Screen Actor’s Guild Award Winners: Full List

Last night, the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) hosted their annual awards ceremony, specifically dedicated to recognize outstanding performances on both the big and small screens. Here is the list of nominees and winners:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

The King’s Speech *Winner*

 Black Swan

The Social Network

The Fighter

The Kids Are All Right

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network

Jeff Bridges – True Grit

Robert Duvall – Get Low

Colin Firth – The King’s Speech *Winner*

James Franco – 127 Hours

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right

Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone

Natalie Portman – Black Swan *Winner*

Hilary Swank – Conviction

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Christian Bale – The Fighter *Winner*

John Hawkes – Winter’s Bone

Jeremy Renner – The Town

Mark Ruffalo – The Kids Are All Right

Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams – The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech

Mila Kunis – Black Swan

Melissa Leo – The Fighter *Winner*

Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

Boardwalk Empire *Winner*

Mad Men

Dexter

The Closer

The Good Wife

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

Glee

Modern  Family *Winner*

Hot in Cleveland

30 Rock

The Office

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

Steve Buscemi – Boardwalk Empire *Winner*

Jon Hamm – Mad Men

Michael C. Hall – Dexter

Hugh Laurie – House M.D.

Bryan Cranston – Breaking Bad

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

Glenn Close – Damages

Mariska Hargitay – Law & Order: SVU

Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife *Winner*

Elizabeth Moss – Mad Men

Kyra Sedgwick – The Closer

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock *Winner*

Ty Burrell – Modern Family

Steve Carell – The Office

Chris Colfer – Glee

Ed O’Neill – Modern Family

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie

Tina Fey – 30 Rock

Jane Lynch – Glee

Sofia Vergara – Modern Family

Betty White – Hot in Cleveland *Winner*

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

John Goodman – You Don’t Know Jack

Al Pacino – You Don’t Know Jack *Winner*

Dennis Quaid – The Special Relationship

Edgar Ramirez – Carlos

Patrick Stewart – Macbeth

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

Claire Danes – Temple Grandin *Winner*

Catherine O’Hara – Temple Grandin

Julia Ormond – Temple Grandin

Winona Ryder – When Love is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story

Susan Sarandon – You Don’t Know Jack

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble

Green Zone

Inception *Winner*

Robin Hood

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

Burn Notice

True Blood *WINNER*

Dexter

Southland

CSI: NY

3 TV Shows That Disappointed Me This Fall

Even though it has only been two and a half months, I feel like I can look back on the Chris that started out the Fall TV Season with such idealistic hope and say, “Look at you, you’re so young and naive. Little do you know of the countless hours you will waste in front of the television screen watching your so-called favorite shows only to realize that those hours have been wasted watching shows that don’t love you back.” That is not to say that there haven’t been shows that I have thoroughly enjoyed, but the ones that I most looked forward to seem to have been the ones that have let me down.

Let me start with some new shows that I had high hopes for.

#3 The Walking Dead

I want so much to like this show. I even went so far as to tout the first episode as a pinnacle of hope for the lackluster season. However, it has steadily declined and like that oft mentioned train wreck, I cannot look away. I cannot ignore the stupidity of the main characters and the gaping plot holes. These people should all be dead and as much as I don’t like his character on the show, Darryl should be the only one left alive right now. Granted he is the loudmouth, stereotyped, white supremacist redneck that everyone hates, including me, but he is the smartest one right now. He uses a crossbow so as not to attract noise and he is all for shooting people as soon as they get bit to eliminate the risk.

Actually it looks like he just likes shooting everything in general.

Enough about how Darryl though, the show as a whole is as slow-moving as the zombies. I think this is a great idea for a show, but you have to do it right. I love zombie films and while in a movie setting you deal with stupid characters making stupid decisions, you only have to deal with it for an hour and a half or so and  is usually so jam packed with swarming zombies you can forgive the stupidity in the heat of the moment. I was willing to overlook it for the first episode because I didn’t know how much more that there would be in the rest of the show. Plus, these people aren’t making heat-of-the-moment stupid decisions, because they hardly ever get attacked by zombies. Instead, the characters prolong their stupidity and sometimes even plan for it.

Yeah....this is a good idea.

So, I’m sorry Walking Dead, I have given you several chances to fix yourself. While you still may have my viewership for the time being, I cannot back you or recommend you to anyone else.

#2 Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire, much like The Walking Dead, was a new show that I thoroughly enjoyed watching the first episode. There was great production value, great character development, great acting, and it looked like the sky was the limit. However, the show decided that getting two feet off the ground was good enough.

Granted, I stopped watching after Episode 6, but that’s how disappointed I was. There was so much potential and  quality squandered on what seemed like nothing. Kind of like Dave Chapelle‘s description of Lil’ Jon, who sounds like he is about to rap, but never gets around to it, Boardwalk Empire sets up great plots and subplots only to never go anywhere with them. It teases you mentioning them really briefly and then zooming in Steve Buscemi‘s teeth, or shooting someone for no reason.

Oh yeah, and that....

Maybe one day I will finish the season and I will find out I am wrong. But, that’s the problem with the first six episodes, even if I am wrong, they weren’t good enough to make me really care to find out.

#1 Dexter

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. After one of the most genius and suspenseful season finales in the history of television, the writers had Dexter’s world in the palm of their hand. Season Five was set up to be one of the most, if not the most, intense and gripping of the series. Instead, it is by far my least favorite, and that is saying something since Season Three was a major dud as well. They had a million directions to go with the show to keep people interested. Instead, it seems like the writers had came up with a great idea and just didn’t know what to do with it. They created a cliffhanger and decided that the best way to deal with that was to just plummet the show slowly and painfully to its death.

They are focusing on all the wrong things with this season. I don’t care about the romance between the unlikely romance between the anorexic Quinn and Deb or the even worse romance between LaGuerta and Batista. I don’t care about what Julia Stiles has to say. Yes, it was terrible how she was raped, one description was fine. It seems like every time she opens her mouth, 10 minutes of the episode is wasted as, with a quivering lip, she tells yet another horrible tale (and I don’t just mean how horrible things happened to her). Those were 10 minutes that Dexter could have been outsmarting Quinn and Robocop. Hell, he could have just been sitting there drinking coffee watching people and it would have been more interesting than Lumen’s incessant babble.

Wow, this is a rare moment...her mouth is closed.

The writers, in my opinion, should have had a story that involved Dexter dealing with the disturbing aftermath of the season 4 finale. He had been held back, pussyfooting around Rita to commit his crimes and it would have been a great opportunity for telling a story about a Dexter who is uninhibited by Rita. Oh well, it is a little late for all that now. I really hope this season ends well because if not, it is going to be a lot harder to feel like getting into the show next season.

What are some shows that have let you down? Are there any you recommend?

TAKE TWO: “BOARDWALK EMPIRE”

Chris’ Take:  

Fall TV season will get into full swing this week, kicking off the majority of season premieres. One of the first and one of my most anticipated was Boardwalk Empire which premiered last night on HBO. It did not disappoint. The show follows Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (Steve Buscemi), city treasurer of Atlantic City, and other crooked politicians at the dawn of the prohibition era, trying to line their pockets with the whiskey-running trade. Backed with two great producers, Martin Scorcese and Mark Wahlberg, Boardwalk Empire has all the makings of another successful HBO show. If the first episode is any indication, the show could very well be racking up some statues come awards season. 

 While I love Steve Buscemi, I was worried coming into the show that he didn’t have the strength to carry a show like this. Fortunately, my worries were put to rest in the first ten minutes as he established a fine balance of crooked politician and a benevolent city leader. Any waiver he might have in future episodes will no doubt be seamless since he is supported by a super cast, especially Michael Pitt as his potential protegé, Jimmy Darmody.   

What did you say about my teeth?

The production quality of the show rivals Mad Men, with superb cinematography and lighting. While there are hints of The Sopranos in the show, the lighting alone lets the audience know that this show will be different from the dark that shrouded its HBO mafia predecessor. The first episode of the series was directed by Scorcese himself and the club scenes were very reminiscent of a lot of his films, especially The Aviator and Gangs of New York.   

   

I thoroughly look forward to where this show will go and from the looks of it, this Boardwalk will be a very enjoyable and scenic, albeit bloody, stroll.  

Pac’s Take: 

 I’m going to try to not be repetitive in my criticisms and commentary so I’ll leave out a summary of the show, Chris covered that nicely.  Unlike Chris however, I didn’t have any doubts that Steve Buscemi would be able to carry a leading role in a show of this nature.  Buscemi held his own in season 5 of The Sopranos and was the main catalyst of that season’s storyline.   Like Chris said however, Buscemi did not disappoint. 

  

I can do it!

My biggest concern prior to viewing the first episode was the supporting cast and how Boardwalk was going to differentiate itself from The Sopranos.  While the prohibition era setting does provide originality in the concept of the story, I still see a lot of parallels to HBOs previous installment.  The gangster with a conscience, the rebellious and ambitious protegé, it’s all been done before; I just hope Boardwalk can do it again with originality and flare.  We’re talking about Martin Scorcese’s show though, so I have little doubt this will be done.  

I think the biggest surprise of the night was the supporting cast.  HBO has a huge track record for success so I was expecting the cast to be strong, but little was mentioned of them prior to the show’s airing so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Chris already touched on Michael Pitt’s performance (which was great), but the real surprise for me was Stephen Graham‘s portrayal of the infamous Al Capone.  My recollection of Graham is minimal, with performances in Snatch and Gangs of New York , and having to play a larger than life character like Al Capone, who’s also been portrayed by the likes of Robert DeNiro among others is a large order to fill.  Graham excelled in this role; he wasn’t spot on in his accent (at times you could tell Graham came from across the pond), but that’s my only complaint.  I hope they make Capone an integral part of the story, even though Boardwalk takes place in Atlantic City and Capone resided in Chicago.  

I still hate Pikeys

The look of the show was incredible, the cinematography was gorgeous, and you could tell within the first five minutes that Boardwalk Empire was handled with care.  However, the series premiere was directed by Martin Scorcese himself and cost a whopping $18 million dollars to create, so it will be interesting to see if the series can maintain the visual marvel that was the first episode.  

All-in-all I’m really looking forward to watching Boardwalk Empire every Sunday, it’s got all the makings to be the next big thing in HBOs long list of successes.

My 5 Most Anticipated Fall TV Shows

There has been an incredible increase in quality TV in the last decade.

 

Even though there have been some incredible efforts to decrease its quality.

 

A lot of that can be attributed to HBO and Showtime having a little bit more freedom with what they can do, but it can also be attributed to shows like “Lost” and “Mad Men“, that proved that shows that require patience for a bigger payoff can build a large fan base as well. As a result, the amount of shows that I watch consistently has also greatly increased, which can also be attributed to the great inventions of DVR and Netflix (and the not so great deployments where I had nothing to do but watch tv). That being said, there is a long list of TV Shows that I am looking forward to, but here are the Top 5.

#5 “Modern Family”

Premieres at 9pm 22 September on ABC

This is arguably the freshest comedy on TV right now and rightfully deserved the Emmy for best comedy series this year. I am interested to see where it goes from here. I put it no higher than #5 because I am worried that it will be trying too hard this season instead of having the nice flow that the first season had.

#4 “Boardwalk Empire”

Premieres at 8pm 19 September on HBO

Martin Scorcese produces this new series on HBO about the beginning of the Prohibition Era in Atlantic City. Steve Buscemi stars as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, the Atlantic City Treasurer who is equal parts politician and gangster. He runs the city through backdoor deals and rum-running money. This show has a lot of promise with a lot of talent attached to it. While I love Steve Buscemi, I am not sure if he can pull off the tough gangster that the show plays him up to be. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

#3 “Eastbound and Down”

Premieres at 1030pm 26 September on HBO

Kenny Powers is back for a second season that has been a long time in the making. The foul-mouthed, washed up major league pitcher takes his antics to Mexico after being too embarassed to return to his hometown. He ends up playing on a Mexican baseball team owned by Michael Pena and apparently has a new love interest. Hopefully, with as long as they have had to write only seven episodes that Adam McKay, Will Ferrell, and Danny McBride can deliver another hubris-filled humor romp.

#2 “The Office”

Premieres at 9pm on 23 September on NBC

The seventh season of “The Office” will be Michael Scott‘s swan song (probably an ungraceful one). Rumors about who will replace him have been flying all around and have not landed yet. Either the producers and writers want to keep the audience guessing or they really don’t know. Either way they have done a great job creating a mystery that will surround the entire season and will keep me watching.

#1 “Dexter”

Premieres at 9pm on 26 September on Showtime

After last season’s shocking cliffhanger (which I will not mention here for anyone who hasn’t watched it), I cannot wait to see where they go with this show. Dexter is unpredictable and just when I think they are starting to get cheesy, they completely flip the show upside-down. With Dexter at what will probably be his most unstable this show has the most potential out of any this Fall.

What are some shows you are most looking forward to this fall?