What the Flick

More nominations for acting awards were announced today: the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Directors Guild of America (DGA). Hope you are keeping up! Also new today: it was announced that Jon Stewart will host the Oscars... sounds promising to me. The Academy Awards will be broadcast March 5 on ABC. And don't forget that the Golden Globes are broadcast on Monday, January 16th, on NBC. Get your party outfits ready!

I started out with the intention of writing separate reviews of some end-of-2005 movies, but as they say, stuff happens. And with time a-wasteing and the Golden Globes telecast less than a week away, I figure I'd just better get down to business and wrap up so we can get on with the new year. And so...

Two magical children's movies are currently onscreen, and both deserve a look if you enjoy those sorts of things. The latest HARRY POTTER is the best yet, which, considering that the first 2 were really boring movies, and the 3rd was pretty good, may not be saying much. And THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA is a sometimes-frightening journey with 4 adorable little Brits that offers fantastic battles in the imaginary kingdom accessed through the back of an armoire.

9:30 AM PST: This just in from the Associated Press -- the 11th Annual Critics' Choice Awards were announced at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on Monday. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN received awards for Best Picture and Best Director (Ang Lee), while best acting awards went to Philip Seymour Hoffman for his portrayal of Truman Capote in CAPOTE and Reese Witherspoon for her portrayal of June Carter in WALK THE LINE. And penquin lovers everywhere will rejoice at the news that MARCH OF THE PENGUINS took the award for Best Documentary. These awards are given by the Broadcast Film Critics Association.

George Clooney was honored with the Freedom Award, which is given as a special tribute...

I don't know what's happened to me: one minute I was prepping for the Golden Globes, and next... it's 2 weeks later! Those post-Globe parties are killers! Unless you're holed up with Osama in Waziristan, you probably already know the GG winners: the big ones were Reese Witherspoon (yay!), Joaquin Phoenix, and WALK THE LINE in the film musical or comedy category; and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and Ang Lee (Best Picture, Drama, and Best Director) and Felicity Huffman (Best Actress, Drama, for her performance in TRANSAMERICA) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (yay!) (Best Actor, Drama, for CAPOTE). All well deserved and congrats to all.

Today, I'm here to tell you who was honored by the Directors' Guild of America. And the winner is: Ang Lee, for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. In addtion, Clint Eastwood was honored with a lifetime achievement award.

Tomorrow night the Screen Actors Guild awards are announced and televised on TNT. See you then!

Oh, and Waziristan? No offense, I just like the name, so if someone in charge of a Predator unmanned whatever is reading this, leave Waziristan alone.

Time to wake up to the nominations for the Academy Awards... but before thinking too hard on those, let us visit the SAG award winners! Last night the Screen Actors' Guild announced their awards (and broadcast the show on TNT). Highlights:
Best actress in a film: REESE WITHERSPOON! in WALK THE LINE.
Best actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman in CAPOTE!
Best ensemble cast in a film: the cast of CRASH!! Wow, those are such perfect choices... which just goes to show I should vote with the Screen Actors' Guild.

The awards for performance in a supporting role went to Rachel Weisz for THE CONSTANT GARDENER and Paul Giamatti for CINDERELLA MAN. I'll be mighty surprised if when I wake up tomorrow there is no Academy Award nomination for Rachel. And it looks like CINDERELLA MAN will get into the Oscar run through the acting nominations: I bet both Paul Giammati (for supporting role) and Russell Crowe (for lead role) will be nominated tomorrow morning.

The "Actor" also went to Sean Hayes from WILL & GRACE and Felicity Huffman for her work in DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES in the Comedy TV category; the ensemble cast in a comedy TV series went to the cast of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, which is sooo funny, because that show has really dropped a notch since its amazing first season. But it takes a while for people to catch up! And why did annoying little Andrew get to give the thank you speech when the always beyond-fabulous DR KIMBERLY ROSS/BREE VAN DE KAMP (you may know her as Marcia Cross) was right near by!!

The awards for TV dramas went to Sandra Oh for her work in GREY'S ANATOMY and Kiefer Sutherland for rocking another season on 24 -- and if you don't agree with that choice, watch out -- he'll torture you. The ensemble TV drama award went to the dialogue-challenged but very attractive cast of LOST.

And was I the only person who didn't recognize that adorable little Dakota Fanning was holding a SHIRLEY TEMPLE doll when she introduced the Life Achievement Award for that talented actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat?

The countdown to Oscar(R) Sunday is on... the awards will be announced on Sunday, March 5, on ABC.

Two bits of 2005 business to wrap up -- KING KONG and SYRIANA -- and you may wonder what the connection between them is. So what do they have in common? In a nutshell, they both involve a lot of monkey business with tropically hot places, natives in colorful costumes, and consequences right back here at home. Although both were of more than middling interest, they had fatal flaws that undermined their entertainment value.

For example, what can possibly be entertaining about...

This morning the Academy Award nominations for 2005 were announced right here in sunny LA. I am happy to say that most of my favorites were nominated. Some things to look forward to at the March 5th show: a lot of George Clooney, definitely in a tux -- my favorite funny smart hunk received 3 Oscar nominations (Best Director, Best Screenplay -- with Grant Heslov -- and Best Actor in a Supporting Role); man-to-watch Terrence Howard (Best Actor in a Lead Role); and another look at dreamy hunk Jake Gyllenhaal (Best Actor in a Supporting Role).

BEST PICTURE
"Brokeback Mountain"
"Capote"
"Crash"
"Good Night, and Good Luck."
"Munich"

Wow, so many good choices. I have to say that I thought CAPOTE was a singularly well-done movie (read my review here), and I was surprised it wasn't nominated at the Golden Globes. I loved the idea of GN&GL, but I thought the execution was less than optimal...okay, I'll say it, I was bored. CRASH, loved. BROKEBACK, a sad story beautifully told.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
"Howl's Moving Castle"
"Tim Burton's Corpse Bride"
"Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit"

Haven't seen the others, but that Wallace & Gromit ticked me on a recent cross country flight.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Capote"
Terrence Howard in "Hustle & Flow"
Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain"
Joaquin Phoenix in "Walk the Line"
David Strathairn in "Good Night, and Good Luck."

I can't even imagine having to choose among these amazing performances (however, if suddenly invited to vote and and go to the Oscars, I'd figure out a way). Really, each was sooo good in his own way. I loved PSH in CAPOTE, I loved Terrence in H&F, I was moved to tears by Heath in BROKEBACK, I was in love with Joaquin in WALK THE LINE, and I was inspired by David in GN&GL. This in one category when the ultimate winner will really MEAN it when he says he's honored just to be in the company of his fellow nominees.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEAD ROLE
Judi Dench in "Mrs. Henderson Presents"
Felicity Huffman in "Transamerica"
Keira Knightley in "Pride & Prejudice"
Charlize Theron in "North Country"
Reese Witherspoon in "Walk the Line"

Okay -- no pretense to objectivity here. For me, this category is all Reese, all the time. You go, girl!

BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee for "Brokeback Mountain"
Bennett Miller for "Capote"
Paul Haggis for "Crash"
George Clooney for "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Steven Spielberg for "Munich"

And the list continues...