Golden Globe nominations

For a full list of the TV nominations head to:

http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/12/15/golden-globes-nominations/

For a full list of the film nominations head to:

http://oscar-watch.ew.com/2009/12/15/golden-globe-nominations-announced/



Updated to include the nominations announcements:

What no Lost?! After such a good season it is surprising to see it absent from the Best Drama category, though I'm glad to see Michael Emerson nominated in the Best Supporting category as he really does deserve the many plaudits he has received for his work on this show. This best supporting actor category is a tough one, pitting drama against comedy with other favourites like John Lithgow and William Hurt also vying for this award. I'm also glad to see Neil Patrick Harris in this company as he really is terrific in How I Met Your Mother(and everything else).

I am glad to see Mad Men and Dexter in the best drama category and that Jon Hamm, January Jones and Michael C. Hall are also all nominated.  Other nominees that I'm happy with are both Glenn Close and Rose Byrne for Damages, even if the second season was not as great as the first both performed superbly and I'm looking forward to the third season next month.

Comedy wise it is good (and obvious) that 30 Rock and The Office have been shown some love, but other than these two shows I don't really watch any of the other nominees (though I plan on starting to watch Glee whilst it is on hiatus as I have many good things said about this).

The film nominations also include some favourites of mine, including:

-Joseph Gordon-Levitt for best actor in a comedy/musical for (500) Days of Summer

-(500) Days of Summer and The Hangover in the comedy/musical category

-Meryl Streep getting her annual nomination (twice this year for It's Complicated and Julie and Julia

-The movie I am most looking forward to getting many nominations (Up in the Air)

-Another female director getting nominated for an excellent film (Kathryn Bigelow: The Hurt Locker)

-Where the Wild Things Are being up for best score

-Matt Damon with double nominations for Invictus and The Informant! 

-Emily Blunt getting nominated for The Young Victoria and for Justin Timberlake who announced this inappropriately suggesting that John Krasinski (also presenting) would be getting lucky tonight

One reason why I like to watch the Golden Globes is for both TV/film getting honoured as even though my passion lies in television, I do also love the counter part of film. This award show is also helped by the free flowing booze at the tables which could lead to some funny speeches. It will interesting to see how host Ricky Gervais will do this year as he is often the highlight of most award shows, how will he go down when he is hosting the whole schebang and not just one award?

New Chuck promo

NBC have released another promo for Chuck season 3 (which starts in under a month, woot) with some more new footage, very excited and am glad to have this show back very soon:

Dexter- The Getaway and the season finale shocker

Major spoilers for Dexter 'The Getaway' season 4 episode 12

Holy wow, I did not see that ending of this season coming, it was one that I really didn't expect and is a ballsy move that will definitely change the show.

First off though a quick round up of the first 45 minutes of the episode. So as expected Dexter finally got to the Trinity killer and did what he has been wanting to all season, kill him and then let the ocean take care of the rest. However as this season has shown us the path to this was filled with many obstacles and this time it was a little time in jail that got in his way from doing the deed when he wanted to. The consequences of this were much graver than Dexter expected them to be but more on that in a bit. Trinity is then identified by the four walls symbol on his van that Scott (the boy he kidnapped- the homicide team link missing 10 year old boys before a bath tub kill and therefore to Trinity) draws and the police storm Arthur Mitchell's house with Dexter (as Kyle ) inside. Through some quick thinking he hides in the coffin in the garage, though due to his lack of police flak jacket Debs is confused as to why he was in the house so quick and without the correct protection on. Lucky for Dexter though her mind is far too occupied with the information that she has on Dexter's biological mother, this has led her in identifying the 'Ice Truck' killer as his brother, though he pulls off a convincing performance to suggest he didn't know any of this already.

Now to the real crux of the episode, the conversation between Trinity and Dexter before he kills him revolves around fate and free will, Arthur stating that it is all God's will and that it is all over now any way. Dexter does not agree with Arthur and this fate positioning and we see him muse that he will get rid of his dark passenger for the sake of his family he really does love, he looks at the moon as he is disposing of the body and thinks of Rita. When he arrives home to pick up his holiday stuff he has a voice mail from Rita saying that she has heard that the moon will be beautiful tonight and that she has to pop home to pick up her ID as she forgot it, it is at this point that I realised something bad might have happened. Dexter rings her phone which he hears inside the house, and then hears Harrison crying. The discovery is one that mirrors his early life, Harrison is sitting in a pool of  his mothers blood who is lying dead in the bath tub and it is at this point that Dexter thinks that Arthur was right about fate, it is also at this point that I have my hand over my mouth in shock as I can't believe they are ending the season this way.

I for one am sad to see Rita go, though as a story function this is an exciting one and will lead to many possibilities like how will Dexter cope as a single Dad? The dark passenger will I imagine be coming out of early retirement in full force and will this bring Dexter's secret to the surface. How will he explain the Trinity killer picking him and his family as a target?

Over at Entertainment Weekly they have an interview with executive producer Clive Phillips who clears up any confusion regarding this season ender.

More Lost promos and the start of season 2

So ABC have released yet another really cool non-spoilery promo for season 6 that is a longer version of the Amazing Grace promo that has already aired. It is a good song choice and I like that they have gone for the Willie Nelson version as it sounds more raw than the usual choir type renditions:

There is also a rumour that has been more or less confirmed over at Doc Jensen's new column (which contains many other great musings) that the Spanish Cuarto trailer that has been getting a lot of buzz is getting an American make over in the form of Terry O'Quinn narrating which I am totally on board with, as it makes perfect sense for him to be reading this poem. I'm also glad that the ABC promo department will be acknowledging what a great trailer this is.
In further Lost related postings I finished season 1 last night and jumped straight in to season 2 (and the hatch). The finale of season 1 is satisfying and well executed, apart from the lack of hatch secrets, yes they get in to it yet all we see is a very long tunnel. This shot does look awesome and being able to go straight from this to season 2 means that I didn't get that moment of 'what they're not going to show us what's in there?!'. However I do think the pay off in the season 2 opener is well done and makes up for the lack of hatch time in the finale. I also think that with the other stories in the finale (Charlie/Sayid going after Rousseau and the raft crew) that this was perhaps the best decision and with the climatic moment perhaps being when Walt is taken and the raft is destroyed. Also no matter how times I see it, it really is impressive how long Harold Perrineau can stretch the word Walt.
The first episode of season 2 entitled 'Man of Science, Man of Faith' is where we get to see the major divide that has opened between Locke and Jack and how each positions themselves regarding events on the island and what might cause them. This position is one that really does start in the pilot episode and continues throughout the seasons however it is at this point when these opinions divide the characters and cause a rift that is not really ever healed sufficiently as when Jack realises that there an element of the mystic to the island after all  it is too late.

"See you in another life brother"

And with these words this episode also introduces one of my favourite Lost characters, he does not appear that much in this episode, just in the opening when you don't know who it is, at the end when he has a gun to Locke's head and in Jack's flashback (Jack has some pretty bad hair issues occurring as in the spirit to make him look younger they have given him a not so fetching wig to wear). It is in this flashback (that we get to see again later in the season from Desmond's perspective) that we learn that he is entering a round the world race so our confusion is Jack's confusion when he sees him in the hatch, how did he get from there to being in an underground bunker on an island? All this and more will be answered over the course of the season as will the introduction of Ben (or Henry Gale as he was known then).
Coming up I have the tailies to look forward to, it will be good to see them again seeing as all but Bernard are now gone.

The Goop on the Girl- A Very Bones Christmas

Spoilers ahead for Bones episode 5.10

As far as Christmas episodes go Bones has produced two previous excellent ones: the first season quarantine episode was the first Bones I watched and is particularly special, whereas the season three venture had it's high moments and allowed Bones to have her first family Christmas since her parents disappeared, even though it was in a jail trailer used for conjugal visits it was still a rather touching affair. This years episode also promised to be special with the first appearance of Zooey Deschanel, Emily Deschanels real life sister playing her second cousin Margaret. It didn't disappoint.

First off with the crime, seemingly a man dressed as Santa in an attempt to rob a bank straps a bomb to himself only to blow up as Booth is about to arrest him (what is it will this show and killing Santa?). There was obviously more to this crime than meets the eye but this set up covered Booth in body bits making him and his clothes evidence. This led to the Christmas treat that all Booth and Bones shippers were looking forward to- Bones having to strip Booth of his clothes down to his underwear, most significantly and suggestively was her removing his Cocky belt buckle (at this point Booth decides he should start reciting Saints, which gave me a chuckle). Now as far as the Booth/Bones relationship goes I am not one who desires seeing them get together, in fact I'm quite happy as they are but I do enjoy these somewhat sexual moments between the two, especially when they are interrupted by those like Cam (also it is odd to think that they ever had a romantic relationship). One couple who I would like to see back together is Hodgins and Angela and it was good to see them have a 'moment' in the final scenes of the episode.

Now back to the crime it appears that a lonely man, who only has his mother in his life may have taken the advice of an anti-capitalist, anti-government radio station and wanted to blow a bank up, it was after the frequency of the radio station that set the bomb off. It turned out to be much more heart breaking (or heart crushing if you are Bones) than that, Holden Chevaleer had answered a work call (he was an exterminator) and instead he had the bomb strapped to him by the real criminals (who both happened to be outside the bank when the explosion happened), he was an innocent man used to rob the bank by force.

The victims mother decided to bury him on Christmas day, this is because she has no one else but him and it is when Booth and Brennan are discussing this that I got all misty eyed and this was a complete surprise to me as I was not expecting to be emotionally connected to this story. This might be because this scene comes after Angela feels bad for joking about Santa ruining Christmas and she states that sometimes they forget that there are people behind the bones- this I think is sometimes what the comedic factor of Bones as a show sometimes does to. Don't get me wrong, I love the comedic element and it is partly because of this that sets it apart from the other crime procedurals, but I also like in this case that the emotion is highlighted because it is definitely one of the more tragic cases that the Bones team have had to deal with. I also really like it when Bones is emotional about a case, the last time I recall her reacting like this was in 'The finger in the nest' when Ripley the dog is put down for having been used to kill, it is good that they reinforce the fact that she is growing as a character and that some of her emotional walls are being broken down.

The emotional barriers is perhaps a trait in the family as her second cousin Margaret (Zooey Deschanel) also seems to push people away, with her it is through Benjamin Franklin quotations rather than science. This leads to some particularly funny conversations between the two of them, and I loved when Max tells Margaret to stick to the science stuff. The problem with having Zooey Deschanel in this episode was that it felt a bit crowded and I would have liked to have seen more of her, though hopefully this means that she will be back in future episodes as it would be good to see their relationship develop.

The Christmas element of the episode focused on family, and not just the ones that you are related to. I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable episode and it definitely struck an emotional chord that I was not expecting. Prior to this episode Jamie Frevele over at the Huffington Post wrote a great piece on the improvements made in season 5 including being more emotionally attached to the stories is mentioned.

Also as a treat Fox released a mini making of which is quite fun:

Lost season 6 character promo pictures and my season 1 progress

    

ABC have released the regular character promo photos for season 6 and whilst I am sad to see no Desmond it is pretty cool having these two guys thrown in the mix. Other new regular Ilana (Zuleikha Robinson) is also featured (to see all the pictures head over to Doc Arzt). There is not much to be garnered from these pictures and it I for one am glad that the promo material is staying spoiler free as it means that I am not tempted to see something that I would like to be surprised about.

I'm really ploughing through season 1, just watched episode 16, Outlaws which has one of my favourite flashback character crossovers in the form of Sawyer and Christian (this is the first of several Christian/non Jack crossovers). This meeting leads to the really great scene at the end of season 1 when Sawyer informs Jack that he had met this Doctor who was proud of his son, Jack infers correctly that his father felt no ill feeling toward him, allowing him to get past his guilt over getting Christian fired. Other than this, Claire has been taken and returned, it was good to know that when they were speculating how Claire escaped I now know that it was Alex that helped her out. Boone has now distanced himself from his sister in his quest to aid Locke, and knowing as I did when I first saw it (I had been spoiled) that he was going to die in this first season it makes me kind of sad (I know there are many that dislike both Shannon and Boone but I am really getting attached to Boone). Alternatively I am finding Michael a lot more irritating this time round, as a character he always seems to be complaining about what a shit hand he has drawn and how everyone else seems to be either asked to do things or are just better at them than he is. Now I haven't got to the central raft story, and I was touched when Walt finally got to see all the cards he had sent him, so maybe my irritation will die down, that is until the cry of Waaaaaaaaaaaallllllllltttttttttttt is heard in the finale.
One criticism I have knowing how many episodes I have left and which character flashbacks are left is that it is maybe a bit excessive that both Kate and Jack have three episodes each when someone like Hurley only has one, and that characters like Shannon and Boone have to share one episode. That minor gripe aside I am looking forward to watching the rest of the season and getting to season two, as season two is the one I have seen the least and I will get to watch to meet these two guys all over again:

          

My favourite discovery this year: Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights may have begun back in 2006, yet it was not until this year that I started watching the Dillon Panthers which is why I am naming it my favourite new show of 2009. I quickly consumed the first 3 seasons on DVD and have been enjoying the forth season as it is airing (with last weeks episode being one of the best yet). Even with the dip in decent storylines during the writers strike affected second season this is one of the best shows on TV at the moment and it is a big shame that it doesn't get higher ratings. I'm indicative of the fact that a show about a sport that I have little interest in can become one of my favourite shows, and it shows that this FNL is about way more that just high school football. It is about the people in the town, both the adults and the school kids and it because it is so well produced that as an audience we care greatly for what happens to them both on and off the field. The parts that are about the games always make me anxious because I know that this show isn't just about showing this team winning but also getting defeated when it really matters. I also think that my grasp of American football is much better and I even understand what different plays mean.

The strength in FNL though is not just about how good the football sequences look but that the interactions between characters come across as being real and this is partly down to the organic filming style, everything is in motion and the conversations regarding issues such as sex and religion do not seem forced or prejudicial. It is also really great to see a TV show with a married couple who fight and laugh like real people, Tami and Eric are by far my favourite TV parents and this is definitely to do with this dynamic as well as the excellent performances and chemistry between Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler.

Elsewhere character wise even though some of the high schoolers are clearly in their twenties, the depictions of these characters who live in a town that has little to offer beyond high school football are excellent. From Tyra who is desperate not to turn in to her mother with a bad string of relationships, to Smash also desperate to get in to college so he can get in to the NFL to Riggins who doesn't see much beyond drinking, women and football each character is well formed and believable. Julie is however the perfect portrayal of a teenager, from her bratty behaviour to her confusion regarding new relationships and sex, to her both disrespecting but also needing her parents she really does have the whole teenage angle down.
My favourite character though is Matt Saracen, QB2 who became QB1 after Jason Street became paralysed.  Matt is a character who is modest and works hard, at both football and his relationships especially looking after his Grandmother who has dementia. It is this storyline that is particularly heartbreaking, they are a family of little means but you can tell that he really does love and want to care for his Grandmother, it was the season 1 episode when Matt is out on his first date with Julie that gets interrupted by his Grandmother having a moment of confusion when he has to sing 'Mr Sandman' to calm her down that sealed my love for this character.
Overall this show really is terrific and I am so glad that even if I was a little late to the FNL party that I started watching this year. Also, whilst I have just said that Lost has my favourite pilot, this show is a close runner up for that title, everything about it sums up why this show really is exceptional. Other than the great acting and writing the other important factor that makes this show as good as it is, is that it is filmed on location in Texas, using real Texans in many of the background parts (I especially loved the jewellery sales woman in season 1), this gives a much more authentic feel than if it was shot in some back lot in LA. It is for all of these reasons that this is my favourite 'new' show of 2009.

"Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can't Lose"

Rewatching Lost season 1

Last week I decided that it might be a good idea to try and watch as much of the five seasons of Lost that have aired so far before the start of season 6, I'm intending specifically to watch season 1 and season 5 (when my super amazing version arrives) and then as much as everything inbetween. It has been speculated that season 6 will mirror the first series and I figured it would be good to have a refresher of the events that happened on and off the island all that time ago.
I'm up to episode 11 and having watched 'Raised by Another' last night in bed I forgot how creepy the episode was and was actually a bit scared after (this might have something also to do with having seen Paranormal Activities last week which also sufficiently creeped me out). This episode had several questions that have yet to be answered, specifically why Aaron could not be raised by an other, why is it that the psychic was adamant that Claire must raise the baby herself? The fact that Kate was raising Aaron off the island and that Desmond saw Claire getting on to a rescue helicopter in a vision are two potential stories that need to be rectified by the detonation of Jughead at the end of last season. Also regarding the psychic we know later that he is a fraud and that this might be his only real true psychic reading so did he know that the plane would crash?
I'm really enjoying rewatching these episodes as it has been a considerable time since I last saw them, it is also nice to see Jack and Locke getting along, though with the discovery of the hatch in the next episode by Locke and Boone that will soon be over. I'm looking forward to the Sun and Jin becoming more central to the storyline- on a sidenote I would say that these two characters/actors appearance has changed the most since the start of the show, others like Jack and Kate look pretty similar.
I have particularly enjoyed seeing Walkabout again as that episode really is well written and acted, though every time I have seen it since I can't believe that I missed all the clues that Locke had been in a wheelchair. These episodes make me miss Charlie in the later seasons but make me glad that he is going to be in season 6, his relationship with Claire was always one of my favourites and probably one of the more natural pairings, it is also good to see him and Hurley together in both fishing disasters and golfing triumphs.
This first season really is a charm and I can quite easily say that the pilot is one of the greatest episodes of television that has been produced. Also I recently posted some season 6 promos for Lost, here is the UK promo for the first season that aired in cinemas and on TV that is probably my favourite promo ever:

New Lost season 6 promos

The promos for season 6 of Lost much to my delight have been showing only old footage, building up hype for this final season focusing on the phenomenon that is the show. There has also been a promo that has been airing at cinemas also focusing on what a huge success the show has been globally, this actually had the hairs on my arms standing on end and shows the vast scale that the show has attempted and achieved in the past five seasons:

However, the most imaginative Lost season 6 promo comes from the Spanish TV Network Cuatro who have used old footage plus the continuing theme of black and white and produced a trailer that uses the idea of the characters been part of a chess game. Not only does it look great but the idea stays close to Lost ideas of ideas of destiny and free will. The use of music which is Radiohead's 'Everything in it's right place' is also an inspired choice. I'm going to go a bit symbolic with these promos but I would suggest that the US promo is the Jack whilst the Spanish one is the Locke. The US promo is big and promotes what a success the show is, whereas the Spanish one is more reflective and philosophical much like Jack and Locke in the show. Maybe I'm reading too much in to this, but that is what this show makes you do.