SAG Award Nominees 2013

FILM
Ensemble Cast
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
August: Osage County
Dallas Buyers Club
The Butler

Lead Actor
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Forest Whitaker, The Butler

Lead Actress
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Judi Dench, Philomena
Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Daniel Brühl, Rush
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
James Gandolfini, Enough Said
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Supporting Actress
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
June Squibb, Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey, The Butler

TV
Ensemble – Drama
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland

Ensemble – Comedy
30 Rock
Arrested Development
The Big Bang Theory
Modern Family
Veep

Actor – Drama Series
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Jeff Daniels, The Newswroom
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Actress – Drama Series
Claire Danes, Homeland
Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Kerry Washington, Scandal

Actor – Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Jason Bateman, Arrested Development
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Actress – Comedy Series
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Actor — TV Movie or Miniseries
Matt Damon, Behind the Candelabra
Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra
Jeremy Irons, The Hollow Crown
Rob Lowe, Killing Kennedy
Al Pacino, Phil Spector

Actress – TV movie or Miniseries
Angela Bassett, Betty & Coretta
Helena Bonham Carter, Burton and Taylor
Holly Hunter, Top of the Lake
Helen Mirren, Phil Spector
Elisabeth Moss, Top of the Lake

STUNTS
Television Stunt Ensemble:
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Game of Thrones
The Walking Dead
Homeland

Film Stunt Ensemble:
All Is Lost
Fast and Furious 6
Lone Survivor
Rush
The Wolverine

LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Rita Moreno

2013 Emmy Winners

OUTSTANDING DRAMA - Breaking Bad
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS DRAMA - Claire Danes, Homeland
OUTSTANDING ACTOR DRAMA - Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS DRAMA - Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR DRAMA - Bobby Cannavale, Boardwalk Empire
OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS DRAMA - Carrie Preston, The Good Wife
OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR DRAMA - Dan Bucatinsky, Scandal
OUTSTANDING WRITING DRAMA - Henry Bromell, Homeland
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING DRAMA - David Fincher, House of Cards

OUTSTANDING COMEDY - Modern Family
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS COMEDY - Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
OUTSTANDING ACTOR COMEDY - Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS COMEDY - Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR COMEDY - Tony Hale, Veep
OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS COMEDY - Melissa Leo, Louie
OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR COMEDY - Bob Newhart, The Big Bang Theory
OUTSTANDING WRITING COMEDY - Tina Fey & Tracey Wigfield, 30 Rock
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING COMEDY - Gail Mancuso, Modern Family

OUTSTANDING REALITY SHOW HOST - Heidi Klum & Tim Gunn, Project Runway
OUTSTANDING REALITY SHOW COMPETITION - The Voice
OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES - The Colbert Report
OUTSTANDING WRITING VARIETY SERIES - (17 writers), The Colbert Report
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING VARIETY SERIES - Don Roy King, Saturday Night Live
OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY - Derek Hough, Dancing with the Stars

OUTSTANDING TV MINISERIES OR MOVIE - Behind the Candelabra
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS  TV MINISERIES - Laura Linney, The Big C: Hereafter
OUTSTANDING ACTOR TV MINISERIES - Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Ellen Burstyn, Political Animals
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR - James Cromwell, American Horror Story: Asylum
OUTSTANDING WRITING TV MINISERIES - Abi Morgan, The Hour
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING TV MINISERIES - Steven Soderbergh, Behind the Candelabra

The show was hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, and it therefore felt more like the Tonys than the Emmys a lot of the time.  A dance number in the middle of the show?  A choreography sequence in Hour 3? For this, they cut short Anna Gunn's speech?

Favorite parts of the show:
- Kevin Spacey's bit in the opening sequence.
- The acceptance speeches of Merritt Wever and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
- Will Ferrell's "couldn't find a babysitter" presentation.
- General unpredictability.

Some of the categories:
 - Loved that Breaking Bad won Best Drama. Was kinda hoping Veep or Big Bang Theory would win Best Comedy, since Mod-Fam and 30 Rock have won it the past seven years between them.
- Jeff Daniels for The Newsroom was a shocker.  Thought it should have gone to Cranston, or Hamm, or Spacey, or Lewis, or Bonneville.
- Bobby Cannavale for Boardwalk Empire was a surprise, but I guess I'm okay with it. I probably would've gone with Aaron Paul or Mandy Patinkin.
- I never watch Nurse Jackie, so I have no idea how good Merritt Wever is. I would've picked Anna Chlumsky or Mayim Bialik.

As to the In Memorium, they gave five special tributes to Jonathan Winters, Jean Stapleton, Cory Monteith, Gary David Goldberg, and James Gandolfini.  (They really thought the spot should go to Monteith instead of Jack Klugman or Larry Hagman?) But they didn't play any clips; we only got testimonials.  And same with the regular In Memorium, we got only photos.  Anyway, stretching out the death theme made the whole event more of a bummer than usual.

Breaking Bad - "Ozymandias" - TV Review

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear --
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.' 

- Percy Shelley

This may be the most devastating episode yet in an already brilliant series.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

There are only two episodes to go after this, and while we've always known there won't be a happy ending, this episode played on audience expectations and side-stepped them and had scene after scene of high-tension moments.

When we ended last episode, it looked like Hank and Gomez were goners, outnumbered in a shootout with the Aryan family. But this episode started at the beginning, showing a scene that would've taken place around the pilot, with Walt and Jesse happily cooking meth in the desert. Such warm and fuzzy memories.

Fast-forward to present (which isn't really present since we know Walt grows his hair out and fetches some ricin, but I'm getting ahead of myself) where Hank is injured and Gomez is dead. They didn't hit any of the Aryans, and Hank's time has come. A handcuffed Walt pleads for Hank's life. All he's done, he keeps telling himself, he did for his family, and now his brother-in-law is about to die.  Walt gives away his $80 million to try to save Hank but to no avail. Great acting job by the trio of Walt, Hank, and gun-holding Jack.

Hank takes a bullet to the head, and Jack and family take $70 of the $80 million. They let Walt keep $10 million to show there are "no hard feelings."  But there's one last item of business. The whole reason Walt had called the Aryans was to kill Jesse Pinkman, and Walt sees Jesse hiding under the car.  Walt gives Jesse a stare harder than Michael gave Fredo in Godfather II. Right before Jesse gets killed, Todd suggests they question him first to see how much he told Hank.  And right before Walt lets Jesse be dragged away for torture and execution, he lets Jesse know that he watched Jane die. Jesse is devastated in every way possible, and Walt's transformation to pure evil is complete.

And yet, one of the great things about BB is how Walt keeps telling himself that he's doing it for the right reasons (his family) and that basically he's still a good person (he knows he's not but it's all for his family!)  Walt is ready to take his $10 million, grab Skyler, Walt Jr., and Holly, and disappear.

Ah, but Hank had called Marie, and Marie confronts Skyler that Hank has arrested Walt.  She makes Skyler tell Walt Jr. now.  Watching Walt Jr.'s world crumble is one of the saddest events yet on this show.  Walt Jr.'s been the innocent here, and now he knows the truth and he goes through the five stages of grief in heartbreaking ways.

Ah, but when they get back to the house, they see Walt. And if Walt is there, that means Hank is dead. Then in one of the tensest moments in TV history, we get a couple glimpses of the knife rack by the phone.  Knives. Phone.  Knives. Phone. Skyler makes her choice. She grabs a knife and tells Walt to go away.  When they scuffle, the audience knows Walt won't die but it doesn't mean he won't accidentally kill Skyler, and then when Walt Jr. intervenes, there's that horrible moment of "please don't accidentally kill Walt Jr.!" Ultimately Walt Jr. protects his mom and calls the cops on his dad. Walt was already betrayed to the cops by his surrogate son Jesse; now his real son has done the same thing.

Walt grabs Holly when he leaves, another horrific moment with Skyler chasing her baby (Emmys for everyone, and this has been Anna Gunn's best season yet!). Walt's call to Skyler to help absolve her (of course he knew the cops were listening) was his last noble gesture, and it ends him riding off into the sunset with Saul's anonymous friend.

One more tidbit though: Jesse is still alive, and Todd (who's the scariest kind of psycho, calm and polite) takes him down to a meth lab, keeping him on a chain but needing him to cook.

Two episodes to go.  Are the Aryans out of it?  Will Lydia's Czech clients come to the US to get some answers?  Are Skyler, the kids, and Marie still in great danger? Who is Walt's intended target with that Ricin?

My guess is Lydia is the ricin's intended victim.  If Walt was going after Jack or Todd, he'd want a quicker method of death.  I don't see how Jesse stays alive to the series finale, but I can almost see Walt rescuing Jesse and letting him go or killing him himself.

What do you think will happen?