2011 Primetime Emmy Award Nominations Announced

The Emmy Award is a television production award that is considered the television equivalent of the Academy Awards in film and the Grammy Awards in music. My focus is usually on the Primetime Emmy Awards.  The nominations for the 2011 Primetime Emmy Awards were recently announced.  The following is a list of nominees in the major categories:

2011 Emmy Awards Nominees:


Outstanding Comedy Series
"The Big Bang Theory" (2007)
"Glee" (2009)
"Modern Family" (2009)
"The Office" (2005)
"Parks and Recreation" (2009)
"30 Rock" (2006)

Outstanding Drama Series
"Boardwalk Empire" (2010)
"Dexter" (2006)
"Friday Night Lights" (2006)
"Game of Thrones" (2011)
"The Good Wife" (2009)
"Mad Men" (2007)

Outstanding Miniseries or Made for Television Movie
Cinema Verite (2011) (TV)
"Downton Abbey" (2010)
"The Kennedys" (2011)
"Mildred Pierce" (2011)
"The Pillars of the Earth" (2010)
Too Big to Fail (2011) (TV)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin for "30 Rock" (2006)
Steve Carell for "The Office" (2005)
Louis C.K. for "Louie" (2010)
Johnny Galecki for "The Big Bang Theory" (2007)
Matt LeBlanc for "Episodes" (2011)
Jim Parsons for "The Big Bang Theory" (2007)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Steve Buscemi for "Boardwalk Empire" (2010)
Kyle Chandler for "Friday Night Lights" (2006)
Michael C. Hall for "Dexter" (2006)
Jon Hamm for "Mad Men" (2007)
Hugh Laurie for "House M.D." (2004)
Timothy Olyphant for "Justified" (2010)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Idris Elba for "Luther" (2010)
Laurence Fishburne for Thurgood (2011) (TV)
William Hurt for Too Big to Fail (2011) (TV)
Greg Kinnear for "The Kennedys" (2011)
Barry Pepper for "The Kennedys" (2011)
Édgar Ramírez for "Carlos" (2010)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Edie Falco for "Nurse Jackie" (2009)
Tina Fey for "30 Rock" (2006)
Laura Linney for "The Big C" (2010)
Melissa McCarthy for "Mike & Molly" (2010)
Martha Plimpton for "Raising Hope" (2010)
Amy Poehler for "Parks and Recreation" (2009)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Kathy Bates for "Harry's Law" (2011)
Connie Britton for "Friday Night Lights" (2006)
Mireille Enos for "The Killing" (2011)
Mariska Hargitay for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999)
Julianna Margulies for "The Good Wife" (2009)
Elisabeth Moss for "Mad Men" (2007)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Taraji P. Henson for Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story (2011) (TV)
Diane Lane for Cinema Verite (2011) (TV)
Jean Marsh for "Upstairs Downstairs" (2010)
Elizabeth McGovern for "Downton Abbey" (2010)
Kate Winslet for "Mildred Pierce" (2011)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Ty Burrell for "Modern Family" (2009)
Chris Colfer for "Glee" (2009)
Jon Cryer for "Two and a Half Men" (2003)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson for "Modern Family" (2009)
Ed O'Neill for "Modern Family" (2009)
Eric Stonestreet for "Modern Family" (2009)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Andre Braugher for "Men of a Certain Age" (2009)
Josh Charles for "The Good Wife" (2009)
Alan Cumming for "The Good Wife" (2009)
Peter Dinklage for "Game of Thrones" (2011)
Walton Goggins for "Justified" (2010)
John Slattery for "Mad Men" (2007)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Paul Giamatti for Too Big to Fail (2011) (TV)
Brían F. O'Byrne for "Mildred Pierce" (2011)
Guy Pearce for "Mildred Pierce" (2011)
Tom Wilkinson for "The Kennedys" (2011)
James Woods for Too Big to Fail (2011) (TV)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Julie Bowen for "Modern Family" (2009)
Jane Krakowski for "30 Rock" (2006)
Jane Lynch for "Glee" (2009)
Sofía Vergara for "Modern Family" (2009)
Betty White for "Hot in Cleveland" (2010)
Kristen Wiig for "Saturday Night Live" (1975)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Christine Baranski for "The Good Wife" (2009)
Michelle Forbes for "The Killing" (2011)
Christina Hendricks for "Mad Men" (2007)
Kelly Macdonald for "Boardwalk Empire" (2010)
Margo Martindale for "Justified" (2010)
Archie Panjabi for "The Good Wife" (2009)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Eileen Atkins for "Upstairs Downstairs" (2010)
Melissa Leo for "Mildred Pierce" (2011)
Maggie Smith for "Downton Abbey" (2010)
Mare Winningham for "Mildred Pierce" (2011)
Evan Rachel Wood for "Mildred Pierce" (2011)

Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series
"The Colbert Report" (2005)
"Conan" (2010)
"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" (1996)
"Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (2009)
"Real Time with Bill Maher" (2003)
"Saturday Night Live" (1975)

Outstanding Reality Competition Program
"The Amazing Race" (2001)
"American Idol" (2002)
"Dancing with the Stars" (2005)
"Project Runway" (2004)
"So You Think You Can Dance" (2005)
"Top Chef" (2006)

Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality - Competition Program
Tom Bergeron for "Dancing with the Stars" (2005)
Cat Deeley for "So You Think You Can Dance" (2005)
Phil Keoghan for "The Amazing Race" (2001)
Jeff Probst for "Survivor" (2000)
Ryan Seacrest for "American Idol" (2002)

Outstanding Reality Program
"Antiques Roadshow" (1997)
"Deadliest Catch: Crab Fishing in Alaska" (2005)
"Hoarders" (2009)
"Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List" (2005)
"MythBusters" (2003)
"Undercover Boss" (2010)

Winners will be announced on Sunday, September 18th.

Review: "Predators" Rocks Except When It Sucks

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 94 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Predators (2010)
Running time: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong creature violence and gore, and pervasive language
DIRECTOR: Nimród Antal
WRITERS: Alex Litvak and Michael Finch (from Jim Thomas and John Thomas)
PRODUCERS: Elizabeth Avellan, John Davis, and Robert Rodriguez
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Gyula Pados
EDITOR: Dan Zimmerman

SCI-FI/ACTION with elements of horror

Starring: Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, Oleg Taktarov, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Trejo, Louis Ozawa Changchien, and Mahershalahashbaz Ali

In the 1987 movie, Predator, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch led a Special Forces team into the Guatemalan jungle. There, they encountered an alien hunter (called “the Predator”) that picked them off one by one. The 2010 movie, Predators, is a direct sequel to the original film, and follows a ruthless mercenary, as he leads a group of trained and untrained killers through a jungle on another planet.

In Predators, Royce (Adrien Brody), an ex-American military turned mercenary, awakens to find himself falling from the sky into a vast, unknown jungle. He soon meets seven other people that arrived there in the same manner. They include Isabelle (Alice Braga), a sniper and black operations soldier; Edwin (Topher Grace), a doctor; Hanzo (Louis Ozawa Changchien), a Yakuza, and Stans (Walton Goggins), a death row inmate; among others. They are killers without a conscience.

The group soon learns that they are not on Earth. After a pack of alien beasts attacks them, Royce deduces that the planet is a game preserve and that they are the game and the prey. When the hunters stalking them finally attack, the humans discover just how formidable they are. Their only hope – to get off the planet – is seemingly an impossible one, but they may get help from the unlikeliest sources.

I found Predators to be immensely entertaining, and this is also one time that I can certainly give credit to the director the film, in this case, Nimród Antal. He works action movie magic out of a script filled with inane characters and inconsistencies. Some of the characters are extraneous and pointless (a Yakuza!) or defy common sense (a death row inmate!). Some of the good ones disappear too early in the film, Danny Trejo’s Cuchillo, a drug cartel enforcer, and Mahershalahashbaz Ali’s Mombasa, a death squad soldier. The audience doesn’t get to know the characters that well, if at all, and they often come across as cardboard cutouts. However, Laurence Fishburne’s Noland is a delight; Fishburne plays him as so deranged that the character is both scary and alluring.

Meanwhile, the director took advantage of a new setting for the Predator franchise (an alien world) and special effects, CGI, and production design talent, improved from the original, to make a movie that looks cool, especially when the Predators attack. The moment the viewer stops and tries to make sense of the plot, story, and concept, Predators begins to fall apart. When the viewer focuses on the chasing and the killing, Predators is just plain fun – so much fun that I didn’t want it to end. So let’s go with this formula for a future film: more Predator action and fewer crappy characters.

6 of 10
B

Saturday, November 20, 2010

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All-Stars Join Steven Soderbergh for "Contagion"

Press release:
An All-Star Ensemble Cast Begins Filming on Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Contagion” under the Direction of Steven Soderbergh

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Principal photography is underway on Warner Bros. Pictures’ global thriller “Contagion,” being directed by Academy Award® winner Steven Soderbergh (“Traffic”).

The film brings together a stellar international ensemble cast, including Academy Award® winner Marion Cotillard (“La Vie en Rose,” “Inception”); Academy Award® winner Matt Damon (“Good Will Hunting,” the “Bourne” films); Oscar® nominee Laurence Fishburne (“What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “The Matrix”); Oscar® nominee Jude Law (“Cold Mountain,” “Sherlock Holmes”); Academy Award® winner Gwyneth Paltrow (“Shakespeare in Love,” “Iron Man”); and Academy Award® winner Kate Winslet (“The Reader,” “Titanic”).

“Contagion” follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.

The original screenplay is written by Scott Z. Burns (“The Bourne Ultimatum,” “The Informant!”). “Contagion” is being produced by Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher (“World Trade Center”), and Gregory Jacobs (“The Informant!”).

Collaborating with Soderbergh behind the scenes are production designer Howard Cummings (“Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief”), Oscar®-winning editor Stephen Mirrione (“Traffic”), and costume designer Louise Frogley (“Quantum of Solace,” “Ocean’s Thirteen”).

Filming will take place on location around the world, including sites in Hong Kong, Macao, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Abu Dhabi, London and Geneva.

“Contagion” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. The film is slated for release in October 2011.

Akeelah and the Bee Spells Wonderful

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 200 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux


Akeelah and the Bee (2006)
Running time: 112 minutes (1 hour, 52 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Dough Atchison
PRODUCERS: Nancy Hult Ganis & Sid Ganis, Michael Romersa & Danny Llewelyn and Laurence Fishburne
CINEMATOGRAPHER: M. David Mullen, ASC (director of photography)
EDITOR: Glenn Farr

DRAMA/FAMILY

Starring: Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Curtis Armstrong, JR Villarreal, Sean Michael Afable, Sahara Garey, Erica Hubbard, Lee Thompson Young, Julito McCullum, Dalia Phillips, and Tzi Ma

11-year old Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) has an aptitude for words, and after her principal compels her to enter the first spelling bee ever held at her school, Crenshaw Middle School, Akeelah wins. Entering local and regional contests, she places high enough to land a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee (a real event broadcast annually on ESPN) in Washington D.C. Despite her own reluctance and her mother, Tanya’s (Angela Bassett) initial objections, Akeelah gets support from her bookish spelling coach, Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), her principal, Mr. Welch (Curtis Armstrong), and proud members of her community. She even makes a friend of one her rivals, Javier (JR Villarreal), and earns the grudging notice of the previous two years’ runner up at nationals, Dylan Chiu (Sean Michael Afable), who is the boy to beat this year. Now, can Akeelah win?

Family dramas are rarely this good, and if part of the reason that some of us think Akeelah and the Bee is so good is because the movie’s characters are African-Americans in the kind of story and setting that so rarely sees winning black characters, well, the problem is the game, not the players. Combining the best aspects of plotlines involving the against-all-odds, the fish out of water, and the underdog scenarios, Akeelah and the Bee is determined to make the audience feel extra good. It’s a direct cousin of such rousing flicks as Rudy and Coach Carter.

Though writer/director Doug Atchison can be forgiven for his script’s more mawkish moments, as a director, Atchison trusts his casts to make this uplifting story work. Keke Palmer is puckish as the fiercely intelligent Akeelah, who is struggling to find her place. Laurence Fishburne’s somber turn as Mr. Larabee is spiced by Fishburne’s grave but wise voice, as Larabee guides (Morpheus-like) Akeelah down the path to accepting her gifts and glory. Even Angela Bassett turns a stereotype into a character with whom everyone else has to reckon, and Curtis Armstrong is always a welcomed presence.

Akeelah and the Bee almost convinces me that I should get into spelling bees, but it completely convinces me of the joy a feel good movie can bring, especially when the filmmakers actually succeed in what they’re trying to sell. It might be hokey how the community rallies around Akeelah, but this would happen in real life. The truth of the matter is that some of us would really enjoy seeing a competitor who shouldn’t be there take on the establishment. As Fishburne’s Mr. Larabee guides Akeelah, his rich voice steering her to her destiny, we’re with him encouraging this lovely flower to bloom. When she wins, the audience wins.

8 of 10
A

Wednesday, September 20, 2006