You see, George? You've really had a wonderful life.

Loving the nostalgia of The Killers' new Christmas song, "Boots." Brandon Flowers is almost smiling throughout the whole video - it's quite touching - and it even begins with a clip from one of my favorites, It's A Wonderful Life. Check it out:



Merry Christmas to all.

Golden Globe Nominations 2011: Rightful Spot-Earners and Egregious Snubs

What a strange year for the Golden Globes. SAG Award nominations also just came out, but I decided to cover the Golden Globes instead because – as the nominations this year demonstrate – it’s an unpredictable show. The awards are always up for grabs, and I love that it’s the least serious award show of the season (perhaps besides something boring like the People’s Choice Awards). The Globes are notoriously boozy, fun, and a celebration of entertainment in general rather than a serious lauding of it. Favorite Ricky Gervais is hosting again – lucky for us – and people pay attention to the Globes. I’m taking a look at the nominations in the lead categories here, and then will cover the show on and after awards night! Here goes:

Best Picture - Drama


Black Swan

The Fighter

Inception

The King's Speech

The Social Network

A flawless category. Exactly what films should be included, and likely what films will be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.

Best Picture - Musical or Comedy


Alice in Wonderland

Burlesque

The Kids Are All Right

Red

The Tourist

Oh my. This is embarrassing. Was it really that slow of a year for comedies/musicals? Burlesque? Seriously? The only movie that deserves to be in this category is The Kids Are All Right. Red is a stretch, but I can understand why it was included. What about I Love You, Phillip Morris, which is getting great buzz, or the innovative Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, or even Kick-Ass? Or instead of the The Tourist, in which the two leads had no chemistry, how about The Other Guys? Not really Golden Globes material either, but better than The Tourist altogether because of the brilliantly improvised Tuna vs. Lion scene. Was Alice in Wonderland even a comedy? General consensus is you had to be on some kind of hallucinogenic to find it amusing.

Best Actor - Drama

Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

Colin Firth, The King's Speech

James Franco, 127 Hours

Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine

Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter

A solid enough category, and all actors nominated were the expected ones. However – and I know I’m going to be killed for this – but Ryan Gosling seems to be playing a version of himself in Blue Valentine. An off-beat hipster? His role in All Good Things was certainly more of a stretch, and as usual, he was brilliant in it. Would have liked to see Stephen Dorff in there for his understated, fragile movie star in Somewhere, but no cigar. Don’t really care about the Leonardo DiCaprio Inception snub – a nod for Shutter Island would have been more understandable. His real snub was no Oscar nomination for his 2002 performance in Catch Me if You Can. No, I haven’t forgotten!

Best Actress - Drama


Halle Berry, Frankie and Alice


Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole


Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone


Natalie Portman, Black Swan


Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Same here – all solid (but somewhat expected) actresses. About time Michelle Williams got her due! She is fantastic in everything she does, Dawson’s Creek included. Would have liked to see Gwenyth Paltrow in here for Country Strong because I love the new, spunky Gwenyth, or newcomer Katie Jarvis for her stellar performance in Fish Tank, but voters and the Golden Globes audience love Halle Berry, so they weren’t going to kick her out of the race, and they couldn’t kick out any others because it would be criminal to overlook them.

Best Actor - Musical or Comedy


Johnny Depp, Alice in Wonderland

Johnny Depp, The Tourist

Paul Giamatti, Barney's Version


Jake Gyllenhaal, Love and Other Drugs


Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack

An even more perplexing list of nominees than Best Musical or Comedy, which I guess stems from a slow year for musicals/comedies. But really, the only deserving one here is Kevin Spacey – always a revelation – and perhaps Jake Gyllenhaal, for his emotional turn in an otherwise predictable romcom. Again, voters, if you are going to stoop as low as Johnny Depp in The Tourist, you might as well have nominated Russell Brand in Get Him to the Greek instead – his twitchy, drug-addled rock star was fantastically funny and at times, surprisingly dark. Again, no Jim Carrey for I Love You, Phillip Morris? What is this?!

Best Actress - Musical or Comedy


Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right


Anne Hathaway, Love and Other Drugs


Angelina Jolie, The Tourist


Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right


Emma Stone, Easy A

Obviously, The Kids Are All Right actresses more than deserve these noms. But none of the others do. No, I am not an Emma Stone worshipper. Sorry. The whole smoky-voice red-hair thing doesn’t make her interesting. She plays the same character in every movie: Superbad, Zombieland, The Housebunny, The Rocker, and Easy A, and has yet to show any talent beyond sarcastic retorts and the ability to mesmerize nerds. I’m also not impressed by Anne Hathaway in Love and Other Drugs, and the only award Angelina Jolie should be getting for The Tourist is Worst English Accent of the Year.

Best Supporting Actor


Christian Bale, The Fighter


Michael Douglas, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps


Andrew Garfield, The Social Network


Jeremy Renner, The Town


Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

ANDREW GARFIELD FANGIRL SCREAM! AAAANNY WAY, substitute Michael Douglas in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps for Justin Timberlake in The Social Network and I am one hundred percent happy with this category. I read somewhere today that for some reason people don’t want to acknowledge what a talented actor JT is. I’d say it’s about time to acknowledge it. If we buy Kal Penn working for the White House, we can buy Justin Timberlake as an actor. Let’s give the kid a break. Also – wish Mark Ruffalo could somehow be included in here for The Kids Are All Right. I loved his sperm-donor- dad-with-a-heart who somehow managed to gain our empathy even after he so royally screwed up.

Best Supporting Actress


Amy Adams, The Fighter


Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech


Mila Kunis, Black Swan


Melissa Leo, The Fighter


Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Perfectly happy with this category, especially with the Mila Kunis nod.           

Best Director


Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
           

David Fincher, The Social Network


Tom Hooper, The King's Speech


Christopher Nolan, Inception


David O. Russell, The Fighter

Happy with this category as well. Really want Darren Aronofsky to win; the incredible acting in The Social Network is due to his hundred-take tendency and the film is his vision come to life. That being said, would have rather had Ben Affleck’s fantastic directing job on The Town be nominated rather than David O. Russell after his documented freak-out on the I Heart Huckabees set a few years ago. People still remember him almost hitting a prop girl and breaking a lamp, right?

Best Screenplay


127 Hours, Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle


Inception, Christopher Nolan


The Kids Are All Right, Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg


The King's Speech, David Seidler


The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin

Sorkin for the win.

Best Television Series – Drama

Boardwalk Empire

Dexter

The Good Wife

Mad Men

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead nomination is a little premature, but I can’t talk because I haven’t been able to watch it yet. (Blame my addiction to roughly 200 other TV shows). Not happy about the Friday Night Lights snub, but if Mad Men doesn’t win, it will be criminal. Best season yet. I really believe no other TV show measures up.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Drama

Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife

Elisabeth Moss – Mad Men

Piper Perabo – Covert Affairs

Katey Sagal – Sons of Anarchy

Kyra Sedgwick – The Closer

Really tired of Kyra Sedgwick getting nominated for The Closer. Let’s give some others a chance. What about Lisa Edelstein, who always delivers (and has recently become more of a focus) on House? What about the underrated Emily Deschanel on Bones? Or Connie Britton on Friday Night Lights? Her not being in this category is a massive snub. She deserves this award.

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama

Steve Buscemi – Boardwalk Empire

Bryan Cranston – Breaking Bad

Michael C. Hall – Dexter

Jon Hamm – Mad Men

Hugh Laurie – House

A great category, stiff competition. Surprised Matthew Fox isn’t on the list. As much as I love Hugh Laurie, he’s gotten a Golden Globe before; he’s just simply way overdue for an Emmy. This award belongs to Jon Hamm. Let’s hope he submits “The Suitcase.”

Best Television Series - Comedy Or Musical

30 Rock

The Big Bang Theory

The Big C

Glee

Modern Family

Nurse Jackie

No Parks and Recreation or Community, but the inconsistent Glee and laugh-track Big Bang Theory instead? Aghh! Also, Weeds had a weirdly good, unpredictable season. Wish it had been recognized. A welcome relief after a few crazy years.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Comedy Or Musical

Toni Collette – United States of Tara

Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie

Tina Fey – 30 Rock

Laura Linney – The Big C

Lea Michele – Glee

           

As with Kyra Sedgwick, Toni Collette and Edie Falco have both gotten their countless nominations/awards for these repetitive roles and need to be let go from the race. How about Mary Louise Parker’s unknowable drug-dealer mom on Weeds or Amy Poehler’s enthusiastic government employee on Parks?

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Comedy Or Musical

Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock

Steve Carell – The Office

Thomas Jane – Hung

Matthew Morrison – Glee

Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory

All good here. Matthew Morrison pretty much plays himself, though – Steve Carell will likely (and deservedly) win this one, as it’s his last season on The Office and he hasn’t before.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Hope Davis – The Special Relationship

Jane Lynch – Glee

Kelly MacDonald – Boardwalk Empire

Julia Stiles – Dexter

Sofia Vergara – Modern Family

Well, I don’t watch Mini-Series or Motion Pictures made for Television, so I can’t really say anything about Hope Davis here. But Christina Hendricks being overlooked after a transformative season for Joanie on Mad Men is frustrating. Also, would have been nice to see Alison Brie on here for Community or even Jayma Mays for Glee, even though both of their roles are tiny.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Scott Caan – Hawaii Five-O

Chris Colfer – Glee

Chris Noth – The Good Wife

Eric Stonestreet – Modern Family

David Strathairn – Temple Grandin

Again, I got nothing on David Strathairn. Chris Noth: yawn. Chris Colfer: crying in every scene does not equal good acting. Happy to see Scott Caan and Eric Stonestreet on here, but would have preferred a little more Modern Family love, like Jesse Tyler Ferguson and/or Ty Burrell noms.

That’s everyone – now for the long wait until January 16^th to see how it all turns out. 

Gwyneth to return to Glee

Fantastic news, as long as there are no awful "Umbrella/Singing in the Rain" mash-ups again.

90210 > Gossip Girl

For my dear friend Harmonie, who made the mistake of revealing last night that she still watches Gossip Girl. She will now never hear the end of it.

Two years ago, New York Magazine claimed that Gossip Girl was "genius" and that it was "changing the way we watch television." I think I probably agreed with those statements two years ago - but I certainly don't any more. 90210 is now better than Gossip Girl, and also one of the most underrated shows on television. Let me explain myself, because I know how crazy this sounds, but here goes:

It's morphed into a completely new show since its first season. When 90210 began, it was like One Tree Hill meets Beverly Hills 90210, the corny Aaron Spelling original. They even hired back some of the original BH 90210 actors to play parents and teachers on the new show. Ugh. I wouldn't blame you if you had given up on it right then. But since the beginning of the second season, the creators fired four of the adult actors, kept the two most interesting ones, and the show has become more of a fast-paced, fun, witty guilty pleasure, more about the kids, replete with self-depricating dialogue and clever pop culture references. (Ex: Liam: "Trying to understand rich kids is like trying to understand LeBron James. The more you talk about it, the angrier you get.") They also gave Annalynne McCord more of the spotlight on the show, which was genius - she is hilarious, electric; the show's resident rich girl with a heart of gold, and she steals every scene she's in. Also, this season and last have dealt with some of the following storylines: coming out, internships, parents' income worries, feuding brothers, a sexual assault case, and being a single parent. Yes, there was a brief HIV scare and Adrianna became a pop star - I know these were ridiculous - but 90210 doesn't try to be some kind of meta-commentary on pop culture like Gossip Girl, and it never goes too overboard - when it does, it makes fun of itself. Here are some Gossip Girl storylines as of late: affairs with married politicians and teachers, masquerade balls, "auditioning" for high society groups, running a company at 20 years old, and apparently kids these days can "ban" other kids from New York City. Huh???

Which brings me to my point: you should be watching 90210 instead of Gossip Girl. Gossip Girl used to be better than 90210 - the story lines were fun, Blair and Chuck had fantastic chemistry, and we could stand Serena/Dan/Nate/Jenny/Vanessa etc. because they were so easy to make fun of. But in the past couple weeks, Gossip Girl created a storyline in which Serena accidentally put a high school teacher in jail, and his sister tried to "bring Serena down" by drugging her and withdrawing her from Columbia. I actually couldn't bring myself to watch the show anymore. And I never give up on shows! I stuck with Weeds! I know people don't watch Gossip Girl to see character growth, but every single storyline on Gossip Girl has become trite; not one character is likable, not one character has changed since somewhere around the second season. It's now looking like Blair and Dan may get together, according to people who are still watching. Blair has been nothing but awful to Dan for four seasons now - not in a cute way - in a making fun of how "poor" he is, his looks, his attitude, writing, life in general way. She is grossed out by Brooklyn! There's unrealistic, and then there's just grasping at straws. 90210 is on The CW Mondays at 8 - perfect! You can watch it right before you waste an hour of your life watching Gossip Girl at 9.

90210 "Holiday Madness" Recap: Happy Christmas, War Isn't Over

"It's crazy how much has changed just this year. Everything is different."

This week's episode of 90210 was so good I couldn't NOT write about it. Plus, Christmas episodes are always my favorite. One of the best things about 90210 that doesn't really happen on many other shows like it is that the storylines come to fruition quicky enough so that I'm not running out of patience. Well, Christmas is the time to be honest with the people you love, and that was certainly what went down on Monday. Many storylines came together and many characters...er...revealed their true feelings for one another. 

The episode starts with Adrianna buying a huge Hollywood house (apparently after one hit single you can afford a castle) and being insanely rude to her manager. Let's remember she stole all of her songs from a dead man and her manager is the only one who knows this, so God knows why she's being so idiotic. He could ruin her by revealing this. Any way, it's taken a couple episodes, but Adrianna has turned into a complete diva. This is kind of awesome because it's a throwback to the first season - Adrianna started out as a money-grubbing failed teen movie star who didn't even know Navid existed. It's nice to be reminded of that. She's being awful, but it's not that big of a departure from how she began. Girl has problems, and she's proof of the Lindsay Lohan disaster formula - zero guidance plus a stage mom equals bad news. Any way, Adrianna cuts her manager's commission in half to afford the house. Executive Producer Rebecca Sinclair told EW'S Michael Ausiello earlier this year that "Frankly, for Adrianna as long as her significant other dotes on her, tells her she’s amazing, and that her hair looks pretty, she doesn’t care what gender they are." This is so true - really, Adrianna has always been self-centered - we're just finally seeing it manifest. As long as she's being worshipped, she's good. 

Navid (Adrianna's boyfriend) and Silver (Adrianna's best friend) talk in the hallway about his revealing he has feelings for her last week. I like this coupling a lot - Navid and Silver are both smart, quirky, grounded (even though they come from crazy families), and have worked together on the school newspaper forever. It's about time. He wants to be with her, but she reminds him that Adrianna is her best friend, so no way. Well, it's TV, so we all know how long that "no way" will last.

Naomi is telling new friend and hilarious foil - our favorite TV tomboy Ivy - about her plan later that day to get waxed at a new spa that serves blueberry martinis. Classic. Naomi wants her to come with, Ivy refuses - creepy, and she's seeing her dad tonight. After her mom and Oscar's betrayal, she wants to reach out to her more "normal" parent who she hasn't spoken to in ages. Later, Oscar asks Naomi out, and she gives him a maybe because of his history with Ivy. Wha? Naomi is somewhat abiding by the age-old "hos over bros" mantra? Awesome. Ivy sees it happen and Naomi apologizes, but "maybe he's learned his lesson." Ivy is pissed, but not surprised, and admits that maybe they aren't meant to be friends any way - "So they don't remake 'The Odd Couple' starring you and me. It's okay. I think I'll live." 

Teddy bumps into Ian, and suggests they keep their relationship private. He's just started to accept he's gay, and he's not ready for everyone to know yet. Ian isn't okay with that. "I came out of the closet in ninth grade, and I'm not willing to go back there again," he says. And scene.

Ivy has dinner with her dad, he watches her surf, and all is going well until he reveals he's basically seeing Ivy to convince her to ask her mom to pay for her college instead of him. Gross. And also sadly realistic.

Sleepover at Adrianna's! Surprise, the only people who show are Navid and Silver. Aid's manager stops by with an apology gift for the way he pressed her not to buy the house earlier that morning, and she tells him she doesn't like it (a blanket and a bottle of champagne - wet blanket, get it?) and basically makes him leave. Navid and Silver see this and are rightfully irked. They have a couple "moments" throughout the night - he asks her if it's all in his head, she doesn't answer - but Adrianna keeps interrupting them. 

Adrianna's holiday party the next day. Everything's been set up, and here's where it all goes down. Adrianna sings some Christmas songs and opens up gifts, most of which she tells Navid to put in the "return pile." Everyone is there except Annie, because she's nursing Liam back to health at her house after he was beat up by some thugs last week. It's super awkward because, um, Annie is dating Liam's brother, and Liam is still in love with Annie. Cue her wrapping up his wounds and his "I'm still in love with you" confession, and what do you know, they sleep together. Ahhh! Cheaters!

Back at the party, Adrianna unwraps a present from her manager - a framed picture of him holding the book of songs she stole. Adrianna runs to her room and can't find the book - she suspects the worse, looks on the internet, and she's right - he's told the tabloids that she stole. Whoosh. That's the sound of her career going down the toilet.

Ivy stops by and bumps into Naomi, who wants to know how dinner with her dad was. Ivy still hasn't forgiven her and heads home to see her mom. She reveals to her mom that her dad just wanted to get out of paying for her education, and they hug and apologize and all is forgiven. It's actually pretty sweet - her mom says she's sorry for not knowing how to "do any of the mom things that moms are supposed to do," but Ivy says she just needs her mom to love her. Aww.

Turns out Naomi called Ivy's mom to tell her Ivy was upset about what happened with her dad, and that's why Ivy's mom was waiting at home for her. Ivy calls Naomi to thank her and OK's the whole Oscar thing - "I can be friends with you without liking the guy you date, and I want to be friends with you, so I guess we'll just agree to disagree." They wish each other happy holidays, and hang up.

Navid and Silver talk by the bar, where again, he asks her if its all in his head. She says no, and finally, finally, they kiss - and this time, Adrianna isn't there to interrupt.

Teddy finds Ian at the party and asks him alone, and they find an empty staircase. "There's no one else to talk to," Teddy tells Ian. "What about a therapist?" Ian retorts. Nice. "I know I'm gay," Teddy finally admits, "I just need some time to process that. I want to figure out who I am and what it means before the whole world knows and starts to judge me. Can't you just give me that time?" Teddy tells Ian that it's all so confusing, but there's one thing he isn't confused by - he wants to be with Ian. "Okay," Ian says, and they kiss just as Dixon walks up the stairs and sees them. Okay indeed.

The episode ends with Naomi letting herself into her apartment, leaving Oscar a thanks-but-no-thanks message, even though Ivy gave her permission to say yes to that date. "I'm really happy being alone right now," she tells him - words we never thought we'd hear from her. Well, too bad - the camera pans to Canon, her rapist from earlier this season, waiting for her behind a door. Dum dum dum...

Til next time!

"The Suitcase"

Is any episode of TV more worthy of being on a "Best of 2010" list than Mad Men's "The Suitcase?" One of the best -- if not the best episode -- of Mad Men's four incomparable seasons. Even better looking back at it now and realizing how much we, as viewers, hoped that that night had changed Don, but how little it really did.

Andrew Garfield

"We have a very short time here...love as much as you can, and love as many people as you can."

If you don't know, now you know: Andrew Garfield is incredibly funny, well-spoken, and self-possessed. The Social Network alum and the world's next Peter Parker deserves all the hype he is getting, and this interview proves it.

RDJ to possibly team up with Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey, all my dreams come true

Check it out.

Mila Kunis

Writing about fashion isn't exactly my forte, but I'm making an exception because Mila Kunis shut. it. down. at the Black Swan premiere on Tuesday. Old Hollywood glamour done right.