Screen Actor's Guild Award Predictions

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Will Win: Glenn Close for "Damages"
Should Win: Edie Falco for "The Sopranos"
Should Have Been Nominated: Elizabeth Mitchell for "Lost"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Will Win: Hugh Laurie for "House M.D."
Should Win: Michael C. Hall for "Dexter"
Should Have Been Nominated: Kyle Chandler for "Friday Night Lights"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Will Win: Tina Fey for "30 Rock"
Should Win: Tina Fey for "30 Rock"
Should Have Been Nominated: Jenna Fischer for "The Office"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Will Win: Ricky Gervais for "Extras"
Should Win: Jeremy Piven for "Entourage"
Should Have Been Nominated: Larry David for "Curb Your Enthusiasm"

Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series
Will Win: "Mad Men"
Should Win: "The Sopranos"
Should Have Been Nominated: "Friday Night Lights"

Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Will Win: "30 Rock"
Should Win: "30 Rock"
Should Have Been Nominated: "Reaper"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Will Win: Cate Blanchett for "I'm Not There"
Should Win: Amy Ryan for "Gone Baby Gone"
Should Have Been Nominated: Leslie Mann for "Knocked Up"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Will Win: Javier Bardem for "No Country for Old Men"
Should Win: Casey Affleck for "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Should Have Been Nominated: Ben Foster for "3:10 to Yuma"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Lead Role
Will Win: Julie Christie for "Away From Her"
Should Win: Ellen Page for "Juno"
Should Have Been Nominated: Laura Linney for "The Savages"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Lead Role
Will Win: Daniel Day-Lewis for "There Will Be Blood"
Should Win: Daniel Day-Lewis for "There Will Be Blood"
Should Have Been Nominated: Christian Bale for "Rescue Dawn"

Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture
Will Win: "No Country for Old Men"
Should Win: "No Country for Old Men"
Should Have Been Nominated: "There Will Be Blood"

Six Seasons of The Sopranos or How I Spent My Winter Break

The Sopranos has been hailed for years as one of the greatest things to ever grace American television screens. While I don't think it is nearly as phenomenal or innovative as some people make it out to be, I must agree that it was a riveting series and will definitely stand the test of time in the annals of American popular media. I spent close to eighty five hours of the past few weeks watching the series from start to finish, seeing the trials and tribulations of the New Jersey crime family and the ups and downs of it's leaders actual family. A good number of people and critics have been quick to blast the ending of the series as the "easy way out." I couldn't disagree with them more. I absolutely loved the ending, and in spite of knowing how it was to end it still sent chills down my spine. Here we have a more accurate portrait of an American family than any other shows have been able to achieve. At the head of the family is Tony, a crime boss capable of running New Jersey but perhaps unable to run his own family. The truest presence for me throughout the series was Carmella, Tony's oft loving wife. Tracing her character from season one to season six, I have never seen such a wonderful piece of acting and extensive character development. But back to the end of the series that created such a whirlwind of criticism. Regardless of what you may have seen or heard from the ending, I still found my stomach in knots as the end approached. I thought for sure there would be some way of punishing viewers like me for cheering as Phil Leotardo's face is crushed by his daughter's SUV carrying his two grandkids. No way was David Chase going to let that slide. Although I knew that there was going to be a cut to black right as Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" kicked up, I still thought for sure either that guy in the USA cap, the guy wearing the Members Only jacket or the two thugs browsing the pastries were going to whack Tony. Alas, it is the viewer that gets punished but not by seeing our main character bite the dust. Instead it is the viewer himself that gets killed. We no longer have the privileged vantage point of watching these family dramas play out. A lot has been tossed around about whether or not Tony gets killed. Most people chalk this up to the creator's unwillingness to decide whether or not he would want to bring the series back in the form of a feature film. I personally believe that is bullshit. It is more than probable that Tony didn't survive the night and I'm basing this on the fact that Meadow can't park her car outside. She attempts to parallel park the car three times, the last time being successful. Likewise, two attempts have been made on Tony's life and he has had the chance to live on. Perhaps this time he will not. Either way, whether you think he lives or dies you can't argue with the inherent genius behind the ending. No it isn't a cop out, showing his death would have been a cop out. The only thing I'm truly disappointed in is that I'm going to have to find something else to occupy my time.

Oscar Nomination Predictions

The Oscar Nominations are announced on Tuesday and although the ceremony is up in the air, here is what I think we will hear announced.

Best Original Screenplay
Diablo Cody, Juno
Brad Bird, Ratatouille
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Nancy Oliver, Lars and the Real Girl
Steven Zailian, American Gangster

Best Adapted Screenplay
Christopher Hampton, Atonement
Joel & Ethan Cohen, No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will be Blood
Ronald Harwood, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Sean Penn, Into the Wild

Best Director
Joel and Ethan Cohen, No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will be Blood
Sean Penn, Into the Wild
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Catherine Keener, Into the Wild
Ruby Dee, American Gangster

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Paul Dano, There Will be Blood
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War

Best Actress
Julie Christie, Away From Her
Ellen Page, Juno
Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth The Golden Age

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will be Blood
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
Ryan Gosling, Lars and the Real Girl

Best Picture
No Country for Old Men
There Will be Blood
Juno
Into the Wild
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

An "Event Film" Worth Attending

I was at work the other day when a customer walked in and claimed that a fellow employee of mine is ridiculous for recommending they not rent the film Dragon Wars: D-Day. Having not seen this film I can't comment on the quality, although the title does suggest something I am less than interested in. Needless to say, this particular customer went on to insult the film The Host. The Host is a South Korean monster movie in the vein of Godzilla. One thing he said that made me laugh was that he couldn't believe he sat through thirty minutes of watching a family eat in The Host. I too found The Host to be tremendously disappointing. Of course this is coming from a red blooded American male who may be more interested in the death and destruction that play out in the first thirty minutes of The Host rather than the last hour and a half of family drama. Coming back from Matt Reeves' much talked about and much anticipated film Cloverfield, I was perusing the web reading other reviews and comments on the film and found one specific reviewer who rather snidely said the only thing Cloverfield inspired her to do was go home and watch the far superior film The Host. I don't really see Cloverfield necessarily entering the annals of American film, other than perhaps riding the merits of its impeccable ad campaign, but the audience reaction following the end of the movie was completely shocking to me. Never before had I heard an audience boo as much as they did when the credits began rolling, but I could only reckon that perhaps they are also not big fans of J.J. Abrams television show LOST which airs on ABC. Like with Lost, Cloverfield hooks you into the story of a group of twenty-something New Yorkers on the eve of one of their friends leaving for a job in Japan (the home of Godzilla...I'm sure no coincidence). Like with LOST we are clued in to some of the back story of several characters throughout the film. You see what makes this such an interesting take on monster movies is that it is completely handheld a la The Blair Witch Project, another film which had trouble breaking beyond the rather genius marketing campaign. Unfortunately for our main character the tape that his buddy is recording the events on was previously used to document a day he spent with the love of his life, a girl who has since moved on realizing that he wasn't ready to commit and was in fact headed overseas. Sure, this may sound rather typical, and I won't lie it definitely is, but at no point does it seem to be over the top or overly sentimental. Regardless of all the back story, at the top of everybody's priorities when it came to the movie was what exactly is this monster that rips the head of the Statue of Liberty off and sends it hurling across Manhattan. I will tell you, without revealing too much information, that some viewers questions will not be answered by watching the movie and that is undoubtedly what drove the viewers to harness such resentment at the closing. With effective enough effects, some pretty stellar performances, one rather amazing bit of B-movie gore, enough scares and playing off the paranoia and fear surrounded by the climate of recent terror attacks (something which seems to bother a lot of people, although I find it a highly interesting phenomenon to examine in genre films like this one) Cloverfield is definitely worth seeing. Even if you end up disliking the ending, or feeling less than satisfied with the way the story plays out, take comfort in the fact that the film clocks in shorter than almost any film in recent memory.

Golden Globe Predictions

Favorite Albums of 2007

Favorite Songs of 2007

1. “Thrash Unreal” by Against Me!
• I’m not normally a big punk fan. There’s something about the energy in this song, the unlikely pop sensibility and sing-along style lyrics that make it the best song I’ve heard all year. It’s the kind of song I can listen to when I’m in any mood, and really isn’t that what music is all about?

2. “All My Friends” by LCD Soundsystem
• I know it sounds lame to say this, but I feel like this song really captures the way I feel when I am away at school. Just one listen will have you hooked too. The monotony of the song is an obvious reference to the monotony of life. James Murphy muttering that he wouldn’t trade one stupid decision for another five years life just rings so clearly in my mind as something most people my age would agree with. Those nights of heavy drinking may not be the best for you health wise, and yet they are what living is all about.

3. “Stronger” by Kanye West
• How can anybody deny the catchiness of this track from Kanye? It will automatically put you in a great mood. Thanks of course to the sample from Daft Punk, whenever the song starts everybody is up and ready to dance. In my humble opinion Kanye has definitely earned his right to the air of infallibility that he maintains.

4. “Sad Sad City” by Ghostland Observatory
• The perfect party sing along song, the moment I realized its greatness was when I was at a bar down on Sixth Street dazed from hours of drinking, sweating like crazy and exhausted but not too exhausted to yell the lyrics at the top of my lungs and dance like a madman. If you haven’t heard this Austin band then get on it.

5. “No One” by Alicia Keys
• Let me get one thing straight, this is kind of a chick song but it’s a great one. Alicia Keys is usually pretty hit or miss with me, but I can’t deny the sort of raw emotion that she possesses on this track. Driving around all day in the car, I heard this song at least three times. Perhaps it will fall in that overplayed category by the spring, but for now it’s a great song deserving of all the radio play.

6. “The Underdog” by Spoon
• The moment the horns set in on this Spoon track, you know it’s going to be a good one. Of course almost every song on the album has a perfect pop hook but this one especially captures just why I love Spoon so much.

7. “1 2 3 4” by Feist
• This is one of those songs people are sometimes embarrassed to admit they like so much for whatever reason. Perhaps it has sort of lost its luster after finding its way into commercials and movie trailers, but it’s still one of the most fun pop ditties of the year.

8. “Straight Lines” by Silverchair
• I don’t know too much about Silverchair, but I do know that I love this song. For a band that has been together for well over 10 years, this is quite an accomplishment. Apparently this song is huge overseas, and don’t understand why it hasn’t caught the radio attention that it deserves here in the states. Worth a listen even if you can’t name another Silverchair song.

9. “Umbrella” by Rihanna
• The best bubble gum pop song of the year by a mile. Thank God for Rihanna, like Nelly Furtado last year, finally making listening to the radio fun again.

10. “You Don’t Know What Love is (You Just Do as You’re Told)” by The White Stripes
• Every song on this album could have earned this position, but this one is so approachable for those who aren’t even fans of the Stripes.

11. “Take Me To the Riot” by Stars
• Stars proved they have staying power after the nearly impeccable Set Yourself on Fire. With this track, they further they grip on great pop music thanks in part to an amazingly snappy hook.

12. “Piece of Me” by Britney Spears
• Granted “Gimme More” was a great pop song, unfortunately it was plagued by a not so great performance by Brit at the VMAs. “Piece of Me” matches it and lacks that Britney stigma…so far.

13. “Well Thought Out Twinkles” by Silversun Pickups
• A little to My Bloody Valentine for some people’s taste, but I love when this song comes on the radio or my iPod. A decent rock sensibility matched with the rather cathartic lyrics and vocals make it a great track.

14. “Fireworks” by Animal Collective
• Pure Animal Collective. Listen and learn.

15. “Fake Empire” by The National
• Beautiful lyrics hauntingly performed by what is rapidly becoming one of my favorite bands.