BILLY IS BACK

"I can't see you, you're like a sheepdog."

A Jazz Age Lana

Obsessing over this re-tooled, 1920s version of Lana Del Rey's "Young and Beautiful."

Love this casting

Get it, Sansa Stark!

Will be updating again

very soon. Stay tuned!

April things

It's proving to be a pretty good month so far, entertainment-wise...here's what I love lately:

The trailer for Lola Versus, starring the hilarious and utterly relatable Greta Gerwig, as well as ma main man Joel Kinnaman, and the trailer for 6 Month Rule, because I can't wait to see forever-nice guy Patrick J. Adams finally playing an asshole...

The brilliant Liam Cunningham on Game of Thrones, as well as Skins' Joe Dempsie. It's just been a fantastic return -- Dempsie's banter with Arya is like a light in the dark...

Three! New! Green Day albums!...

This fascinating New York Times piece on Jack White. You'll find yourself not wanting it to end; trust me...

Taran Killam finally getting his due (how perfect was that Michael Cera impression?!)...

New Mad Men cast member Ben Feldman, whose Michael Ginsberg is smart, unassuming and more interesting than Don Draper himself just two episodes in. Plus, his line to Peggy -- "I insulted you because I'm honest. I apologized because I'm brave" -- was as real as anything we've ever seen on the show. The cherry on top? He's the same in real life -- funny and informed and incredibly thoughtful. Welcome to the big time, kid...

Another Mad Men goodie -- this Thought Catalog article reveals what your favorite Mad Men character says about you. Love the Harry Crane and Sally bits...

Ashley Judd's fantastic feminist essay on body-shaming and Hollywood...

New Girl's renewal!...

Matt Bomer's performance on Glee, even though I still hate you, Glee, now and forever...

and finally (a favorite of this blog), Joel McHale being his funny, charming, handsome self on Jimmy Fallon last night. Bonus: his impression of Chevy Chase

On a completely non-Mad Men related note

Can I get an amen up in here for Gillian Zisner? 90210 has dealt with a cancer storyline over the last two seasons with surprising aplomb for a teen soap, and Zisner’s character Ivy has been the one to carry said storyline. She's always been fantastic on the show – utterly well-cast – but her combination of fearlessness and vulnerability in the past few episodes has been unexpectedly affecting. Again, it’s just something you just don’t usually see from shows like this, so it takes you by surprise when it happens. I haven’t been this moved by a teen soap since Ryan had to go find Marissa in Chino on the OC.  Just kidding, nothing can top that. Nothing ever again for the rest of my life.

Mad Men thoughts

-First things first: Don is a dirty old man. Since Mad Men’s pilot episode, Matt Weiner has had Don do his fair share of awful things – the cheating and the drinking and what have you – but kept him just on the edge of being an awful person. Somehow, we still liked the guy. We understood why he wanted to escape his old life, and also his new one. And if I’m honest, it’s also because Don is handsome, and smooth, and that completely unfair reason did contribute to us forgiving him for all of his wrongdoings. But on Sunday, he was no longer the youthful and slick ad man we once knew. In fact, he’s quite the opposite. He married a bombshell he can’t even stay awake to have sex with. He doesn’t like his own birthday and he doesn’t like surprises. When Megan says to Don, “I don’t want people to think you’re getting this,” we see where she’s coming from. Don was understandably embarrassed by her song-and-dance at the party, but the thing is – she should be embarrassed by him instead. He’s become just like Roger – and old guy trying to hang on to his youth by marrying a younger girl. At the party, it was the first time I’ve ever felt like they were no longer the cool guys in the room.

-Pete is running the show, both literally and figuratively. Pete has always been my favorite character, but what I loved about this episode was that it highlighted what a 180 he’s done since the pilot. And it’s happened so naturally; there’s never been a moment of forced change – he really has always cared about work and success. That’s why his frustration with his colleague’s work ethic (or lack thereof) is entirely believable. He’s working his ass off; he's a good husband and a new father, and he’s doing better than all of his higher-ups, both morally and at work. Even Roger knows deep down that this is the truth, which is why he swallows his pride and goes to bat to get Pete Harry’s office. (Roger’s one redeeming moment of the episode.)

-Joan’s “ah-llowww me?” after her mom says Joan’s husband might not allow her to go back to work – just amazing. Peggy has rubbed off on Joan and I love it. She wants to work, and it’s just not at all who she thought she’d be, which makes the whole scene even more affecting.

-Matt Weiner loves his musical numbers. Joan on the accordion, Trudy and Pete’s dance number, Roger’s blackface and now Megan’s Zou Bisou. For an AMC drama, it’s nearing some weird, Ryan Murphy-esque territory.

-#1 reason I liked this episode? No Betty! Just shows how entirely unnecessary she is. The show is better without her.

-Peggy not holding Joan’s baby – such a nice touch.

-Loved the Joan-Lane reunion scene. She’s like the Mrs. Hudson of SCDP. I was really worried that Lane was going to kiss her, but no dice, thank goodness.

That's all for now...

Revenge makes its first misstep

It goes like this: at The Promised Land PaleyFest this past week, Mike Kelley (the creator of Revenge) put to rest the idea that Emily and Nolan might ever become romantically involved. Apparently it was always "meant to be a sibling relationship. It's got a nice, warm beating-heart to the series; otherwise it's just a bunch of nastiness." While I'm in agreement with him that their relationship gives the show the heart it needs, the truth is that Emily Van Camp has far more chemistry with Nolan (played by Gabriel Mann) than she does with either of her two "legitimate" love interests on the show. This is a situation Community handled incredibly well in its first season -- when Jeff and Britta weren't really working together, they paired Jeff (Joel McHale) with the actress he had the most natural chemistry with (Alison Brie) even though they didn't originally plan on the two getting together. It's a swallow-your-pride type of thing. There are Emily-Nolan shippers out there for a reason -- the emotional depth they bring to their scenes together is almost tangible; it's far better acting than anything we see from Emily when she's with Daniel (and although I'm sad to say it, when she's with Jack as well). Plus, Gabriel Mann is for it! That should be reason enough.

If you don't watch Community yet...

this should be reason enough for you to start.

Taylor Momsen at Marchesa

She shut it down. I don't care what anyone says. (Plus, it's a nice change from her usual.)

A good start to the month

February means a multitude of things. Let's start with the fact that this show now premieres in less than a month. How good does that extended preview look? Jason Isaacs breaking his Lucius Malfoy mold in this way? On American television? You can't not fall in love with the whole thing already. What else...

The trailer for The Amazing Spiderman was released today, and it's Garfield, so it's amazing. The title works, you guys. The title works!

Kelly Kapoor is getting a new love interest on The Office, and he happens to be one of my favorite actors. He's entirely under-used in H-Wood, inhumanly handsome, and Kelly + any kind of love interest = comedy gold.

Wired has gifted us with this brilliant diagram of all of the "bed-hopping" that has gone on on Mad Men over the past four seasons. Obviously, spoilers abound, so beware...

And I'm sure you all saw this Superbowl ad, but what you didn't see was Andy Samberg's face at about 3:15, which makes the whole thing. Also, Al Roker kind of forgets to say "Happy Superbowl" at the very end, and it's perfect. But in all seriousness, the ad does point out how many great shows are on NBC. People give the network a lot of crap, but they really do have the best programs on television right now, and they deserve credit for that. (Parks! The Voice! Fallon!) Plus, an appearance from Ken Jeong dancing the cast of Community. My day is made.

Happy February all!

Bon Temps-ing

True Blood: a good summer show that doesn't disappear for multiple years at a time. (Hi, Mad Men!)

I'm crying

This man is my spirit animal. You don't have to even know that much about Samuel L. Jackson to enjoy this one -- plus, the impression itself is flawless.

If Oscar-nominated movie posters told the truth...

These are always a fun perk of awards season. Last year, Black Swan's "truthful" title was simply "Lesbian Sex." Amazing.

Golden Globes 2012 Liveblog!

5:55 Hi all! As usual, a reminder: this isn't an actual "liveblog," so to see updates, you'll have to refresh the page every couple of minutes. It should automatically jump down to where you left off, so you don't need to scroll down and look for where you were. Here we go!

5:56 Just getting a quick head start here -- Giuliana and Kelly -- what is going on with you two? Kelly's dress is beautiful, but her hair is the worst thing I've ever seen. Why is grey hair even a trend? And Giuliana is wearing a sea urchin. (I do have to acknowledge that Giuliana has been through a hell of a lot this year, and you are actually heartless if you haven't gained some kind of respect for her because of it. But it doesn't mean I'm not making fun of her tonight. Is that fair? I think that's fair.) Seacrest, AKA The Sweetest Bitch You'll Ever Meet, takes us to the opening credits. "It is on," he says. Okay?

6:05 Giuliana-George Clooney mention count: 1 so far. (We're five minutes in.)

6:06 Giuliana changed and she looks lovely.

6:13 Stacey Kiebler and George Clooney interview -- she says that this awards show is "always the best night of the year." Uh, have you been before? Aren't you a female wrestler?

6:14 Giuliana gets to talk to George and it's awkard/creepy/inappropriate. But would you expect anything less?

6:16 EEEEK Alex from Modern Family is there and her dress is giving her cleavage. She's 14.

6:29 The brilliant Jessica Chastain doing old Hollywood right. She looks beyond and is both gracious and graceful while talking to Giuliana. Love her.

6:30 Paula Patton is doing the Lea Michele -- the fake-laughing-posing on the red carpet that exemplifies exactly what is so cringe-inducing about these award shows in general...

6:31 Nicole Richie -- no clue why she's there. Presenting/promoting her new show with Jessica Simpson? We still don't care about either of you!

6:35 Madeleine Stowe pulling up her dress while cameras are on her. Rookie move!

6:37 SMG's dress is bad. She explains that she let her two-year-old daughter pick it. Yikes.

6:38 Aw, I love her though. Giuliana asks her if her husband is here with her and she gives a bitchplease look and is like "he's at home watching football." Then she explains her idea of a date night is IHOP, and as she's leaving, the cameras catch her congratulating Giuliana on her recovery. Class act.

6:46 Rooney! Please eat something!! Please! I worry, you know?

6:47 Aghh, pipe down, Sofia Vergara.

6:48 Julie Bowen is yelling! Sofia Vergara is yelling! Ryan Seacrest is yelling! It's my own personal hell!

6:51 It's Rooney! She admits she's a bit nervous but she looks beautiful and is well-spoken as usual. The dress is to die.

6:58 IT'S CRANSTON! (And he has hair! A rarity.)

7:00 I see Matthew Morrison has toned down the douche factor for the night...

7:01 Zooey Deschanel's hair looks like a wig, doesn't it? 

7:02 Aw, the Deschanel sisters are here together tonight. Very sweet.

7:03 I DON'T CARE ABOUT BRANGELINA. WHERE IS FASSBENDER?

7:04 Jonah Hill says Brad and Angelina are like "real people." Because they are...?

7:11 Hill taking his sister (and saying she looks beautiful) is endearing. Also, ef everyone who says he shouldn't be nominated. That movie was a snooze-fest, and would've been insufferable if not for him.

7:12 Charlize Theron wins the night for me, and I haven't even seen everyone else yet. She just wins it. That dress! That hair! She's looks like royalty.

7:15 And Salma Hayek looks like a modern-day Cleopatra. I love it.

7:16 Giuliana and Mark Salling talk about -- you guessed it! -- George Clooney. Some things never change.

7:18 Julianne Moore is perfect. Mom and I were talking the other day about how she has not made one wrong step as far as the projects she's chosen over her career. And think about how many offers must come at her...per day, even...

7:21 Seacrest is now interviewing Brad and Angelina. Brad looks at Angelina in a very sweet, furtive way. To get weird for a second, it's nice to see those two crazy kids make it.

7:26 Michelle Williams looking demure as usual...

7:27 A WILD MADONNA APPEARS!

7:29 Sara Hyland is the second person of the night to congratulate Giuliana on her recovery. She's lovely.

7:33 Fallon! Hi buddy!

7:39 Why does Dianna Agron always dress like a grandma?

7:40 Leonardo Dicaprio (with some pretty bad highlights) and Mark Wahlberg shake hands. "Hey, man. Isn't it cool how we like, run Hollywood?" "It is. It really is."

7:42 Madonna looks amazing, gives Ryan hell for being a playboy, winks at someone off-screen, and actually seems quite happy (!). The queen reigns still.

7:46 We're wrapping things up...WHERE IS FASS?

7:49 Voluck text: "I just can't with Lea Michele's posing -- like the gig is up, sister." THIS.

7:54 Elle Macpherson on how to get happier every year: "laugh a lot and drink a lot of water." If you thought things maybe had substance for a second there, Giuliana brings them back down to their proper level by asking Elle what her least favorite body part is. She does us all a favor by not answering. And then is the third person of the night to tell Giuliana they're "all so proud of her." Elle for the win!

8:01 Showtime! 

8:03 Are people not laughing at a Kim Kardashian joke? She's not there, you guys. It's okay.

8:04 Amy Poehler looks AMAZING.

8:07 Steve Buscemi is a king. "Oh, hello there, camera."

8:08 Johnny Depp with the perfect deadpan -- "oh, boy, he's fun." Also, note to Gervais: Depp hasn't seen The Tourist because he doesn't watch any of his films. So the last laugh, therefore, is not yours.

8:11 Oh, my favorite thing is reaction shots. This is what I missed about awards season. Jonah Hill raises his eyebrows at a big round of applause, Christopher Plummer chuckles at his character's description, Viggo Mortensen gives a humble little wave to the camera.

8:12 Best Supporting Actor goes to Plummer, of course. He calls Ewan a "wily Scot...a scene-stealing swine." I LOVE IT. They're like this year's Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth. He thanks his wife last, saying "her bravery and beauty haunts me still." Wow.

8:15 God, I would love if this went to Poehler. It goes to Laura Dern instead, which is quite surprising given Enlightened is new and no one watches it. She's already won 2 Globes in her life! Bah! Give the others a chance!

8:20 Rob Lowe, why with the hair? Why? And an awkward unscripted moment...Rob Lowe should never try to be funny off-script. NEVAAAR!

8:23 Downton Abbey wins for Best Miniseries. The Brits always give the most concise, clever speeches. They should win just for that reason alone.

8:25 Kate Winslet wins -- and on her way up, she barely gives an excited-looking Evan Rachel Wood the time of day. Yikes. Fuel to the fire? That rivalry blind item was revealed to be about those two a few weeks ago.

8:28 Freida Pinto holds her own alone on stage. Good for her. Leo's like, "Who's that girl? Oh, right. My next girlfriend."

8:33 Ma main man Jeremy Irons is now on stage. Does anyone look better in a tux?

8:35 Jake Gyllenhaal at awards shows always reminds me of this brillz moment.

8:37 Bryan Crass-ton? Crass-ton? Are you kidding me, Paula Patton? OH MY GOD it goes to Kelsey Grammar instead of Bryan Cranston WHAT IS THIS WHAT IS THIS WHAT IS THIS

8:38 Voluck text: "Ugh my night is ruined." Again, as usual, exactly.

8:47 Best Score, The Artist wins. This was interesting last year when Trent Reznor won...now it's a bore again.

8:51 Madge wins for Best Original Song. Get it, girl.

8:58 Dominic West, you beautiful devil, you. Idris Elba wins for Luther, which is a big deal for the show itself.

8:59 Audience shot of Dustin Hoffman looking bored. Us too, Dustin. Us too.

9:02 Joseph Gordon-Levitt doing the slow clap for Seth Rogen. Cute cute cute.

9:03 Michelle Williams wins, obviously. Look. Right now every single person watching is thinking HEATH LEDGER HEATH LEDGER HEATH LEDGER. It's the elephant in the room. Well, THERE IT IS. I SAID IT. HEATH LEDGER.

9:09 Oh, right, here it is! Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series, the award that should be going to Aaron Paul, who is not even nominated! Good one, Globes!

9:10 Dinklage is classy and thanks the author of Game of Thrones before anyone else.

9:11 What's with the constant Dustin Hoffman reaction shots?

9:12 HAH. Clooney has Pitt's cane. Amazing. 

9:16 How many Globes do you think Steven Spielberg has at this point? His speech is short, to the point, and should be an example to the rest of Hollywood (mere plebeians) for the rest of time.

9:17 A consensus amongst friends and experts that this Globes feels off -- unexciting, but also just...strange. And I've figured out why! There's no this!

9:21 Is there any man more handsome than Ewan McGregor? No. Probably not. 

9:22 Actually, yes. MICHAEL FASSBENDER. Where ARE YOU?

9:23 Trivia time! The Dean (of Community) was one of the screenwriters of The Descendants.

9:24 Hahaa, Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy sing a song. I wonder if they came up with that on their own.

9:25 Jessica Lange wins, which again, is another case of someone who has won a billion things just not needing this. Evan Rachel Wood has gotten nothing for Mildred Pierce, which is criminal. This should have gone to her.

9:32 AND THE BEST LINE OF THE NIGHT GOES TO MADONNA. EVERYTHING IS AS IT SHOULD BE.

9:33 That was the most Globes-y moment of the night. Funny, unfiltered, unexpected... texted Jonathan to say she's still got it, but who am I kidding? Of course she does.

9:36 Best Actress in a Drama goes to Claire Danes, which I can't speak to because I don't watch Homeland (yet -- leave me alone) and I don't really like her. But cheers!

9:46 Matt LeBlanc wins, and everyone does a collective "whaaa?" He admits he's nervous, though, and it's sweet.

9:47 Ah, Bradley Cooper. We were lacking in the handsome for a moment there. You came just in time.

9:48 Octavia Spencer wins Best Supporting for The Help, as many predicted. The HFPA does love their sanctimonious feel-good movies!

9:58 Morgan Freeman tribute time. Sidney Poitier: "In my humble opinion, sir, you are a prince." In our humble opinion, Sidney, you are, too.

10:04 Gerard Butler gives a holler for Morgan Freeman. That is awesome.

10:07 Piper Perabo's dress is my second-favorite of the night, by the way...

10:12 Downey! I'm paying attention again. Wait, did anyone see that serial killer look William H. Macy was giving the camera? Amazing. And there's Charlize Theron, looking bored. AGAIN -- us too.

10:13 Aww, Brad nods in approval and support as Angie comes onstage. You got me, you two. You always get me.

10:14 Marty wins Best Director for Hugo. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Big standing ovation.

10:17 Who invited Glee?

10:26 Ewan McGregor gives a HUGE cheer for Joseph Gordon-Levitt. BE STILL, MY HEART.

10:36 Meryl wins for Best Actress, making pretty clear what's going to go down at the Oscars. 1) I'm thrilled, 2) Rooney was SO CUTE when they said her name and 3) I would never, ever want Colin Firth to tell me we need to talk about anything. He announced We Need To Talk About Kevin, and it was terrifying. 

10:38 They're handing her glasses up front...they finally get to Fincher, who I'm surprised to see there...but he doesn't give them to her. Uh, okay...

10:41 The Artist wins Best Comedy. Bien sur.

10:48 Ugh, Natalie Portman. As if this show could be any slowerrrr...

10:49 Portman seems to be wearing the same dress as Angelina Jolie.

10:50 Finally, finally, finally -- Fassbender. He gives a tip of the hat to the camera. Clooney wins for The Descendants, which I'll take over Brad Pitt, and also -- deserved, because this is one of his best performances ever, and it's a special film.

10:56 Descendants wins Best Picture, which is fantastic. And that's it for me! A long, kind of boring show, but it is what it is -- and it is what we do. See you at the Oscars...

Two perfect people

The incomparable Donald Glover and Mindy Kaling at the Critics Choice Awards last night. Also, as if Mindy wasn't cool enough, she had the unscripted (!) quote of the night:

“I’m sorry, can we just...can we just talk about Michael Fassbender for a second? I don’t care, who is this guy? He’s sexy for every type of woman. If you're old-fashioned he was in Jane Eyre, if you're a huge nerd he was in X-Men, and if you’re a weirdo pervert, he was in Shame as a sex addict. This is why I came here tonight. To meet him.”

(I KNOW this has become a Michael Fassbender Appreciation Blog. I KNOW. And I'm not sorry.)

If this is true...

...I'm going to lose it. Apparently The Killing is not going to reveal who killed Rosie Larsen until the end of Season Two. I'll let that sink in for a moment before you throw a chair across the room. (Side note: it seems this must have been the reason AMC honchos decided to nix showrunner Veena Sud's TCA panel this week -- critics were already going to give her a hard time -- imagine if they found this news out before the panel.) But really, what is this show doing? They already lost a huge percentage of their fans after the disaster that was the Season One finale. I would say myself included...but I just can't not watch Joel Kinnaman. Like a commenter posted at the Vulture link: "Can't they just create a Joel Kinnaman spin-off so that I'm no longer tempted to watch this show?" My thoughts exactly.

Mad Men will be back

on March 25th, according to Jon Hamm. I'd say about time, but I don't think I have to.

Things you need to see

1. Jimmy Fallon's brilliant Russell Brand bit from his talk show last night (first seen on SNL)...



2. How much cooler Johnny Depp's daughter is than you. She's 12...

3. And this New York Times profile of Carey Mulligan and her tour-de-force performance in Shame. (Careful, though -- spoilers abound.) It's surprising to me how little attention she's been getting for the role -- no Oscar buzz at all, really -- when she is more than deserving of it, so here's hoping this profile is a step in the right direction.

9 days...

Filmography 2011

Last December, the wonderful YouTube user GenRocks put together a sort of mash-up of the films of the year, what she deemed "Filmography 2010." This year, she's done it again, describing this one as "a 230-film retrospective that celebrates this year’s movies and their amazing capacity to transport us through the boundaries of space, time, and identity." I just love it; I love it because it's so many films -- including the bad and the ugly (yes, that was Bucky Larson you saw in there) -- but all of them together sort of give you this feeling that films really can change things, that they are powerful, moving, and sometimes, they're even great. Obviously I'm reflecting because it's the end of the year, but really -- we were the audience to all of these living, breathing works -- doesn't this video make you proud to be a part of that?

Let's talk about the Golden Globe noms

Or, if we're taking the dramatic route here, let's talk about the travesty that was the Golden Globe noms. (It all began with she-devil Sofia Vergara as announcer.) There's nothing I love more than being negative about the Academy, the Screen Actors Guild, what have you -- but really, I like the Hollywood Foreign Press! I love the boozy fun that is the Golden Globes! Usually they nominate okay(ish) people. But the snubs this year -- they're unavoidable and in a way, kind of unbelievable. Let's take a look.

Best Picture, Drama
War Horse
Ides of March
The Help
Moneyball
Hugo
The Descendants

Really excited for Hugo. So innovative, and one of the few films I can think of in the past 10 or so years that's equally watchable for kids and adults. (Plus, it's Marty!) That's really the only good thing I have to say about this category. First, War Horse doesn't hit theaters until Christmas day, but I saw the stage version and it was so bad I left half way through. Not even mildly interesting. Even if the film is 100 times better, it's King's Speech-style Oscar bait. There's no substance behind the swelling music. Same with The Help and Moneyball -- predictable, awards show fodder. As for Ides of March, it was a letdown -- there's already one Clooney vehicle on the list, the fantastic Descendants -- they should have eliminated Ides of March, kept The Descendants, and had five nominees like every single other category. Films that should be included but are not: Girl With the Dragon Tattoo...Shame...Beginners...Drive...and I would have loved to see Harry Potter in there as well -- as this awards season is its last -- but no such luck.

Best Picture, Comedy
The Artist
50/50
Bridesmaids
My Week With Marilyn
Midnight in Paris

I'm actually happy with this category other than My Week With Marilyn, and that's because there's nothing I hate more in the world than Hollywood's obsession with Marilyn Monroe. If they made a movie about Marilyn Monroe that starred Heidi Montag as Marilyn, it would get nominated for an Oscar because it would be about Marilyn. It's tired. We all get that she was beautiful and talented and died too young, right? Okay! Let's move on! If I see one more young starlet referencing her as a role model or one more Vanity Fair cover promising to reveal Marilyn's secrets...I'll lose it. I mean. I've lost it already.

Best Actor, Drama
George Clooney, The Descendants
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
Ryan Gosling, Ides of March
Michael Fassbender, Shame

I may or may not have shed a tear or two when I saw the Fassbender nom. Obviously if you've read one post -- one sentence -- of this blog before you know I'm a huge fan, but really, the nom is just so vindicating, so deserved. If you haven't seen anything Fassbender's been in yet, you need to go to his IMDb and figure yourself OUT. Props to Clooney for the Descendants nom -- maybe he'll finally realize he doesn't always have to play himself? The Brad Pitt nom is understandable, but still, his performance was strangely similar to his in Troy a few years back, what with all the emotions and the close-ups. Look at me, pondering. Look at me, throwing a table. Look at me, acting. Maybe it's not even him -- maybe it's that his being in the public eye so much makes it impossible for us to forget he's The Brad Pitt when we watch him in a movie. DiCaprio is, as usual, completely deserving of his nom -- and it's about time too, so here's hoping it'll be his year. About Gosling -- again, he was better in Drive. Would've liked to seen Ewan McGregor in that spot for Beginners or the brilliant Michael Shannon in the spot for Take Shelter instead.

Best Actress, Drama
Viola Davis, The Help
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin
Rooney Mara, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Right on to Viola and Meryl. Viola is fantastic, and Meryl goes without saying. Meryl should win it but won't, because everyone thinks she's won everything so she always gets shut out. (She's actually only won two Oscars -- but let's be honest, she's deserved to win all 16 she's been nominated for.) This will go to Glenn Close -- it's an incredible performance, and the film itself will be studied in Gender Identity classes for years to come. Tilda Swinton is one-note, so no thank you, and you all know how I feel about my number one girl crush, Rooney -- I'm almost as excited for her as I am for Fass. (And not just because I love her. The performance was worthy of the nomination.) Not good news, however, for Elizabeth Olsen, who was an early favorite for Martha Marcy May Marlene. Had the studio released the film a few months later, she would have been a shoo-in.

Best Actor, Comedy
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Brendan Gleeson, The Guard
Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris
Joseph Gorden-Levitt, 50/50
Ryan Gosling, Crazy Stupid Love

No matter how much I loved Crazy, Stupid, Love and Midnight in Paris, Gosling and Wilson didn't really stretch their acting legs in their respective films. (That's me being kind. They played themselves.) I'm thrilled that JGL was recognized, but that's my inner fangirl -- my outer, more knowledgeable self knows it should and will go to either Gleeson or Dujardin.

Best Actress, Comedy
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Jodie Foster, Carnage
Kristin Wiig, Bridesmaids
Charlize Theron, Young Adults
Kate Winslet, Carnage

Of course, I'm the most excited for the two underdogs here, Wiig and Theron. Theron has already had her time to shine, so she won't get it, and Wiig will get shut out by the big-name actresses in the category. Speaking of big names, is there one award Kate Winslet hasn't been nominated for in the past 10 years? I mean that -- she just needs a Tony to get the EGOT. As for Carnage, again, strange enough, I saw the stage and not the film version, and again, I thought it was awful. I can't speak to the film, but it's a real actor-y project, big on dramatics and choices, so I wouldn't be surprised if Winslet or Foster took it home. If the vote is split between the two -- or if everyone indulges in their Marilyn obsession as usual -- it'll go to Michelle Williams, who should have won for Blue Valentine last year in the first place.

Best Supporting Actor
Albert Brooks, Drive
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method

This will go to Plummer -- as one Gawker commenter said, "legend + no wins + playing gay = gold." (He deserves it any way.) Would've liked to see Eddie Redmayne in here for My Week With Marilyn instead of Branagh, but still, it's good to see Viggo Mortensen back on the scene, as well as Jonah Hill getting some attention for his serious (and seriously good) turn in Moneyball.

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

So here's where the snubs really start. This is because, as you may have noticed, the HFPA doesn't split up the "supporting actor/actress" categories into Comedy and Drama, so people tend to get shut out. That's probably why Melissa McCarthy -- the real star of Bridesmaids -- wasn't nominated, but Kristin Wiig was. Not enough room for McCarthy in a category of strong dramatic performances. Would love to see this go to Jessica Chastain, but I think it'll go to Octavia. Also, cool to see Shailene Woodley get some recognition. She's fantastic. I think this means it's about time for her to leave Secret Life behind.

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
George Clooney, Ides of March
Michael Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Would be happy to see anyone but Clooney go home with this award, as they were all incredibly strong movies with the exception of Ides of March. This doesn't look good for Fincher's chances at the Oscars for directing The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, or for Steve McQueen's for directing Shame, as both were excluded from the category. As usual, likely because both films (as a whole) are just too edgy and divisive for awards season.

Best TV Series, Drama
American Horror Story
Boardwalk Empire
Boss
Game of Thrones
Homeland

What is this category? Really, what is it? American Horror Story? Boardwalk Empire? Boss? The fact that Breaking Bad isn't in here isn't frustrating just because I'm a fan -- it's frustrating because it simply deserves to be -- way before AHS, a Ryan Murphy-hot mess-pet project in its first season, and way before Boardwalk Empire, the most grossly overrated show in a long, long time. Breaking Bad is the best show on TV, and that's not really something that people argue about. They just accept that it's a fact. Otherwise, happy to see Game of Thrones and Homeland in there.

Best TV Series, Comedy
New Girl
Enlightened
Episodes
Glee
Modern Family

Again, not quite sure what the voters were thinking here. It's dumbfounding. No Parks & Recreation? No Community? Glee instead of the aforementioned two? What version of Glee are these voters watching? Modern Family was a given, good to see Enlightened get some attention, and for some reason, Episodes keeps squeezing its way in there. The real surprise here is New Girl, which is probably my favorite show of the season. If you're not watching, maybe Schmidt's online dating profile will convince you?

Best Actor, Drama
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Kelsey Grammer, Boss
Jeremy Irons, The Borgias
Damian Lewis, Homeland

These are all well and good, and I'll let Buscemi slide as long as he doesn't win this year. If it doesn't go to Cranston, again -- something really is seriously wrong with the voters. (As if that isn't clear already.) He's a genius and I know I overuse the word, but in this case, it's just true. Yikes to no Hugh Laurie nod -- that's the first time he's been snubbed since House began eight years ago. That bathtub scene in "After Hours" had us all on our knees -- Yaitanes said it even had crew members crying behind the camera on set -- if all was right in the world, it should have made his nomination a no-brainer. But House has just become such a bad show over the past few years -- it looks like not even Laurie's acting can get voters to ignore that.

Best Actress, Drama
Claire Danes, Homeland
Mireille Enos, The Killing
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Madeleine Stowe, Revenge
Callie Thorne, Necessary Roughness

So weird. So weird! These noms are Emmy-style strange. The Good Wife and Homeland noms were to be expected, but the rest are just confusing. First of all, if they were going to nominate someone from The Killing, it should have been Joel Kinnaman in the Best Supporting Actor category, who makes the show -- not Enos, who drags it down. Secondly, Madeleine Stowe is fantastic (if only she'd ease upon the Botox, and I say that lovingly!), but she is a supporting character. The lead is Emily VanCamp; that's pretty clear to anyone that watches the show. As far as Callie Thorne...I mean, it makes me want to throw in the towel. Wasn't there anyone (anyone!) else?!

Best Actor, Comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
David Duchovny, Californication
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

Again with the love for Episodes! All these noms are pretty expected (with the exception of no Jim Parsons -- have people finally gotten sick of him?), but would have loved for Joel McHale to have been in there.

Best Actress, Comedy
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation
Laura Dern, Enlightened
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Laura Linney, The Big C

Solid category. Happy to see the Poehler love.

Best TV-Movie or Miniseries
Mildred Pierce
Too Big To Fail
Cinema Verite
Downton Abbey
The Hour

Again, a solid category with the exception of the exclusion of Sherlock. UGH.

Best Actor, TV-Movie or Miniseries
William Hurt, Too Big To Fail
Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey
Idris Elba, Luther
Bill Nighy, Page Eight
Dominic West, Appropriate Adult

And again, another solid category with the exception of no Benedict Cumberbatch nom for Sherlock. But it's good to see Elba in there. Also, how great is Bill Nighy's staying power? He's a legend at this point. What else...strange that Dominic West was nominated for Appropriate Adult and not The Hour, but so be it.

Supporting Actor, TV-Movie or Miniseries
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Paul Giamatti, Too Big To Fail
Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce
Tim Robbins, Cinema Verite
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

This is my least favorite category because again, they combine not only the dramas and the comedies, but also TV movies, miniseries and weekly shows. Like I mentioned with the supporting categories for films, that leads to a huge amount of snubs. And this is perhaps the category with the most deserving people in it and the least space for them. All of the nods here are rightly earned, but missing are countless actors that deserve it just as much: Neil Patrick Harris of How I Met Your Mother, Danny Pudi of Community, Max Greenfield of New Girl, Joel Kinnaman of The Killing, Martin Freeman of Sherlock, Ty Burrell of Modern Family, and worst, worst, worst of all, no Aaron Paul of (obviously) Breaking Bad. That for me was the biggest shock. He is that show; you watch him and you've never seen anything like him. (Courtesy of another Gawker commenter: "Did Vince Gilligan run over someone's dog with his car or something?")

Supporting Actress, TV-Movie or Miniseries
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Evan Rachel Wood, Mildred Pierce

Good to see everyone in here but Sofia Vergara, because she doesn't act so much as she does yap. The spot should have gone to Community's Alison Brie. Also, would love to see Evan Rachel Wood win this.

Best Screenplay
Midnight in Paris
Ides of March
The Artist
The Descendants
Moneyball

Midnight in Paris for the win! One of my favorite screenplays this year. As much as I love Sorkin, I would have preferred to have seen Beginners in Moneyball's spot, or maybe Young Adult, or even 50/50...Moneyball was light on dialogue; just not a good film, not a particularly strong screenplay at all. Not sure what Ides of March is doing in there either.

The rest are just sidenotes -- hopefully Tintin wins Best Animated Feature...the Best Foreign Film and Best Original Song categories are a bore...and fingers crossed that Trent Rzenor will take home the award again for Best Score for his work on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. See you all on January 15th for the liveblog...

The boys (plus Noomi) are back

The Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows press tour begins!

Paramore, new and improved

A bit of background first, for those of you who are not privy to the tale of one Paramore: they're a young, incredibly talented pop-rock band out of Nashville who got big around 2007 with their single "Misery Business," and have enjoyed a sizable following ever since. They're also fronted by Haley Williams (the rest of the band is all male), who's been garnering quite a bit of success lately. (Example: that's her voice on "Airplanes," one of the biggest hits of the year.) Whether she meant to steal the spotlight or not, it was always kind of bound to happen. Who wouldn't pay attention to an 18-year-old girl whose I've arrived-battle cry to the world of rock was "I'm in the business of misery"? I mean, just look at her. And that voice, that voice! If I had one wish, it would be to have Haley Williams' voice. (Sorry, world peace.)

Paramore has been pretty open about their inter-band rifts before -- they almost broke up before making Brand New Eyes, and Haley dated guitarist Josh Farro for three years before they broke up as well. ("Ignorance," "Playing God" and "Careful" are all about him.) But Josh and his brother Zac -- the band's drummer -- finally decided to part ways with Paramore last winter. Of course, they couldn't leave without writing their very own exposé, their "side of the story" -- an angry statement on their website about Haley getting too much attention and Paramore not feeling like a band any more -- classic backup-lead singer jealousy thinly veiled by hardly diplomatic language.

Since the breakup, Paramore's three remaining members have been very clear about the fact that they are still a band and are still going to make music together -- and finally, here's the proof, and my goodness. Very rarely do songs just wreck me, but this one does without question. A beautiful, emotionally loaded ballad; the lyrics a very clear reference to the breakup of the band (and the loss of two best friends -- Haley met the Farro brothers when she was just 13 years old). And I love the incomplete sentence -- "In the mourning / All my worries..." It's open-ended. Side note: this is the acoustic version, which is incomplete, but Warner Music Group kills dreams and removed the longer, studio recorded one from YouTube.



And no, you're not crazy if you think those beginning chords sound a bit like Fleetwood's "Landslide" -- check this out, from a Paramore concert a little while ago.



Any way, stay tuned this month for my coverage of the Golden Globe nominations -- they're announced in less than 10 days (!). Where does the time go?

Everything is beautiful

and nothing hurts.

Armie Hammer FTW as usual

His answer when New York Magazine asks him what it was like to kiss Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar? "It just felt like kissing. I also had to shoot a machine gun in the movie, but no one asks about that." Armie. Congratulations on that perfect answer. Congratulations on your everything. (Fingers crossed for a Best Supporting Actor nod for him, but it feels like there's just not enough buzz...)

Two other things -- I love this -- six writers and their book collections. (My mom has the best book collection of all time, by the way. She's not on that list, but...just for the record.)

And Michael Fassbender is a GQ Man of the Year! HE IS GOING TO BE SO HUGE SO SOON. You know that feeling you get when your favorite band becomes really popular and you become weirdly protective of them? I'm going to be the embodiment of that feeling. I'll to try to limit the number of times I say "I told you so" or "I knew about him first," but I can't make any promises.

Politicking

All of these presidential debates lately (one of which started a few minutes ago) have me nostalgic for The West Wing. Below, one of my favorite moments...



And on a different note, can we talk about how FLAWLESS New Girl and How I Met Your Mother were this past week? There was not one moment during New Girl where I wasn't laughing. And How I Met Your Mother! I think our crazy kids have finally hit their stride this season -- Marshall quoting Edgar Allen Poe was brilliant, and Barney and Robin -- particularly the scene in the rain -- it all just felt right. And finally, two almost-too-good-to-be-true casting items -- Sacha Baron Cohen is in talks to join Tarantino's Django, and Paul Bettany is in talks to play a sex god for Showtime. (Dear Showtime, you guys are twisted and I like it.)

November things

The Shame trailer has been out for a while now (also known as Michael Fassbender's Impending Oscar Movie) but this new clip has me SO EXCITED I CAN'T EVEN. IT DESERVES CAPS, YOU GUYS. IT DESERVES CAPS. Fassbender's Brandon is so charming and real and kind of nervous, in a way...and the one long shot is classic Steve McQueen, just like Hunger. It's brilliant, all of it. Just thinking about it gives me butterflies. (Weird?) Also, the movie just got an NC-17, considered a badge of honor on this blog, so here's to that. (Other exciting upcoming films -- Hugo -- a whimsical holiday goodie, and a kids movie that's Scorcese-directed, so not to be missed -- and Chronicle, a sort of off-kilter superhero moving starring Friday Night Lights' own Michael B. Jordan.)

Speaking of the Oscars (God, has it really almost been a year since the last?), New York Magazine has already started a "watch," if you will. And I'm fine with that! It's never too early to talk awards shows. They've got Rooney Mara and David Fincher in their Best Actress and Best Director categories, respectively, for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which I am looking forward to almost as much as Shame. Good stuff.

Here is the first trailer for Magic City, Starz' new show that's basically Mad Men but starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Denny from Grey's Anatomy, for those of you not in the know), and set in my second hometown, Miami. It doesn't disappoint...

Other TV things -- if you're not watching New Girl, you need to be! Last night's episode was as close to perfect as Fox gets. (Speaking of Fox, you guys -- Glee is painfully bad. I haven't been watching lately, but last night I did, kind of by accident -- and I had to mute it after 10 minutes.) Finally, Ringer is meh, but Jason Dohring as an English teacher acting opposite Zoey Deutch, who is quite talented in her own right -- is really something, especially for The CW.

And last but not least, interviews! Zach Galifianakis and Aaron Paul on Conan on the same night...Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake doing the History of Rap 3 and cracking each other up endlessly...and finally, Diablo Cody and Joel McHale. Cody actually does really fun interviews with actors in a trailer and posts them on YouTube, and in this one, Joel (as usual) showcases his humility, brilliant comedic timing, and...parenting skills? Check it out below.

Mindy Kaling

speaks the truth. It's the sad truth, but still -- it's the truth. I'd be worried for women everywhere if women like her didn't exist. Mindy is brilliant, the piece is brilliant -- just read it.

Emmys 2011 Liveblog!

5:59 Hello all! Quick reminder: as usual, this isn't an actual "liveblog," so to see updates, you'll have to refresh the page every couple of minutes. Sorry I'm not sorry. Any way...here we go!

6:03 Chris Colfer is the first guest -- "Ryan Murphy is very good at spilling information [on the new season of Glee] that we're not supposed to say." Oh my god, please, please let that be a thinly veiled insult...

6:06 NO POINTS for Nina Dobrev for saying she's honored to be compared to Blake Lively.

6:08 Cobie Smulders looking like the angel that she is...

6:15 The back of Lea Michele's dress is open, and my god. Remember when she wasn't 80 pounds?

6:19 Poor Sarah Hyland is having to apologize for her impression of Lea Michele on Fashion Police this Friday. NO. Do not apologize! It was amazing!!

6:28 Giuliana asks Rainn Wilson why The Office avoided revealing/choosing a new boss for Dundler Mifflin in their season finale. Giuliana! A question that's not about his diet and/or significant other! Good job, girl!

6:29 Oh, and there she goes. "Who's your celebrity crush?" Welcome back, Giuliana.

6:40 Darren Criss' glasses: no. No no no. He looks like Terry Richardson.

6:42 The new Charlie's Angels gals seem to have absolutely no chemistry with one another. Yikes.

6:45 Just when things were getting a little boring -- Kathy Griffin kisses Ryan Seacrest on the lips. Thank you, Kathy!

6:50 An absolutely adorable interview with Christina Hendricks, who looks beautiful, and her husband Geoffrey Arend. She always does interviews with him (whereas a lot of other stars have their spouse stand to the side, particularly if they're not famous), and it's clear why -- Ryan asks stupid questions and Geoffrey cracks Christina up. It's very, very sweet.

6:55 As usual, no one (including me) has any idea what Tracy Morgan is saying...

6:58 OH MY GOD ADAM SCOTT IN A TUX --

6:59 -- and Aubrey Plaza, my girl crush/dream doppelganger, looking ah-may-zing. Who is her stylist? She always shuts it down.

7:01 Seth Myers: "I look good, just not as good as the worst-dressed woman here."

7:02 Steve Carrell! Buddy, we've missed you! This is his last Emmys -- for a while, at least -- so here's hoping he wins tonight.

7:05 Hahaaa, I love Seacrest and Joel McHale together. Joel looks great, banters with Ryan about their respective heights, and says hi to the camera crew, who is actually his camera crew for The Soup. Class act.

7:07 Evan Rachel Wood, my second girl crush to show up tonight! And looking beautiful as usual. No one else has ever looked that good with short hair. No one else ever.

7:11 Lizzie Moss doing her usual ethereal, glittery, diamond-y look. Hey, if it ain't broke...

7:19 Only Zooey Deschanel could pull off her dress, and I love it. Some very cute girl talk between her and Julie Bowen. Julie Bowen is a girlfriend.

7:21 AZIZ!

7:22 Ian Somerhalder is rocking 90s boy band hair...

7:26 People who need to show the ef up: Hugh Laurie, Amy Poehler, and Kyle Chandler.

7:28 My wish is the Emmy God's command! It's Amy Poehler and Will Arnett -- and they completely take over, with Will interviewing Amy while Ryan stands to the side. I'm pretty sure they did this at the Golden Globes too, and it's so cute. They're always like two giddy teenagers in love...and she looks beautiful. Love the dress. And the manicure. And the ring.

7:30 Gwenyth looking like a goddess (obviously) in a sexy, sexy, SEXY dress -- practically see-through -- and giving Amy Poehler a huge hug

7:32 Sofia Vergara. Everybody, mute your TVs. (Or at least turn down the volume if you don't want an eardrum blown.)

7:33 I have a love-hate relationship with Rob Lowe, but it's sweet that he always brings his kids.

7:40 John Kraskinski being perfect as usual...

7:43 and Jon Hamm wearing Tom Ford. AS IT SHOULD BE.

7:50 Hamm's GF says their relationship works because there's no secrets. She must not know about Dick Whitman...?

7:51 It's the always-flawless Kate Winslet, acting funny and sweet and British as usual. Love her, love her, love her.

8:00 And it's off to FOX we go! Christina Hendricks is wearing hipster glasses, and rocking them.

8:01 Spock!

8:03 These are the weirdest cameos ever. Randy Jackson? Eric Dane? Kevin Nealon? Jeremy Piven being decidedly un-funny? (Except aw, hearing him yell "Lloyd" made me realize how much it sucks Ari Gold isn't around any more.)

8:05 WAIT, YES. THE MAD MEN BIT. PEGGY! ROGER! DON! AND PETE! PETE!!! I MISS YOU ALL!

8:07 Well, we made it 7 minutes without a Sue reference, and there she is -- tracksuit and all. Yawn...

8:09 Scorsese smiling! My night is made.

8:11 Someone is making a gif of Jon Hamm's finger pistol right now.

8:12 Cobie Smulders is tiny, y'all! This isn't funny, by the way...this singing group thing.

8:12 HAHA, Psych's True Blood impression.

8:13 The party rockers song makes me vomit. I'm serious. I'll be in the bathroom, vomiting.

8:14 This is a funny bit. Fallon is selling it.

8:16 Wow, Julie Bowen for Supporting Comedic Actress -- big upset! I like her, but it should have gone to Kristen Wiig. At least it wasn't Vergara.

8:33 HAH. Brilliant reaction shots from the Modern Family writer's wife. Speaking of Modern Family, the show is cleaning up right now -- winning both supporting awards as well as directing and writing.

8:35 OH MY GOD, TERRIFYING SHOT OF CHARLIE SHEEN GETTING READY IN THE MIRROR. I am scared, you guys. I am scared of that man.

8:40 Jane Lynch: "Welcome back to the Modern Family Awards." Nice.

8:43 I have nothing against Jim Parsons, but this is wrong -- no matter what you think of The Office or Steve Carrell, he deserved this award. That last episode was spectacular.

8:44 Hah! Rob Lowe/the show's writers are as annoyed with Sofia Vergara as I am.

9:06 God almighty, I'm tired of Jon Stewart winning this award. We need some Colbert up there! For once!

9:14 Is it okay if I say these shorts don't exactly translate to stage? Because they really, really don't...but hey! John Stamos! That's always good!

9:16 Love Kristen Wiig cheering for her dudes.

9:17 Unsurprisingly, the Lea Michele-Ian Somerhalder bit is the least funny of the night. She's (obviously) not funny unless she's Rachel Berry, and he's just...brooding off to the side awkwardly.

9:18 Oh yikes, Scott Caan is shorter than the extremely petite Anna Paquin.

9:20 Jon Stewart wins (obviously), but the best thing about this? Colbert's totally gracious reaction -- he leaps to his feet to give Jon a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. And wait -- my first serious laugh-out-loud moment of the night -- the reaction shot of Jimmy Fallon's pissed-off slow clap. Amazing. Need gif now.

9:21 Jon Stewart, speaking in TV language -- "it's our first callback of the night."

9:22 Jon Stewart's shout-out to Colbert is perfect -- "he's exquisite," Stewart says, and it's true. A surprisingly humble speech from J. Stew, and ahem, nice to see some female writers up there with him. (Whatever, I said it.)

9:29 What a cool drama montage. I don't care what anyone says or believes -- there is so much good TV on right now, particularly in the past 10 years. Some TV -- not all, but some -- is spectacular.

9:30 Oh, man. Longtime FNL viewers, it's our happy ending after all.

9:33 Margo Martindale FTW! Love the shot of the Justified cast and crew. Timothy Olyphant, we've come so far...the juice was worth the squeeze, right?

9:46 Dinklage gets Best Supporting Actor in a Drama for Game of Thrones. So exciting. A very cool speech -- he thanks his dog sitter, acknowledges the other nominees -- "Come on. Any of you could be up here," and tells his wife she's just "amazing." Also, jeeeeze -- had no idea the Game of Thrones writers were so young! Those guys are living the dream.

9:52 You can't punch the handsome off Anderson Cooper.

9:54 Aww, man. This isn't a surprise, but I was pulling for either Connie or Elisabeth.

9:58 Everyone in this category deserves it, but Jon Hamm -- please?

9:59 Wow, wow, wow. Kyle Chandler gets it. Wow. Really though this was Jon Hamm's year.

10:08 Evan Rachel Wood just kills it whenever she's on screen. You can't take your eyes off of her. And Jane Lynch gets the best joke of the night with the cast of Entourage as the reason she's a lesbian.

10:24 LESLIE NIELSEN.

10:34 Guy Pearce should get this...

10:35 and he does! "You're an extraordinary women," he says to Kate Winslet, and gives a funny and charming speech (which I didn't think he had in him after his CREEPIEST AND COMPLETELY CONVINCING PERFORMANCE OF ALL TIME as Andy Warhol in Factory Girl).

10:36 Finally, finally, finally Hugh Laurie.

10:38 Kate Winslet's jumping up and down thing is a little too enthused, but I love her, so I'll let it be. Umm, she's fast on her way to an EGOT, right? Does she have a Tony? Gwenyth Paltrow is, too -- she's got an Emmy now (for Holly Holiday on Glee), an Oscar, and could certainly try for a Tony...

10:49 Mad Men wins for Best Drama -- well deserved, but still bittersweet because I do think Jon Hamm getting Best Actor should have been how the night went. Plus, Mad Men has won this three times before.

10:55 I love how Gwenyth Paltrow doesn't need a guy to walk her out. Goddesssss...

10:58 Modern Family wins for Best Comedy. Shocking. Can we wrap this up so I can go watch the new Breaking Bad now?

11:00 That's it, everybody! Thank you all so much for reading...(Mom)...this was fun! Good night and good luck!

The best thing any of you will ever see

Elijah Wood is one of those celebrities that's just an absolute joy to watch when they do press. (Ex: Robert Downey Jr., Daniel Radcliffe, Amy Poehler...) He's so game; he's so happy to be there. Plus, who else could make "shut the f*** up" sound so...delicate? Seriously. Watch the video and see.

Two more Emmy snubs (and a liveblog reminder)

I'm thinking we should add Hunter Parrish and Justin Kirk to the list of people the Emmys have consistently snubbed. Was just watching the show's most recent episode, "Une Mere Que J'aimerais Baiser" (I know, I know), and had to go back to the beginning roughly three times just to catch every single one of their small moments and (forgive me for this one) choices. I'm just so consistently impressed by these guys.

And how fitting that Silas has finally become Nancy's competition? It's a brilliantly "big" moment, and big moments are not something Weeds usually recognizes -- so the shot of Andy and Doug's shocked faces as Silas packs up is as emotional as it is surprising. Weeds has always been something of a hot mess, but it's never been predictable. The show is worth watching because of that -- and because of these two.

And on a somewhat related note, a quick reminder -- will be liveblogging the Emmys as usual this Sunday, starting with the E! pre-show at 6. Seacrest, it's been too long...

Honey, I'm home

Hello all! Apologies don't make up for taking a 3-month break, but I am sorry nonetheless. I was actually busy working at another TV-centric site, Television Without Pity. Some pieces for your enjoyment:

1. It's So Hard to Say Goodbye: How to Fill the Harry Potter Void

2. Why Glee Shouldn't Have Cut Chord (Distributed to Yahoo!)

3. The Challenge: Rivals: Keep Your Enemies Closer

4. Just How Bad Are TV's Most Morally Ambiguous Characters?

5. ...and my all-time favorite, and certainly the most personal piece I wrote -- Veronica Mars: A Return to the Scene of the Crime.

If you're not watching Breaking Bad now...

it is TIME TO START. I cannot stress that enough. A preview of Season 4 came out today, and it looks like it's going to be even better than the last (if that's at all possible). There's also this fantastic behind-the-scenes article in Newsweek.

Also, off-topic, but worthy of your attention: Beyonce did a mash-up of Prince's "The Beautiful Ones" and Kings of Leon's "Sex on Fire" at Glastonbury, and it was amazing. I usually don't like when people do Kings covers because no one sounds like Caleb, but Beyonce kills it. (Of course.) Check it out here.

June things I like

I know this post is long, but everything in it is amazing, so seriously try to check out however much you can. Here goes:

I am in love with this beautiful breakup song -- Robyn always delivers, but in this one you can just hear the pain in her voice. Bonus: Robyn + rap.

This is a video of Daniel Radcliffe getting quizzed on his New York knowledge, and acting adorable in general. "Two Boots is more than decent!"

I'm mad like everyone else about The Killing finale, but can I just say -- Joel Kinnaman is a revelation. If he isn't at least nominated for an Emmy, I will boycott. Speaking of The Killing finale, if you thought that made you angry, check this out -- we're not finding out who A is on Pretty Little Liars until the very last episode of the entire SERIES.

Michael Fassbender has been a fixture on this blog since it started, but he and James Mcavoy are the best bromance since Jesse and Andrew. If you don't smile at least once while watching this compilation, you should probably get that checked out.

This interview and this phone call just aren't getting old any time soon.

Everyone looked amazing at the True Blood premiere. And Evan Rachel Wood's new cut is killer.

Here's Adele making me cry...

...and here's Larry David being his usual genius self.

Best news ever: there might be an Inglorious Basterds prequel.

Portlandia isn't exactly new, but it is my new favorite show -- this is a three-minute clip, and I know you have three minutes to spare, so watch it.

Everyone is finally realizing how much January Jones sucks, and I love it.

Can't stop listening this band's cover of Super Bass -- for the best stuff, skip right to 1:56-ish. Also, it's Questlove!

Friday Night Lights' criminally under-used Grey Damon has a new job as the resident heartthrob on The Nine Lives of Chloe King, which I reviewed here.

Chloe Sevigny's fashion line kicks ass, and so do the dresses Gucci designed for Florence Welch. Speaking of dresses, this means it's officially time for me to have a Mad Men-themed party.

I'd watch Lin-Manuel Miranda read the phone book, so this video of him creating the final Tonys rap backstage during the actual awards show with Tommy Kail and Neil Patrick Harris is like a dream. Also, a billion points for their West Wing shout outs.

Hi, Joe Manganiello.

The Moneyball trailer is here! It gave me trailer chills, in a good way. (Those are the chills you get when there's that building, triumphant background music in movie trailers. Obviously.)

And finally, I never blog about art because I don't know anything about it, but I loved these too much not to post them.