Sunday Blessings - Alex O'Loughlin

With the premiere of Three Rivers tonight on CBS, today's edition of Sunday Blessings is devoted to its star, Alex O'Loughlin. To be honest I'm most likely not going to watch the program, since I have my usual Sunday night routine of Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters and Mad Men. Plus, I have general fatigue over hospital dramas - I quit watching Grey's Anatomy midway through last season. I am tempted to watch Three Rivers, as it's set in Pittsburgh, a place dear to my heart since I attended college there, though I doubt it's actually filmed in the city. The hotness factor of O'Loughlin is also tempting me to watch the show. It's the eyes that draw me in. You do have to give props to CBS for recognizing they have a potential star in the actor, even after cancelling his first series, the vampire drama Moonlight. The network execs must be kicking themselves, having aired it right before the current love of all things vampire broke. O'Laughlin gained a huge cult following from Moonlight, and CBS was smart enough to keep him on their network, giving him a guest spot last season on the god-awful Criminal Minds, followed by a staring role on Three Rivers. Hopefully it works out better for actor.

October Oscar Prediction

Since last month's predictions, The Last Station finally found a distributor, Inglourious Basterds did big at the box office, A Single Man drew high praise for Colin Firth and Julianne Moore, Bright Star opened to less than the rapturous applause it needed, people began talking about Up in the Air and Precious confirmed itself as the one to watch, thanks to a win at Toronto. With those occurences, here's how I think the Oscar nominations may be heading:

Picture:
Amelia
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglouious Basterds
Invictus
The Lovely Bones
Nine
Precious
Up
Up in the Air

Director:
Lee Daniels - Precious
Clint Eastwood - Invictus
Peter Jackson - The Lovely Bones
Rob Marshall - Nine
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

Actor:
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Daniel Day-Lewis - Nine
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station

Actress:
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Hilary Swank - Amelia

Supporting Actor:
Matt Damon - Invictus
Richard Kind - A Serious Man
Alfred Molina - An Education
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Supporting Actress:
Marion Cotillard - Nine
Judi Dench - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious
Julianne Moore - A Single Man

Adapted Screenplay:
An Education
Invictus
The Lovely Bone
Precious
Up in the Air

Original Screenplay:
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
The Tree of Life
Up

Cinematography:
Amelia
Bright Star
The Lovely Bones
Nine
The Tree of Life

Editing:
The Hurt Locker
Invictus
The Lovely Bones
Nine
Precious

Art Direction:
Amelia
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Tree of Life

Costume Design:
Bright Star
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

Make Up:
District 9
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Star Trek

Original Score:
Amelia
Brothers
Public Enemies
The Tree of Life
Up

Sound Mixing:
Avatar
A Christmas Carol
Nine
Star Trek
Up

Sound Editing:
Avatar
A Christmas Carol
The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Visual Effects:
2012
Avatar
Star Trek

Animated Feature:
Coraline
Ponyo
Up

TV Casting News - Cheyenne, LeBlanc, and Franco?

In the last few days, a trio of casting announcements were made concerning three attractive actors. The best of the batch is stage/screen hottie Cheyenne Jackson joining 30 Rock, either as a regular or semi-regular cast member. The news was reported on E! Online but hasn't yet been confirmed by NBC. He would make a great addition to the series, and hopefully indicates a duet between him Jane Krakowski.

Meanwhile, over on Showtime former Friends star Matt LeBlanc is set to play himself in a comedy series entitled Episodes. (story at Gold Derby) The show will be about "the misadventures of an English couple whose urbane Britcom is dumbed down for American audiences with the casting of LeBlanc." It's an interesting idea for a comedy, and LeBlanc can be a gifted comedic actor as evidenced by the latter seasons of Friends. His talents were definitly wasted on the Joey spin-off, as were Drea De Matteo's and Jennifer Coolidge's. With Episodes being on Showtime, let's hope there's some Matt LeBlanc nudity.

In the weirdest casting news, screen actor James Franco is set to appear on the daytime soap General Hospital, in a multiple episode storyline beginning in November. (Story at BuzzSugar) Umm? What? It's such a weird acting decision on Franco's part, particularly coming off the career highs he had last year with Milk and Pineapple Express. Apparently he came up with the idea himself and approached the producers of the show. Weird. That's all I can say.

Screen Goddess Top 5 - Jane Fonda

1. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (Sydney Pollack, 1969)

2. Klute (Alan J. Pakula, 1971)

3. The China Syndrome (James Bridges, 1979)

4. Coming Home (Hal Ashby, 1978)

5. Julia (Fred Zinnemann, 1977)

(Belated) Sunday Blessings - Ben Cohen

Yes, Ben Cohen is the subject of this week's Sunday Blessings. I so enjoyed his spread in Attitude and his general adorable hairiness, that I figured why not spend more time admiring the man's sex appeal. In actuality I don't know much about the man, other than he recently turned 31, is English and plays professional rugby. While Cohen is straight he is aware of his gay following and is comfortable enough with his status as a sex symbol, to often shed his clothing for calendars and photoshoots. Those are aspects that many European sports stars share, which seem to be absent from sports players here in America. I can never figure that out. Why aren't any football or baseball players willing to pose in their underwear or less? It's kind of disappointing. Who wouldn't want to see a glimpse of what Tom Brady or Derek Jeter have under those uniforms? I just think they should all take some tips from their European counterparts. Amen.

Poor Jenny Slate

In her very first outting on SNL, she drops an f-bomb, and worse off, it was in the middle of a very lame sketch. Actually the whole season premiere was kind of lame. To be fair Slate's sketch was just tempting an f-bomb, with the actresses repeatedly having to say frickin' over and over again. Hopefully this doesn't become a big deal, and the actress isn't punished by being kicked off the show, since I actually think she has the potential to become a very funny cast member.

Ben Cohen in Attitude

How can you not love gay-friendly rugby star Ben Cohen's photospread and interview, in the October issue of British gay magazine Attitude? He's so hairily adorable.

Glee and Other TV Programs

When Glee premiered a couple of weeks ago, I had my worries about the series, but luckily over the past two weeks the show has gotten better, and my conern has been easing. The pacing has started to slow down, giving a more even tone to the episodes. The plotline over Terri faking a pregnancy, while still soapy and ridiculous, has actually become less of a problem, with the character becoming more simpathetic. And while I never took issue with Jane Lynch's hilariously demented cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, I'm enjoying the fact the character is being better fleshed out. Last night's episode provided a better understanding of Sue's thinking, and she actually gave some good advice at the end of the episode - Even if the crowd is booing you, act as if they are cheering you. The biggest surprise over the last few episodes, however, is the male cast members becoming the stand outs. I'm seriously loving Chris Colfer's and Cory Monteith's performances as the Kurt and Finn. The biggest concern I have about the program now, is the continuation of Stephen Tobolowsky's character Sandy. The performance, while funny in a bit part in the pilot, is now really annoying. The character should definitely be written off, and since Tobolowsky isn't a regular cast member, it shouldn't be that hard.

Elsewhere on the television, The Good Wife and Eastwick made their premieres. Both had entertaining, if not great, starts, but of the two I'd consider The Good Wife as the program most likely to get better over time. Julianna Margulies gave a promising performance, and she's surrounded by interesting actors including Christine Baranski, Josh Charles and Chris Noth. I that even though it is a law drama, it focuses on the defendents rather than the prosecution, and the trial parts seem more realistic. Hopefully the series goes in the direction of becoming a workplace drama, rather than another boring crime procedural. Eastwick, on the other hand, seems like it could quickly fizzle, even though it has the benefit of being able to go in any number of directions. I just worry it will become a stale copy of Desperate Housewives, with some magic thrown in every once in a while. I will, however, always enjoy the presense of Rebecca Romijn.

Lily Tomlin Joining Damages

I forgot to discuss the news, but last week it was announced Lily Tomlin would join the cast of Damages for its third season, along with Martin Short and Campbell Scott. Tomlin and Scott will play a mother and son who go up against Patty Hewes, while Short will be playing their attorney. I'm very excited for the casting news, particularly for Tomlin, as the show's greatest quality is its creation of interesting female characters. She should definitely have great material to work with - a show down between her and Close must be epic! I do have the slightest disappointment that this likely means Tomlin won't be returning to Desperate Housewives, which I though she was a hoot on last season. How did she not get an Emmy nomination for it? The casting of Campbell Scott and Martin Short is also promising, though I do hope Short's performance isn't pitched to the rafters, as is sometimes the case. With all these additions to the program's cast, hopefully Marcia Gay Harden manages to make a reappearance on the program. I loved her performance and character, not to mention her boobies!

Emmy Awards - The Morning After

Last night's Emmy telecast was easily one of the best I'd ever seen. Having Neil Patrick Harris host was a brilliant move on CBS's part, and I think we can assume the next time the network gets the ceremony, NPH will be back as emcee. Whoever hosts next year's ceremony on NBC (most likely their go-to guy Conan O'Brien) has some pretty big shoes to fill. I loved the Dr Horrible bit, with NPH and Nathan Fillion in character. Fillion is entertaining on Castle, but the procedural doesn't fully utilize his charisma and comedic talents. He needs his own half-hour comedy series, preferable on HBO. I enjoyed the presentations by Ricky Gervais (as usual) and Jimmy Fallon (surprisingly). I also loved the fact the Music and Lyrics category was moved to the Primetime Emmys, so the overexposed Justin Timberlake could except an award live, but he lost to the team who wrote Hugh Jackman's opening Oscar number.

While the show itself was great, the actual award winners were all over the place. The night started off with a great win for Supporting Actress in a Comedy, the always adorable Kristin Chenoweth from Pushing Daisies, but any happiness from that win was stripped away once the Supporting Actor in a Comedy trophy went to Jon Cryer. I had predicted a win for him, but mainly as a joke about how bad the Emmys can sometimes be. They proved me right. What is it about NPH that stops them from giving him the prize? I was happy Lost's Emerson picked up the prize for Supporting Actor in a Drama, though my own pick would have been Aaron Paul, and while I love Glenn Close on Damages and Bryan Cranston on Breaking Bad, I kind of wish they hadn't repeated their wins from last year. The same goes for Alec Baldwin and his Best Actor in a Comedy win. Seriously, will Carrell ever get the award. The big prizes for Comedy and Drama Series went to deserving winners 30 Rock and Mad Men. I was worried Mad Men would lose, as it had only picked up one trophy at the Creative Arts Emmys, for hairstyling, and only one other Emmy last night for writing. I thought there could have been a backlash against so much attention being paid toward a cable television series. You know the networks are steamed about being shut out of most categories these last two years, but hey that's what happens when you fill you're schedules with a bunch of crime and medical procedurals.

My Emmy Winner Predictions

The Primetime Emmys are handed out tomorrow night, so I thought I'd have a got at predicting the winners. Sometimes its easy to guess whom the voters will pick, put more often the winners can seem completely random. There are some questions about this year's ceremony. Will Mad Men win the big prize again? How big of a sweep will 30 Rock have? With Jeremy Piven not in the running, can Neil Patrick Harris finally win an Emmy?

Drama Series:
Big Love
Breaking Bad
Damages
Dexter
House
Lost
Mad Men
Will Win: Mad Men, although I have a sinking suspicion House may take the prize.
Should Win: Mad Men. The only other nominee that's even close to its brilliance is fellow AMC drama, Breaking Bad.

Actor, Drama:
Simon Baker - The Mentalist
Gabriel Byrne - In Treatment
Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad
Jon Hamm - Mad Men
Michael C. Hall - Dexter
Hugh Laurie - House
Will Win: I think they'll want to award the star of a break out network show, and give the prize to Simon Baker
Should Win: Jon Hamm and Bryan Cranston were both great this season, but I'd give it to Hamm.

Actress, Drama:
Glenn Close - Damages
Sally Field - Brothers & Sisters
Mariska Hargitay - Law & Order: SVU
Holly Hunter - Saving Grace
Elisabeth Moss - Mad Men
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer
Will Win: Glenn Close - the Emmys do love their repeat winners
Should Win: January Jones! Oh, she's not nominated. Mary McDonnell! Whoops, again not nominated. Elisabeth Moss, just for her scene with Vincent Kartheiser in the second season finale.

Suppoting Actor, Drama:
Christian Clemenson - Boston Legal
Michael Emerson - Lost
William Hurt - Damages
Aaron Paul - Breaking Bad
William Shater - Boston Legal
John Slattery - Mad Men
Will Win: Hurt or Emerson seem like the obvious choices, which means they'll bestow the award to... William Shatner!
Should Win: Any of the men, aside from the Boston Legal boys, would be deserving of the award, but I'd give it to Aaron Paul for expanding the depth of his character.

Supporting Actress, Drama:
Rose Byrne - Damages
Hope Davis - In Treatment
Cherry Jones - 24
Sandra Oh - Grey's Anatomy
Dianne Wiest -In Treatment
Chandra Wilson - Grey's Anatomy
Will Win: I don't know. I'll just guess Dianne Wiest because she won last year
Should Win: I don't really have a preference, though I wouldn't mind a make up Emmy for Sandra Oh.

Comedy Series:
30 Rock
Entourage
Family Guy
Flight of the Conchords
How I Met Your Mother
The Office
Weeds
Will Win: Barring some revolt against the series' domination, 30 Rock takes this in a cake walk.
Should Win: It's a toss up between 30 Rock and The Office.

Actor, Comedy:
Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock
Steve Carell - The Office
Jermaine Clement - Flight of the Conchords
Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory
Tony Shaloub - Monk
Charlie Sheen - Two and a Half Men
Will Win: Alec Baldwin again, though an upset by Jim Parsons wouldn't surprise me.
Should Win: Steve Carrell! The Michael Scott Paper Company plotline was beautifully acted.

Actress, Comedy:
Christina Applegate - Samantha Who?
Toni Collette - The United States of Tara
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - The New Adventures of...
Mary Louise Parker - Weeds
Sarah Silverman - The Sara Silverman Program
Will Win: Tina Fey - everyone still loves her.
Should Win: Christina Applegate. I'm going to miss Samantha.

Supporting Actor, Comedy:
Jon Cryer - Two and A Half Men
Kevin Dillion - Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris - How I Met Your Mother
Jack McBrayer - 30 Rock
Tracy Morgan - 30 Rock
Rainn Wilson - The Office
Will Win: NPH seems like the obviouc pick, but again, it is the Emmys, so I'm going to predict Jon Cryer.
Should Win: Neil Patrick Harris!

Supporting Actress, Comedy:
Kristin Chenoweth - Pushing Daisies
Jane Krakowski - 30 Rock
Amy Poehler - SNL
Elizabeth Perkins - Weeds
Kristen Wiig - SNL
Vanessa Williams - Ugly Betty
Will Win: Tough call, but I'll go with Amy Poehler for her final season on the show.
Should Win: Any of the ladies would be deserving, but I really want Kristin Chenoweth to pick up the trophy.

Do Not Make Tim Gunn Angry

Anyone who watched last night's episode of Project Runway, witnessed former drug addict Johnny get the cold shoulder from Tim, after being kicked off the show. Tim showed little sympathy for the man, not doling out his usual goodbye hug, nor did he even look at Johnny when he told him to back his knife and go. Tim was of course mad at the "designer" for the ridiculous lie told on the runway, about Johnny having to quickly redesign a dress after his first was destroyed by a steamer. The truth was Tim criticized his first dress, which was ugly, though I thought the oragami birds was an interesting idea, so Johnny crunched it up and threw it into the garbage. While lying to the judges was wrong, it was also completely unnecessary for the situation. Johnny destroyed the first dress because Tim Gunn told him it was bad. That is a completely justifiable reason to make a new garment. There was no reason to create an elaborate lie, especially considering Tim Gunn and the other contestants knew what had happened. I mean really. He probably would have had a decent chance at staying, if he hadn't doomed himself by lying. But hey, lying is what crack-whores do.

Since I'm writing about reality television, i always want to mention the booting of the adorable Mattin from Top Chef this week. Though his dismissal was understandable - why would you serve raw fish at a rach cook out - I'm still going to miss the adorable Frenchie. Anyway, at this point isn't kind of obvious who will be the final five contestants - Jen C, the Voltaggio brothers, Kevin and Mike I. Although I could see the show have someone unexpected (Ashley?) remain until the final four or five.

Why Is Lisa Simpson on Mad Men?

Ok, it wasn't actually Lisa Simpson, but Yeardley Smith, the actress who provides her voice, who made a brief appearance on last night's episode of Mad Men as a nurse in the hospital where Betty gave birth. I find it interesting that the cast members of The Simpsons continue to do other acting gigs, considering how much money they make per episode of the animated series. Out of the cast only Julie Kaver doesn't do other work. I suppose it's the love of acting which makes them branch out, and I'm guessing Yeardley didn't take the bit part for the paycheck. She's most likely a fan of the program, and would take any opportunity to appear on it.

"Shmemmys" Handed Out

Over the weekend, the Creative Arts Emmys, or the Shmemmys, were handed out at a ceremony hosted by Kathy Griffin. The awards show was taped and will air next weekend on the E! channel, so I do look forward to watching it. Sadly, Kathy did not win the prize for Best Reality Series, losing to A&E's Intervention. I suppose you can't win every year, unless you're named The Amazing Race, and last summer's season of My Life on the D-list wasn't the strongest, so its not too big of a loss. It will definitely provide her with a lot of fodder, and she'll most likely win again next year if she submits either the Prop 8 or Maggie's bucket list episode. In the other categories, Tina Fey deservably won for Best Guest Actress for her appearance as Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live, and Pushing Daisies was a big winner, taking home three trophies for Costumes, Make Up, and Art Direction. It's kind of ridiculous the show didn't recieve a nomination for Best Comedy Series. Mad Men, on the other hand, only picked up one trophy for Hairstyling, which makes me worry it doesn't have enough support to win Best Drama Series next weekend. Though really, the Emmy awards often make very little sense.

Sunday Blessings - Charlie Hunnam

Having watched the season premiere of the FX series Sons of Anarchy the other night, I'm devoting today's edition of Sunday Blessings to its star Charlie Hunnam. The series' first season aired last year, and though I was tempted to watch because of the casting of actors I enjoy - Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman, Maggie Siff (I'm so glad she's continued working after her great recurring role on Mad Men) - I never sat down to watch it. A series centered around a motorcycle gang had little interest to me, and I found the notion of former British model Charlie Hunnam playing a rugged member of the gang laughable. So then why did I watch the second season premiere? Well... it's a very shallow reason. I had heard Hunnam showed off his booty in the episode. He did, and it was lovely, but the show as a whole drew me in. I wasn't completely sure what was going on all the time, since I missed an entire season's worth of story, but it was interesting none the less, and I can see myself becoming a regular viewer. The ladies of the show, Sagal and Siff, are of course the stand outs, and I have to give credit to any series that can create interesting female characters. As for Charlie Hunnam, he's surprisingly believable in the role, at least looks wise. He's got just enough scruff to potentially be a member of a motorcycle gang, though he'd still be the prettiest member of the gang by far. Acting wise, I find Hunnam a very limited actor, and I didn't believe he displayed as much internal turmoil as was necessary for the character. Although, I don't believe his acting chops are what get him casted so often, and I can't really complain if he's willing to show some skin. Amen.

On My Television Screen

The new television season began this week with a few premieres. On Tuesday I caught the series premiere of the new Melrose Place. It was an alright debut, but much of the new cast seemed unable to grasp the tone of the nightime soap. Katie Cassidy, as publicist Ella Simms, was the obvious stand out, understanding the over-the-top nature of her character and the series. If the show doesn't work out, let's hope she still has a long television career. On Wednesday was the season premiere of the high school set comedy/musical Glee. The premiere of Glee has me worried for the series, as the pacing was even faster than the pilot episode, which I found too rapid. At the rate it's going, the series could burn out rather quickly. I also take issue with the series' depiction of Will's wife Terri, who became an even bigger monstrosity in the premiere rather than becoming a more fully developed character. The show already has a great one-dimensional villian in Jane Lynch's cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, so the use of Terri seems arbitrary and almost cruel, but if you've seen creator Ryan Murphy's other series Nip/Tuck, you can tell he has a problem with female characters, often turning them into grotesques. Let's hope the series balances itself out as it continues.

Oh Joan

"I do, however, find your ad unfortunate."

Oh Joan, you always know how to make me laugh.

Design Star "Celebrity" Episode

On last night's episode of HGTV's Design Star, the final three contestants designed rooms for celebrities - Tiffani Thiessen, Jason Priestly and my girl Kathy Griffin. The episode was a hottie showcase, beginning with contestant Dan getting out of bed shirtless, and featuring Mr. Priestly, whom I've had a crush on since the early days of 90210, and Tiffani Thiessen's husband, actor Brady Smith. The guy is in almost every commercial on television and he always grabs my attention. Someone really needs to cast him on a series, preferably one on HBO which features nudity. It was also fun to watch the producers and editors trying to make sure Kathy didn't hijack the episode, which she can do so easily. Her room makeover was probably the least well done, but her designer Antonio stayed because of his personality. I actually don't disagree with the judges decision. Lonni, who was kicked off, did a better room, but she doesn't have a personality that could carry a series. Dan, while pretty, probably couldn't carry one either, unless of course, he did every episode in his underwear, which I wouldn't be opposed to. Plus HGTV already has a hot gay Design Star winner with David Bromstad. That leaves Antonio as the inevitable winner, as long as he doesn't completely botch the final challenge, and I have to admit, in his own sort of way, Antonio is kind of sexy. I'm guessing the accent and tattoos are probably what do it for me.

Screen God Top 5 - Gene Hackman

1. The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)

2. Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)

3. The French Connection (William Friedkin, 1971)

4. Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992)

5. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)

Sunday Blessings - Dave Salmoni

This week Sunday Blessings is devoted to Dave Salmoni, an animal trainer and host of multiple Animal Planet/Discovery Channel series and specials, including Living with Tigers, Rogue Nature, Into the Lion's Den, and Predator vs. Prey. His most recent series Into the Pride had him living with a pride of lions for six months in order to.... um.... prove something? Look, I'm sure there's a good reason for him living with these big cats, but I don't exactly know what that is, since it's not really the words coming out of his mouth that draw my attention. Let's face it, the reason Salmoni has been growing in popularity is his body, which is often on full display, and adorable nature of seeing this tough guy play around with the big kitties. Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel are fully aware of the beefcake aspect and have actually been promoting the series with videos of him showering with a bucket of water. Hey, it's a smart marketing strategy. It's also nice to know Salmoni is aware and appreciative of his gay fan base, remarking in an Advocate.com interview, "I feel like my gay fans are the most appreciative. I get lots of e-mails from them, and they're not shy. A young girl may say, 'Hey, I really like you, you're kinda cute,' whereas a gay guy will be like, 'Hey, take your shirt off more and you'll get better ratings.'"Amen.

"End" of the Week - Jason Statham

Taken from the films Crank and Crank: High Voltage. This will probably be my last "End" of the Week posting for a while.

"Don't Stop Believing!"

Oh, I can't wait until Glee premiers next Wednesday. I found myself watching the Director's Cut of the pilot episode last night, and I have to admit the slightly expanded episode had better pacing than the original. I'm not dissing the original pilot, which I though was great to begin with. It's just my biggest problem with it was its sometimes overly frantic pacing, and the Director's Cut seemed to lessen it, making the episode even better.

My Problem with Top Chef's Casting

Last night, Preeti was kicked off Top Chef, and deservedly so - why would you make a pasta salad on Top Chef? - but, she is now the third woman in a row to get kicked off, and it seems certain Laurine and Jesse will be gone soon as well, which makes me wonder about the casting decisions. There are definitely more "great" male chefs on the series than there are "great" female chefs. While I noticed it in previous seasons, the disparity in talent between the men and women is much greater this season. Out of the women, I only see Jen C. as a potential winner, while I can see several of the men potentially winning - Kevin, the Voltaggio brothers, Mattin, and to a lesser extent Mike and Eli. Yes, there is a bias in the industry and its harder for women to achieve high positions, but thousands of chefs audition for the show each year, so there is no reason why Top Chef can't choose an equal number of highly talented men and women to appear as contestants. It's not even as if the less talented women made it on the show because of entertaining personalities. Some I forget are even on the show - each episode I find myself asking, "Has Laurine been on since the beginning?" So then why exactly are they cast? I just don't get it.

More Ladies for SNL

Story at Zap2it. Jenny Slate and Nasim Pedrad are joining the cast of Saturday Night Live for its upcoming season, and hopefully these women can get some good material. In the last few seasons, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have left the show, leaving a huge void in the program for talented female cast members. Out of the women who replaced them, only Kristin Wiig has really broken out. I do put a lot of the blame on the writers, as there hasn't been as many memorable sketches centered around women, since Fey stopped being the show's headwriter. With regards to the two joining cast members, I'm particularly excited for Jenny Slate, whom I usually find funny. Just please let her get a memorable character.

A New Month = New Oscar Predictions

Since my last predictions, the release dates for a number of potential contenders (The Wolf Man, Shutter Island, The Tempest) were pushed back to 2010, and the releas date for Terrence Malick's new feature, The Tree of Life was moved forward to this year. In addition, Tarantino's latest effort, Inglourious Basterds, has become a hit. Will that translate into multiple nominations for the film? Maybe. So far the only two locks for nominations are Up for Animated Feature and Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia for Best Actress, but that won't stop me from trying to predict these things.

Picture:
Amelia
Bright Star
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
The Lovely Bones
Nine
Precious
Up in the Air

Director:
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Lee Daniels - Precious
Clint Eastwood - Invictus
Peter Jackson - The Lovely Bones
Rob Marshall - Nine

Actor:
Javier Bardem - Biutiful
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Daniel Day-Lewis - Nine
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station

Actress:
Abbie Cornish - Bright Star
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Saorise Ronan - The Lovely Bones
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Hilary Swank - Amelia

Supporting Actor:
Matt Damon - Invictus
Jude Law - Sherlock Holmes
Alfred Molina - An Education
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Supporting Actress:
Marion Cotillard - Nine
Judi Dench - Nine
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Mo'Nique - Precious
Susan Sarandon - The Lovely Bones

Adapted Screenplay:
An Education
Invictus
The Lovely Bones
Precious
Up in the Air

Original Screenplay:
Biutiful
Bright Star
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Up

Cinematography:
Amelia
The Hurt Locker
The Lovely Bones
Nine
The Tree of Life

Editing:
The Hurt Locker
Invictus
The Lovely Bones
Nine
Public Enemies

Art Direction:
Agora
Amelia
Invictus
Nine
Public Enemies

Costume Design:
Agora
Bright Star
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

Make Up:
Inglouious Basterds
Sherlock Holmes
Star Trek

Original Score:
Bright Star
Brothers
The Lovely Bones
Public Enemies
Up

Sound Mixing:
Avatar
A Christmas Carol
Nine
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Sound Editing:
Avatar
A Christmas Carol
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Up

Visual Effects:
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

Animated Feature:
Coraline
Ponyo
Up

Screen God Top 5 - Gene Kelly

1. Singin' in the Rain (Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen, 1952)
2. The Pirate (Vincente Minnelli, 1948)
3. Anchors Aweigh (George Sidney, 1945)
4. On the Town (Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen, 1949)
5. An American in Paris (Vincente Minnelli, 1951)

Laura Linney Heads to Showtime

The talented screen actress Laura Linney will executive produce and star in her own series on Showtime, entitled The C Word (an interesting title?), about a woman with cancer (story at EW). Why are all my favorite film actresses moving to television? The small screen already took my Holly Hunter and Toni Collette, and now it's taking my Linney. It's not as if the actress doesn't still get challenging film roles (The Squid and the Whale, Jindabyne, The Savages), but all those films seem to be independents, so the paycheck for the television series is probably better. I only wish I had Showtime. Grrrr. Network television seriously needs to step it up, as all the well-made, female centric series are on cable television. Pretty soon they're not going to have any nominations in the Lead Actress Emmy categories.

"End" of the Week - Sean Lamont

From his Gods of the Stadium calendar spread. I don't watch Rugby, but he makes me want to.

Oh, Anne

You have to love the ever talented, but always crazy Anne Heche. Celestia appeared on last night's The Late Show with David Letterman, supposedly to promote Hung, but ultimately knocking her ex-husband. While most celebrities would have skirted the issue, Heche answered all questions asked by Dave, and ranted about her "lazy ass" ex-husband, why she'll never get married again, and why Dave shouldn't have married his girlfriend. It was funny to a point - "Oh, I got another check from Anne! Yeah!," had me dying - but it went on too long, making her seem very bitter. Still, I wouldn't have my Celestia any other way. It's also interesting to note that Dave seems to be the host who gets the most honest and craziest celeb interviews. Over the years he's had a cursing Madonna, a boob flashing Drew Barrymore, an "out there" Farrah Fawcett, an odd Joaquin Phoenix, and of course, my favorite Nicole Kidman moment - the post Cruise divorce line, "I can wear high heels now." What is it about Dave that allows guests to be so off-the-cuff?

Screen God Top 5 - Viggo Mortensen

1. Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg, 2007)
2. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)
3. The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson, 2001-2003)
4. Psycho (Gus Van Sant, 1998)
5. A Perfect Murder (Andrew Davis, 1998)

"Bye Bye Birdie..."

I only watched the film Bye, Bye Birdie once, when I was in middle school. At the time I didn't think much of it, but after last night's episode of Mad Men, showcasing the opening number by Ann-Margret, I kind of want to go back and rewatch the film. I don't know if the film's opening actually had much significance, or the series just elevated the sequence, making it seem more important. I was also pleasantly surprised by the appearance of Embeth Davidst, playing the wife of Jared Harris' Lane Pryce. I doubt they would have hired the actress for one brief scene, so I expect to see more of her character during the season.

Sunday Blessings - Eric Dane

This week Sunday Blessings is devoted to actor Eric Dane. Why? Well, there's that whole video thing traveling around the internet. I do feel bad for the guy and his wife, as I usually do when a celeb video is leaked without permission. It's a total invasion of their privacy. What people do in their own time shouldn't be exploited or judged, as long as they're not doing anything illegal. Having said all that, I still totally checked out the video. It was boring, but Dane definitely has a cute butt. That's all I'm going to say about it. Most people came to know Dane because of his role on Grey's Anatomy - he made a great first appearance, exiting a shower with only a small towel - but, I had actually first noticed him some years earlier, on the short-lived, Andre Braugher series, Gideon's Crossing, playing an intern at a hospital. The series also co-starred the adorbale Hamish Linklater, who's currently on The New Adventures of Old Christine, playing Julia Louis-Dreyfus' brother. Dane's a decent enough actor, but I've never been wowed by one of his performances. That's not to say he isn't capable. I'm just guessing his best attributes are his looks, which are damn fine. The body is to die for (those pecs!), and I kind of dig the premature greying he's got going on, which, thanfully, he isn't dying. Amen.