Homeland Lands the Most Nominations at the TCA Awards

The Television Critics Association (TCA) announced their nominations today.  Unlike most television award shows this one breaks down performance to a single category entitled individual achievement in drama, and individual achievement in comedy.  One of my qualms within this system usually means less female nominees (for some reason), but this is not the case this year.

This year two women landed nominations in the drama category Claire Danes (Homeland) and Jessica Lange (American Horror Story).  The woman makeup the majority of the comedy nominees Lena Dunham (Girls), Julia Louis Dreyfuss (Veep), and Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation).  This is unusual, and I have applaud the TCA for breaking this gendered streak.

Homeland also broke barriers today.  In Homeland's first season they became the most nominated television series with four nominations including the above mentioned nomination for Claire Danes, Outstanding New Program, Outstanding Drama Series, and Program of the Year.

The TCA as you may have noticed have those other neat categories like Outstanding New Program, Program of the Year, Heritage Awards for performers and television series.  This year (like most) Program of the Year is dominated by Dramas, in fact all five are drama series this year.  Usually they sneak in one comedy, a news program, or even a reality series.  I would have liked to see Parks and Recreation or Community make this list but no such luck.  Overall a great set of nominees.

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
Claire Danes (Homeland)
Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)
Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
Jessica Lange (American Horror Story)

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
Louis C.K. (Louie)
Lena Dunham (Girls)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS AND INFORMATION
Anderson Cooper 360
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Frontline
60 Minutes
The Rachel Maddow Show

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN REALITY PROGRAMMING
The Amazing Race
Dancing with the Stars
The Glee Project
So You Think You Can Dance
The Voice

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN YOUTH PROGRAMMING
iCarly
Phineas and Ferb
Sesame Street
Switched at Birth
Yo Gabba Gabba

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM
Girls
Homeland
New Girl
Revenge
Smash

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINISERIES AND SPECIALS
Downton Abbey
Game Change
Hatfields & McCoys
Hemingway & Gellhorn
Sherlock

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA
Breaking Bad
Game of Thrones
Homeland
Justified
Mad Men

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
The Big Bang Theory
Community
Louie
Modern Family
Parks and Recreation

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Dick Clark
Andy Griffith
David Letterman
Regis Philbin
William Shatner

HERITAGE AWARD
Cheers
Lost
Saturday Night Live
Star Trek
Twin Peaks

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
Breaking Bad
Game of Thrones
Homeland
Mad Men
Downton Abbey

Snow White and the Huntsman Fails to live up to the Fairy Tale Expectations

Snow White and the Huntsman (2 out of 5 Stars)

Directed by Rupert Sanders 

Written by Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side), Hossein Amini (Drive)

Starring: Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart, and Chris Hemsworth

The beauty of fairy tales is there are numerous versions, and even though there can be an origin story, fairy tales have been adapted through time to teach lessons or to of course continue the legend.  Snow White started as German tale, and was adapted throughout the years by a variety of people ranging from the Brothers Grimm to Walt Disney.  Although these two versions are not the only ones they are the most famous.  The Grimm Brothers created the magic mirror, and the poisoned apple.  While Walt Disney created a much less darker family friendly version where he was he was the person to name the dwarfs.  Who is surprised that Walt Disney love German fairy tales? I am not.

This year has provided a lot of obsession over the Snow White myth.  Lost creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, put Snow and the Evil Queen at center stage for the battle over fairy tale land and Storybrook in the ABC series Once Upon a Time.  Ginnifer is a great Snow White/Mary Margaret, but the show does not have as much magic in my opinion.  In March of 2012 Tarsem Singh brought Mirror Mirror which centered around a lighter version of Snow White, with Julia Roberts as the Wicked Queen.  I skipped Mirror Mirror looking at the preview made me want to laugh and not in a good way.Then came what appeared to be the darkest most action packed story to date from Rupert Sanders in his directorial debut.  Each version has taken liberty with the story and showed the beauty of adapting a story, but have each of these versions tried to hard, or complicated the myth? Possibly.

Snow White and the Huntsman opens with a narration from Chris Hemsworth with Snow's mother pricking her finger on a red rose that lived within the fallen snow.  As in the fairy tale Snow's mother dies and her father is consumed with grief.  In this version an army takes advantage of his grief, and attacks, in that attackhe finds a beautiful female prisoner, and makes her his bride.  On the weeding night this beautiful bride named Ravena (Theron) kills the king and takes the kingdom for her own; she then holds Snow White (Stewart) captive in the tower until she escapes and the Huntsman (Hemsworth) is sent to track her down.

Sanders took a on a lot in his directorial debut, one of the most grandiose in art direction and production design, not to mention some incredible visual effects, including some intense battle scenes.  While the art direction was superb it could not save the poor writing.  This film went big, but left the heart of the story behind.  With three screenwriters pulling the string the film felt overlong and burdened with far too much adaptation of the original myth. Why did we meet Snow White's boy hood friend the "prince" if he would serve no real purpose? Why did they make this queen like Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty?  While Theron was easily the most entertaining part of this film, the writers took the character a few steps too far. They explored all of the magical lands/area, but where were they and what was their connection to the kingdom?  These unanswered questions proved to bog down the film immensely. 

The film ended up being number one at the box office because of the intense action packed trailer, which probably brought in more guys.  The only problem was that Ravena tricked you enough into believing the film was more than it was.  The film slows down in the middle, almost too much, and focuses on a less than convincing Stewart as Snow White.  Stewart is one of the weakest actresses working today; she is an unconvincing female lead who has never grown up, she should be in Peter Pan.  I love watching Hollywood become creative with fairy tale myth, but they have to remember quality over quantity, and this film fails to live up to the fairy tale expectations.

Television Critics Awards Nominations have Community, Parks and Recreation, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad leading the pack!

Today the Television Critics announced their nominees, and they sure set themselves apart from the Emmy Awards.  

On the comedy side NBC led the pack. Community (6 nominations), Parks and Recreation (5 nominations) led the pack, other Best Comedy nominees included The Big Bang Theory (2 nominations), Girls (4 nominations), Modern Family (4 nominations), and New Girl (3 nominations).

On the drama side AMC led the pack. Mad Men (5 nominations), Breaking Bad (5 nominations) had the most, meanwhile the other Best Drama nominees included Downton Abbey (2 nominations), Game of Thrones (2 nominations), The Good Wife (4 nominations), and Homeland (3 nominations).

The TV critics did a great job balancing out the different greatness within each of the shows, and television shows like Sons of Anarchy, Happy Endings, and Fringe go their due.

Here is the full list of nominations:

BEST COMEDY SERIES
The Big Bang Theory
Community 
Girls 
Modern Family 
New Girl 
Parks and Recreation

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Don Cheadle (House of Lies)
Louis C.K. (Louie)
Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
Garret Dillahunt (Raising Hope)
Joel McHale (Community)
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES 
Zooey Deschanel (New Girl)
Lena Dunham (Girls)
Julia Louis Dreyfus (Veep)
Martha Plimpton (Raising Hope)
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation)
Ashley Rickards (Awkward)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
Max Greenfield (New Girl)
Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation)
Danny Pudi (Community)
Jim Rash (Community)
Damon Wayans Jr. (Happy Endings)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY 
Julie Bowen (Modern Family)
Alison Brie (Community)
Cheryl Hines (Suburgatory)
Gillian Jacobs (Community)
Eden Sher (The Middle)
Casey Wilson (Happy Endings)

BEST GUEST PERFORMER IN A COMEDY SERIES 
Becky Ann Baker (Girls)
Bobby Cannavale (Modern Family)
Kathryn Hahn (Parks and Recreation)
Justin Long (New Girl)
Paul Rudd (Parks and Recreation)
Peter Scolari (Girls)

BEST DRAMA SERIES
Breaking Bad 
Downton Abbey 
Game of Thrones 
The Good Wife 
Homeland 
Mad Men

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
Kelsey Grammer (Boss)
Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy)
Damian Lewis (Homeland)
Timothy Olyphant (Justified)

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Claire Danes (Homeland)
Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey)
Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife)
Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)
Emmy Rossum (Shameless)
Katey Sagal (Sons of Anarchy)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)
Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad)
Neal McDonough (Justified)
John Noble (Fringe)
Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad)
John Slattery (Mad Men)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Christine Baranski (The Good Wife)
Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad)
Christina Hendricks (Mad Men)
Regina King (Southland)
Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire)
Maggie Siff  (Sons of Anarchy)

BEST GUEST PERFORMER IN A DRAMA SERIES
Dylan Baker (Damages)
Jere Burns (Justified)
Loretta Devine (Grey’s Anatomy)
Lucy Liu (Southland)
Carrie Preston (The Good Wife)
Chloe Webb (Shameless)

BEST MOVIE/MINISERIES 
American Horror Story 
Luther 
Sherlock 
Page Eight 
The Hour 
Game Change

BEST ACTOR IN A MOVIE/MINISERIES 
Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock)
Bill Nighy (Page Eight)
Woody Harrelson (Game Change)
Idris Elba (Luther)
Dominic West (The Hour)
Kevin Costner (Hatfields & McCoys)

BEST ACTRESS IN A MOVIE/MINISERIES 
Jessica Lange (American Horror Story)
Gillian Anderson (Great Expectations)
Julianne Moore (Game Change)
Patricia Clarkson (Five)
Lara Pulver  (Sherlock)
Emily Watson (Appropriate Adult)

BEST REALITY SERIES
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
Hoarders 
Sister Wives 
Kitchen Nightmares 
Pawn Stars 
Undercover Boss

BEST REALITY SERIES — COMPETITION
The Pitch 
Shark Tank 
So You Think You Can Dance 
The Voice 
Chopped 
The Amazing Race

BEST REALITY SHOW HOST
Tom Bergeron (Dancing with the Stars)
Nick Cannon (America’s Got Talent)
Cat Deeley (So You Think You Can Dance)
Phil Keoghan (The Amazing Race)
RuPaul (RuPaul’s Drag Race)

BEST TALK SHOW
Conan 
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon 
Jimmy Kimmel Live! 
The View

BEST ANIMATED SERIES 
Archer 
Adventure Time 
Bob’s Burgers 
Family Guy 
Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Dream Emmy Ballot: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

On to the next category, now that my vacation is over it's time to delve into the Best Supporting Actor category on the drama side.  These six men have provided some great dramatic/ complex characters.

Josh Charles as Will Gardner in The Good Wife-Sometimes we never take the pretty boy seriously.  Josh Charles has been acting a long time, but throughout this season his performance as Will proved his talent. Will had a rough year.  Will's relationship with Alicia was wonderfully done, and it was great to watch him be genuinely happy, but then to watch his pain as he had to let go.   Then watching him lose the other thing he loved his job.  What a great actor.

Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones-The scene stealer extraordinaire.  Dinklage is one of the best actors working in television today; he blends with and drama perfectly while never losing sight of the characters motivations.  In season two of this show Tyrion took on more responsibility as the hand of the king, and took the screen by force  When he comes on screen I smile because he owns every scene he is in, and outshines everyone and everything.

Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo 'Gus' Fring in Breaking Bad-The only other performance this year that outshines Peter Dinklage is Giancarlo Esposito's Gus.  When Gus was first introduced to the series he slowly and silently built up to one of the finest performances in the most recent season of Breaking Bad.  Gus is a brilliant yet complex villain whose darkness kept growing and growing until his final moments.

Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson in Homeland-Saul is the rock to Carrie's intense paranoia.  Patinkin's quiet brilliance is always there in the background laying the stability for others while things like Saul's marriage collapses.  While everyone cites Danes and Lewis (which they should) Patinkin has given this show an edge and he provided one brilliant performance after another.

Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad- The brilliance within this character is that time and time again Paul continues to create even deeper layers to Jesse.  In season one the character was a little one dimensional, but Paul along with the writing has made this one of the most complex characters.  Watching Paul make you feel for a inept drug dealer is no easy feat, but week after week I was astounded by his acting.

John Slattery as Roger Sterling in Mad Men-I love this character.  Roger Sterling is almost too simple, and in the wrong hands you would just think of him as a pompous asshole.  Slattery has taken Roger to new levels yet maintained the brutal truth of the character.  Roger has revelatory drug trip, which "changes his life" but in reality he goes back to being good ole Roger. Slattery continues to astound me year after year with this character.

In Memoriam: Kathryn Joosten

While I was away I saw one of my favorite old broads passed away, Kathryn Joosten.  Joosten had lung cancer, and died on June 2nd. Most people including myself felt as though she has been around Hollywood for years, but her start did not come until 1992 when she was discovered ironically at Disney (because I was there when she passed away).

Although Joosten's career was short, and filled mostly with smaller roles; she made quite an impact in the world of television.  Joosten started out in small roles on shows like Roseanne, Just Shoot Me, Frasier, Seinfeld, Murphy Brown, and many more.  In 1999 she had a big break where she played Mrs. Landingham the personal secretary to the President in the television series The West Wing; she played the role for two years and was one of the most beloved characters on the series.  This role opened the door for larger guest starring roles, on shows like Grey's Anatomy, and Scrubs.  Joosten's second major role was as a recurring character on Desperate Housewives.  Joosten played the sassy but love able Karen McCloskey.  Joosten won two Emmy Awards for this role in Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.

Joosten will be missed; she was beloved, and even though she wasn't around long she starred in over 20 television series and her death will leave a massive hole in the television landscape.

Travels with Kevin Part 6: It's a Small World After All with Disney and Gay Days in Orlando

I have been away from writing for the last few days.  Last Thursday I went on vacation to Orlando, not simply for Disney, but for Gay Days at Disney.  Gay Days started in 1991, but my first time was this past year, it had been a long time coming, but I was excited to go with friend Clifton and his boyfriend.

Gay Days has a lot of different elements to it, there are aspects for everyone ranging from families and kids of all ages with a lot of fun events at the theme parks.  There are also events for bears, twinks, lesbians, and the circuit party crowd.   Apparently I stayed in what is referred to as the "circuit party hotel."  I love that I figured that out on, or was told that on my plane ride home.  The hotel I stayed at the Buena Vista hosted all of the after hours parties, from 2 am to 8 am (that's what the sign said at least).  i went on Sunday only because I need to experience it just once.  I felt as thought I had been transported to an episode of Queer as Folk, it was heavenly.

Now I would love to share every detail of my travels, but I think I will leave the details to the imagination.  What I can say that is night after night there was one party after another.  On Thursday I went with my Clifton, his boyfriend Travis and a bunch of other people to this tragically lovely bar called the Parliament House.  Parliament House is a club that is surrounded by this sketchy motel.  Imagine something like the Bates Motel or that hotel from the John Cusack film Identity.  Plop down a gay bar with a massive stage in the middle, and drag performances and there you have Parliament House.

Friday was a crappy rainy day, but luckily the rain died down for one of the most fun events of the weekend, which took place at Typhoon Lagoon.  Thousands of shirtless naked men come together to go on water rides, surf the wave pool, and dance their asses off in the sandy beaches. 

As the bad weather broke we went to the pool party at our hotel, later in the day because we needed to recover.  The mixture of the sun and fun bathing suits made for a great afternoon.  Later that night around midnight we hit up Universal Studios (my first time there ever) for two rides, Rockit, and The Mummy.  Universal and mark Baker did not just open the park late for this event, there was of course a DJ (who was unfortunately not very good), but it was a chill day.

On my last day I did it up big, forced myself to wake up early hit up a pool party at our hotel then went to Epcot where we hit up a few rides and drank around the world.  Margaritas in Mexico, grey goose in France, and Jack Daniels in the United Kingdom.  Thanks to Claudia' heavy pour in the UK I was incredibly happy with time I had spent there, and had not been to Epcot since I was 14.  One tiny mistake I will own up to was the I bought a shirt from Urban Outfitter which says "New York Fucking City" and I forget where I was because of comfort that surrounded me.  One of the folks working the Disney side of things from One Magical Weekend even gave me a shirt because he thought Disney was giving me a hard time.

Being at Gays transported me away from Disney machine.  I am incredibly appreciative to Disney and Universal, and the hotels for being so welcoming, but we make them tons of money.  Think about it, almost 200,000 LGBT folks with lots of disposable income.  How could they say no?  I think most people are surprised that Disney hosts an event as some would say "like this."  Disney is the home of the good natured children's and most families see this theme park and its representation as a beacon of wholesomeness.  LGBT can be wholesome (not many were this weekend), but this party and what Disney has done represents so much more to our culture.

Wearing that tank top was a happy accident because as I looked back it made me feel as though I was part of something bigger, and this massive organization opened their arms, and their hearts to make me feel welcome.  Do I need the Disney or Universal to validate me? No, but it feels as though there is something special about this weekend.  This was one of the most fun vacations I have had in a long time, and no doubt i will be back next year!