Screw the Emmys ... Critics right a lot of TV wrongs from past decade

Although I watch the Oscars every year without fail, I very rarely tune in for even a minute of the Emmys. Why? Well, I understand that HBO makes great shows (I just reupped for "True Blood" season two - bring it on!) and I find "30 Rock" to be extremely funny, but there are so many others shows that just get ignored year after year.

Well, Variety did an interesting survey this week with members of the Television Critics Association, asking them to pick the best TV shows and stars from the past decade. The winners will be announced later this summer, and though I seriously doubt it will happen, it sure would be nice to see Lauren Graham win something. Here are the nominees, runners up and some brief comments from me:

DRAMA SERIES
NOMINEES:
"Friday Night Lights"
"Lost"
"Mad Men"
"The Sopranos"
"The West Wing"
"The Wire"

JUST MISSED:
"24," "Battlestar Galactica," "Big Love," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Deadwood," "Grey's Anatomy," "House," "Rescue Me" and "The Shield"

Now there's a category. Three of these shows, "The Wire," "The West Wing" and "Friday Night Lights," are among my all-time favorites, and I certainly love "Mad Men" too (and can't wait for August to get here already.) Oddly enough, did anyone know that Elizabeth Moss, a k a Peggy Olson, also played Zoey Bartlet on "The West Wing"? I didn't realize it until a few days ago. Anyways, I'd go with "The Wire," the best cop show of all time, here, with "Friday Night Lights" a close second, but I have a feeling "The West Wing" will prevail.

DRAMA ACTRESS
NOMINEES:
Connie Britton "Friday Night Lights"
Glenn Close "Damages"
Edie Falco "The Sopranos"
Allison Janney "The West Wing"
Mary McDonnell "Battlestar Galactica"
Kyra Sedgwick "The Closer"

JUST MISSED: Frances Conroy "Six Feet Under," Jennifer Garner "Alias, Sarah Michelle Gellar "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Rachel Griffiths "Six Feet Under" /"Brothers and Sisters," Sally Field "Brothers and Sisters" Holly Hunter "Saving Grace"

As much as I like Allison Janney and love her C.J., Connie Britton should be a big winner in this category. If you've never seen "Friday Night Lights" and think it's just a show about high school football, give it a chance, because Britton, Kyle Chandler and all the kids make it the best drama on TV now.

DRAMA ACTOR
NOMINEES:
Michael Chiklis "The Shield"
Bryan Cranston "Breaking Bad"
James Gandolfini "The Sopranos"
Michael C. Hall "Dexter"
Jon Hamm "Mad Men"
Hugh Laurie "House"

JUST MISSED: Gabriel Byrne "In Treatment," Kyle Chandler "Friday Night Lights," Ian McShane "Deadwood," Denis Leary "Rescue Me," Martin Sheen "The West Wing," Kiefer Sutherland "24"

Most of the action is in the runners up here. I appreciate that NBC tried to give McShane something to work with on "Kings," but he'll never get a role as good as Al Swearengen. Out of all these, my five would be McShane, Chandler, Jon Hamm, James Gandolfini and - rather than Martin Sheen, who is indeed great - Richard Schiff (Toby Zeigler) from "The West Wing."

COMEDY SERIES
NOMINEES:
"30 Rock"
"Arrested Development"
"Curb Your Enthusiasm"
"The Daily Show"
"Everybody Loves Raymond"
"The Office"

JUST MISSED: "The Big Bang Theory," "Flight of the Conchords," "Frasier," "Freaks and Geeks," "Friends," "Sex and the City," "The Simpsons," "Two and a Half Men"

I love that they just threw "The Daily Show" in the comedy category where it squarely belongs rather than into some goofy "late night" list. And huzzah to "Freaks and Geeks"! It's not terribly surprising that it would get love from critics, but it still just makes me very happy. Among the finalists, I'd go with "Arrested Development" here, by just a nose over "The Daily Show" and "30 Rock."

COMEDY ACTRESS
NOMINEES:
Tina Fey "30 Rock"
Lauren Graham "Gilmore Girls"
Patricia Heaton "Everybody Loves Raymond"
Jane Kaczmarek "Malcolm in the Middle"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "The New Adventures of Old Christine"
Mary-Louise Parker, "Weeds"

JUST MISSED: Jennifer Aniston "Friends," America Ferrera "Ugly Betty," Jenna Fischer "The Office," Felicity Huffman Desperate Housewives," Lisa Kudrow "Friends"/"The Comeback," Debra Messing "Will and Grace"

No contest here. Whether you want to call "Gilmore Girls" a comedy, drama or - bleh! - a dramedy, Lauren Graham should take this one running away. I love Mary-Louise Parker too, and it's nice to see some love for the blissfully silly "Malcolm in the Middle," but Graham is easily the most underappreciated TV actress of the past decade. 'Nuff said.

COMEDY ACTOR
NOMINEES:
Alec Baldwin "30 Rock"
Jason Bateman "Arrested Development"
Steve Carell "The Office"
Larry David "Curb Your Enthusiasm"
Ricky Gervais "The Office"
Kelsey Grammer "Frasier"

JUST MISSED: Zach Braff "Scrubs," Neil Patrick Harris "How I Met Your Mother," Jim Parsons "The Big Bang Theory," Ray Romano "Everybody Loves Raymond," Tony Shalhoub "Monk," Charlie Sheen "Two and a Half Men"

Carell vs. Gervais? I'd take Gervais every time, but in this category I'd give the nod to Bateman as the leader of the Bluth clan. I've given up any real hope that there will ever be an "Arrested Development" movie, but man wouldn't that be fun? And, as silly as "Scrubs" is, Braff is indeed very funny too, so kudos.

And with that, I'm off to Chicago for the weekend to hang out with mi hermano and watch two soccer matches (MLS Friday and U.S.-Honduras Saturday.) I'm also gonna hit the Art Institute of Chicago and - me being me - maybe a movie Saturday afternoon, "The Limits of Control" if I can find it. So I won't be seeing either of the two big comedies opening this weekend, but please feel free to let me know if they're any good or not. Peace out.

Believe the hype: "Juno" is as good as it gets

Just to get this out of the way before we get started, I did indeed like "Juno" at least as much as I expected to, so now bear with me while I explain why.

The surprising key to making this overly familiar story seem so new (along with the simply remarkable Ellen Page) was the music, which not only gives it a feel-good vibe from the outset, but also sets the tone for exactly what screenwriter Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman have accomplished here. Like the songs of Kimya Dawson that dominate the infectious soundtrack, "Juno" traffics in the realm of the precious, teetering on the brink of being too cute and too hip for its own good but never quite falling over the edge. And it's music, in the form of a very important truth about Sonic Youth (which Juno learns much earlier in life than I did), that's the funniest life lesson learned in this very smart flick.

And the dialogue by blogger-turned-screenwriter Cody creates a kind of music of its own, devoid of the pop-culture crutches that populate most hipster movies but sure to leave a new wave of catchphrases in its wake. Of all the jokes, the one that had me laughing the hardest was a simple one about the name of Juno's younger sister, which you won't hear from me (but think about her age and her name, and I guarantee you'll laugh loud enough to startle whoever's sitting beside you.)

The template here will be clear early on, because what Cody and Reitman have essentially done is make a John Hughes movie for the 21st century (and yes, along with being "up the pole," Page's Juno does also become obsessed about who her baby's daddy, veryfunnyman Michael Cera, is going to take to the prom.)

Though Jason Reitman (son of Ivan and director of 2005's "Thank You for Smoking") mostly stays out of the way and lets Cody and Page dominate the flick, he does put his stamp on one key scene. As our heroine briefly considers having an abortion in one of the movie's best scenes, he makes it clear just how much this is a scared and still-young girl having to make a decision she's definitely not ready for.

And young Ellen Page, who is in just about every frame of this cautionary tale (or, as Juno puts it, "cautionary whale"), completely sells you on the character of Juno, who acts much more confident than she really is. Michael Cera, given the very funny moniker "Bleek," does his best as the straight man once again (and the young man who happens to impregnate Juno), but this is definitely her show. Of the supporting players, Jason Bateman and J.K. Simmons were very funny, but this is a women's show from the start, and Allison Janney and Jennifer Garner both outshine their male counterparts, especially Janney as Juno's tart-tongued stepmother.

It is kind of disturbing that, though I have no babies of my own crawling around, I can now declare two of my favorite movies (this one and "The Snapper") are about pregnancy. I guess it's just such a bizarrely human event that no matter how much quirk you pile on top, and Cody does lay it on pretty thick here, you can still with the right touch make a movie that connects with viewers of all kinds.

And just so this isn't a complete love letter to the makers of "Juno," I do have one quibble/warning to share. Anyone who's seen the trailer and is looking forward to seeing Rainn Wilson, be advised that he only appears in one scene at the very beginning, and all his best lines have already been revealed in the trailer.

And, in the interest of full disclosure, Fox Searchlight did provide these rather nifty "Juno" t-shirts after the screening. You'll just have to take my word for it that I would have given this such a glowing review even without this surprise bit of bright orange swag. Peace out.

"Juno" for free? I'm there, and you could be too

If I had to estimate, I'd say no more than one in 10 of the e-mails I get at work are of any use at all, but on Friday I got the best one I have in many months. Here is an excerpt:

I know you're out in the middle of nowhere, but I also know that you're somewhat obsessed w/ Juno. A couple chances to check it out in ATL before it opens. Now you gotta ask yourself -- Are Michael and George Michael worth it? Is Ellen Page worth it? I think we both know the answers to those questions.

Yes, I do know the answer to that, so after getting this e-mail from Jeremy J, always a welcome friend to this blog, I went to the list of screenings and in fact RSVP'd for a Sunday afternoon one at my favorite ATL theater which has since been filled. If you missed out on this golden opportunity from Fox Searchlight, fret not: There's about 100 or so promotional screenings left around the country, before and after it opens Wednesday.

If you're anywhere near Atlanta, the next two screenings there are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec 6, at the AMC Parkway Point, and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec 18, at the Landmark Midtown. To RSVP to either of these screenings or to find out about the many more coming up around the country, click here.

And as to whether or not I'll ever stop being "obsessed" with movies as smart and funny as this flick from Jason Reitman and scribe Diablo Cody starring Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, Jennifer Garner, Rainn Wilson and J.K Simmons should be? I sure hope not. Peace out.

I have a bone to pick with Jodie Foster ...

An alternative title for this post could be "threat level ludicrous."

Less a critique of the competely over-the-top new movie "The Brave One," this is instead an open letter to Jodie Foster (though, unlike John Hinckley, I'm relatively certain she will never read this.)

As for the movie itself, it has a few charms and far too many faults to make it more than slighty enjoyable. It's at its best at its quietest moments, when director Neil Jordan drops the rather awful music and just lets Terrence Howard and Foster act. Those moments, however, are completely overshadowed by a simply awful ending and many more pratfall along the way.

But, as I said, my main beef - relative to an interview she gave promoting this flick - is with Jodie Foster herself on this one.

The main question in my mind as I was leaving this flick was: What kind of New York does Foster's Erica Bain live in? As even people who haven't seen this yet probably know (and as you might be able to tell, I wouldn't really recommend rushing out to do so), her character is the victim of a very violent attack early on that kills her fiance and leaves her very badly injured. OK, fair enough.

From there, however, it just gets beyond silly. If you haven't seen the movie yet, please skip the rest of this paragraph so I don't ruin it for you. After buying a gun in a silly enough scene, Foster's Bain, in short order, encounters an enraged gunman in a bodega, gets accosted by two rather unpleasant black toughs on the subway and then encounters a wannabe pimp in Central Park.

Now, before I go any further, let me qualify this by saying I have never lived in New York, but I have probably visited there more than 50 times, and will do so again at the end of this year (and in my mind, I'm already there.) I did live in D.C. for a total of about five years, but the closest I ever came to being a victim of violent crime was when some dude walked up to my friend Jim Waddick during his first week in the city and, after asking him what time it was, then asked him for his watch. Jim, being a fairly rational guy from Edina Minn., promptly handed it over rather than pursue the matter any further.

But I digress. My point is this: Though I concede that New York is of course a very large city pulsing with all kinds of life, I've never had the displeasure of experiencing (or seeing, for that matter) any thing close to what happens in this movie. I've probably been to at least 100 bodegas and ridden the subways hundreds more times, and I've never felt terribly unsafe.

Now, this being a revenge movie and, of course, a fictional one, I'd be able to excuse this level of unreality if it were a better movie or if Jodie Foster hadn't raised the stakes in promoting it.

For anyone who may have missed it, here's what Ms. Foster had to say to the Associated Press about her view of the world we live in: "Post 9/11 is such a different beast. It's the safest big city in the world. There's a cop on every corner. And why is it that we're on Orange Alert? Why is it that we're a quarter-inch away from this rage and fear that has no basis in reality?"

Now, I don't like to dive into politics here too often, but I'm afraid this is nothing more than the worst kind of hypocrisy. If I can try and take the middle ground here, it's obvious that, yes, we have threats in this world that we were unaware of before 9/11. It's also clear, to me at least, that those color-coded threat levels do little more than foment fear, which is used by our government to many different ends.

But my point here is that Neil Jordan and Jodie Foster are also doing at least their fair share to try and make sure we live in a world where our fear level is higher than the reality around us with movies like this one. I concede that I'm taking this far too seriously, but it really got under my skin, so I had to let it out. Rant officially over.


"Juno" trailer is comic bliss

OK, anyone who stuck around through all that deserves a reward. Along with Ridley Scott's "American Gangster," the other movie I'm most looking forward to for the rest of this year is Jason Reitman's "Juno" (as anyone who's been here before probably already knew.)

Though David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises" edged it out to take the prestigious audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival, Roger Ebert at least walked away thoroughly smitten with "Juno" and young Ellen Page. You can read all of his review, which my brother first directed me to, here, but here's an excerpt:

"It’s the kind of movie you almost insult by describing the plot, because the plot sounds standard and this is a fresh, quirky, unusually intelligent comedy about a 16-year-old girl who wins our hearts in the first scene. Page plays Juno, who gets pregnant, and — no, that’s not it at all. Every element in the movie including her getting pregnant, and her non-boyfriend, and her parents, and the couple that wants to take the baby for adoption, is completely unlike any version of those characters I have ever seen before."

And here is the, as far as I can tell, new trailer for the flick, set to open hopefully everywhere Dec. 14. Everything in the trailer, from Rainn Wilson's use of the word "homeskillet" to the great J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney as Ellen Page's endearingly clueless parents, is extremely funny. You can tell that first-time screenwriter Diablo Cody, whose Pussy Ranch blog you can read here, is bound for many great things after this one. Enjoy the trailer, and have an entirely bearable Tuesday. Peace out.