It's Oscar time

Yes, I know it’s the wrong Oscar, but I love Sesame Street, and it’s my blog, so end of argument (heh). The annual Oscar derby comes to an end this Sunday, February 24^th, when the winners for the 80^th Annual Academy Awards will be announced. In the preceding weeks, there was fear that nominees and presenters might not attend due to the ongoing writers’ strike, but all’s well in Hollywood-land now that a tentative deal has been brokered between the scribes and the studios. The spotlight now turns to the mother of all movie awards, the Oscars; there will be glitz, there will be glamour, and even though it’s an exercise in futility, I will, as usual, try my amateur hand at predicting the Oscars. Let’s see if I can continue my woeful track record of historically inaccurate picks this year. My predictions are in bold, and reiterated in the “Will win/Might win” line immediately following each category’s commentary; “Who I would like to win” is my personal choice, i.e. who I wish would win, and is NOT my prediction (clearing up any confusion from last time).

Precursor awards index:

NYC – New York Film Critics Circle

LAC – Los Angeles Film Critics

SOC – National Society of Film Critics

NBR – National Board of Review

GG – Golden Globes (given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association)

PGA – Producers Guild of America

DGA – Directors Guild of America

SAG – Screen Actors Guild

WGA – Writers Guild of America (yes, the union that went on strike)

BAFTA – British Academy of Film and Television Arts

Scripter – Sponsored by Friends of the University of Southern California Libraries, and given annually to both the author and screenwriter adjudged to be behind the year’s best film adaptation of a book

Best Picture:

Atonement (7 nominations) – GG, BAFTA

Juno (4 nominations)

Michael Clayton (7 nominations)

No Country for Old Men (8 nominations) – NYC, NBR, PGA, DGA, SAG

There Will Be Blood (8 nominations) – LAC, SOC

NCFOM is the clear frontrunner in a category that some experts would have you think is less straightforward than it actually is; don’t listen to any of them. There will be no vote-split between NCFOM and TWBB (arguably the second favorite), leading to an unlikely victory for Juno, the charming comedy that has won the hearts of audiences and critics alike. The Academy will not go for the over-praised Atonement. Michael Clayton was released too long ago to be a veritable threat; its nomination is already a victory in itself. With the weight of prominent critics and all the major guilds behind it, NCFOM will be strolling to the biggest crown on Oscar night, and a deserving winner it would be too.

Will win: No Country for Old Men

Who I would like to win: Juno

Best Director:

Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood) – LAC, SOC

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men) – NYC, DGA, BAFTA

Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton)

Jason Reitman (Juno)

Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) – GG

The DGA really is the only precursor that one needs to look at in this category. It’s the single most accurate predictor for the Best Director Oscar (and by extension, the Best Picture Oscar too, since the two winners, more often than not, come from the same film). Until the Coens won the Screenplay Oscar 11 years ago for their brilliant Fargo, they had been considered Hollywood outsiders, and in a way, they still are. However, they find themselves in the Oscar spotlight again this year, and their stellar directing work in NCFOM, a film that’s at turns gripping, darkly comic and elegiac, will almost certainly be lauded on Oscar night. It would be a richly-deserved accolade in a distinguished, ongoing career that started with Blood Simple, and which includes Barton Fink (which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes), Raising Arizona (my personal favorite Coen brothers movie), O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and the aforementioned Fargo.

Will win: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)

Who I would like to win: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)

Best Actor:

George Clooney (Michael Clayton) – NBR

Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood) – NYC, LAC, SOC, GG, SAG, BAFTA

Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd) – GG

Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah)

Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises)

The prohibitive favorite going into Oscar night will be Daniel Day-Lewis for his powerful portrayal of an unscrupulous oilman in TWBB. Although there have been years in which dark horses prevailed (most notably in 2002 when Adrian Brody won for The Pianist over the favorite, would you believe it, Daniel Day-Lewis for Gangs of New York), this won’t be one of those years. Day-Lewis, a past Oscar-winner for 1989’s My Left Foot, and who has also been nominated for 1993’s In the Name of the Father and the abovementioned GONY, will add the Oscar to the whole stream of accolades he has already received for his role of Daniel Plainview this awards season. However, being a long-time ER fan (14 years long, and counting), you know I always want Clooney to win, despite me not having seen Michael Clayton. Lord of the Rings fans might like to know that Viggo “Aragorn” Mortensen receives his first Oscar nomination this year.

Will definitely win: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

Who I want to win: George Clooney (Michael Clayton)

Best Actress:

Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age)

Julie Christie (Away From Her) – NYC, SOC, NBR, GG, SAG

Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose) – LAC, GG, BAFTA

Laura Linney (The Savages)

Ellen Page (Juno)

Veteran Christie is the favorite for her subtle work as a woman suffering from Alzheimer’s, but I have a feeling French actress Cotillard might just possibly edge her out for the award come Oscar night. In Cotillard’s favor: (1) Christie has already won an Oscar, for 1965’s Darling; (2) Cotillard plays renowned French singer Edith Pfiaf, and she does her own singing (see Sissy Spacek for Coal Miner’s Daughter and Jamie Foxx for Ray); and (3) the last time a major upset occurred in the actress categories, it was French actress Juliette Binoche taking the Supporting Actress honors over the hot favorite, Hollywood legend Lauren Bacall (yup, never underestimate those Gallic charms). Working against Cotillard: only 3 foreign-language performances have ever won the Oscar, and they were all in Italian (Sophia Loren for Two Women, Robert DeNiro for The Godfather: Part II, and Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful). Of course, I would be personally thrilled if Ellen Page, so lovable and funny and heartbreaking as the title character in Juno, pulled off the biggest upset of them all and won. One can only hope.

Might win: Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose)

Who I would like to win: Ellen Page (Juno)

Best Supporting Actor:

Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) – SOC, NBR

Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) – NYC, GG, SAG, BAFTA

Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson’s War)

Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild)

Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton)

Bardem’s chilling portrayal of evil personified is the favorite in this category, and it’s hard to see the Academy voting for anyone else against such a memorable role. British veteran Wilkinson has been nominated previously for 2001’s In The Bedroom, and is a versatile character actor who has appeared in tons of films in which one probably knows his face but doesn’t know his name. For instance, he was the vicious gangland boss who lost his mind in Batman Begins and the goofy moneylender Hugh Fennyman in Shakespeare in Love. Hopefully the Academy doesn’t send Michael Clayton home empty-handed at the end of the night, and this is as good a category to acknowledge the movie as any, on top of giving the veteran actor his due for his body of work.

Will win: Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)

Who I would like to win: Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton)

Best Supporting Actress:

Ruby Dee (American Gangster) – SAG

Cate Blanchett (I’m Not There) – SOC, GG

Saoirse Ronan (Atonement)

Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) – NYC, LAC, NBR

Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) – BAFTA

Arguably the most open of all the major categories. Dee, Ryan and Swinton are probably the slight frontrunners, by consensus. However, Blanchett is a double-nominee this year (though past double-nominees Sigourney Weaver in 1988 and Julianne Moore in 2002 have gone home empty-handed before), she has a flashy role (she reaches across gender to play singer Bob Dylan), and she is well-respected in the industry (she won this category for 2004’s The Aviator). Going by momentum and buzz, Blanchett is probably a long shot, but I think any nominee here has about as much chance of having her name being called out on Oscar night, in a category where, traditionally, most of the surprises occur. Your guess is as good as mine.

Might win (but please don’t put any money on this): Cate Blanchett (I’m Not There)

Best Animated Feature:

Persepolis – NYC, LAC

Ratatouille – LAC, NBR, GG, PGA, BAFTA, Annie

Surf’s Up

This is Ratatouille’s to lose (though I’m personally not bowled over by the film), having scooped up the top prize at the Annie’s, the animation industry’s own version of the Oscars. Winning the Golden Globe and the BAFTA only adds icing to the cake, so to speak. The Annie’s record as the perfect predictor of this category was broken last year when Cars, which won the Annie for Best Animated Feature, lost this Oscar to Happy Feet. Don’t expect that losing streak to be repeated this time around, because, well, I don’t really see the Academy giving this award to penguins for the second straight year (if anything, the biggest threat comes from Persepolis). And it is, after all, the Year of the Rat (sorry! Couldn’t resist).

Will win: Ratatouille

Best Original Screenplay:

Brad Bird (Ratatouille)

Diablo Cody (Juno) – NBR, BAFTA, WGA

Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton)

Tamara Jenkins (The Savages) – LAC, SOC

Nancy Oliver (Lars and the Real Girl) – NBR

First-time screenwriter Cody is the favorite in this category, Juno’s best chance of an Oscar come February 24^th. Her sharp, incisive, poignant script is brimming with equal measures of wit and heart, telling its story simply but eloquently, populated by likeable characters that refuse to succumb to movie clichés and stereotypes, and a quietly moving climax that would have some in the audience reaching for their Kleenex (I admit, I did cry). I love the movie, so I’m biased, but for me, Juno is the only choice in this category. If it inexplicably falls, that loud sound you hear in the background is me throwing my shoe at the TV screen.

Will win: Diablo Cody (Juno)

Who I would like to win: Diablo Cody (Juno)

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men) – NBR, NYC, GG, WGA, Scripter

Christopher Hampton (Atonement)

Ronald Harwood (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) – BAFTA

Sarah Polley (Away from Her)

The Coens’ win for 1996’s Fargo was in the original screenplay category, so their widely-expected win here would complete the set. The only conceivable challenge comes from Ronald Harwood’s bittersweet, heartrending script for TDBATB, which some pointed out was arguably a harder task in adapting for the screen than what the Coens did with Cormac McCarthy’s novel. A major upset in this category occurred in 2002 when The Pianist won this award ahead of the overwhelming favorite, The Hours. The screenwriter for The Pianist? Ronald Harwood.

Will win: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)

Who I would like to win: Ronald Harwood (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)

The 80^th Annual Academy Awards airs February 24^th at 8pm ET on ABC (February 25^th 9am Singapore time on Channel 5), and will be hosted by The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart.

TV Episode for the Holidays

"What's your favorite holiday movie?" is probably a more likely question than "What's your favorite holiday TV episode?". Movies get all the limelight, and it's no different this holiday season. But most TV shows do a Christmas-themed episode, and there have been many memorable ones over the years ("The Gift" from ER Season 1, "Christmas Party" and "A Benihana Christmas" from NBC's The Office, and of course the Christmas special from BBC's The Office, which provided such a perfect conclusion to the series).

But my personal favorite is probably "In Excelsis Deo" from the first season of "The West Wing", an episode which won the Emmy for Best Writing. The central plot concerns Toby being notified of a homeless veteran who had passed away over the previous night due to exposure, sleeping on a park bench. Toby had donated his coat to the YMCA and the coat had subsequently been passed on to the veteran, and the police had found Toby's card in the coat. Toby proceeded to use his position as a senior staffer in the White House to arrange a military funeral for the veteran. Highlights of the episode: (1) The selfless act by Toby; (2) the juxtaposition of the choir at the White House singing "Carol of the Drums" with the funeral taking place; and (3) Mrs. Landingham's heartbreaking account that she had lost her two sons in Vietnam on Christmas Eve, in a scene as powerfully moving as it is quiet and understated.

The following video is the "Carol of the Drums" scene. I really love the beautiful editing job done here, where the music of the choir perfectly paces the scene.

Top 10 Episodes

hey folks, tis the time for year-end top 10 lists. Here's 10 of the most memorable TV episodes I've seen in 2007, in alphabetical order of episode title:

“Blue Comet” (The Sopranos) Season 6 Episode 20

Tension mounts to breaking point as the feud between the New York and New Jersey mobs reaches a head. Tony’s close aides Bobby and Silvio are killed or incapacitated, as he flees for his life. Powerful conclusion with Tony falling asleep in the safehouse with a shotgun in his hand, in fear for his life. No rest for the wicked, indeed.

“Bon Voyage” (Gilmore Girls) Season 7 Episode 22

News that the show won’t be renewed were only confirmed after filming for the season had wrapped, so there were genuine concerns the show won’t have a proper send-off, but all fears were allayed by this utterly satisfying series finale. We got our answers to Lorelai and Luke, and Rory and Logan, but the true heart of the show has always been the Lorelai/Rory mom-daughter relationship, and the curtains rightly closed on that perfect ending scene with the two of them in Luke’s diner, a call-back to the series premiere. Rory’s “Mom, you’ve given me everything I need” to Lorelai made my cry like a baby. Thanks for 7 great years, Gilmore Girls, I will miss you.

“Chuck vs. The Truth” (Chuck) Season 1 Episode 8

One of Chuck’s strengths is showing how being a spy has affected Chuck’s personal life, and this episode is the perfect example. Chuck, Sarah and Casey try to recover the antidote to the deadly truth serum affecting Chuck’s sister Ellie. What a moving scene in the hospital between Chuck and Captain Awesome by Ellie’s bedside! And to top it off, that heartbreaker of a final reel when Sarah, presumably (but not really) under the effects of the truth serum, told Chuck she didn’t love him. All together now…aww!

“Crossroads” (Battlestar Galactica) Season 3 Episodes 19 – 20

BSG comes to a close in a terrific finale with the conclusion of the Balthar trial, and a wicked gem of a cliffhanger with the revealing of the identities of 4 of the final 5 Cylons. But wait….there’s another cliffhanger coming up! Goodness…the heart isn’t meant to take such shocks. It’s gonna be a long wait till the start of the 4^th season.

“Five Years Gone” (Heroes) Volume 1 Chapter 20

Hiro travels 5 years into the future to meet Future Hiro, who turns out to be so lame (ha!) compared to awesome Present-Day Hiro (geez, what happened to you in the interim, Hiro?). Check out the amazing battle between Future Peter and Future Sylar, and watch for that great twist in the scene between Future Claire and Future Nathan. Yes, Future Me will not use the prefix “Future” ever again.

“Greenzo” (30 Rock) Season 2 Episode 5

Guest-stars galore as David Schwimmer (Ross from Friends) and Al Gore (yes, Al Gore of the Vice Presidential fame) shows up in one of the most hilarious episodes of any show of the year. Schwimmer plays jerks extremely well, and he’s on top form here as a pro-environmental mascot (the eponymous Greenzo) gone overboard.

“The Job” (The Office) Season 3 Episodes 24 – 25

Cynics said it couldn’t be done, but the writers have crafted a finale as pitch perfect as the peerless “Casino Night” of Season 2. Jim, Karen and Michael compete for the corporate job in New York, as Dwight takes over the office, to great comedic consequences. Who ultimately got the job? Look for that awesome twist in the tag at the end. But the highlight of the episode was the wonderful conclusion to the Jim/Pam storyarc that the show had been patiently building towards for 3 whole seasons, that had me literally in tears (yes, I’m mushy like that). What a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful ending!

“Nixon vs. Kennedy” (Mad Men) Season 1 Episode 12

Against the backdrop of voting night in the Nixon-Kennedy Presidential race of 1960, the backstory of Don’s real identity is revealed, as weasly Pete tries to expose him to Cooper. The confrontation in Cooper’s office is absolutely riveting, topped off with Cooper’s indifference of the fact that Don is a fraud. The filming of the debauchery of the staff as they waited through the night for the results of the election is technically impressive, and the real highlight of the episode for me was the scene at the train station, as Don, on the cusp of his new adopted life, looks impassively on at his former adopted family as the train pulls away.

“Slapsgiving” (How I Met Your Mother) Season 3 Episode 9

The hilarious return of the slap-bet (poor Barney) is coupled with Ted and Robin reconciling how to remain friends in the aftermath of their breakup. The “Major Buzzkill” scene is an absolute gem, and cannily set up. Not a lot of shows do a Thanksgiving-themed episode, but this is a winner from start to finish. Added bonus: Marshall sings!

“Through the Looking Glass” (Lost) Season 3 Episodes 22 – 23

A slow start to the 3^rd season of Lost picked up steam over the back half, culminating in this game-changer of a finale, with that jawdropper of a cliffhanger. Charlie, Hurley and Desmond all got their moments to shine, the face-off between Jack and Locke as they called each other’s bluffs is simply compelling, and I hope to goodness the enigmatic Juliet (is she good or bad?), one of the best cast additions to the show, will be back next season. Oh, did I mention the cliffhanger was awesome?

ER's 300th Episode

Oops, I haven't been able to keep up with the blog work as often as I'd like (thus the grand total of...::drumroll::...one entry since the blog got started!

"ER" just aired its 300th episode tonight, so it's as good an opportunity to add to my blog as any. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, "ER" was the show that opened my eyes to the wonderful world of american scripted TV. Sure, "The X-Files", "NYPD Blue" and a myriad other shows probably paved the way, but "ER" really was the show that threw the door open for me. It was the first show that I fell in love with on the very first episode I watched, and followed faithfully thereafter. I haven't been following it as closely in its latter years, as inevitably for a show that's been on for as long as it has been (14 years long), storylines start getting repetitive, and lags in quality start appearing. But I thought last season (its 13th) was consistently watchable and workmanlike in its consistency. But it's nice to see that the old warhorse has got some legs left.

So...the 300th episode. The NBC promos made it seem like it's going to be another disaster-based episode, but it turned out (in a nice welcome surprise) to be quite understated. I like the main Abby-Luka storyline. Goodness, is Abby messed up right now. Her using Neela's apartment for her drinking was bound to be found out sooner or later, and it led to a compelling confrontation between Neela and Abby. Neela's offer of friendship and support to Abby was met with (expectedly) Abby evading the fact that she needed help, and Abby saying those horrible things to Neela. I love that even though Julia didn't know Abby well (and Abby practically trying to wave her off), she persisted in trying to help her, and Julia's efforts (plus Abby seeing Luka's pain in her earlier refusal to tell him what was wrong with her) probably nudged Abby towards confiding in Luka that she had fallen off the wagon.

The 300-patients subplot, which turned out to be played for comic effect in the form of a bet between Morris and Frank/Gates/Pratt that the ER would get 300 patients for the day. It felt a bit too staged with Morris 1 patient away from winning the bet and then having him hit Frank on the hand with the book just to get the final 300th patient. Still, seeing that this could easily have been an "event-scale" storyline, I'll take this approach anytime.

I really liked the main patient storyline (with Peter Fonda)...it's been done on "ER" before, but still very powerful to watch, and probably made more effective because of the quiet way in which it was told. It also provided some nice moments for Morris and Pratt. I love that the episode ended with the memorial ceremony in the lounge (after it had been interrupted once by an incoming trauma). It was an understated and affecting way of showing the patients affect the lives of the ER staff who made it their life's work to be healers.

So, all in all, a very nice episode for "ER" to celebrate its 300 milestone. It's likely the show will end within the next two seasons, and I will miss it when it's gone. Thanks for all the memories, "ER".

Stargate: Atlantis

Okay...so I haven't really been able to update this blog as frequently as I'd hoped. It's amazing how much inertia laziness can gather :)

So, just wanted to do a quick post on "Stargate: Atlantis", the spin-off to "SG-1", which at 10 seasons is the longest running scripted Sci-Fi continuing series ever. Not "Star Trek", or "Battlestar Galactica", or "Babylon 5", but "Stargate: SG-1". So, "Atlantis" has some pretty big shoes to fill.

Last season ended with a pretty big cliffhanger where Atlantis was forced to leave the planet it had been inhabiting thus far in the face of the relentless Replicator attack. During the course of the escape, Elizabeth was injured, and the city jumped unexpectedly out of hyperspace, leaving the team drifting aimlessly in outerspace.

I thought this season started strongly, and I especially liked the second episode where Shepherd and Rodney went to the Replicator stronghold in a bid to save Weir. I've never really gotten why it seemed that a majority of the "Atlantis" fanbase dislike Weir so much, but I'm slowly (but surely) getting turned around to the predominant view, especially in light of the fact that the news is out that Carter from SG1 would be taking over (yay! Or double yay!). It just seems, in retrospect, that Weir was mostly in the periphery of the action on "Atlantis" (or at least in the episodes I've watched). Now, part of this might have been due to the fact that she's the commanding officer, but still, it just seemed like she was an afterthought. Hopefully with Carter taking over, the commanding officer position at "Atlantis" would be more integrated into the action, seeing that Carter was one of the most central (and popular) characters on "SG1".

Anyhoo, I digress. It was a great rescue

Chuck

I really liked the pilot episode of “Chuck” (sidekick Morgan was hilarious, and I loved the mix of action and comedy, not to mention that Zach Levi is totally believable as the geek turned spy), and then was ultimately letdown by what I thought was a very poor follow-up “Chuck vs. The Helicopter”. So much so, in fact, that I considered dropping the show altogether (haha! What can I say, I’m impatient). However, at the sound advice of my friend William, I stuck with the show, and in my opinion, it has delivered the goods in the subsequent episodes (Chuck versus The Tango, Wookie and Sizzling Shrimp respectively). I love the fact that it especially paid attention to the aspect of how Chuck’s new double-life has affected his family life and his friendship with Morgan (particularly in the latest episode Shrimp). Though the will-they-won’t-they romance between Chuck and his handler Sara seems more mandatory than appealing at this point, it does show potential to blossom during the course of the season (and I love the ending scene to Wookie, where Sara couldn’t reveal her true identity to Chuck, despite all his imploring…heartbreaking!), and Casey is a lot of fun as the snarly second handler for Chuck with a surprising sense of gruff humor.

Up and Running!

Hi everyone! I'm a TV lover and just wanted to share my love of TV. Hopefully in the coming days, weeks and months, this blog will be filled with recaps of the week's great TV shows on the US TV grid. Till then, I leave with this picture of one of my favorite TV shows, SciFi's great re-imagined series "Battlestar Galactica" :)