THE MOVIE SHELF: January 2007

Monday, January 29, 2007

NOTES ON A SCANDAL: GREAT PERFORMANCES: HORRIBLE MUSICAL SCORE BY PHILLIP GLASS

NOTES ON A SCANDAL

Rotten Tomatoes On (Notes On A Scandal)

VERY FINE REVIEWS; NOT AS CONCERNED WITH MUSICAL SCORE AS I AM!

IMDB.com (Notes On A Scandal: Full Cast Links)

Yahoo Movie (Full Screen Trailer Available)

What Other Reviewers Have To Say About My Complaint:

The score, by Philip Glass, is a study in egregiousness—the usual busy undercurrents with a top layer of bombast.

Accompanied by a Philip Glass score that rolls along without building to a climax.

Combined with a shrieking, hyperbolic troubling Philip Glass score.

The bold music dominates almost every scene, expressing the inner turmoil of Dench's character while also attempting to drive the pace of the movie. At times it is almost too heavy handed, and makes the movie feel rushed.

Philip Glass' score is all over the thing, foisting the menace and the threat of violence every second. It is over the top and over done constantly clubbing away like an aluminum baseball bat beating a dead horse!

The Academy Award Nomination is without merit, a tragic error.

The novel is presented to the reader in the form of a manuscript written by Barbara Covett, a history teacher in her early sixties who has set herself the task of minutely recording all the details of the case. Spanning a period of almost two years, her manuscript starts in the autumn of 1996, when she encounters for the first time Bathsheba Hart, the new pottery teacher at St George's, where Covett herself has been teaching for more than two decades. The report ends some time in June 1998.

It soon turns out that Barbara is neither a reliable nor a disinterested first person narrator. An old spinster, she is a very lonely woman who, willy-nilly, has learned "to construct an entire weekend around a visit to the launderette or to sit in a darkened flat on Halloween night, because you can't bear to expose your bleak evening to a crowd of jeering trick-or-treaters". Although she is eager to make friends with work colleagues she has not been able to make those friendships last as she seems to be too possessive, domineering and generally in the habit of looking down on people who, for some reason or other, do not live up to her arbitrary standards.

When Sheba Hart joins the staff of St George's Barbara immediately senses that they might become friends. However, she soon finds out that Sheba, who is thirty-seven, is married with two children—her eleven year old son, Ben, has Down's Syndrome—and leading a fulfilled, busy life. What is more, Sheba seems to be associating with some of the teachers Barbara considers beneath her. Eventually, however, Barbara and Sheba do become acquainted when, on the spur of the moment, Sheba invites Barbara for Sunday dinner with her family. ("I wondered if I ought to make some nod to the notion of having to consult my diary. But I thought better of it. I didn't want to risk her glimpsing the white wastelands of my appointmentless weeks.")

In her very first term at St George's, Sheba falls in love with a 15 year old student named Steven Connolly who has literacy problems. Although they frequently have sex right from the start of their relationship, and although they make love in various unlikely places—behind the kiln in Sheba's studio at school; on the floor of Steve's bedroom while his parents are away; in the basement of the Harts' house in Highgate; and, mostly, in the open on Hampstead Heath—no one ever seems to notice anything. At one point, Sheba tells Barbara a highly expurgated version of what has happened between her and Connolly, claiming only that he has tried to kiss her.

When Barbara eventually finds out about the affair on Guy Fawkes Night 1997, the response that overrides her sympathy for her friend is a sense of betrayal that she was not Sheba's confidante in the early stages of their friendship. When, some weeks after Sheba's confession to Barbara, Brian Bangs, a mathematics teacher, asks Barbara to have Saturday lunch with him in a restaurant in Camden Town, she accepts although she has always considered him a "cretin". But when she realizes that he has a crush on Sheba and is only trying to use her to get information about Sheba's private life, her hatred of Bangs, Sheba, and her life in general gets the better of her and she gives away Sheba's secret. ("'Sheba likes younger men, you know. Much younger men.' I paused a moment. 'I mean, you are aware of her unusually close relationship with one of the Year Eleven boys? '") She cannot summon up the courage to tell Sheba what she has done. Rather, she hopes Bangs will not report what she has told him.

In the film this encounter tasks place in Barbara’s home just after she has buried her cat Portia. The change and circumstances surrounding the death of Portia serve to accelerate the pace of things necessary for the film, and provides a powerful catalyst to the witches brew.

In early January 1998, however, the headmaster is informed about the illicit affair. Sheba is suspended from her job and charged with indecent assault on a pupil. Her husband demands that she leave the family home and prevents her from seeing her own children, especially Ben, except on rare occasions and only if supervised by a chaperone. While Sheba's life is quickly disintegrating, Barbara thrives on the new situation, which she considers her big chance to prove her qualities as a friend, even when the headmaster, glad to rid himself of one of his severest critics, forces her into early retirement.

The film is all about Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett , and they carry the day in wonderful performances. The remainder of the cast fades in the fog. The film is damaged seriously by the musical score of Phillip Glass. So much so that I venture the fracture inflicted by the Glass score removed this film from any chance at a “Best Film” Academy nomination. The music does not fit the mood of the film. There are moments where Glass interjects suspenseful themes appropriate to impending violent disaster that are so entirely inappropriate that you ask yourself: “What the Hell is going on here?”

The score intrudes, drowns out dialog at some points, and is so over bearing and disjointed that it hard to believe that any movie viewer will not share this perception. It is awful…Dench and Blanchett are great!

I had not intended to put this much effort into this review, but years of frustration with the music of Glass, and the fact that he does so much film scoring just provokes me to anger over his latest piece of, not only disappointing or annoying rubbish, but down right egotistically over done, over bearing scoring. This film would have been better served with no musical back ground given that which the director approved!

DOWN WITH GLASS!

Wikipedia (Philip Glass)

Philip Glass’s ideas are at their most basic, using only addition and subtraction of notes in simple scales to create “epic, hypnotic musical forms.” About as epic as a highway median and hypnotic as a stamping machine. Early Glass, ’67 or thereabout, I haven’t troubled to Google, mye dominant mood and motivation being, trash this assaultive stuff!

The trouble with Glass’s music is that it doesn’t seem to go anywhere. His greatest musical innovation was to take the parts of music one normally considers accompaniment—the rhythm and the harmony—and make them the central content. He rarely offers melodies in any conventional sense. There is also no development of musical ideas—which is perhaps the classic tradition’s most significant achievement in world music. What Glass offers instead are colorful, emotive, but largely static blocks of gorgeous sound. His Minimalist aesthetic is based on obsessive repetition. The same musical pattern, sometimes a single chord, is played over and over until it creates nervous tension in the listeners. The more closely one listens to his scores the more claustrophobic and constrained they feel as pure music.

His style of writing, the repeated rhythmic patterns, the micro-motifs, and the entrenched ‘minimalism’ just doesn’t appeal to my ear. And when Glass has written compositions that are musically appealing they end up disconnected from their stated themes. That may be unimportant to those who just generically listen. That is not me!

There was a brief moment in an earlier film “The Illusionist”, just one and very fleeting, when a little flicker of hope ignited in me in that movie score. I really wanted to see this movie and fortunately it was so well done, that it is still memorable and praise worthy despite, yet another Phillip Glass disaster and disappointment.

The first film track, unsurprisingly titled “The Illusionist”, gives the score something of a false dawn. It’s an absolutely spellbinding opening piece, in which a decadent bed of strings gives way to a deep, graceful cello passacaglia and a refined, elegant violin theme.

It’s one part John Williams, one part Wojciech Kilar, one part Michael Nyman and one part Glass, and (in my case at least) caused me to sit up and take notice. Could this, finally, be the Philip Glass score which blows me away with thematic beauty?

Sadly not, and although on the whole The Illusionist does have several other excellent moments of lyricism and grace, far too often it reverts back to the churning, repetitive Glass style which has alienated and just plain irritated me for years.

I am well aware that there is and always has been a diversity of opinion in the world of music criticism/evaluation, sometimes even physically violent, and Glass is not without his supporters. I am not sure whether it is a matter of their tastes, or they have been sucked in by his self-promotion.

It really doesn’t matter because this is a far as I go with any attempt to fair in my evaluation of his work. As extensive a collection of Classical, Orchestral music as I have; I have no glass within it, and I cannot foresee ever acquiring a single piece of his “work”.

The good moments include the arrestingly arrhythmic opening to “Do You Know Me?”, which offsets elephantine trombones against a twittering woodwind effect and rumbling percussion; the enchanting, romantic piano and woodwind theme at the end of “Chance Encounter”; the restatement of the opening motif in “The Orange Tree”; the clever harp element in “The Mirror”; the oddly mesmerizing percussion collision towards the end of “Sophie's Ride To The Castle”; the dramatic and tense “A Shout from the Crowd”; the relentlessly fluid “The Search”; and hopeful new theme and superb restatement of the main thematic material in the finale, “Life in the Mountains”.

Most of the rest of the time, though, I found myself wishing the score would do something else, like yesterday’s: go away! Part of the problem, for me at least, is the fact that I have never truly appreciated Glass’s style of writing, with its dense orchestration, endlessly repeated motifs, microtonal key shifts and staccato rhythmic centre.

At its core, The Illusionist had all the trademarks of a classic Glass work - Mishima, or Kundun, or Koyaanisqatsi. Many of the middle-album cues, from “Meeting in the Carriage” through to “Frankel Appears” tend to coagulate together in a relentlessly undulating, monotone mush which threatens to undermine the strength of other parts of the score, and certainly makes waiting for the admittedly rather good finale something of a slog. In “Notes”, the Glass score just screams and pounds relentlessly. I don’t know what he was thinking.

In a way, The Illusionist is simultaneously Philip Glass’s most accessible and frustrating work - on many, many occasions it gives a tantalising glimpse of the kind of amazingly beautiful work he is capable of writing, without ever fully embracing them, and even shows that he could write some decent action music. He never pushes the envelope enough in any one area. I fully understand that Glass is Glass, and he’ll never be anyone else, and so anyone who appreciates him or any of these other referenced works will likely find this score to their taste. The Illusionist is a score written very much in Glass’s comfort zone, which fans of his will adore, but which I found just infuriating, but unlike his “Scandals” score, one could ignore it, not so in “Notes”: that trash just INTRUDED WITH BELICOSE EGOMANICAL SCREAMING AS IF HE WERE TRYING TO COMPETE WITH DENCH AND BLANCHETT!

It is probably a good thing that I am not a professional film critic, because I would probably be inclined to post with any film review with a Glass score, a warning label like that on a package of cigarettes or can rat poison.

Monday, January 22, 2007

THE GOLDEN GLOBE AND ACADEMY AWARDS: NEXT_THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS

Rotten Tomatoes Golden Tomato Awards

THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS

SCREEN ACTORS GUILD HONORS OUTSTANDING FILM AND TELEVISION PERFORMANCES IN 13 CATEGORIES AT THE 13th ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS®

13TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS®

NOMINATIONS

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Forest Whitaker / THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND – Idi Amin Fox Searchlight Pictures

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Helen Mirren / THE QUEEN – The Queen Miramax Films.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Eddie Murphy / DREAMGIRLS – James “Thunder” Early Paramount Pictures

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Jennifer Hudson / DREAMGIRLS – Effie White Paramount Pictures

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE Fox Searchlight Pictures

Alan Arkin Grandpa

Abigail Breslin Olive

Steve Carell Frank

Toni Collette Sheryl

Paul Dano Dwayne

Greg Kinnear Richard

PRIMETIME TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

Jeremy Irons / ELIZABETH I – Earl of Leicester HBO

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

Helen Mirren / ELIZABETH I – Elizabeth I HBO

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

Hugh Laurie / HOUSE – Dr. Gregory House FOX

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

Chandra Wilson / GREY’S ANATOMY – Dr. Miranda Bailey ABC

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Alec Baldwin / 30 ROCK – Jack Donaghy NBC

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

America Ferrera / UGLY BETTY – Betty Suarez ABC

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

GREY’S ANATOMY ABC

Justin Chambers Alex Karev

Eric Dane Mark Sloan

Patrick Dempsey Derek Shepherd

Katherine Heigl Isobel “Izzie” Stevens

T.R. Knight George O’Malley

Sandra Oh Cristina Yang

James Pickens, Jr. Richard Webber

Ellen Pompeo Meredith Grey

Sara Ramirez Callie Torres

Kate Walsh Addison Montgomery Shepherd

Isaiah Washington Preston Burke

Chandra Wilson Miranda Bailey

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

THE OFFICE NBC

Leslie David Baker Stanley Hudson

Brian Baumgartner Kevin Malone

Steve Carell Michael Scott

David Denman Roy Anderson

Jenna Fischer Pam Beesly

Kate Flannery Meredith Palmer

Melora Hardin Jan Levinson

Mindy Kaling Kelly Kapoor

Angela Kinsey Angela Martin

John Krasinski Jim Malpert

Paul Lieberstein Toby Flenderson

B.J. Novak Ryan Howard

Oscar Nunez Oscar Martinez

Phyllis Smith Phyllis Lapin

Rainn Wilson Dwight Schrute

Screen Actors Guild Awards 43rd Annual Life Achievement Award

Julie Andrews

http://www.sagfoundation.org/index.shtml

Search the Internet, Help the SAG Foundation!

Friday, August 11, 2006

What if the Screen Actors Guild Foundation earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Well, now we can!

Just go to goodsearch.com and be sure to enter the Screen Actors Guild Foundation as the charity you want to support. Just 500 people searching four times a day will raise about $7300 in a year without anyone spending a dime!

GoodSearch.com is a new search engine that donates half its revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. You use it just as you would any search engine, and it's powered by Yahoo!, so you get great results.

As an extra bonus, on August 19 the Screen Actors Guild Foundation will be honored as GoodSearch's Charity of the Day.

http://www.goodsearch.com/

13TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS® NOMINATIONS

Screen Actors Guild Award® Nominations

Nominees for the 13th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced January 4, 2007.

A complete list of the 13th Annual SAG Awards Nominees can be found here.
A complete downloadable version of the Press Release is available here.

13th Annual SAG Award Nominees:

Theatrical Motion Pictures

For Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
For Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
For Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
For Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
For Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Television

For Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
For Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
For Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
For Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
For Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
For Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
For Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
For Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

The Actor®, the Screen Actors Guild Awards® statuette for Outstanding Performance, will be presented on Sunday, January 28, 2007, from the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center and televised live nationally on TNT and TBS at 8 PM (ET/PT), 7 PM (Central), 6 PM (Mountain).

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Leonardo DiCaprio / BLOOD DIAMOND – Archer - Warner Bros. Pictures
Ryan Gosling / HALF NELSON – Dan Dunne - THINKFilm
Peter O’Toole / VENUS – Maurice - Miramax Films
Will Smith / THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS – Chris Gardner - Sony Pictures
Forest Whitaker / THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND – Idi Amin - Fox Searchlight Pictures

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Penelope Cruz / VOLVER – Raimunda - Sony Pictures Classics
Judi Dench / NOTES ON A SCANDAL – Barbara Covett - Fox Searchlight Pictures
Helen Mirren / THE QUEEN – The Queen - Miramax Films.
Meryl Streep / THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA – Miranda Priestly - 20th Century Fox
Kate Winslet / LITTLE CHILDREN – Sarah Pierce - New Line Cinema

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin / LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE – Grandpa Fox Searchlight Pictures
Leonardo DiCaprio / THE DEPARTED – Billy Warner Bros. Pictures
Jackie Earle Haley / LITTLE CHILDREN – Ronnie J. McGorvey New Line Cinema
Djimon Hounsou / BLOOD DIAMOND – Solomon Warner Bros. Pictures
Eddie Murphy / DREAMGIRLS – James “Thunder” Early Paramount Pictures

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Adriana Barraza / BABEL – Amelia - Paramount Vantage
Cate Blanchett / NOTES ON A SCANDAL – Sheba Hart - Fox Searchlight Pictures
Abigail Breslin / LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE – Olive - Fox Searchlight Pictures
Jennifer Hudson / DREAMGIRLS – Effie White - Paramount Pictures
Rinko Kikuchi / BABEL – Chieko - Paramount Vantage

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

BABEL - Paramount Vantage
Adriana Barraza - Amelia
Cate Blanchett - Susan
Gael García Bernal - Santiago
Rinko Kikuchi - Chieko
Brad Pitt - Richard
Kôji Yakusho - Yasujiro

BOBBY - MGM/The Weinstein Company
Harry Belafonte - Nelson
Joy Bryant - Patricia
Nick Cannon - Dwayne
Emilio Estevez - Tim Fallon
Laurence Fishburne - Edward Robinson
Brian Geraghty - Cooper
Heather Graham - Angela
Anthony Hopkins - John Casey
Helen Hunt - Samantha
Joshua Jackson - Wade
David Krumholtz - Phil
Ashton Kutcher - Fisher
Shia LaBoeuf - Jimmy
Lindsay Lohan - Diane
William H. Macy - Paul
Svetlana Metkina - Lenka Janacek
Demi Moore - Virginia Fallon
Freddy Rodriguez - José
Martin Sheen - Jack
Christian Slater - Timmons
Sharon Stone - Miriam
Jacob Vargas - Miguel
Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Susan Taylor
Elijah Wood - William

THE DEPARTED - Warner Bros. Pictures
Anthony Anderson - Brown
Alec Baldwin - Ellerby
Matt Damon - Colin
Leonardo DiCaprio - Billy
Vera Farmiga - Madolyn
Jack Nicholson - Costello
Martin Sheen - Queenan
Mark Wahlberg - Dignam
Ray Winstone - Mr. French

DREAMGIRLS - Paramount Pictures
Hinton Battle - Wayne
Jamie Foxx - Curtis Taylor, Jr.
Danny Glover - Marty Madison
Jennifer Hudson - Effie White
Beyoncé Knowles - Deena Jones
Sharon Leal - Michelle Morris
Eddie Murphy - James “Thunder” Early
Keith Robinson - C.C. White
Anika Noni Rose - Lorrell Robinson

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE - Fox Searchlight Pictures
Alan Arkin - Grandpa
Abigail Breslin - Olive
Steve Carell - Frank
Toni Collette - Sheryl
Paul Dano - Dwayne
Greg Kinnear - Richard

PRIMETIME TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Thomas Haden Church / BROKEN TRAIL – Tom Harte - AMC
Robert Duvall / BROKEN TRAIL – Print Ritter - AMC
Jeremy Irons / ELIZABETH I – Earl of Leicester - HBO
William H. Macy / NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES – Clyde Umney - TNT
Matthew Perry / THE RON CLARK STORY – Ron Clark - TNT

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Annette Bening / MRS. HARRIS – Jean Harris - HBO
Shirley Jones / HIDDEN PLACES – Aunt Batty - Hallmark Channel
Cloris Leachman / MRS. HARRIS – Tarnower’s Sister - HBO
Helen Mirren / ELIZABETH I – Elizabeth I - HBO
Greta Scacchi / BROKEN TRAIL – Nola Johns - AMC

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
James Gandolfini / THE SOPRANOS – Tony Soprano - HBO
Michael C. Hall / DEXTER – Dexter Morgan - Showtime
Hugh Laurie / HOUSE – Dr. Gregory House - FOX
James Spader / BOSTON LEGAL – Alan Shore - ABC
Kiefer Sutherland / 24 – Jack Bauer - FOX

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Patricia Arquette / MEDIUM – Allison Dubois - NBC
Edie Falco / THE SOPRANOS – Carmela Soprano - HBO
Mariska Hargitay / LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT – Det. Olivia Benson - NBC
Kyra Sedgwick / THE CLOSER – Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson - TNT
Chandra Wilson / GREY’S ANATOMY – Dr. Miranda Bailey - ABC

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin / 30 ROCK – Jack Donaghy - NBC
Steve Carell / THE OFFICE – Michael Scott - NBC
Jason Lee / MY NAME IS EARL – Earl Hicke - NBC
Jeremy Piven / ENTOURAGE – Ari Gold - HBO
Tony Shalhoub / MONK – Adrian Monk - USA

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
America Ferrera / UGLY BETTY – Betty Suarez - ABC
Felicity Huffman / DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES – Lynette - ABC
Julia Louis-Dreyfus / THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE – Christine Campbell - CBS
Megan Mullally / WILL & GRACE – Karen Walker - NBC
Mary-Louise Parker / WEEDS – Nancy Botwin - Showtime
Jaime Pressly / MY NAME IS EARL – Joy - NBC

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

24 - FOX
Jayne Atkinson - Karen Hayes
Jude Ciccolella - Mike Novic
Roger Cross - Curtis Manning
Gregory Itzin - Charles Logan
Louis Lombardi - Edgar Stiles
James Morrison - Bill Buchanan
Glenn Morshower - Aaron Pierce
Mary Lynn Rajskub - Chloe O’Brian
Kim Raver - Audrey Raines
Jean Smart - Martha Logan
Kiefer Sutherland - Jack Bauer

BOSTON LEGAL - ABC
Rene Auberjonois - Paul Lewiston
Candice Bergen - Shirley Schmidt
Craig Bierko - Jeffrey Coho
Julie Bowen - Denise Bauer
William Shatner - Denny Crane
James Spader - Alan Shore
Mark Valley - Brad Chase

DEADWOOD - HBO
Jim Beaver - Ellsworth
Powers Boothe - Cy Tolliver
Sean Bridgers - Johnny Burns
W. Earl Brown - Dan Dority
Dayton Callie - Charlie Utter
Brian Cox - Jack Langrishe
Kim Dickens - Joanie Stubbs
Brad Dourif - Doc Cochran
Anna Gunn - Martha Bullock
John Hawkes - Sol Starr
Jeffrey Jones - A.W. Merrick
Paula Malcomson - Trixie
Gerald McRaney - George Hearst
Ian McShane - Al Swearengen
Timothy Olyphant - Seth Bullock
Molly Parker - Alma Garret
Leon Rippy - Tom Nuttall
William Sanderson - E.B. Farnum
Brent Sexton - Harry Young
Bree Seanna Wall - Sofia Metz
Robin Weigert - Calamity Jane
Titus Welliver - Silas Adam

GREY’S ANATOMY - ABC
Justin Chambers - Alex Karev
Eric Dane - Mark Sloan
Patrick Dempsey - Derek Shepherd
Katherine Heigl - Isobel “Izzie” Stevens
T.R. Knight - George O’Malley
Sandra Oh - Cristina Yang
James Pickens, Jr. - Richard Webber
Ellen Pompeo - Meredith Grey
Sara Ramirez - Callie Torres
Kate Walsh - Addison Montgomery Shepherd
Isaiah Washington - Preston Burke
Chandra Wilson - Miranda Bailey

THE SOPRANOS - HBO
Sharon Angela - Rosalie Aprile
Lorraine Bracco - Dr. Jennifer Melfi
Max Casella - Benny Fazio
Dominic Chianese - Corrado “Junior” Soprano
Edie Falco - CarmelaSoprano
James Gandolfini - Tony Soprano
Joseph R. Gannascoli - Vito Spatafore
Dan Grimaldi - Patsy Parisi
Robert Iler - Anthony Soprano, Jr.
Michael Imperioli - Christopher Moltisanti
Steven R. Schirripa - Bobby “Bacala” Baccalieri
Jamie Lynn Sigler - Meadow Soprano
Tony Sirico - Paulie “Walnuts” Gaultieri
Aida Turturro - Janice Soprano-Baccalieri
Maureen Van Zandt - Gabriella Dante
Steven Van Zandt - Silvio Dante
Frank Vincent - Phil Leotardo

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES - ABC
Andrea Bowen - Julie Mayer
Richard Burgi - Karl Mayer
Mehcad Brooks - Matthew Applewhite
Ricardo Antonio Chavira - Carlos Solis
Marcia Cross - Bree Hodge
James Denton - Mike Delfino
Teri Hatcher - Susan Mayer
Josh Henderson - Austin McCann
Zane Huett - Parker Scavo
Felicity Huffman - Lynette Scavo
Kathryn Joosten - Mrs. McCluskey
Nashawn Kearse - Caleb Applewhite
Brent Kinsman - Preston Scavo
Shane Kinsman - Porter Scavo
Joy Lauren - Danielle Van De Kamp
Eva Longoria - Gabrielle Solis
Kyle MacLachlan - Orson Hodge
Laurie Metcalf - Carolyn Bigsby
Shawn Pyfrom - Andrew Van De Kamp
Doug Savant - Tom Scavo
Dougray Scott - Ian Hainsworth
Nicollette Sheridan - Edie Britt
Brenda Strong - Mary Alice Young
Kiersten Warren - Nora
Alfre Woodard - Betty Applewhite

ENTOURAGE - HBO
Kevin Connolly - Eric Murphy
Kevin Dillon - Drama
Jerry Ferrara - Turtle
Adrian Grenier - Vincent Chase
Rex Lee - Lloyd
Debi Mazar - Shauna
Jeremy Piven- Ari Gold
Perrey Reeves - Mrs. Ari

THE OFFICE - NBC
Leslie David Baker - Stanley Hudson
Brian Baumgartner - Kevin Malone
Steve Carell - Michael Scott
David Denman - Roy Anderson
Jenna Fischer - Pam Beesly
Kate Flannery - Meredith Palmer
Melora Hardin - Jan Levinson
Mindy Kaling - Kelly Kapoor
Angela Kinsey - Angela Martin
John Krasinski - Jim Halpert
Paul Lieberstein - Toby Flenderson
B.J. Novak - Ryan Howard
Oscar Nunez - Oscar Martinez
Phyllis Smith - Phyllis Lapin
Rainn Wilson - Dwight Schrute

UGLY BETTY - ABC
Alan Dale - Bradford Meade
America Ferrera - Betty Suarez
Mark Indelicato - Justin
Ashley Jensen - Christina
Eric Mabius - Daniel Meade
Becki Newton - Amanda
Ana Ortiz - Hilda
Tony Plana - Ignacio
Kevin Sussman - Walter
Michael Urie - Marc
Vanessa Williams - Wilhelmina Slater

WEEDS - SHOWTIME
Martin Donovan - Peter Scottson
Alexander Gould - Shane Botwin
Allie Grant - Isabelle Hodes
Indigo - Vaneeta
Justin Kirk - Andy Botwin
Romany Malco - Conrad Shepard
Andy Milder - Dean Hodes
Kevin Nealon - Doug Wilson
Maulik Pancholy - Sanjay
Mary-Louise Parker - Nancy Botwin
Hunter Parrish - Silas Botwin
Tonye Patano - Heylia Jones
Elizabeth Perkins- Celia Hodes
Eden Sher - Gretchen

Screen Actors Guild Awards 43rd Annual Life Achievement Award
Julie Andrews

THE GOLDEN GLOBE AND ACADEMY AWARDS PAGE

THE GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS

THE TOP PERFORMANCES THAT WILL BE FORGOTTEN BY THE ACADEMY AWARDS -1/22/07- EGD

When the Oscar nominations are announced tomorrow, they will undoubtedly omit some of the year's most fun and lively performances. Among them:

1. Daniel Craig, "Casino Royale": No performance was more anticipated last year than Craig's entry into the 007 canon, and the consensus was clear: the blond Bond more than met expectations. Craig's nuanced performance came in that dirty genre ("action movie") and therefore isn't suited for the Oscars, even though they share the same taste in attire (tuxedos). The question is, now that Craig has illuminated the backstory of Bond's early agent days, can he find a character arc for a fully formed 007?

2. Jack Black, "Nacho Libre": As a wannabe luchador wrestler, Black's insanity leaps off the screen in the sometimes too-precious "Nacho Libre." Whether in his red and aqua suit or simply curly-haired and mustachioed, seldom has a movie character ever been so funny simply by appearance.

3. The Kids: Child actors are infrequently honored. But several young actors were every bit as good as their elders in 2006: Ivana Baquero in "Pan's Labyrinth," Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine" and the teenage Shareeka Epps in "Half Nelson." Ryan Gosling may be winning accolades for wearily rubbing his face throughout "Half Nelson," but Epps is the film's conscience.

4. Dave Chappelle, "Block Party": It's true that "Block Party" is a documentary, but don't let that fool you — Chappelle is most certainly playing a part. As a mix of comedian, music-lover and social do-gooder, Chappelle hosts the concert he always wanted to see. He's at his best doing his James Brown impression, explaining the power of "Hit me!"

5. Aaron Eckhart, "Thank You for Smoking": With a politician's smile, Eckhart impressively embodies tobacco lobbyist Nick Naylor in this satire of political correctness. Naylor doesn't miss a beat when his son asks him why the U.S. government is best: "Because of our endless appeals system."

6. Mark Wahlberg, "The Departed": Wahlberg is quietly putting together a solid resume as a supporting player. Before his fiery, expletive-laced performance in "The Departed," Wahlberg's existential motormouth was the best thing about "I (Heart) Huckabees." As Dignam in "The Departed," Wahlberg answers: "Who am I? I'm the guy that does his ... job! You must be the other guy!"

7. Catherine O'Hara, "For Your Consideration": As the fittingly named Marilyn Hack, O'Hara plays an over-the-hill actress nearly deformed by plastic surgery. She stands out in Christopher Guest's mockumentary of a small film ("Home for Purim") that magically gathers wholly unwarranted Oscar buzz. If the academy had a better taste for irony, it would nominate O'Hara.

8. Kevin Kline, "A Prairie Home Companion": Kline is clearly having fun in bringing to life Guy Noir, the recurring '40s-style private eye character in Garrison Keillor's beloved radio program. Maybe — like Greg Kinnear in "Little Miss Sunshine" — Kline gets overlooked for making it seem so effortless.

9. Rob Brydon, "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story": If one pays attention to Michael Winterbottom's uneven film-within-a-film, it's clear all the best parts feature Brydon — especially his conversations with co-star Steve Coogan that bookend the movie. While the credits roll, he discusses the influences on his craft: "I look for truth, and that's why I go to Pacino. That's why I go to Hopkins. ... I go to Streisand."

10. Ken Davitian, "Borat": Yes, he's actually an actor. Of all the things in Sacha Baron Cohen's film that one questions as real or fake, you don't for a minute doubt Davitian as Azamat Bagatov, Borat's (mostly) loyal sidekick and manager. Without speaking a word of English, Davitian transformed into Bagatov as much as Baron Cohen did Borat. After all, he did supply most of the humor in the famed naked wrestling scene. And people think Will Ferrell is immodest.

THE OSCARS: 79TH ACADEMY AWARDS

NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY - 79TH AWARDS

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Leonardo DiCaprio - BLOOD DIAMOND
Ryan Gosling - HALF NELSON
Peter O'Toole - VENUS
Will Smith - THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Forest Whitaker - THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Alan Arkin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jackie Earle Haley - LITTLE CHILDREN
Djimon Hounsou - BLOOD DIAMOND
Eddie Murphy - DREAMGIRLS
Mark Wahlberg - THE DEPARTED

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Penélope Cruz - VOLVER
Judi Dench - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Helen Mirren - THE QUEEN
Meryl Streep - THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Kate Winslet - LITTLE CHILDREN

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Adriana Barraza - BABEL
Cate Blanchett - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Abigail Breslin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jennifer Hudson - DREAMGIRLS
Rinko Kikuchi - BABEL

Best animated feature film of the year

CARS
HAPPY FEET
MONSTER HOUSE

Achievement in art direction

DREAMGIRLS
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
PAN'S LABYRINTH
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
THE PRESTIGE

Achievement in cinematography

THE BLACK DAHLIA
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE ILLUSIONIST
PAN'S LABYRINTH
THE PRESTIGE

Achievement in costume design

CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
DREAMGIRLS
MARIE ANTOINETTE
THE QUEEN

Achievement in directing

BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
THE QUEEN
UNITED 93

Best documentary feature

DELIVER US FROM EVIL
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS
JESUS CAMP
MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY

Best documentary short subject

THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT
RECYCLED LIFE
REHEARSING A DREAM
TWO HANDS

Achievement in film editing

BABEL
BLOOD DIAMOND
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
UNITED 93

Best foreign language film of the year

AFTER THE WEDDING
DAYS OF GLORY (INDIGÈNES)
THE LIVES OF OTHERS
PAN'S LABYRINTH
WATER

Achievement in makeup

APOCALYPTO
CLICK
PAN'S LABYRINTH

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

BABEL
THE GOOD GERMAN
NOTES ON A SCANDAL
PAN'S LABYRINTH
THE QUEEN

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

"I Need to Wake Up" - AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
"Listen" - DREAMGIRLS
"Love You I Do" - DREAMGIRLS
"Our Town" - CARS
"Patience" - DREAMGIRLS

Best motion picture of the year

BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
THE QUEEN

Best animated short film

THE DANISH POET
LIFTED
THE LITTLE MATCHGIRL
MAESTRO
NO TIME FOR NUTS

Best live action short film

BINTA AND THE GREAT IDEA (BINTA Y LA GRAN IDEA)
ÉRAMOS POCOS (ONE TOO MANY)
HELMER & SON
THE SAVIOUR
WEST BANK STORY

Achievement in sound editing

APOCALYPTO
BLOOD DIAMOND
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST

Achievement in sound mixing

APOCALYPTO
BLOOD DIAMOND
DREAMGIRLS
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST

Achievement in visual effects

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
POSEIDON
SUPERMAN RETURNS

Adapted screenplay

BORAT CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
LITTLE CHILDREN
NOTES ON A SCANDAL

Original screenplay

BABEL
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
PAN'S LABYRINTH
THE QUEEN

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