Armchair Commentary

Daniel's Dozen: Oscar's 12 Best, Worst-Dressed Stars

Welcome to the Oscars® Fashion Forum at Amazon.com. I’ve chosen my 12 picks for best and worst gowns of the 82nd Academy Awards® red carpet presentation. Like the year that preceded it, this year’s gowns stayed away from the wild and mostly maintained the mild, making it a challenge to come up with a hit or a definitive miss. What do you think?

HITS (click on photos to see larger)

Sandra Bullock shimmered and stunned in a champagne column dress from Marchesa. An exquisitely embroidered sheer overlay cascaded down her clingy silken skirt. Her lustrous brown hair, worn loose, was the perfect complement.

 

Cameron Diaz deserved the gold for her dress alone. Appropriately attired in—we’re talking about the designer, not the statuette—a spangled bronzed Oscar de la Renta gown, the actress radiated confidence and charm.

Mo’Nique ruled in a royal-blue gown with satiny folds that flattered and formed in all the right places. She gets extra points for the historical nod (hello, Oscar winner Hattie McDaniel) and the perky gardenias in her hair. I’m an old-fashioned boy at heart.

Always-elegant Kate Winslet went with Yves St. Laurent for this most magical of nights. Her beaded bodice shone like armor, a nice contrast to the drapey duchess silk skirt. A diamond drop necklace and vintage Veronica Lake hair style complete the look.

Queen Latifah reigned supreme, this year in a figure-flattering dress of pale lilac silk. The ornate silver beading across the single-shoulder strap and the diagonal stripe accenting her waist added contrast and interest. Long live the Queen!

I’ve saluted a queen, why not honor a dame? Helen Mirren looked stately in her lavender spangled gown. From Badgley Mischka, its age-defying beauty was matched only by her Chopard gems and dandy arm candy Christopher Plummer.

MISSES (click on photo to see larger):

Nominee Vera Farmiga may have been confused—was it an awards ceremony or a flamenco performance? Her magenta Marchesa monstrosity puts the fan in fandango, with multiple tiers of fan-like ruffles dancing their way down the dress.

Jennifer Lopez’s ice-pink butterfly confection from Armani Prive perhaps should have remained prive-private. The pink ornamentation at her waist looked like it was ready for takeoff. Maybe Jenni from the block should have driven around the block before deciding on this frock.

How many shades of purple can a girl cram into one Oscar gown? Zoe Saldana seemed determined to find out, evidently. An asymmetrical sash served as the great divide between a delicately beaded top and the roaring ruffles beneath.

Even though I adore both Sarah Jessica Parker and Chanel (not necessarily in that order), I’m torn. SJP’s sickly yellow Chanel Couture was a shapeless sack for the lithe star in this rare fashion misstep. The bizarre bun seemed top-heavy and mismatched. Will the next Sex and the City redeem her? Let’s hope so!

While I loved Carey Mulligan’s vintage ‘50s silhouette, chic short haircut, and Fred Leighton chandelier earrings, I found Prada’s random collection of forks, spoons, and scissors a bit cutlery-contrived. When asked about it on the red carpet, she replied, “I don’t know.” I don’t either.

I’m thrilled that my totally ‘80s dream girlfriend Molly Ringwald still looks fantastic. I’m less than excited about the deep-purple silk gown she wore for the John Hughes tribute, however. Were the matching bronze squiggle cuff and waist ornament a tribute to the same decade? Molly, Molly. It’s time to update.

Did I say it was Daniel’s Dozen? Well, let’s make that a Baker’s Dozen. I would be remiss if I didn’t include Neil Patrick Harris in our couture commentary. His snappy sequined striped tuxedo jacket in the opening number’s old-school Hollywood chorus line was nothing short of spectacular, and his youthful vigor set the tone for the evening. Well done, NPH, well done!

Agree or disagree? Please comment. --Daniel

Oscar Wrap-Up: Best, Worst Moments

Another year, another Oscar. You can see the complete list of winners & nominees here as well as buy past winners at Oscar Central. Here's a rundown of highlights and lowlights for this year's awards.

BEST

Bringing out past co-stars to effuse about the lead actor and actress nominees, rather than last year's cattle call of past winners to welcome the newest to the fold. While last year's was nice and all, it was often painful when the speaker was reading praise off the TelePrompTer, very obvious they hadn't even seen the performance. Seeing Michelle Pfeiffer reminisce about Jeff Bridges from The Fabulous Baker Boys, etc. was a welcome trip down memory lane.

Gabourey Sidibe's runway pose when her name was announced at the beginning of the show, when all the lead acting nominees came onstage.

The crackling "tension" that appeared to be going on between Alec Baldwin and George Clooney during the opening monologue. Priceless.

Jeff Bridges' emotional praise of his showbiz parents (and repeated use of the word "groovy" and "man"). Had Jason Reitman (son of Ivan) had won Best Adapted Screenplay for Up in the Air, you would have seen a similar speech, but alas, it was not to be.

Costume Design winner Sandy Powell (The Young Victoria) astutely observing that designers for movies that are not period dramas are underrecognized, but that their work is just as hard.

Taylor Lautner's terrified expression when Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin mentioned his name during their opening monologue, tensing himself up for a joke at his expense.

The stars of the Animated Feature films being interviewed by Barbara Walters, press junket-style. Best is The Fantastic Mr. Fox lamenting that this isn't a "real" category.

The tribute to John Hughes. Not in a long time have I seen a montage of clips that perfectly encapsulated someone's influence, rather than just a mishmash of iconic well-known scenes. Plus it was nice to see the number of actors who got their start in a Hughes pic. The girl laughing at Watts wearing "boys' underpants" in the locker-room scene from Some Kind of Wonderful still stings today. (Side note: Vanity Fair has a terrific profile of the late '80s writer-director).

No Best Song performances. I thought I would miss them. I didn't.

The Best Score interpretive dance, which I would have put in the "Neither Here nor There" category, except for the dance for Up, which really made me appreciate the score even more.

The top half of Zoe Saldana's gown.

NEITHER HERE NOR THERE

Neil Patrick Harris' musical opening. I love me some NPH, but the opening was not nearly as brilliant as his Emmy number. Many confused audience members probably echoed Harris' sentiment, "What am I doing there?"

Co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. When they were onstage, they were spot-on, and they had some great brief bits involving Snuggies and a riff on Paranormal Activity. The only complaint is not using them enough.

Ben Stiller presenting Best Makeup dressed in full Avatar getup. I would applaud his fully committed performance had he not meandered and rambled about wanting to "plug my braid into your dragon."

Morgan Freeman narrating the Best Sound introduction. Yes, he is the voice of God in my head, but CBS Evening News, Visa.. is there anything the man hasn't voice-overed yet?

The absence of the Governor's Award, Honorary Oscar and Thalberg Award presentations. They were done in a separate dinner so the honorees would get more air time and a more intimate setting. Which is all well and good in keeping the show short, but that Lauren Bacall acceptance speech alone looked like it was prime-time worthy.

Demi Moore introducing the "In Memoriam" sequence, but not mentioning anything about Patrick Swayze.


WORST

The Oscar pre-show. Two bad decisions were made here: Kathy Ireland "interviewing" stars, and including in the past red-carpet montage celebrity couples who are no longer together (Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford, for instance).

The failure of AquaNet. Judging by the frizzy coifs of Sarah Jessica Parker, Anna Kendrick, Demi Moore and others, some hairstylists will find themselves without a job tomorrow.

Kristen Stewart: For the love of God, stop fidgeting.

Using the sweeping theme from E.T. to announce... Elizabeth Banks (who was recapping the Sci-Fi and Tech Oscars). With that music, was anyone else expecting Steven Spielberg to walk out? Or Drew Barrymore?

Orchestra vs. winner playing chicken. The director from The Cove awkwardly stood there as the cutoff music played, seemingly considering if he should talk over the orchestra or get them to stop. He ended up shrugging and leaving the stage, probably cursing co-producer Fisher Stevens for hogging all the air time.

The horror movie montage. Its purpose was ... what, exactly?

The bottom half of Zoe Saldana's gown.

BEST QUOTES
"Well, the time has come." -- Barbra Streisand, presenting Best Director to The Hurt Locker's Kathryn Bigelow (the first female to win)

"Oscar AND Penelope. That's an uber-Bingo." --Christoph Waltz, whose Supporting Actor statue was given to him by Penelope Cruz

"It's a collaboration between handsome gifted people and sickly little mole people." --Robert Downey Jr., on the relationship between writers and actors

"I want to thank Miss Hattie McDaniel, for enduring all that she had to so that I would not have to." --Best Supporting Actress winner Mo'Nique of the first African-American Oscar winner

"I want to thank the Academy for not considering Na'vi a foreign language." -- director of El Secreto de sus Ojos, winner for Best Foreign Language Film, of the made-up language spoken in Avatar

"I'll never forget what you said to me about friendship on the last day of shooting [The Shawshank Redemption]. He said, 'Being a friend is getting the other a cup of coffee. Can you do that for me, Ted? It is Ted, isn't it?'" -- Tim Robbins, presenting Best Actor nominee Morgan Freeman

"[He's a] fantastically fantastic mister foxy fox." -- Vera Farmiga, presenting Best Actor nominee George Clooney

"It is in the area of awards and accolades that you show a certain... selfishness ... That is why I have spearheaded a movement in the Academy to cap the number of nominations by an actor at 16." --Stanley Tucci, presenting Best Actress (and 16-time nominee) Meryl Streep

"For not letting me ride in cars with boys till I was 18, 'cause she was right, I would have done what she said I was gonna do." -- Sandra Bullock, tearfully thanking her late mother

And the best of co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin:

 "He directed A Single Man." "And she weighs a single pound." -- Introducing designer Tom Ford and Sarah Jessica Parker

"Our next presenter won a screenwriting Oscar at the age of 27, and then went on to become an action star, which represents the first time a screenwriter has gotten any action." -- introducting Matt Damon

"In Inglourious Basterds, Christoph Waltz played a Nazi obsessed with finding Jews. Well Christoph... (gestures to the audience) .. the motherlode."

"Meryl Streep holds the record for most nominations for an actress. Or as I like to think of it, most losses."

"She was so pleased to be nominated with him she sent him a beautiful gift basket... with a timer." "And he reciprocated by sending her.. a Toyota." --regarding the Best Director nominees (and friendly ex-spouses) Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron

"Oh look, there's that damn Helen Mirren." "That's Dame Helen Mirren." --Martin misreading the TelePrompTer

"The show is so long that Avatar now takes place in the past."

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What were your favorite moments? --Ellen

Sundance 2010 Wrap Up

Okay, so I know the big news of the week is of course the Oscar nominations, but some of the industry may still be recovering from the 26th Sundance Film Festival, which concluded this past weekend. It was my first Sundance experience and I think can best be summed up simply by saying it's exhilarating, exhausting...and involves a lot of snow! And of course, I am now addicted.

Considering this year’s Sundance stars may just be next year’s Oscar babies (case in point:Oscar-nominated Precious,  The Messenger and An Education were Sundance ’09 winners), I thought I would share my thoughts on the fest films that caught my attention:

1. Blue Valentine – A drama with star power that actually proved worthy of it’s praise. Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling  play a married couple who’s complex relationship story is told. It’s shot beautifully and both actors turn in raw and real performances worth watching for that alone. Yes, it's a bit of a downer, but it was my favorite performances and film at the festival. And Harvey thought so too – The Weinstein Company purchased it.

2. Restrepo - a timely documentary that chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. Filmmakers Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's spent a year living with the unit – it's as real as it gets. Their hard work paid off, as the film went on to on the world cinema documentary grand jury prize, and although I didn’t get to see it, it came up in many conversations and made the top films of the fest lists of critics and film-goers alike.

3. Buried - Sole actor Ryan Reynolds trapped in a coffin with only a lighter and a cell phone. My first thought when I read this in the film guide prior to the festival was “Wait, an entire movie with just Ryan Reynolds?” And quickly my 2nd thought turned to “Wait, an ENTIRE movie with JUST Ryan Reynolds!” Frankly I would pay $10 to see Ryan Reynolds staring at the wall for all I care, but maybe that's just me.  Turns out I am not the only one - the film was quite the talk opening weekend (and not by just crazy women like me – apparently it was quite innovative and, well, good). The bidding war started quickly after its premiere and it was the first Sundance 2010 film purchased (by Lionsgate).

4. Winter’s Bone – A young girl from the Ozarks hunts down her father while trying to keep her family together. I also wasn't able to see this, but after it’s premiere on Sat. of opening weekend, I heard nothing but good things from those that saw this drama/thriller/mystery. And it won the big one – the Grand Jury Dramatic Prize as well as the Waldo Salt screenwriting award. It was purchased as well, and be on the look-out for a rumored summer release.

5.  Happythankyoumoreplease proved a winner for writer/director/actor Josh Radnor ( of How I Met Your Mother fame), and not just because in my opinion it has the best name of the festival. The dramedy took home the dramatic audience award. In Josh’s words “The movie's about relationships, people in New York trying to be a little happier and a little less cynical.” Sometimes you just can't take another downer film, so a charming and fun film like this seemed a welcome one. Fingers crossed this one gets purchased and gets some marketing power behind it, as I am thinking it could be a perfect little uplifting summer indie.

6. I also enjoyed Hesher – Spencer Susser’s black Comedy starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman (who served double-duty as producer as well). It seemed to receive mixed reactions from audiences, but it was another lucky one that found a home - snapped up Newmarket Films. Joseph plays a crude rebel with ease, and teen Devin Brouchu is impressive in a challenging role. (One of the many great kid/teen performances seen at Sundance this year.) It’s dark and humorous (and R rated to say the least) - and I think it will find it’s fans. As it should, cause man poor Devin just gets the crap beat out of him in that movie and he deserves something just for that!

7. Adrian Grenier’s Teenage Paparazzo is also one I have to add to my list (and no, not just because I heart Vincent Chase).  Adrian explores the subject of our celebrity obsession through the eyes of a teen paparrazo. Seriously – the kid is like 13 and on his scooter in L.A. at 3AM taking pap shots. It’s entertaining, fascinating, and an interesting take on our media culture. You know, I think Adrian has a back-up job with this director thing in case that whole Entourage thing doesn’t pan out.

So there's my list - acknowledging that there were many incredible films that I may be leaving out - so hope you can go explore them for yourself! And although this blog is getting far to long, I can't resist but to leave you with my top 4 random festival thoughts as I close the book on Sundance 2010:

1. Even at a festival filled with industry professionals and filmmakers from all over the world, the after-movie Q&A with the cast will still involve stupid questions from the audience that will cause you to cringe. Case in point, with Ryan Gosling and Oscar-nominated Michelle Williams fielding post screening of Blue Valentine Q&A, an audience member chose to ask about the hairstyle of the little girl in the film. Yes, after waving your hand wildly with all that talent in the room, why the child actor has a “sophisticated haircut” is exactly what I would want to know. And that preceded a question about if Ryan would take off his shirt, following a question about The Notebook. Really Sundance crowd? I expected more for you! I mean not that I wouldn’t mind seeing Ryan without his shirt on, but that is not the point.

2. The Commish rocks! (Okay some of you may know him better from The Shield, but he will always be the Commish to me.) Michael Chiklis and his band can rock a crowd and cause celebs to even whip out their cameras. At the HIGH School premiere party he got the cast on stage and even made Collin Hanks look (slightly) less awkward and rock out.

3) Paris Hilton’s hair is so blonde it can be seen even in a dark theater kinda like a glow stick. No joke.

4) Watching the world premiere of a film with what seemed like the entire cast/crew sitting in front of me, cheering wildly throughout the beginning credits, hugging each other and giving high-fives was the most incredible reminder of just what a big deal it is to actually get a film on to the screen, and to the people involved with it. To the cast/crew of Skateland (a coming-of-age dramedy that pays homage to the 80’s John Hughes films, with great 80’s clothes and soundtrack to boot), thanks for inspiring me to remember what makes the film community and festival amazing. Amidst the Sundance deals, the parties and star power, at the end of the day there truly is a celebration of film still going on.

So thanks Bob (that’s Robert Redford to the rest of you) – and best of luck to all the lucky Sundance kids!  I’m already counting down to Sundance 2011! -- Lisanne

Oscar Nominations: Five Surprises

I'm still a bit bleary-eyed from this morning's 5:30 a.m. call, but this year's Oscar nominees have been announced. Avatar and The Hurt Locker, as expected, tied for the most nominations with nine each. You can see the full list and nab the ones already available for pre-order, and meanwhile ponder these surprises:

1) The Blind Side in the Best Picture race? Really?! Over Star Trek, A Single Man, Invictus, and a host of other films that made the top 10 lists other than this one? (Seriously, I would have been less surprised over The Hangover being mentioned instead.) My big fear here is that this nod will cinch Sandra Bullock the Best Actress crown over Meryl Streep, whom, it must be said, I am really rooting for this year, because despite her 16 record nominations, the woman last won in 1982. That's also only a 0.125 batting average. There weren't just gasps this morning upon the inclusion; there was also a bit of stuttering.

2) No Clint Eastwood in the Best Director category. The awards buzz for Invictus has been slowly fading since its opening, which had strong but not wild reviews. Despite its nods for Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, it was not only shut out of the Best Picture race but copped no nod for the evergreen nominee.

3) Maggie Gyllenhaal edges out Julianne Moore for Best Supporting Actress. There were no late-breaking upsets in the acting categories, but this was the first showing of Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart) in awards season over the four times-nominated Moore. Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds) also had an outside shot, considering she got the SAG nomination instead of Moore. Still, it's a pleasant surprise for Gyllenhaal, who always does great work.

4) What is The Secret of Kells? The producers of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Ponyo, and many other overlooked animated films all scratched their heads over the inclusion of this Irish tale about monks and Vikings.

5) The strength of The Last Station in the acting categories, especially 1) No one ever talks about this film, and 2) it also was not nominated for anything else. The Young Victoria's Emily Blunt is left to watch at home (or perhaps present at the awards) with her adorable fiance as grand dame Helen Mirren instead takes her place in the Best Actress race. And kudos to Christopher Plummer, who, with a nod for Best Supporting Actor has received his very first career Oscar nomination at the age of 80.

--Ellen

Golden Globes Wrap-Up: Memorable Moments and Quotes

This year's Golden Globes left the Oscar race wide open, given the shutout of The Hurt Locker, which won trophies for best film and director at the Critics' Choice Awards two nights ago. Avatar, a late awards contender as audiences begrudgingly admit its merits, took Best Drama and Director instead, leaving the other leading contender Up in the Air with a single win for screenplay, and Inglourious Basterds with one win for supporting actor Christoph Waltz. You can see our complete list of winners and nominees, order some on DVD and Blu-ray, and sign up to be notified when the others are available for pre-order.

Highlights:

• Finally, some love for Dexter, which has always been a bridesmaid, never a bride. The Showtime drama picked up its very first major awards(!) for Supporting Actor John Lithgow and Actor in a Television Drama Michael C. Hall, who recently revealed he was battling non-Hodgkins' lymphoma.

• Let's hear it for the freshmen: Glee knocked 30 Rock off its Best Comedy perch (though Alec Baldwin again won the Best Actor in a Comedy award), Julianna Margulies picked up her very first (!) Globe after six career noms for the new drama The Good Wife; and Toni Collette also won her first Globe for United States of Tara after four career nominations.

• More show-biz veterans who'd never won but did: Kevin Bacon (Taking Chance), Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Drew Barrymore (Grey Gardens) and Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) all had their first career Globe wins.

• Jeff Bridges' win for Best Actor in a Drama following his Critics' Choice win, makes him the front-runner as of today for Best Actor. Should he win the SAGs next week, it's pretty much a lock.

• The emotional tributes to spouses: Supporting Actress Mo'Nique to her husband, whom she'd known since she was 14; Lithgow and Bridges both acknowledged their long marriages (28 for Lithgow, 33 for Bridges); Robert Downey Jr. to his wife, Sherlock Holmes producer Susan Downey, without whom he'd be bussing tables (?); Margulies to her husband and son, and Sandra Bullock, who told hubby Jesse James: "It's no coincidence that my work got better when I met you."

• Touching tributes to parents: Meryl Streep to her mother, Jeff Bridges to his father, the late actor Lloyd Bridges, and Jason Reitman to his director father Ivan Reitman, who co-produced Up in the Air.

• Other odd (but not awkward) callouts: James Cameron to his ex-wife (and friend) Kathryn Bigelow, who he acknowledged he'd been expecting to beat him for Best Director; Bridges thanking his stand-in.

• Sandra Bullock's perfect German.

• I know she's not in movies (though she was there to plug her debut in the upcoming Burlesque with Cher), but seriously, Christina Aguilera has never looked better.

Lowlights:

• The underutilization of Ricky Gervais. I know they wanted to keep the show moving and end on time, but they could have easily cut out about 5-7 presenters for more Ricky. But that may have ended up a good thing, because the usually spot-on comedian spent a whole lotta time plugging (his old BBC series The Office--both the DVD and the reruns!, his blog, his 2009 film The Invention of Lying, and his upcoming HBO series). And the one or two zingers he did manage to say, he seemed to deliver so nervously he seemed afraid a giant cane was going to yank him offstage by the neck.

• Really shaky camera direction. Some nominees' faces were missed entirely as their names were called, and more than one camera appeared to have collided with a star on the way to the bathroom (see James Cameron's quote below).

• Cheesiest moment: Cameron, again, effusively telling the ballroom how lucky they were to have fantastic jobs (which they applauded to) and then encouraging them all to "give it up for yourselves!" (which they didn't). What was this, an episode of The Biggest Loser?

• Sally Hawkins, last year's Best Comedy Actress winner for Happy-Go-Lucky, appearing to present, during which you thought: I haven't seen this person since the last Golden Globes. Is she still acting? (Your second thought: Has she eaten since then?)

• There must be a clause in his oath of office that says that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is allowed to appear on the Globes every year, always toward the end, even though he hasn't made a film since 2004. At least this time he didn't use the phrases "Hasta La Vista" or "I'll be back."

• The loss of the "graceful loser" face. The other best actress in a drama nominees pretty much looked like they were going to throw up as Bullock made her way to the stage.

And now, the most memorable quotes of the night:

"Let's get on with it... Before NBC replaces me with Jay Leno." -- Host Ricky Gervais

"This is for anybody and everybody who got a wedgie in high school." -- Ryan Murphy, creator of Glee, winner for Best TV Comedy

"Thank you... for believing in the 10 o'clock drama." --Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife), winner for Best TV Actress in a Drama

"They told me that was going to open." --Presenter Jodie Foster on her delayed stage entrance

"Fox and I made a deal: Half of the gross receipts are going to the state budget, and the other half goes right to James Cameron ... the only way he can make more money than that is to be hired by NBC ... or be fired by NBC."--Arnold Schwarzenegger, on why he's presenting Avatar

"To my American family who's watching: Put down the Maker's Mark and go to bed." -- Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), winner for Best Actress in a Drama

"You're really screwing up my underappreciated status here." -- Jeff Bridges

"Thank you to Susan Downey for telling me Matt Damon was going to win, so don't bother preparing a speech." -- Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes), winner for Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical, to his wife/Sherlock Holmes producer

"Thank Joel Silver? The guy's only restarted my career 12 times since I started 25 years ago." --Downey

"My name is Paul McCartney, or as I'm known, That Guy From Rock Band." --Paul McCartney, presenting for Best Animated Feature Film

"Animation is not just for children. It is also for adults who take drugs." --McCartney

"Our giant foreheads." --Presenter Neil Patrick Harris, on why he and Jane Krakowski went into comedy instead of drama

"This is not the Meryl Streep movie in which she ends up in bed with Alec Baldwin, but she does with Stanley Tucci... By any measure, a substantial move up." --Tom Hanks, presenting Julie & Julia

"For the first 20 years of our careers, Marty and I made movie after movie together. For the last 10 we've been giving each other awards." --Robert De Niro, presenting the Cecil B. DeMille award to Martin Scorsese

"I too was in this room when I was seven years old, but it was for bar mitzvah." --Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, echoing Drew Barrymore's revelation of how long she's been attending the Globes

"I wanna change my name to T-Bone." -- Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia), winner of Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical

"I know I could be like, Jeff Spicoli's girlfriend, with the lisp and the paralysis. Thank you for taking a chance on me." --Drew Barrymore, Best Actress in a TV Movie winner for Grey Gardens, mocking her own famous mannerisms

"If you want attention, sit next to Paul McCartney. I've never had so many texts in my life." --Presenter Julia Roberts

"I'm gonna try to make it as brief as I can, because I have to pee something fierce." -- James Cameron (Avatar), winner of Best Director

"Honestly, I like a drink as much as the next man... unless the next man is Mel Gibson." --Gervais, before introducing Gibson

What were your favorite/least favorite moments?

--Ellen

Globes Preview: Behold the Brilliance of Ricky Gervais

I am always totally stoked (a word I use, oh, never) for the Golden Globes. They're no-nonsense, no montages or musical numbers (which I don't mind, but can only handle so many times during awards season), no prolonged funny bits, and everyone's a wee bit tipsy. This year, there's the added bonus of Ricky Gervais, who has made brilliant appearances in years past, both at the Globes and the Emmys, so it was high time someone asked him to host.

To get yourself stoked as well (ha! I used it twice) Check out the best of Ricky Gervais at award shows:

as an added bonus, here's the clip from Kate Winslet's guest appearance on "Extras" Gervais is referring to (Gervais writes, stars in, and produces the show):

--Ellen

Armchair Daily: News from the World of Movies & TV

ERIC ROHMER DIES: Eric Rohmer, a French director and critic who was integral to the French New Wave movement, dies at the age of 89. Rohmer is best known for the Oscar-nominated My Night at Maud's, the third title in his Six Moral Tales series. He also directed Chloe in the Afternoon, which was later remade into the Chris Rock comedy I Think I Love My Wife.

'AVATAR' SETS RECORDS: Avatar has surpassed Lord of the Rings: Return of the King as the No. 2 highest grossing movie worldwide, at $1.13 billion and counting (Titanic earned $1.84 billion for No. 1). Avatar also currently sits at No. 7 for the all-time highest domestic box office, at $430 million. Within the week it should pass Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace ($431.1 million), E.T. ($435 million), Shrek 2 ($441 million), and even Star Wars ($460 million). Only The Dark Knight ($533 million) sits in its way of making the top two all-time box office champs a James Cameron two-fer.

NBC SHAKEUP: NBC has officially yanked Jay Leno's 10 p.m. show and is proposing Leno move his show to a half-hour format at 11:35, pushing Conan O'Brien to midnight and Jimmy Fallon to 1 a.m. O'Brien is said to be weighing the possibility of jumping to Fox.

WRITERS GUILD AWARDS: The nominees for best original screenplay are: (500) Days of Summer, Avatar, The Hangover, The Hurt Locker, A Serious Man; for best adapted screenplay they are: Crazy Heart, Julie & Julia, Precious, Star Trek, Up in the Air.

TV TIDBITS: Glee has been renewed for a second season ... Howie Mandel will replace David Hasselhoff on America's Got Talent... Simon Cowell has officially announced that this is his final season on American Idol. The grumpy British judge will launch an American version of his popular U.K., show The X-Factor.

--Ellen

SAG Nominations Announced

As we march on through awards season, the Screen Actors Guild announced their nominations this morning. Up in the Air was left out of Best Cast (odd since its entire main cast was nominated in acting categories); Sandra Bullock marches on to her first possible Oscar nomination; Diane Kruger makes a surprise appearance in the supporting-actress category for Inglourious Basterds. Over on television, The Good Wife makes a strong showing, and just ended (or canceled) shows Monk and Samantha Who? got nods for their lead actors.  --Ellen

MOVIES

Best Cast

An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious

Best Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress
Penélope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Diane Kruger, Inglourious Basterds
Mo’Nique, Precious

TELEVISION

Outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series

The Closer
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men
True Blood

Outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series

30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Glee
Modern Family
The Office

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series

Simon Baker, The Mentalist
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series

Patricia Arquette, Medium
Glenn Close, Damages
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a comedy series

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series

Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
Toni Collette, United States Of Tara
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a television movie or miniseries

Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance (HBO)
Cuba Gooding Jr., Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (TNT)
Jeremy Irons, Georgia O’keeffe (Lifetime)
Kevin Kline, Great Performances: Cyrano De Bergerac (PBS)
Tom Wilkinson, A Number (HBO)

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a television movie or miniseries

Joan Allen, Georgia O’keeffe (Lifetime)
Drew Barrymore, Grey Gardens (HBO)
Ruby Dee, America (Lifetime)
Jessica Lange, Grey Gardens (HBO)
Sigourney Weaver, Prayers For Bobby (Lifetime)

Golden Globe Nominations: Factoids and Shut-outs

One can glance at this year's nominees for the Golden Globes and the top nominees are joyful indeed--literally. Up in the Air and Glee were just two of the highly buoyant movie titles (the other, of course, is Up) taking the most nominations in film and television, announced this morning. With no clear front-runner in any of the races (Glee vs. 30 Rock? Goodness gracious!), here are some notes on the list. (You can see the complete list here and sign up to be notified when any favorites are available to pre-order on DVD or Blu-ray.)

1. Best dramatic picture noms included films that had no acting nominations (Avatar, The Hurt Locker), but shut out Invictus, which had nods for both Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon and director Clint Eastwood.

2. Tobey Maguire's nod for Brothers appeared to come out of left field; reviews for that film were decidedly mixed, then again, the fifth slot in this race doesn't seem very crowded.

3. Sandra Bullock, Damon and Meryl Streep are both enjoying double nominations; Bullock for her two box-office blockbusters The Proposal and The Blind Side; Damon for Invictus and The Informant!, and Streep for It’s Complicated and Julie & Julia. Unfortunately, Streep has no shot of winning two this night, because she's running against herself in the comedy actress category (unless there is a tie, which has happened before).

4. As expected, The Hangover scored a best comedy film nod, but none for its stars.

5. Of the top television drama nominees, only one (House, M.D.) airs on network television.

6. Led by Glee's three nods, the freshman fall shows receiving nods include The Good Wife (best actress in a drama), Cougar Town (best actress in a comedy), Hung (best comedy actor and supporting actress) and Modern Family for best musical or comedy show.

What did the Hollywood Foreign Press miss this year? Star Trek? The Big Bang Theory? --Ellen

P.S. To the Hollywood Foreign Press--please have John Krasinski and Justin Timberlake announce the nominations every year. Seriously, they could be a comedy team. (Watch at the 1:00 mark when Timberlake announces Krasinski's fiancee, Emily Blunt, as one of the nominees). At least at 5 a.m. it's pretty funny.

Oscar Season: Five Films You Should Know

Next week's Golden Globe nominations and forthcoming year-end lists will announce who's in the running for the Oscar. For those of us who are not a) critics, b) members of the Academy, c) did not attend Cannes, Sundance, Venice, or Toronto Film Festivals, or c) are within 5 miles of an art-house theater, a lot of these film titles will mean nothing. But that's how it always is; after all, at this time last year no one in the mainstream had even heard of Slumdog Millionaire.

So here's a list of 5 films you should know going into awards season, which is starting right... about... NOW.

1. Up in the Air (George Clooney, Vera Farmiga; directed by Jason Reitman)
Plot: Clooney plays a guy who lives on (and loves) corporate travel; he's essentially the guy hired by corporations to fire people. He then meets the woman of his dreams (Farmiga) who also spends life with rolling luggage
Buzz: On the shortlist to receive nods in all major categories and the of-the-moment frontrunner for Best Picture. Twilight's Anna Kendrick has major Supporting Actress buzz as a young trainee.
Dinner Party Trivia: With the exception of the actors, every person we see fired in the film is a real-life recently laid off person. The filmmakers put out ads in St. Louis and Detroit posing as a documentary crew looking to document the effect of the recession. When people showed up, they were instructed to treat the camera like the person who fired them and respond as they did or use the opportunity to say what they wished they had.
Opens: In limited release; Dec. 25th (wide)

2. An Education (Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard; directed by Lone Scherfig)

Plot: A bright teenage girl in 1960s suburban London makes plans to go to Oxford but meets a playboy twice her age who shows her an, um, different type of education.
Buzz: Best Actress for 24-year-old newcomer Mulligan, plus Supporting Actor for Alfred Molina, who plays her father
Dinner Party Trivia: It's based on a memoir by Lynn Barber, but the screenplay was written by Nick Hornby, the author of High Fidelity and About a Boy; Mulligan appeared in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice as Kitty, the youngest Bennet sister.
Opens: In limited release.

3. The Hurt Locker (Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie; directed by Kathryn Bigelow)

Plot: Follows the leader of a bomb disposal team in Baghdad (Renner), whose love of the adrenaline high he gets every time he does his job puts his entire squad at risk.
Buzz: Best Picture and Director for Bigelow (ex-wife of James Cameron), who could be only the fourth woman ever to be nominated for Best Director.
Dinner Party Trivia: A "hurt locker" has several meanings; a period of inescapable pain; a figurative place where someone is said to be if they are expecting to get hurt or beaten; a casket. The title is not addressed in the film.

Opens: Currently available to pre-order on DVD and Blu-ray.

4. A Single Man (Colin Firth, Julianne Moore; directed by Tom Ford)

Plot: Set in the 1960s, a 52-year-old British college professor (Firth) looks for meaning after his longtime life partner (Matthew Goode) passes away.
Buzz: Best Actor for Firth, who's said to have found the role of his career (and ultimately propel him beyond that whole Mr. Darcy thing); Best Supporting Actress for Moore
Dinner Party Trivia: It's the debut directorial effort of Tom Ford, the fashion designer of his own eponymous label who's best known for reviving the Gucci label in the '90s,
Opens: In limited release.

5. Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique; directed by Lee Daniels)

Plot: An overweight, illiterate teen (Sidibe) pregnant with her second child enrolls in an alternative school hoping to turn her life around.
Buzz: Best Actress (Sidibe), Supporting Actress (Mo'Nique), Best Picture
Dinner Party Trivia: It wowed at Sundance earlier this year, but its original name was Push, after the book it's based on. However, the action film Push was released in theaters around the same time, so Precious changed its title to avoid confusion.
Opens: In limited release.

What other Oscar season films are you most excited to see? --Ellen