Friday, August 25, 2006
Emmy Non-Predictions, Part Deux
I don't have as much to say about the drama categories as I did about the comedy categories, simply because I don't watch that many dramas. It is both a shock and a shame, however, that the best show on television this past year was almost completely ignored by the folks who pick the nominees.
"Lost" actually won the award for Best Drama at last year's ceremony, but isn't even in the running this year. Umm...say what? "Lost" was even better this year and had me literally on the edge of my seat each and every week; it is a complex, compelling, and positively riveting series with both popular and critical acclaim and deserved recognition. It does have a very large cast, so it would be difficult to single any out for acting awards, but Terry O'Quinn (John Locke), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr. Eko) are all standouts in a very talented ensemble.
As far as the actual nominees, "24" had an absolutely stellar season this year; in my opinion, it was the best ever and I'm pulling for it to win in every category. In particular, Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart as President Logan and the First Lady were fantastic and should win Best Supporting Actor and Actress.
"Lost" actually won the award for Best Drama at last year's ceremony, but isn't even in the running this year. Umm...say what? "Lost" was even better this year and had me literally on the edge of my seat each and every week; it is a complex, compelling, and positively riveting series with both popular and critical acclaim and deserved recognition. It does have a very large cast, so it would be difficult to single any out for acting awards, but Terry O'Quinn (John Locke), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr. Eko) are all standouts in a very talented ensemble.
As far as the actual nominees, "24" had an absolutely stellar season this year; in my opinion, it was the best ever and I'm pulling for it to win in every category. In particular, Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart as President Logan and the First Lady were fantastic and should win Best Supporting Actor and Actress.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Emmy Non-Predictions
A few weeks back, after this year's Emmy Awards Nominations were announced, I mentioned that there were quite a few surprising omissions and promised to talk about it more when the awards got closer. Well, the damned awards snuck up on me; the show is this Sunday already so I'd better get cracking. I've decided to not bother trying to predict who's going to win (I'm notoriously bad at it, anyway-go pick up Entertainment Weekly if you want predictions). Instead, I'm going to run through the major categories and tell you who I WANT to win, plus who I thought should have been nominated that got left out.
One note: I'm not a TV critic and I make no claim to watch everything on television. This is just one man's opinion based on what I watch regularly.
LEAD ACTOR - COMEDY
No contest for me. Steve Carell for "The Office." Out of the other nominees, only Larry David deserved his nomination. Kevin James, Tony Shalhoub, and Charlie Sheen (!) should have been left out. In their spots should have been Jason Bateman for "Arrested Development" (R.I.P.); Jason Lee, who was positively brilliant this past year on "My Name Is Earl"; and Josh Radnor, from the criminally over-looked "How I Met Your Mother."
LEAD ACTRESS - COMEDY
To paraphrase Apu Nahasapimapetilon, "OK, I have seen none of these." For the record, the nominees are Stockard Channing, Jane Kaczmarek, Lisa Kudrow, Julia-Louis Dreyfus, and Debra Messing. It wouldn't be fair to pick a winner in a category I don't give two shits about and, quite frankly, all my favorite female comedic performances this year were in supporting roles, so: no comment. Sorry. Get your refunds at the front desk.
SUPPORTING ACTOR - COMEDY
REALLY tough call on this one, as both Will Arnett ("Arrested Development") and Jeremy Piven ("Entourage") are both deserving. But Piven's Ari Gold is so off the charts, I have to go with him on this one. The other folks-Bryan Cranston, Jon Cryer, and Sean Hayes- should have made room for Neil Patrick Harris (the role of a lifetime on "How I Met Your Mother"; John Krasinski (whose impeccable comic timing and interplay with Jenna Fischer on "The Office" is the highlight of that show every week); and, for a wild card, how about Robert Ben Garant from "Reno 911!"? Deputy Travis Junior kicks ass.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS - COMEDY
Another easy call. Jaime Pressly was a revelation this year on "My Name Is Earl," and I really hope she wins. I would dump all of the other nominees (Cheryl Hines, Megan Mullally, Elizabeth Perkins, and Alfre Woodard), as there were much better candidates that got ripped off. As mentioned above, Jenna Fischer on "The Office" is fantastic. My #3 pick would have to be Alyson Hannigan ("How I Met Your Mother"), and I swear it has nothing to do with my love for all things associated with Buffy. The last two spots should have been taken up by Jessica Walter, who was fabulous on "Arrested Development," and Alia Shawkat, ditto.
COMEDY SERIES
Another close one, but I give it to "The Office"- just barely- over "Arrested Development." Nothing against "Curb Your Enthusiasm" or "Scrubs," both of which are fine shows, but I'd put "The Simpsons" and "My Name Is Earl" in those spots. Sure, you could argue that "The Simpsons" isn't as funny as it used to be, but "The Simpsons" at 75% strength is still a hell of a lot funnier than most of the shit being passed off by the networks these days. As for the 5th spot (it should go without saying that "Two and a Half Men" isn't staying there, at least not on my watch), I say "Entourage." If you don't have HBO, it's worth it just for this show. And just because it's my blog, I'm creating a 6th slot and giving it to "How I Met Your Mother," because it deserves to be here.
That's enough for one day, I think. Check back later this week and I'll tackle the Drama categories.
One note: I'm not a TV critic and I make no claim to watch everything on television. This is just one man's opinion based on what I watch regularly.
LEAD ACTOR - COMEDY
No contest for me. Steve Carell for "The Office." Out of the other nominees, only Larry David deserved his nomination. Kevin James, Tony Shalhoub, and Charlie Sheen (!) should have been left out. In their spots should have been Jason Bateman for "Arrested Development" (R.I.P.); Jason Lee, who was positively brilliant this past year on "My Name Is Earl"; and Josh Radnor, from the criminally over-looked "How I Met Your Mother."
LEAD ACTRESS - COMEDY
To paraphrase Apu Nahasapimapetilon, "OK, I have seen none of these." For the record, the nominees are Stockard Channing, Jane Kaczmarek, Lisa Kudrow, Julia-Louis Dreyfus, and Debra Messing. It wouldn't be fair to pick a winner in a category I don't give two shits about and, quite frankly, all my favorite female comedic performances this year were in supporting roles, so: no comment. Sorry. Get your refunds at the front desk.
SUPPORTING ACTOR - COMEDY
REALLY tough call on this one, as both Will Arnett ("Arrested Development") and Jeremy Piven ("Entourage") are both deserving. But Piven's Ari Gold is so off the charts, I have to go with him on this one. The other folks-Bryan Cranston, Jon Cryer, and Sean Hayes- should have made room for Neil Patrick Harris (the role of a lifetime on "How I Met Your Mother"; John Krasinski (whose impeccable comic timing and interplay with Jenna Fischer on "The Office" is the highlight of that show every week); and, for a wild card, how about Robert Ben Garant from "Reno 911!"? Deputy Travis Junior kicks ass.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS - COMEDY
Another easy call. Jaime Pressly was a revelation this year on "My Name Is Earl," and I really hope she wins. I would dump all of the other nominees (Cheryl Hines, Megan Mullally, Elizabeth Perkins, and Alfre Woodard), as there were much better candidates that got ripped off. As mentioned above, Jenna Fischer on "The Office" is fantastic. My #3 pick would have to be Alyson Hannigan ("How I Met Your Mother"), and I swear it has nothing to do with my love for all things associated with Buffy. The last two spots should have been taken up by Jessica Walter, who was fabulous on "Arrested Development," and Alia Shawkat, ditto.
COMEDY SERIES
Another close one, but I give it to "The Office"- just barely- over "Arrested Development." Nothing against "Curb Your Enthusiasm" or "Scrubs," both of which are fine shows, but I'd put "The Simpsons" and "My Name Is Earl" in those spots. Sure, you could argue that "The Simpsons" isn't as funny as it used to be, but "The Simpsons" at 75% strength is still a hell of a lot funnier than most of the shit being passed off by the networks these days. As for the 5th spot (it should go without saying that "Two and a Half Men" isn't staying there, at least not on my watch), I say "Entourage." If you don't have HBO, it's worth it just for this show. And just because it's my blog, I'm creating a 6th slot and giving it to "How I Met Your Mother," because it deserves to be here.
That's enough for one day, I think. Check back later this week and I'll tackle the Drama categories.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow?
I had a busy day yesterday (Sunday) as far as music is concerned. It all started when I took my daughter to the mall to see the Jonas Brothers, whose debut CD was just released. If you've never heard of them, well, then you're not a 12-year old girl. Think Hanson, but with a slightly harder edge. They played a four song acoustic set at FYE and then did a meet-and-greet afterwards. All three were extremely nice and signed my daughter's CD and thanked her for coming out and supporting them. Anybody who makes my daughter happy is OK in my book, and their music wasn't actually half bad. Very catchy pop tunes.
Sidebar- for those keeping score at home, my daughter has now met 2 of her favorite bands in the space of about 9 months (I've written previously about The Click Five, who we've actually met twice now) which hardly seems fair. I mean, I've been a KISS fan for longer than I can remember and had to wait over 25 years to meet them! These kids today don't know how easy they got it. End sidebar.
So after we finished up at the mall, I rushed to get home. Why? Because it turned out that Poison and Cinderella are playing at the Wildwood Convention Center, which is walking distance from my apartment. I hadn't bought tickets in advance because A) I wasn't sure about my work schedule, B) I wasn't sure if we'd be back from the mall in time and C) I actually didn't find out about the show until 2 days before.
A band I'd never heard of before, EndEverAfter, opened the show and actually were really good. They ripped through five songs, a nice slab of the kind of swaggering "Cock Rock" that you just don't hear anymore. You can hear a few of them at the link above.
Cinderella was next, and I was actually excited because I had never seen them live before even though they were one of my favorites in high school. Tom Keifer's voice was in rough shape; it turns out he actually has major damage to his vocal chords and needs to have surgery but didn't want to cancel the tour and elected to tough it out instead. I really felt bad for the guy- it was obvious that he was in severe pain. He must not speak for the rest of the day just to save his voice. In the end, the vocal difficulties didn't stop the band from delivering a high energy hour-long set that I really enjoyed, opening with "Fallin' Apart At The Seams" and "Push, Push." They also did "Night Songs," "Heartbreak Station," "Shelter Me," "Coming Home," "Don't Know What You've Got Till It's Gone," "Nobody's Fool," and "Gypsy Road" before closing with "Shake Me." Great stuff.
Poison I saw once before, about 15 years ago when they were at the peak of their popularity, and actually didn't think the show was very good (Warrant, who opened up, blew them off the stage that night). So I wasn't sure what to expect yesterday. My fears proved to be unfounded as I thought they put on a great show. My daughter is actually familiar with Poison and knew most of the songs and gleefully sang along as the band ran through "Look What The Cat Dragged In," "I Want Action," "We're An American Band," "I Won't Forget You," "Cry Tough," "Ride The Wind," "Fallen Angel," "Something To Believe In," "I Hate Every Bone In Your Body," "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," "Your Mama Don't Dance," "Unskinny Bop," "Nothin' But A Good Time," and "Talk Dirty To Me."
Then I went home, fell onto my bed, and passed right out. I think I'm getting too old for this shit.
Sidebar- for those keeping score at home, my daughter has now met 2 of her favorite bands in the space of about 9 months (I've written previously about The Click Five, who we've actually met twice now) which hardly seems fair. I mean, I've been a KISS fan for longer than I can remember and had to wait over 25 years to meet them! These kids today don't know how easy they got it. End sidebar.
So after we finished up at the mall, I rushed to get home. Why? Because it turned out that Poison and Cinderella are playing at the Wildwood Convention Center, which is walking distance from my apartment. I hadn't bought tickets in advance because A) I wasn't sure about my work schedule, B) I wasn't sure if we'd be back from the mall in time and C) I actually didn't find out about the show until 2 days before.
A band I'd never heard of before, EndEverAfter, opened the show and actually were really good. They ripped through five songs, a nice slab of the kind of swaggering "Cock Rock" that you just don't hear anymore. You can hear a few of them at the link above.
Cinderella was next, and I was actually excited because I had never seen them live before even though they were one of my favorites in high school. Tom Keifer's voice was in rough shape; it turns out he actually has major damage to his vocal chords and needs to have surgery but didn't want to cancel the tour and elected to tough it out instead. I really felt bad for the guy- it was obvious that he was in severe pain. He must not speak for the rest of the day just to save his voice. In the end, the vocal difficulties didn't stop the band from delivering a high energy hour-long set that I really enjoyed, opening with "Fallin' Apart At The Seams" and "Push, Push." They also did "Night Songs," "Heartbreak Station," "Shelter Me," "Coming Home," "Don't Know What You've Got Till It's Gone," "Nobody's Fool," and "Gypsy Road" before closing with "Shake Me." Great stuff.
Poison I saw once before, about 15 years ago when they were at the peak of their popularity, and actually didn't think the show was very good (Warrant, who opened up, blew them off the stage that night). So I wasn't sure what to expect yesterday. My fears proved to be unfounded as I thought they put on a great show. My daughter is actually familiar with Poison and knew most of the songs and gleefully sang along as the band ran through "Look What The Cat Dragged In," "I Want Action," "We're An American Band," "I Won't Forget You," "Cry Tough," "Ride The Wind," "Fallen Angel," "Something To Believe In," "I Hate Every Bone In Your Body," "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," "Your Mama Don't Dance," "Unskinny Bop," "Nothin' But A Good Time," and "Talk Dirty To Me."
Then I went home, fell onto my bed, and passed right out. I think I'm getting too old for this shit.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Whoops...
I meant to post this yesterday, but it's OK because it's not too late.
"Gene Simmons' Family Jewels" debuted last night on A&E network. Gene's latest endeavor is a reality series in the same vein as "The Osbournes" and "Hogan Knows Best." For those that missed it, it is being re-run many times during the week; check your local listings! There were two episodes last night, although I'm not sure whether or not that will be the case every week. The normal time to catch it is Mondays at 10:00.
As far as a review? I thought it was great. You always have to take these shows with a grain of salt and wonder how much is for the benefit of the cameras, but despite Gene being his usual pompous (yet strangely lovable) self, you can see the difference in his demeanor at home as compared to when he's working a red carpet. He can be the total rock star when he needs to be, but knows when to turn it off (Sebastian Bach, take notes). Here is a man who genuinely loves his family, and his kids, thankfully, seem to be incredibly intelligent, well-adjusted, and grounded...unlike other celebrity reality-TV offspring.
Whether you're a KISS fan or not, check it out.
"Gene Simmons' Family Jewels" debuted last night on A&E network. Gene's latest endeavor is a reality series in the same vein as "The Osbournes" and "Hogan Knows Best." For those that missed it, it is being re-run many times during the week; check your local listings! There were two episodes last night, although I'm not sure whether or not that will be the case every week. The normal time to catch it is Mondays at 10:00.
As far as a review? I thought it was great. You always have to take these shows with a grain of salt and wonder how much is for the benefit of the cameras, but despite Gene being his usual pompous (yet strangely lovable) self, you can see the difference in his demeanor at home as compared to when he's working a red carpet. He can be the total rock star when he needs to be, but knows when to turn it off (Sebastian Bach, take notes). Here is a man who genuinely loves his family, and his kids, thankfully, seem to be incredibly intelligent, well-adjusted, and grounded...unlike other celebrity reality-TV offspring.
Whether you're a KISS fan or not, check it out.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Checking In
I know it's been a while, but a lot has been going on. It's been a very busy summer so far, hence the lack of updates. Of course, I've still managed to see a bunch of movies this season.
Now, I'm not sure what's wrong with me, but I just really hated the new "Pirates of the Caribbean." I know I'm in a VERY small minority, but I thought the thing just really dragged on and on and on. Did nothing for me.
"Clerks II," on the other hand, was a blast. A very dirty, vulgar blast. If you didn't like or see the first "Clerks" then there's no reason to see the new one, but I thought Kevin Smith did a nice job in telling this tale. A lot different from the first, but just as funny.
On to the Wilson brothers. Owen is always very funny and continued to be so in "You, Me, and Dupree." Not a spectacular film, but definitely worth checking out. I felt the same way about Luke Wilson's "My Super Ex-Girlfriend." It sure didn't hurt to have Uma Thurman in the title role. I'm a sucker for anything remotely super hero related, a fact that probably made me like this more than it probably deserved. Just like "Dupree," not a great film, but not bad either.
Just today I took my daughter to see "John Tucker Must Die" and was pleasantly surprised. I wasn't expecting much, but I thought it was far above average for a high school flick. Lots of very funny moments.
That's about it on the film front, I guess. Not much else to say, so I'll sign off for now. Hopefully it won't be as long between posts next time.
Now, I'm not sure what's wrong with me, but I just really hated the new "Pirates of the Caribbean." I know I'm in a VERY small minority, but I thought the thing just really dragged on and on and on. Did nothing for me.
"Clerks II," on the other hand, was a blast. A very dirty, vulgar blast. If you didn't like or see the first "Clerks" then there's no reason to see the new one, but I thought Kevin Smith did a nice job in telling this tale. A lot different from the first, but just as funny.
On to the Wilson brothers. Owen is always very funny and continued to be so in "You, Me, and Dupree." Not a spectacular film, but definitely worth checking out. I felt the same way about Luke Wilson's "My Super Ex-Girlfriend." It sure didn't hurt to have Uma Thurman in the title role. I'm a sucker for anything remotely super hero related, a fact that probably made me like this more than it probably deserved. Just like "Dupree," not a great film, but not bad either.
Just today I took my daughter to see "John Tucker Must Die" and was pleasantly surprised. I wasn't expecting much, but I thought it was far above average for a high school flick. Lots of very funny moments.
That's about it on the film front, I guess. Not much else to say, so I'll sign off for now. Hopefully it won't be as long between posts next time.
