student panel.

Representatives from all of Oakland County’s 28 school districts attended the summit.

Also there to give advice on how to make high schools more welcoming were Southfield and Berkley students from Tri-County Educational Center, and Oakland County students who attend the Michigan Youth Challenge Academy in Battle Creek — a military-type alternative school open to 300 students.

Students told of ending up in alternative schools because of a death of a loved one, problems at home, bullying or harassment at school, pregnancy, not caring, getting into fights, truancy, wanting to be with friends, helping out with family, being bored or wanting a job and independence.

Besides a sense of belonging, the alternative schools provided one-on-one help, counseling, encouragement and work at their own level. Almost all students plan on going to college.

Erica Quick, 19, of Walled Lake, who dropped out and moved to Florida and got a job at age 15, now gets As and Bs at Community High and plans on attending college.

Tommy Yousif’s father died in 2005. In three years, he earned only eight credits. At Niles, he earned eight the first year.

“All the teachers are the best. They care about you.”

Sable Haney, 18, of Troy, who went to Niles after she got pregnant with her 2-year-old, will graduate in January. Shaun Asmar, 16, of Wixom, now gets As and Bs.

Shawna Graves, 16, of Clawson, struggled at five high schools and earned no credits before Niles. Tre Johnson, 17, of Troy, had been to three districts, missed classes and had falling grades. At Niles, he bonded with teachers for the first time.

It was a long, tough road that led Samantha Freeman, 24, of Detroit, to Ferndale’s adult education and her current success in school. She received a standing ovation

Part three of a three part series.

Now it’s time to contemplate another science fiction juggernaut that has sadly been ignored by the Emmy voters, Stargate. Both SG-1 and SGA have had stellar episodes and performances that were not considered by the Academy. Let’s begin with the unjustly canceled SGA. (Why yes I am a fan.) The one performance that was cited again and again was David Hewlett in “The Shrine”. I commented in my blog after seeing it that if the Emmy voters did not ignore science fiction, his performance was deserving of an award. In this episode he is afflicted with a condition that makes him lose his intelligence slowly. It’s been described as a reverse “Flowers for Algernon”. To see the confident, arrogant Doctor McKay break down as his slowly can’t remember the simplest things is so very heartbreaking. I would like to add Paul McGillion’s performance in “Poisoning the Well”, again a very heartbreaking performance. Anything written by Martin Gero is deserving of an Emmy and Brad Wright for “The Shrine” of course.

Stargate SG-1 went for ten years without much recognition from the Academy. Five of those years were spent on Showtime, but with the recent cable wins for Mad Men and multiple wins and nominations for actors both on that channel and HBO (Sopranos, Dexter) this should not have held the show back. Any of the actors should and could have been nominated for many different episodes, but the one name that kept cropping up was Michael Shanks as Doctor Daniel Jackson. The episodes “Legacy”, “Need”, “Abyss” and “The Changeling” all came up as reasons why, but for me, the two standout episodes are “Lifeboat” and “Meridian”. In “Lifeboat” Daniel takes on the souls of people that were in cryogenic suspension. Shanks goes from one personality to another without batting an eye. The seamless transition from expedition leader to small child to others is haunting and certainly Emmy material if it were a mainstream show. And “Meridian”, oh “Meridian”. This episode features Daniel being exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. When talking with team leader and best friend Jack, he lists the symptoms that he soon will be displaying. The way Shanks does this, without emotion and so very matter of factly, it makes me cry every time.

Turning to more recent shows, Battlestar Galactica just ended its four year run and it is certainly deserving of Emmy recognition. Christian Blauvelt of Entertainment weekly says, “The most likely reason Ron D Moore’s magnum opus hasn’t been nominated it that it’s too genre. Which is ironic given that BSG is a self-conscious break from the genre conventions. BSG is great drama that just happens to be set in a sci-fi context.” This is so true of so many science fiction shows, great drama set in a sci-fi context. Christian also singles out James Callis’ performance as Gaius Baltar as award worthy. “Callis drenches Baltar’s on screen evil in such palpable fear and insecurity that his evil acts can actually make sense making them all the more horrifying.” This commentary was written before this final season, but I think Gaius’ transformation is certainly worthy of a nomination by the Emmy voters. I would also give Tricia Helfer a nod for her many portrayals of the cylon Six and her various counterparts.

Other recent shows that I think deserve Emmy love; Supernatural along with it’s creator Eric Kripke and leads Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, JJ Abrahms’ Fringe, The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Summer Glau in particular and finally Heroes’ Jack Coleman, Zachary Quinto and writer Bryan Fuller.

Did I leave out any of your favorites? What performances or shows do you think are deserving of Emmy love? Let me know in the comments.

The Present

What I wrote about on Monday really was just a bunch of statistics and information. But the case for having the Academy recognize science fiction and the related genres is the heart and soul of the shows and performances. Just because something is different from what a person perceives as normal doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve recognition. Too often the science fiction genre has been considered to genre specific to deserve even a nomination. In this section I’m going to list shows and performances that should have at least been nominated if not awarded for the excellence that come from them. I have asked friends for suggestions and have gone to Entertainment Weekly’s list of fifty greatest Emmy snubs to detail performances and shows that deserved and are still deserving of Emmy recognition.

Let’s start out with the show that may have started it all in science fiction, Star Trek. As I previously wrote, both the original series and The Next Generation were nominated for Best Drama Series. And Leonard Nimoy was nominated for his portrayal of First Officer Spock. But there are others that should have been recognized. I was given the suggestion of the Next Gen episodes “Chain of Command”. In this episode Picard is captured and tortured by the Cardassians. It is often sited as one of the best in the Trek canon. Someone else suggested Avery Brooks and Alexander Siddig from Deep Space Nine for the episodes “In the Pale Moonlight”, “Far Beyond the Stars” and “Doctor Bashir I Presume” respectively. This person also suggested “The Siege of AR-558” for a writing nomination.

I personally think that Brent Spiner should have been nominated for his portrayal of Data. His exploration of an android’s exploration of his humanity is a tour de force. Deep Space Nine as a whole was a series deserving of a nomination, especially any of the seasons dealing with the Dominion Wars. I also think that John DeLancie as Q was deserving of a nomination. He appeared mostly in Next Gen but also made appearances in Deep Space Nine and Voyager. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance in “The Q and The Grey”.

I had another commenter also suggest Ben Browder and Claudia Black in Farscape. I’ve only seen the first season of this show but I agree completely. The acting and writing outclass many shows that have won Emmy’s. Perhaps it was the use of puppets that kept the Emmy voters from even considering this show, which is a damn shame.

Let’s move on to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This show is often brought up as a critic’s favorite and yet the Academy only awarded it in technical categories and the one glitzy nomination it got was for writing. Entertainment Weekly’s Loren Lankford names Sarah Michelle Gellar’s performance as the titular Buffy as one of Emmy’s major snubs. “Buffy blurred the lines of cliques and social circles and played into a fantasy any high schooler would envy,” she says. Alynda Wheat cites the show as another snub. She says “Believe it or not kids, before Lost Emmy didn’t always understand shows with fanciful premises.”

Buffy is not just about monsters and demons, it’s about growing up and facing the trials and tribulations that life throws at you. There are many performances that were deserving of nominations from the Academy. My friend Christina lists a few of these. Anthony Stewart Head as Giles, especially in the episode “Passions”. His grief and joy juxtaposed within a few minutes of each other is heartbreaking. Emma Caufield as Anya in “The Body”, her speech about death and not understanding it…it kills me every time I see it. It expresses so much of what we as humans want to say but can’t because of what is considered normal and polite. Anya as a former demon is lacking the social mores and restraints that humans have. Allison Hannigan as Willow in “Seeing Red” and “Grave”, many say her arc where Willow turns dark is sloppily written and the magic equals addiction metaphor is overplayed, but her performances in both these episodes is powerful and gripping. I would add Nicholas Brendan as Xander in “Grave”. His confrontation with Willow is heartbreaking, powerful and the epitome of who Xander is as a character.

Let’s talk briefly about the other two Joss Whedon projects and the actors involved in those. Glenn Quinn as Doyle on Angel the Series, especially in the episode “Hero”. Everyone knows that poor Glenn had problems with drugs and that he sadly passed away from an overdose. But this doesn’t lessen his superior acting in this episode. He deftly combines Doyle’s cowardice with the heroism that was hidden deep inside. While Joss is well known for killing off beloved characters this particular death is heartbreaking and done with class all thanks to Quinn’s acting.

But for me, the really stand out acting comes from Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam Pryce. His characters entire arc is always brought up as great storytelling and I agree. But much of that hinges on Denisof’s acting. He took a character that was reviled and hated on Buffy and turned him into a dark, brooding hero on Angel. He handled the comedy and the angst with equal skill and I think it is a crime that he was never recognized by the Emmy’s.

While on the subject of comedic performances, I want to give Alan Tudyk as Wash on Firefly a nod. He was the heart and soul of that show. And while, yes, he was mostly used for comedic effect, I want to single out his performance in “War Stories” which is a dramatic turn for his character. It shows a very different side of Wash and I feel that is should have been recognized. Also Summer Glau as River Tam. She infused that role with such passion. It could have been a disaster in different hands, but Summer made us sympathize with poor River.

The one and only nomination creator Joss Whedon received was for his writing of the episode “Hush”. The non-win is often cited as a major snub by the Emmy voters. But there are many other episodes of all his shows that he should have been nominated for. I was given the suggestions of the Buffy episodes “Passions”, “Graduation Day 1 And 2”, “The Body” which was not a monster of the week episode but a look at the all too human reactions to death and dying and the musical episode “Once More With Feeling” for which he wrote both the song lyrics and the actual music. The Angel episodes “Hole in the World”, “Spin the Bottle” (for its comedic effect) and “Smile Time” were all suggested to me. I agree with “Smile Time” because who else but Joss would turn his main character into a puppet? Finally the Firefly episodes “Jayne’s Town” and “The Message” were both suggested. I would add “Out of Gas” because it is a great example of non-linear storytelling.

Battlestar Galactica aired its final episode last week. Stargate Atlantis ended in January. Stargate Universe has begun production. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dollhouse, Fringe, Supernatural, Smallville, Heroes, Ghost Whisperer and Medium are all top shows on television today. Science fiction, fantasy and the supernatural are very popular, but this is not reflected in the industry’s highest honor, the Emmy.

The annual awards have shown that they are not afraid to honor such shows with nominations but more often than not the shows we know and love have only grabbed statuettes in the technical categories rather than in the more glamorous, showy categories like Actor/Actress, Show or Writing. With so many fans and the gaining popularity of science fiction and its related genres, shouldn’t the Emmy’s start acknowledging this fact?

History

The Academy used to have genre categories. They gave out awards for best comedian/comedienne, best news commentator/reporter, best male singer, best action/adventure series, best public service series, best western series and achievement in entertainment-musician. I’m not suggesting that there should be a separate category for science fiction/fantasy or whatever. That would defeat the purpose. The Academy needs to acknowledge that this genre is here to stay and should be a part of what gets awarded.

Science fiction litters the technical categories. It’s not surprising that things like visual effects, make-up and costume design are some of the awards these show get awarded for. Shows that have received these are Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Star Trek: Enterprise, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 3rd Rock From the Sun, Earth 2, Star Trek: Voyager, The X-Files, Babylon Five, Babylon Five-The Gathering, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Alien Nation, Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Beauty and the Beast. Other winning technical categories include cinematography, editing (film), editing (sound), music composition (dramatic underscore), hairstyling, sound mixing, art direction, music and lyrics, main title theme music, and creative technical crafts. Some of the show above won these awards. Other shows winning these are The 4400 (miniseries), Smallville, Xena, Sliders, Pushing Daisies, SeaQuest DSV, Dark Shadows, Buck Rodgers and the original Battlestar Galactica.

Now a lot of the shows previously mentioned have also received nominations in those categories, multiple times. There are also a couple of other technical categories that shows have been nominated for that were not mentioned above. Those are musical composition (series), stunt coordination, costumes, casting and make-up (prosthetic). Shows that were nominated in these and the previous categories that were not mentioned previously are Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Jericho, Eureka, Heroes, Supernatural, Surface, Stargate: SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, Dead Like Me, Farscape, Dark Angel, Angel the Series, Earth: Final Conflict, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, V, V: The Final Battle, Knight Rider, The Incredible Hulk, Galactica (1980) and The Twilight Zone.

Now let’s touch upon the “flashier” categories. I’m thinking here of actor and actress (supporting and lead), directing, writing, and series (comedy and drama). The nominations in these categories include some shows you might automatically think of when you think of science fiction and fantasy. Some of the shows might surprise you. On the supernatural side of things, Touched by an Angel was nominated for both lead and supporting actress. This is not very surprising considering the subject matter of the show. Beauty and the Beast had both leads nominated as well as nominations for writing and for the show as best drama series. Bewitched snagged nominations for all acting categories as well as directing and comedy series. The most glaring of the supernatural nominations that constantly comes up in conversations regarding Emmy snubs is the writing nomination for Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “Hush” written by creator Joss Whedon. Everyone cites this as the Emmy voters as not recognizing something that was innovative and different. This is true, and somewhat ironic, as the episode contains only twenty-eight minutes of actual dialogue.

On the alien side of the genre 3rd Rock from the Sun was nominated for comedy series, directing and John Lithgow as leading actor. Mork and Mindy was nominated for comedy series and Robin Williams as leading actor. I’m not very surprised that he didn’t win as his comedy routine was always controversial. Both of these shows are comedies, which don’t seem to push the science fiction element as much.

In the dramatic outer space genre we have all the recognizable shows that you might think of. The original Star Trek was nominated twice for best dramatic series and Leonard Nimoy received three nominations for best supporting actor. Star Trek: The Next Generation was also nominated for best dramatic series. The new Battlestar Galactica was nominated in writing for “Six of One” and “Occupation/Precipice”, and for directing.

Straddling to comedy/drama edge is Pushing Daisies. I’m surprised that this hasn’t been nominated for more. But as it was just recently cancelled, maybe there is still more hope for the series or its actors. Creator Bryan Fuller was nominated for the episode “Pie-lette”. Both Lee Pace and Kristen Chenoweth were nominated for actor and supporting actress respectively. I love this quirky little show and I hope that it gets more nominations for its second and final season.

Finally in the general drama category we have Heroes, The X-Files and Quantum Leap. QL was nominated as best drama series and I believe that it deserved it at least once. Scott Bakula should have won as leading actor for the last season of QL because he was great. And Dean Stockwell could have won supporting actor at any point. Heroes’ pilot “Genesis” was nominated for directing. The show was nominated as best drama but the unevenness of recent seasons has left it off nomination lists. Hopefully it will show up again as its gaining momentum again. Masi Oka was nominated in the supporting actor category but his character Hiro has grown annoying of late. Finally the X-Files was nominated for direction for the episode “The Post-Modern Prometheus” which was also nominated for writing. The episodes “Memento Mori” and “Duane Barry” were also nominated for writing. David Duchovny was nominated twice as Fox Mulder. I believe that he should have won at least one of those times. Gillian Anderson was nominated three times for playing Dana Scully.

Now it’s finally time to address the actual winning. The list is very small. This is a sad commentary on the Emmy voting and voters. Bewitched’s Elizabeth Montgomery won as best actress in a comedy. It won for directing and best comedy series. Lindsay Wagner won best actress in a drama for The Bionic Woman. Mariette Hartley won for lead actress in a drama for The Incredible Hulk. 3rd Rock from the Sun’s Kristen Johnston and John Lithgow won as best actor and best supporting actor. Battlestar Galactica’s Razr won a different kind of Emmy. It won for special class short format live action entertainment program. The X-Files episode “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” won a writing Emmy. Gillian Anderson won as best leading actress. This was following the season where she was suffering from cancer. Death, dying and sickness are always good was to win awards it seems. More recently Patricia Arquette won for Medium. Being psychic is also a good strategy.

For more extensive coverage you can also visit Entertainment Weekly, People, E! Online, TV Guide, USA Today or MSN.

So let’s get down to business and talk Oscar. First off, fashion. There were definite hits and misses on the red carpet last night. Miley Cyrus in a gown that looked like it had been attacked by a BeDazzler (sorry  Zuhair Murad), Marisa Tomei who looked like she was wearing a huge napkin by Versace Atelier, Jessica Biel who was onstage for less than five minutes with an awful choice from Prada that looked like it had something folded over at the top,  Sarah Jessica Parker was not styling in Dior Haute Couture, and Reese Witherspoon who was a hot mess.

Winners in the fashion spotlight, Kate Winslet in dark blue from Yves St. Laurent, Anne Hathaway in Armani, Amy Adams in gorgeous red Caroline Herrara that I would love to have a knock-off of (though I could have done without the necklace), and Natalie Portman in pink by Rodarte.

Onto the actual telecast. Hugh Jackman as host started out strong with a lively musical number. I was enamored of the props that were supposed to look homemade and the way he deftly handled the Best Picture nominees. Not as good as Billy Crystal, but okay. But then the later number to celebrate the fact that musicals were supposedly “back”? ICK. It was lame and heavy handed and just a waste of time. Everyone complains that the Oscars go on too long and this was one of the reasons why.

I did like the way the more technical (aka boring) Oscars were handled and it made them seem less boring. But did we really need the montages of films from last year. The animation and action were okay, but comedy and romance? Whoever decided that Queen Latifah should sing during the In Memorium section and that the camera should focus on her rather than the dearly departed needs to be shot. I love me some Queen L, but to not keep the focus on those who left us last year was disrespectful.

Having five former winners of each award highlight the nominees in the acting categories might have been a good idea on paper, but it kind of failed in execution. Yes, I liked that they highlighted each nominees achievements, but it came across as kind of schmaltzy and cloying which is best left for the acceptance speeches.

My personal highlights: Penelope Cruz asking if anyone has fainted, Steve Martin and Tina Fey presenting Screenwriting awards (can they host next year?), Heath Ledger’s family accepting his posthumous award on behalf of his daughter (I had tears in my eyes), the little French man who was the subject of documentary winner “Man on Wire”, Paul Newman at the end of the In Memorium section, Eddie Murphy presenting a humanitarian Oscar to Jerry Lewis, Kate Winslet keeping it calm and collected and her shout out to her dad, Kate Winslet’s dad, Robert DeNiro gently mocking Sean Penn (and including Spicolli in the list of Penn’s roles), Sean Penn asking for equality for gays, everyone involved with Slumdog Millionare up on stage when it won.

Who Will Win at The 81 Academy Awards?

Live blogging nominations. Who will make the cut?

Best Actor

Sean Penn, Milk

Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Richard Jenkins

Mikey Roarke, The Wrestler

Best Actress

Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie. The Changeling

Melissa Leo, Frozen River (I had to look her and the movie up. A nomination out of left field.)

Meryl Streep, Doubt

Kate Winslet, The Reader (Will she have momentum from the Globes?)

Best Supporting Actor

Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (I had his name typed even before the nominations were read!)

Josh Brolin, Milk

Robert Downey Junior, Tropic Thunder (the gasp/murmur in the crowd suggested this is a big surprise and it is. many didn’t see this coming because Downey was in blackface.)

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt

Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams, Doubt

Viola Davis, Doubt

Penelope Cruz, Vicki Cristina Barcelona

Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Director

Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon

Gus Van Sant, Milk

Stephen Daldry, The Reader

David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Animated Picture

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

Wall-E

Best Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

So, some interesting surprises. Despite lots of talk, no Best Picture nom for either The Dark Knight or Wall-E. The Dark Knight is represented in the technical categories. Slumdog Millionaire continues it’s remarkable journey. I was kind of surprised that Bruce Springsteen was not nominated in the Best Original Song category. So, the speculation begins and we’ll see who wins when the Oscars air on February 22nd.

Right to the awards. Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture:Kate Winslet, The Reader. How will this affect her chances at Best Actress? Her dress is quite lovely.  She looks really good.

OMG Sting needs to shave!!!

Best Orginal Song, Motion Picture: Bruce Springstein, The Wrestler.  He’s been here before. with The Streets of Philadelphia.

Supporting Actor Series, Miniseries, TV Movie: Tom Wilikinson, John Adams.

Supporting Actress, Miniseries, TV Movie, Series: Laura Dern, Recount.

Can I just say how much I love Eva Longeria’s dress? It’s so red.

OMG What is Eva Mendes wearing? What the hell is with that dress????

Best Actor, Tv Series, Drama: Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment.

Oh, yes, Zachary Qunito cleans up so very well. Why did you make me love Sylar so, ZQ?

Best Actress, TV Series, Drama: Anna Paquin, True Blood. Brad has a thing for Anna. She’s looking really good.

OMG 1111!!!!! THE JONAS BROTHERS!!!! not. What the hell is the appeal of these guys?

Best Animated Picture: Wall-E

Best Actress, Picture, Musical or Comedy: Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky. Who the heck is this? I’ve never heard of her. But good for her. Apparently she was born the same day I was, exactly the same day, so I have an award winning birthday buddy!