MAFFE - BEST PICTURE 2007

Oscar Talk - The SAGS and Race Relations

With all the bloggers getting upset about who wasn't nominated and who was put in the wrong category and so on, I would like to look at something a little different. Who was nominated. Race has always been a political hot button, and people walk on eggshells trying to be all PC about it. In reality Hollywood is a white American male world. No one can really argue with this without (to me) looking, shall we say, uninformed. However this year there is a vast amount of the acting talent that is not Caucasian. Could Hollywood finally be becoming a melting pot?
When you look at just the SAG noms alone, 40% of the main nominated actors are not Caucasian and 25% are non American Caucasians. Fantastic!! The awards are going Ethnic and Global! All other minority nominees in the ensemble category make up 42%. Not bad at all. To think that an actor could not get their name written down during the nomination process because of their race is something that was very common not too long ago. Could it be that people responded to the performance and did not see skin colour, or hear accents? They could have gone with any of these worthy white actors - Annette Benning, Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck, Michael Sheen, Mark Walberg, Catherine O'Hara, Emily Blunt, Aaron Elkhart and even Borat himself - but there were only five spots to fill.
Who ever was nominated and for what ever reasons they weren't, doesn't matter. This should be a time to look at the fact that, at least for the SAG’s this year, being white is not the sh*t.
I am sure if these norms translate into Oscar we will see alot of self-congratulatory articles creeping up in the press about the diversity of the year, but it only makes a difference if it continues. There is so much talent out there...CAST THEM!!!!
However next year Hollywood could prove me so wrong, as it has again and again.

Just a leaving thought. Does anyone else find it kind of funny, that one year after the Oscars went all homophobic on us, they hire a big ole dyke to host? I am excited to see what she does, but they can’t expect to build burnt bridges so quickly.

Oscar Talk - Screen Actor Guild Awards!!!

Well the ole acting guild has struck again. They do like to mix up the acting categories, notice Leonardo is considered supporting for The Departed. The winners will be announced at 8 p.m. Jan. 28 in a live ceremony presented on TNT and TBS.

SAG Nominees
Nominees (Film)

Best Actress
Penelope Cruz, Volver
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, Little Children

Best Supporting Actress
Adriana Barraza, Babel
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

Best Actor
Leonardo Dicaprio, Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole, Venus
Will Smith, Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Djimon Honsou, Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls

Ensemble
Babel
Bobby
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine

Hmmm, no Jack, no Letters from Iwo Jima, no Brad, no Ben, and no Borat! hmmmmm. Will discuss later.

Oscar Talk - Producers Guild Awards Announce!!

These guys sometimes pick movies that do not show up in the Oscar line up. Last year they had Walk the Line over Munich, and in 2005 they had The Incredibles over Ray. Here are the nominees.

Babel
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

What is interesting is they have left out both of Clint's Oscar baiters. Which of these will be dropped from the Oscar for Best Picture?? Little Miss Sunshine and Babel are sure to get the ensemble nomination when SAG announces later today. Could Clint only end up with a Director nomination???? Comments please!

MAFFE - BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS 2007

Leaving off Adrianna Barraza - Babel, Sook-Yin Lee - Shortbus, Carrie-Ann Moss - Snowcake and Vanessa Redgrave - Venus was extremely difficult. I have no idea what I will do with the lead performances. I hate leaving people off, but at least I have let you all know I was thinking of them

MAFFE - BEST ACTOR 2007

I struggled to include Sasha Baron Cohen – Borat , Clive Owen – The Children of Men and Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson , but could not upset the top 5.