My Very Late Reaction to the Golden Globe Nominations!

Ah, the Golden Globes.  The drunkest night of the year will again be hosted by two of my favorite ladies, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.  The nominations came out Thursday (yes, I am late), and I've already seen some people talking about the categorization of movies on Facebook.  I haven't seen American Hustle yet, but I don't know how it's a comedy.  I'm sure the colorful characters do some funny antics, but it doesn't looks like a comedy to me.  But what do I know?  I haven't seen it yet.  Anyhoo, here are the nominations for the film categories for this year's awards.

Best Picture - Drama

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

Gravity

Philomena

Rush

Best Picture - Musical or Comedy

American Hustle

Her

Inside Llewyn Davis

Nebraska

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips

Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

Alexander Payne, Nebraska

David O. Russell, American Hustle

Best Actor - Drama

Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Idris Elba, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips

Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Robert Redford, All is Lost

Best Actor - Musical or Comedy

Christian Bale, American Hustle

Bruce Dern, Nebraska

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street

Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis

Joaquin Phoenix, Her

Best Actress - Drama

Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock, Gravity

Judi Dench, Philomena

Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

Kate Winslet, Labor Day

Best Actress - Musical or Comedy

Amy Adams, American Hustle

Julie Delpy, Before Midnight

Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Enough Said

Meryl Streep, August: Osage County

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips

Daniel Bruhl, Rush

Bradley Cooper, American Hustle

Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave

Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress

Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine

Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle

Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Julia Roberts, August: Osage County

June Squibb, Nebraska

Best Screenplay

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Best Foreign Language Film

Blue is the Warmest Color

The Great Beauty

The Hunt

The Past 

The Wind Rises

Best Original Score

All is Lost

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Gravity

The Book Thief

12 Years a Slave

Best Original Song

"Atlas" from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

"Let It Go" from Frozen

"Ordinary Love" from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

"Please, Mr. Kennedy" from Inside Llewyn Davis

"Sweeter Fiction" from One Chance

Best Animated Feature

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Frozen

The categories may be a bit skewed, but there is some good stuff here.  Insanely happy that Delpy got in for Actress, and even though I don't like Gerwig, it's great that she finally got some notices.  The movie is tiny, so those two nominations are awesome.  I am anxious to see how Labor Day turns out, because I just finished reading the book.  I can already tell that Winslet will be great as always.  Obviously, the biggest question mark is Oprah's absence for The Butler, but, hey, Sally Hawkins got in.  Happy dance.  Inside Llewyn Davis presence is also great.  

The Moment 'Frozen' Made Me Consider a Drag Career

You've seen Frozen, right?  Right? 

I keep thinking of one moment in particular.  When Elsa sings Defying Gravity  "Let It Go" at the top of an icy mountain, she declares that she will no longer be afraid of the powers that she has.  The powers that kept her in a literal icy, mopey chamber in her wing of the castle.  Idina Menzel, the voice of Elsa, belts her face off, impressing soccer moms who may recognize her from Wicked and annoying the pants of the musical theater geeks that hate "Over the Moon"/"The Wizard and I" mash-ups that plague YouTube.  

You can watch the entire sequence here!  I would suggest, though, that if you haven't seen Frozen yet, don't watch it until you see it on the big screen.

Near the end of the song, Elsa quite literally lets her hair down as the ice palace she builds grows and grows.  And then...Elsa decides to change her wardrobe.  She magically changed the somewhat dowdy princess dress to something more sexy.  Her new ice-colored dress is skin tight, and it features a knee-high slit going up one leg.  Not only that, she gives herself a snowflake laced cape for some DRAAAAMAAA!!!

The girls on RuPaul's Drag Race wish they had Elsa's powers.  They could provide themselves with a new wardrobe, and throw some real icy shade at the other queens.  Elsa doesn't care that she's been basically banished from her village.  They lost a girl with some much fabulousness.  The dress change and subsequent strut is enough for anyone to consider making a tape for submission for RuPaul's next season.  

You could see Ru loving this look on the runway, right?  Right.  

SAG Award Nominations Announced!

I guess I wasn't that far off with my predictions yesterday.  Or maybe I was.  I woke up to the nominations for the 20th annual Screen Actors Guild awards.  And here they are!  One of my favorite things about the announcement is that they always include the character's names with the nominated actor.

Outstanding Performance by a Cast

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

August: Osage County

Dallas Buyers Club

Lee Daniels' The Butler

Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Bruce Dern as Woody Grant in Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave

Tom Hanks as Capt. Richard Phillips in Captain Phillips

Matthew McConaughey as Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club

Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines in Lee Daniels' The Butler

Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett as Jasmine in Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock as Ryan Stone in Gravity

Judi Dench as Philomena Lee in Philomena

Meryl Streep as Violet Weston in August: Osage County

Emma Thompson as P. L. Travers in Saving Mr. Banks

Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Barkhad Abdi as Muse in Captain Phillips

Daniel Bruhl as Niki Lauda in Rush

Michael Fassbender as Edwin Epps in 12 Years a Slave

James Gandolfini as Albert in Enough Said

Jared Leto as Rayon as Dallas Buyers Club

Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Jennifer Lawrence as Rosalyn Rosenfeld in American Hustle

Lupita Nyong'o as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave

Julia Roberts as Barbara Weston in August: Osage County

June Squibb as Kate Grant in Nebraska

Oprah Winfrey as Gloria Gaines in Lee Daniels' The Butler

Whatcha Reading, Shia?

By now, I would say that I am fairly obsessed with Nymphomaniac.  I am just waiting for everything to blow up here in the US over it.  Images and posters have been flooding the web as of late, and the latest is the poster above.  

In the new one sheet, regular von Trier actress Charlotte Gainsbourg lounges with a book and an apple while Shia LaBeouf reads something else.  For a split second, I thought it was Colin Firth from A Single Man, but then I put my own glasses on and realized I was a dope.  

What do you guys think?  

If Legolas Hit the Gym More, He Might Look Like Channing Tatum

I remember when pictures of Channing Tatum with a bleached goatee hit the web.  I heard people snickering in my office, and I had to smite them.  Apparently, his pube-y chin fuzz wasn't the only surprise: he has elf ears.  

In Jupiter Ascending, Tatum plays a "perfect killing machine," but he falls in love with his next Earthling hit, Jupiter, played by Mila Kunis.  I feel very conflicted, because I don't really like Kunis as an actress.  We are all aware of my feelings of my husband, so I might like the earlier scenes when he is hunting her.  When he starts to fall for Jupiter, I might get a little hysterical..

I shall leave my mind open, however, because Jupiter is directed by Lana and Andy Wachowski, the brother and sister who brought us The Matrix and Cloud Atlas.  I am more fond of the latter, so I shouldn't be so arrogant in assuming I know what they have up their sleeves.

How Wrong Will I be Predicting the Screen Actors Guild Award Nominations?

I've never predicted the Screen Actors Guild Awards before.  I will say, though, that they are one of my favorite awards to watch for several reasons.  It's a short show (it's like 14 minutes long).  I always say that the Oscars should stop fighting the time test, because we always know it's going to be long.  Embrace it.  Secondly, I like the beginning of the show when the actors go around the room and say, "I'm an actor" after a tiny anecdote.  Probably feeds into the idea of actors talking about themselves.  I like it.  

Thirdly, I always enjoy how the tables are perfectly lined up at the awards.  You can tell a gay party planner let his anal retentiveness fly that evening!

The SAGs are different since they focus on just the performances.  A lot of people also equate Best Ensemble with Best Picture, and I hate that assumption.  I feel like that's how Crash had a leg up from beating Brokeback Mountain in 2005 (I might be making that up, because I don't know anything about the awards calendar that year).  I always feel like casts with a lot of respected actors will be nominated, because of everyone's involvement.  Let's get serious--I know nothing!  With that proclamation, let's look at my predictions for the awards!

Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Bruce Dern, Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips

Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Robert Redford, All is Lost

I'm playing it safe here, and I think these five performances will be nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars.  I almost replaced Hanks with Forest Whitaker, but I don't think actors will be able to forget the last 15 minutes of Hanks' performance in Phillips.  It's too heartbreaking.  Or could Leo DiCaprio get in for The Wolf of Wall Street?  Ah!!!  I am so confused!  

Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock, Gravity

Judi Dench, Philomena

Meryl Streep, August: Osage County

Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

Streep has been nominated 8 times, and she's fucking Meryl Streep in the role of a lifetime.  I feel like they want to get Thompon in front of a microphone maybe (you know, other than she's supposed to be fantastic like she is in everything), and Blanchett has started taking awards already.  Is this category, like Lead Actor, sewn up as well?

Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips

Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave

Will Forte, Nebraska

James Gandolfini, Enough Said

Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

All right.  I started throwing caution to the wind.  Fassy and Leto are locks, and I think Forte is going to gain some serious momentum.  Maybe I am thinking Gandolfini is going to get in at the Golden Globes, and he could here as well.  People love him in that movie.  I put Abdi there instead of Tom Hanks for Saving Mr. Banks.  It's Hanks adjacent, right?

Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Scarlett Johansson, Her

Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle

Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

June Squibb, Nebraska

Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniels' The Butler

I won't bet against Oprah, because she's Oprah.  I won't bet against Lawrence, because she's supposed to be the best thing in the movie.  Nyong'o breaks everyone's hearts in 12 Years.  Could Julia Roberts get in for August?  Sure!  How about Octavia Spencer for Fruitvale Station?  That's definitely a possibility.  I went with Johansson, because Her has taken some awards and I don't think all the talk of her performance will go without notice.  The Golden Globes have already said she won't be nominated for her voice-only performance.  Again, I know nothing.

Outstanding Performance by a  Cast in a Motion Picture

12 Years a Slave

August: Osage County

Lee Daniels' The Butler

Nebraska

Saving Mr. Banks

Like I said, big casts.  The nominations will be announced tomorrow.

Hopefully, I Won't Turn into This...Just Yet...

Just yet--those are the key words.

I have this week and next week off from my insufferable banking job, so I will try my hardest to update.  The best thing about said insufferable job is that it keeps me in front of a computer all day, so it forces me to write more.  I am going to catch up on movies this week, so I am going to probably have something to contribute.

And no, I don't own a Snuggie.  Night cheese...maybe...