2020 Emmy Nominations

Outstanding Drama Series
Better Call Saul
The Crown
The Handmaid's Tale
Killing Eve
The Mandalorian
Ozark
Stranger Things
Succession

Outstanding Comedy Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dead to Me
Insecure
Schitt's Creek
The Good Place
The Kominsky Method
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
What We Do in the Shadows

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me
Catherine O'Hara, Schitt's Creek
Issa Rae, Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Eugene Levy, Schitt's Creek
Ramy Youssef, Ramy

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Zendaya, Euphoria

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Steve Carell, The Morning Show
Brian Cox, Succession
Billy Porter, Pose
Jeremy Strong, Succession

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
The Masked Singer
Nailed It!
RuPaul's Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice

Outstanding Limited Series
Little Fires Everywhere
Mrs. America
Unbelievable
Unorthodox
Watchmen

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Jeremy Irons, Watchmen
Hugh Jackman, Bad Education
Paul Mescal, Normal People
Jeremy Pope, Hollywood
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Regina King, Watchmen
Octavia Spencer, Self Made
Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Giancarlo Esposito, Better Call Saul
Nicholas Braun, Succession
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Matthew Macfadyen, Succession
Bradley Whitford, The Handmaid's Tale
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Mark Duplass, The Morning Show
Jeffrey Wright, Westworld

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Meryl Streep, Big Little Lies
Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve
Julia Garner, Ozark
Sarah Snook, Succession
Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown
Samira Wiley, The Handmaid's Tale
Thandie Newton, Westworld

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Mahershala Ali, Ramy
Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live
Daniel Levy, Schitt's Creek
William Jackson Harper, The Good Place
Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method
Sterling K. Brown, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Betty Gilpin, GLOW
Yvonne Orji, Insecure
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Cecily Strong, Saturday Night Live
Annie Murphy, Schitt's Creek
D'Arcy Carden, The Good Place
Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Marin Hinkle, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Dylan McDermott, Hollywood
Jim Parsons, Hollywood
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Watchmen
Jovan Adepo, Watchmen
Louis Gossett Jr., Watchmen

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Holland Taylor, Hollywood
Uzo Aduba, Mrs. America
Margo Martindale, Mrs. America
Tracey Ullman, Mrs. America
Toni Collette, Unbelievable
Jean Smart, Watchmen

Outstanding Variety Talk Series
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
A Black Lady Sketch Show
Drunk History
Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program
Amy Poehler, Making It
Nicole Byer, Nailed It!
Bobby Berk, Queer Eye
RuPaul, RuPaul's Drag Race
Barbara Corcoran, Shark Tank
Padma Lakshmi, Top Chef

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Andrew Scott, Black Mirror
James Cromwell, Succession
Giancarlo Esposito, The Mandalorian
Martin Short, The Morning Show
Jason Bateman, The Outsider
Ron Cephas Jones, This Is Us

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Cicely Tyson, How to Get Away With Murder
Laverne Cox, Orange Is the New Black
Cherry Jones, Succession
Harriet Walter, Succession
Alexis Bledel, The Handmaid's Tale
Phylicia Rashad, This Is Us

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Fred Willard, Modern Family
Dev Patel, Modern Love
Brad Pitt, Saturday Night Live
Adam Driver, Saturday Night Live
Eddie Murphy, Saturday Night Live
Luke Kirby, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Angela Bassett, A Black Lady Sketch Show
Maya Rudolph, Saturday Night Live
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Saturday Night Live
Maya Rudolph, The Good Place
Wanda Sykes, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Bette Midler, The Politician

Watchmen - Movie Review

WATCHMEN (***1/2) - Starring Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Malin Akerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Carla Gugino and Matt Frewer.
Directed by Zack Snyder.

I loved it.

I read the graphic novel for the first time about seven months ago, and I haven't read it since. I tend to want to read books before the movie comes out, but I also wanted the memory to fade so when I watched the movie, I could let some elements surprise (beyond what the filmmakers are changing). Seven months isn't enough time to forget a lot; there were only a few points where I wondered "Did they change that from the book?"

I thought the opening credit sequence was great, to the tune of "Times They Are A-Changing" as we watch the revisionist history of the United States if superheroes had been around. It gets in a lot of backstory in three minutes. In fact, the whole soundtrack rocked for me, finding perfect spots for "All Along the Watchtower", "99 Red Balloons", "Hallelujah", and a great closing credit song with My Chemical Romance's cover of "Desolation Row."

Yes, the movie is admirably faithful to the source material, something that can't be said for a lot of previous Alan Moore adaptations (see The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Or don't.) Most of the changes made, I agree with. I'm glad they cut all the stuff with the kid at the newspaper stand reading the comic book about pirates. It added a level to the graphic novel, but we can't have a five-hour movie.

The stand-out in the cast for me was Jackie Earle Haley as Rorshach. Rorshach has the best story-arc anyway, but Haley has to do most of it behind the inkblot mask. Haley has the raspy Batman-voice thing going, but he's able to convey menace with a slight head-nod. By the time his mask is ripped off, I was giddy to see what Haley was going to do and he didn't disappoint. I was also impressed with Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan. The big blue demi-god is emotionally detached, and Crudup, who arguably had the hardest job, keeps him believable. Patrick Wilson is fine as the impotent Nite Owl, a guy who's regressed into his Clark Kentisms the longer he's retired. Matthew Goode was okay as Ozymandias, nothing really special there. Malin Akerman was flat as Silk Spectre for me, but not bad enough to drag the movie down.

I'd be curious about what people thought who hadn't read the graphic novel first. It's a deconstructing take on superheroes, showing that after a few decades of vigilantism, most of the "masks" have been psychopaths themselves. Superheroes have eventually been outlawed, except for Dr. Manhattan, who works for the US government.

We see the Comedian attempt rape and later kill a woman pregnant with his child. We see Rorschach do a number of bloody killings (although I liked the more subtle way he dispatched of the child killer in the book). Dr. Manhattan wins the Vietnam War by walking across the fields and making bodies disintegrate by pointing at them. It's violent stuff.

The ending is different, but I think this ending would be more palatable for non-fans, and I don't think it's worse than the book's ending. Some of the plot points have been used in everything from The Incredibles to Heroes, but this came first.