Oscar Project 2012: Pina

Movie: Pina

This was about German choreographer Pina Bausch; I believe she had planned to participate in the filming but died shortly before it was scheduled to begin. As a result, the movie is more of a combined performance piece and eulogy than a documentary. The dancing was very interesting, if not always to my taste, but it was presented in a vacuum and I would have loved some more historical and cultural context. It wasn't even always clear when the pieces had been filmed - were they original videos or reenactments? Some of them took place in non-stage locations like parks and cities: Were these stage pieces that had been filmed in different locations specifically for this movie, or were they created as filmed pieces originally? There are bits of interviews with dancers from Bausch's company interspersed with the dance pieces, and every single one basically said: "Pina was the best person ever and changed my life." And I know they were grieving, and I'm not faulting any of the individuals, but it didn't exactly make for an interesting narrative, and it probably did Bausch herself a disservice by reducing a complex, interesting person to an angelic genius. Also: Very little was added by making this in 3D, but that was the only way it was available, so that's how I had to see it. But I will say that it left me wanting to learn more about Bausch, if only because it was so resolutely uninformative. But pretty! The dancing itself was enjoyable, and dance fans will probably want to see this one.

Availability: Last I checked, it was only playing in two theaters in the greater Boston area.

Nominated In:
Documentary (Feature): This really seemed more like a performance video than a documentary to me. I like to learn things from my documentaries, and while this was a pleasant enough watching experience, I didn't feel like I got much out of it. As mentioned above, I think it would have been strengthened - and made better as a documentary - with more balance and more factual information and context.

Movies left: 48; Days left: 27
Have seen 21% of movies and 34% of nominations.
Movie posts I owe you: 9

Oscar Project 2012: Puss in Boots

Movie: Puss in Boots

Outlaws Puss in Boots and Humpty Dumpty team up to steal the magic beans from Jack and Jill and then steal the golden goose from the beanstalk in order to clear their names and right a wrong the did to . . . the town and orphanage where they grew up? It makes slightly more sense in the movie than in that description, I promise. Of course, there's more going on than Puss knows - you'll see the plot twist coming a mile away, but the intended audience of young children might be more surprised. They did a good job of making Puss anthropomorphic while still keeping him recognizably a cat, and some of the cat stuff is very cute. Some of the jokes are funny. And there's a fairly nuanced look at friendship and duty and vengeance and redemption. I mean, fairly nuanced given that we're talking about a cat and a giant talking egg. On the other hand, it has shades of that common kids' movie issue of giving mannerisms seen as stereotypically gay to characters who do bad things and then leaving this wholly unexamined.

Availability: This was widely available a few months ago; I caught it at a second-run theater last night. It will be on DVD in late February, but I didn't want to worry about getting it from Netflix with so small a window.

Nominated In:
Animated Feature Film: You know . . . I don't know. Maybe growing up in Disney's Second Golden Age gave me impossible standards for animated films. This movie was fine, and I certainly wouldn't be outraged if it won, but it didn't really strike me as anything special.

Movies left: 48; Days left: 27
Have seen 21% of movies and 34% of nominations.
Movie posts I owe you: 10

Why isn't Stephanie Plum a TV show?

One for the Money, the movie based on the first Stephanie Plum novel by Janet Evanovich, arrives in theaters today. (Actually, it had a bunch of midnight showings last night, which kind of confused me given the presumed target audience.) I have nothing against the movie - I don't share everyone's hatred of Katherine Heigl - and I'll tell you what I thought after I see it next weekend. But ever since the movie was announced, I've been vaguely annoyed because it seems like this books series would work so well as a TV show. The books are very episodic, and they have a likable heroine, quirky family and friends, plenty of action, and the longest-running love triangle in the history of ever, OMG make it stop. I guess they're trying to make a movie franchise out of it, but I really think it would be more successful on USA or TNT or maybe even CBS. But, alas, they do not put me in charge of these things.

Oscar Project 2012: Jane Eyre

Movie: Jane Eyre

I saw this back in March, but either because of the tone of the movie or the actual weather in Boston at the time, I thought I remembered seeing it in January or so, and so I was astonished both that it was eligible for this year's awards and that it was only nominated for its costumes. I thought it was one of the best movies of the year and one of the best literary adaptations I've ever seen. I was hoping for at least Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, and Directing nominations, and maybe an acting nod or two. Sigh. (Pondering: Does the Academy specifically dislike Fassbender? Only costumes for this one, no nominations at all for Shame or A Dangerous Method, and not even any technical ones for X-Men . . .) ANYWAY. This movie isn't for everyone, but if you like bleak Victorian Gothic stuff, as I do, you will love it.

Availability: I had to drive in to Boston to see this in the theater, but it's readily available on DVD now.

Nominated In:
Costume Design: Definitely deserved! The costumes were beautiful, but they also didn't fall into the common costume drama trap of dressing everyone like rich aristocrats regardless of the characters' actual backgrounds. I'm not an expert on early Victorian clothing, but I've read enough to be jarred when things are wildly inaccurate, and nothing in this movie bothered me. Also: The shawls! So many beautiful wool shawls!

Movies left: 54; Days left: 31
Have seen 11% of movies and 24% of nominations.
Movie posts I owe you: 5

Pilot Thoughts: Touch

I watched the "preview" of FOX's Touch last night, and . . . I don't know. I don't think I liked it, but I'm not sure, because I can't quite even figure out what it was trying to do. Or maybe I do get what it was trying to do and don't get why we're supposed to like it. I don't know. I realize this is completely unhelpful. Okay, basically: I am open to the whole "interconnected stories around the world" concept, but less open to the connections being some sort of cosmic coincidence of numbers. When I'd first heard that the boy makes connections between things based on numbers, I thought it would be actual codes or data or . . . something. "Everything's just magically connected?" Bleh. And one number that actually meant something - well, it meant something really obvious, and the characters didn't realize until FORTY-FOUR MINUTES into the episode. And yet . . . I don't know. Some of it was sort of interesting, even if it was contrived and emotionally manipulative. I guess I'll give it one more episode when it starts in its normal timeslot on March 19.

Anyone else watch? What did you think?

Oscar Project 2012: The Muppets

Movie: The Muppets

Really, I just loved this. I love the Muppets! I love Jason Segel! I love Amy Adams! I love musicals! I love sibling stories! I love stories about getting the band back together! I am more or less the exact target audience for this. But, really, it was better than I'd even expected: It was earnest but not treacly, the writing was clever, and it managed to feel fresh and classic at the same time. The fact that Jason Segel pitched this and got it made tempts me to vow to support his career forever. (Although let's be honest: I'd go see The Five-Year Engagement anyway. Just look at that cast!)

Availability: This was everywhere, so it's entirely my own fault that I left it for so long that I had to scramble to find a showing this week before it entirely disappeared. It will not be on DVD before the Oscars, though, so if you still need to see it, find it now!

Nominated In:
Music (Original Song) for "Man or Muppet:" I thought "Life's a Happy Song" was actually better, but "Man or Muppet" was good too! There are only two nominees in this category this year, so I hope that means we get Jason Segel singing in the ceremony. That would be awesome.

Movies left: 55; Days left: 32
Have seen 10% of movies and 14% of nominations.
Movie posts I owe you: 5

Oscar Project 2012

This year's Oscar nominations were announced yesterday, and I've decided I'm going to go for it: I'm going to make a serious attempt to see as many of the movies before the ceremony as I possibly can. I love movies, and I love award shows, and I love making lists and plans and having All Of The Information, so this is exactly my sort of project. I won't be able to see all the movies, but I'm hoping for a solid majority. I made a vague attempt at this last year, but was never serious about it because of my dread of having to sit through 127 Hours. This year, remarkably enough, there's nothing I'm really opposed to seeing, though of course I'm more excited about some of the movies than others.

There are 61 movies nominated in 24 categories, for a total of 119 individual nominations. I've seen five so far, which is 8% of movies but 13% of nominations, because some of the ones I've seen are up for multiple awards. As of now, that gives me 56 movies to see in 33 days; I think I have a reasonably clear path to seeing 40-45 of them. (By that I mean that they're available; I don't necessarily mean that it will be easy to find the time.) I have a spreadsheet to track things and a legal pad on which I'm constantly scribbling movie times at various theaters to figure out the best way to maximize my time and theater trips. I upped my Netflix account to four discs at a time for the month. My soon-to-be-neglected TiVo is... not quite exploding yet. I'm as ready as I'm going to be.

After I see each movie, I'll write a post with a few general thoughts and my evaluation of the movie in the categories in which it's nominated. I'll also say something about how easy or difficult it was to see, as one of the things that interests me about this is seeing whether a regular movie-goer who doesn't live in New York or LA can actually see most of these movies. Once I've seen everything in a category (or everything that's available), I'll post my rankings and reasons for my choices in that category. The day of the awards (unless I finish early - hah!) I'll post a big summary with links, and I'll finish things off with some sort of live blog or chat during the ceremony. Details on that later!

So! Wish me luck! And please, this year, hold me to my annual resolution to see more movies all year so it's not such a scramble at the end.

Supporting Bones

Lots of fans have been none too happy about all the breaks Bones is taking this season, and the way the schedule keeps changing, and have fairly vocal about it. And really, I don't think anyone means anything bad by it. Fans want to watch the show! It's a good thing! (And some of them might not even realize the reason for the weird scheduling.) But I decided not to ever let myself say anything about being annoyed that the show is off, because every time I see one of those tweets or posts, I picture some network executive somewhere happening across it and thinking "Huh, fans seems pretty upset. Next time one of our stars gets pregnant, maybe we should be less generous with the maternity leave." And you know what's more important to me than a TV show, than any TV show? Living in a world in which women's choices are supported, in which women don't have to decide between risking their careers or spending time with their young children. So take your time, Bones. We'll be here.

My Issue with the New Killer on Bones

The most recent episode of Bones (and the last before another break - I'll have a post with a thought on that tomorrow) introduced a new serial killer, Christopher Pelant, a hacker on house arrest. Both internally and externally, the show has set him up as a scary, impressive Big Bad, but I just wasn't feeling it, and I finally figured out why: I'm just not buying some of the stuff he does. Drawing a fractal on a piece of bone accurately enough to create an entire computer worm? COME ON. That just feels like sci-fi. And I have no problem with sci-fi, but in it we know that rules are different from the outset. Bones has always claimed to take place in our world and work by real-world rules. If I don't believe that what the killer is doing is possible, he's just not scary to me and a lot of the tension the show wants to create doesn't exist.

(And, okay, if the team does believe that Pelant is capable of this stuff, why does it take them so long to consider that he might have found a way around his ankle monitor? Don't these people watch White Collar? Seriously.)

Castle, "Dial M for Mayor" - Recap

Last week's episode was a bit dark and twisty, by Castle standards. I break it down for you at TheTelevixen.

This week's TV news at TheTelevixen!

Pilots! Casting! Return date for Cougar Town! Catch up with my column at TheTelevixen.com.

Quick Take: The Finder

When FOX's new procedural The Finder announced that they'd hired writer Aaron Ginsburg, I rashly proclaimed that I'd watch it for as long as they employed him. My loyalty to Aaron apparently runs deep, both because of the quality of his writing and his extremely generous attitude toward fans. But after I said that, I worried a little - what if, in spite of the high-quality writing I knew Aaron would bring to the table, I just didn't like the new show?

I shouldn't have worried. The Finder premiered last week and I loved it. It's nominally a Bones spinoff, but the show it really reminded me of was Burn Notice: It has a Florida setting, a protagonist who's damaged but very good at his job, a lady who likes to shoot things, and a ragtag team coming together to form a sort of found family. The mystery in the series opener was twisty and somewhat unconventional, but not confusing. The characters and overall town made for a world in which I definitely want to spend more time.

If you missed the pilot, catch it on demand now, and tune in for the second episode tonight on FOX at 9/8c.

SOPA Strike

In a gesture of support for SOPA Strike, I won't be posting any new content on Wednesday. Please read about the issue, and I'll see you Thursday!

The Good Wife, "Bitcoin for Dummies" - Recap at ThinkProgress

Sunday night's episode of The Good Wife was a good one, but then, they all are. Also: CARY'S FACE. (Okay, I mean that as a general thing, but also that there a few moments this episode when HIS FACE is particularly telling. And adorable. ANYWAY.) Read all about it in my recap at Alyssa's ThinkProgress blog.

“Bitcoin for Dummies” was one of those episodes of The Good Wife that revolves around everyone manipulating everyone else. Unfortunately, since Will is facing the very real prospect of jail time and Eli isn’t in the episode at all, the machinations are grim, without the undertone of playfulness this show often gives even cases involving serious issues. To make up for that, though, we get double Kalinda, as she plays a central role in both the case of the week and in Will’s legal woes.

Pilot Thoughts: Alcatraz

FOX's Alcatraz kicked off with a two-hour premiere last night that was actually the pilot and the second episode back to back, and while I was slightly annoyed at the way this messed with my DVR's usual Monday night schedule, I think this was a very good decision on their part. The pilot was slow and clunky and had a huge amount of exposition to get through. In brief: prisoners who disappeared from Alcatraz in the 1960s are suddenly reappearing, at the same age they were then, and a team is gathered to catch them, and maybe to figure out what's going on, but it's also possible that half the team knows exactly what's going on and is just using the other half. Our entry point into this is Rebecca Madsen, a cop who was raised by a former Alcatraz guard. The team is led by a morally ambiguous federal agent of some sort (he claims) played delightfully by Sam Neill, and the most engaging character so far is Jorge Garcia's PhD-turned-comic-store-owner who gets pulled onto the team by Rebecca. Alcatraz itself is basically another character, in both scenes set at the active prison in the 1960s and in the present day tourist attraction and prison basement-turned-batcave that the team uses as their base.

So. The first hour sets all that up, but it's kind of a chore to get through. In the second hour, we get a better flavor of what future episodes will probably be like. We see some scenes of a certain prisoner's life in the 1960s, and then that prisoner appears in the present day, and the team must research his life as they try to catch him, while Rebecca tries to figure out what's going on overall. There's a definite Fringe-like tone, in everything from the mysteries to the weird team headquarters to the team themselves: a band of very different people with different strengths that make them clash with each other but also need each other, and who, despite needing each other, don't quite trust each other yet. I'm not completely sold on Alcatraz yet, but the team dynamics definitely pulled me in (even more than the central mystery), and I'll be giving it at least a few more weeks to find its footing.

And then you must watch Justified.

For some reason - perhaps the TV gods have it out for me - two of my most-anticipated January premieres, White Collar and Justififed, are happening during THE SAME HOUR tonight. Why is so much awesomeness being so concentrated? ANYWAY. I've seen both premieres, and they're both really good. Justified is sort of a quiet show, and it's slow and complex and doesn't always get a lot of attention, but it has first-class writing and acting and great, careful production, and it's really worth your time. It's very serialized, though, and while they have a new Big Bad for this third season, the previous two seasons are out on DVD and aren't very long so I would definitely recommend you catch up in order if you possibly can. Don't ignore it if you just don't like cowboys stuff or Westerns - it's more of a Southern Gothic, anyway, and the quality of the writing and the complex characters make it appealing outside of a genre base. If I had to compare it to something, it's sort of Winter's Bone meets Burn Notice.

And, so: Since they're on the same hour tonight, it's at least useful of the shows to be on cable channels that do a lot of repeats. If you can't record them, I'd watch White Collar live at 10 and Justified when it repeats a few minutes after 11, because White Collar doesn't repeat until later. If you are going to DVR, you have plenty of options for timeslots. Just make sure you watch these shows.

At 10 Tonight, You Must Watch White Collar.

Why? I tell you right here. But seriously: It's AMAZING. One of my favorite episodes of TV ever. If you like this show at all, you don't want to miss it.

House of Lies: Not for me.

I was really hopeful about House of Lies, because I loved Veronica Mars and have been wanting Kristen Bell to get another good TV role ever since it ended. Plus, Richard Schiff will be showing up! I want him to be on my TV as well! Alas, even the two of them aren't enough to make me watch this show. I watched the first ten minutes of the pilot; every moment when Bell wasn't on the screen I either was bored by or actively disliked. I was slightly less bored when Bell was on the screen, but I spent most of the time thinking about how I'd rather be continuing my Veronica Mars rewatch. So. I will do that instead of watching this show.

Castle Recap: "Til Death Do Us Part"

Before tonight's episode of Castle, make sure you refresh your memory about last week's wedding episode "Til Death Do Us Part" with my recap.

Love is in the air in “Til Death Do Us Part” as Ryan gets ready for his wedding – but let’s face it: this is Castle, so death is in the air as well. The murder plot this week was certainly not one of their more complex or intriguing cases, but since this was an episode focused on a big event in the characters’ personal lives, that worked for me.

My 2012 Golden Globes Picks

I don't know if anyone wants to hear my completely biased opinions, but here they are! A few caveats: When I haven't seen anything nominated in a category, or have seen only one thing but didn't particularly like it, my pick may be based on someone's previous work, fondness for a writer . . . whatever. Also: once again, given how much TV I watch, I'm always surprised at how little of it is nominated for things. Sign of my bad taste? Wrong things being nominated? Probably both! And: I'm baffled that Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy wasn't nominated for anything, and am wondering if it wasn't eligible for some reason I don't see. I'm acting as though it were eligible, though. And finally: I am abandoning italics for the rest of this post because otherwise it will take forever.

Best Motion Picture - Drama
The Nominees: The Descendants, The Help, Hugo, The Ides Of March, Moneyball, War Horse
I've Seen: None? Weird.
I Pick: Moneyball. In lieu of other data, I fall back to Sorkin loyalty.
My Dream Pick: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
The Nominees: Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs, Viola Davis – The Help, Rooney Mara – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Meryl Streep – Iron Lady, Tilda Swinton – We Need To Talk About Kevin
I've Seen: Dragon Tattoo.
I Pick: Rooney Mara, though I've heard great things about Swinton in that role.
My Dream Pick: Rooney Mara, actually.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
The Nominees: George Clooney – The Descendants, Leonardo DiCaprio – J. Edgar, Michael Fassbender – Shame, Ryan Gosling – The Ides Of March, Brad Pitt – Moneyball
I've Seen: J. Edgar
I Pick: DiCaprio did a good job in J. Edgar, but I wanted Fassbander to get All The Awards for Jane Eyre last year, so I'd be happy if he won, too.
My Dream Pick: Gary Oldman for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Best Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
The Nominees: 50/50, The Artist, Bridesmaids, Midnight In Paris, My Week With Marilyn
I've Seen: Midnight in Paris
I Pick: Midnight in Paris was fun! But I've heard good things about all the rest as well, and they're all on my to-see list.
My Dream Pick: ...I guess Midnight in Paris? I can't think of anything else offhand.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
The Nominees: Jodie Foster – Carnage, Charlize Theron – Young Adult, Kristen Wiig – Bridesmaids, Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn, Kate Winslet – Carnage
I've Seen: None.
I Pick: Michelle Williams.
My Dream Pick: Uh... I'm just not big on comedies, I guess. I can't even think of any others I saw.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
The Nominees: Jean Dujardin – The Artist, Brendan Gleeson – The Guard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt – 50/50, Ryan Gosling – Crazy, Stupid, Love., Owen Wilson – Midnight In Paris
I've Seen: Midnight in Paris.
I Pick: I'm not an Owen Wilson fan in general, but I thought he was really good in that. I would also never object to a win by Gordon-Levitt or Gosling.
My Dream Pick: ...meh?

Best Animated Feature Film
The Nominees: The Adventures Of Tintin, Arthur Christmas, Cars 2, Puss In Boots, Rango
I've Seen: None.
I Pick: Tintin! Because I love the books and show.
My Dream Pick: I'm not sure I saw a single animated feature this year. Why are you guys even reading this? This is so boring! I have seen nothing!

Best Foreign Language Film
The Nominees: The Flowers Of War (China), In The Land Of Blood And Honey (United States), The Kid With A Bike (Belgium), A Separation (Iran), The Skin I Live In (Spain)
I've Seen: None. I really need to work on this before the Oscars.
I Pick: I've heard really good things about A Separation.
My Dream Pick: We'll go with A Separation.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
The Nominees: Berenice Bejo – The Artist, Jessica Chastain – The Help, Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs, Octavia Spencer – The Help, Shailene Woodley – The Descendants
I've Seen: None.
I Pick: Shailene Woodley, because how awesome would it be to see the kid from Secret Life make good?
My Dream Pick: Maybe Maggie Smith for Harry Potter. Unless Emma Watson would count as supporting? Because then her, definitely.

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
The Nominees: Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn, Albert Brooks – Drive, Jonah Hill – Moneyball, Viggo Mortensen – A Dangerous Method, Christopher Plummer – Beginners
I've Seen: None.
I Pick: Christopher Plummer, because I think he deserved a nomination for Dragon Tattoo.
My Dream Pick: Benedict Cumberbatch for Tinker, Tailor.

Best Director - Motion Picture
The Nominees: Woody Allen – Midnight In Paris, George Clooney – The Ides Of March, Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist, Alexander Payne – The Descendants, Martin Scorsese – Hugo
I've Seen: Midnight in Paris.
I Pick: Yeah, that was well-directed.
My Dream Pick: Thomas Alfredson for Tinker, Tailor.

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
The Nominees: Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist, Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne, Jim Rash - The Descendants, George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon - The Ides Of March, Woody Allen - Midnight In Paris, Stan Chervin, Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian - Moneyball
I've Seen: Midnight in Paris.
I Pick: Moneyball. I don't have to see it to know Sorkin's my favorite writer.
My Dream Pick: Yep. That. Plus: I'm not sure if they include adapted screenplays, but I thought Dragon Tattoo and Tinker Tailor were both quite good adaptations.

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
The Nominees: Ludovic Bource - The Artist, Abel Korzeniowski - W.E., Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Howard Shore - Hugo, John Williams - War Horse
I've Seen: Dragon Tattoo.
I Pick: The Dragon Tattoo score was really good.
My Dream Pick: That was good, and the Tinker, Tailor score was good too. So was Harry Potter, actually.

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
The Nominees: "Hello Hello" – Gnomeo & Juliet, "Keeper, The" – Machine Gun Preacher, "Lay Your Head Down" – Albert Nobbs, "Living Proof, The" – The Help, "Masterpiece" – W.E.
I've Seen: None. Whatever happened to W.E.? Did that even get into wide release?
I Pick: Of the musicians, I like Chris Cornell's stuff best in general, so I'll go with "The Keeper."
My Dream Pick: I wish Muse had written a song for the latest Twilight, because then I could say that.

Best Television Series - Drama
The Nominees: American Horror Story (FX), Boardwalk Empire (HBO), Boss (STARZ), Game Of Thrones (HBO), Homeland (SHOWTIME)
I've Seen: Some of Game of Thrones.
I Pick: Game of Thrones or Homeland (which is on my DVR waiting for me).
My Dream Pick: The Vampire Diaries or Justified.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama
The Nominees: Claire Danes – Homeland (SHOWTIME), Mireille Enos – The Killing, Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife (CBS), Madeleine Stowe – Revenge, Callie Thorne – Necessary Roughness
I've Seen: The Good Wife, Revenge, some of Necessary Roughness.
I Pick: Julianna Margulies.
My Dream Pick: Nina Dobrev, who consistently makes me forget that two characters are being played by the same actress.

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama
The Nominees: Steve Buscemi – Boardwalk Empire (HBO), Bryan Cranston – Breaking Bad, Kelsey Grammer – Boss (STARZ), Jeremy Irons – The Borgias, Damian Lewis – Homeland (SHOWTIME)
I've Seen: Some of The Borgias.
I Pick: Jeremy Irons.
My Dream Pick: Timothy Olyphant for Justified.

Best Television Series - Comedy Or Musical
The Nominees: Enlightened (HBO), Episodes (SHOWTIME), Glee (FOX), Modern Family (ABC), New Girl (FOX)
I've Seen: Some of New Girl, past seasons of Glee.
I Pick: Uh, anything but those two I've seen, really.
My Dream Pick: Community.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Comedy Or Musical
The Nominees: Laura Dern – Enlightened (HBO), Zooey Deschanel – New Girl (FOX), Tina Fey – 30 Rock (NBC), Laura Linney – The Big C (Showtime), Amy Poehler – Parks And Recreation
I've Seen: Some of New Girl, some of past seasons of 30 Rock and Parks and Rec.
I Pick: Anyone but Zooey? I guess Amy Poehler.
My Dream Pick: Maybe Alyson Hannigan. Is that a lead role? I only watch two comedies and I'm not sure either of them have female lead roles.

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Comedy Or Musical
The Nominees: Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock (NBC), David Duchovny – Californication (SHOWTIME), Johnny Galecki – The Big Bang Theory (CBS), Thomas Jane – Hung (HBO), Matt LeBlanc – Episodes (SHOWTIME)
I've Seen: Some of past seasons of 30 Rock and The Big Bang Theory.
I Pick: Don't make me?
My Dream Pick: Joel McHale.

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
The Nominees: Cinema Verite (HBO), Downton Abbey (Masterpiece) (PBS), The Hour (BBC America), Mildred Pierce (HBO), Too Big To Fail (HBO)
I've Seen: Downton Abbey, The Hour
I Pick: Downton Abbey, though The Hour is a close second.
My Dream Pick: Downton Abbey.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
The Nominees: Romola Garai – The Hour (BBC AMERICA), Diane Lane – Cinema Verite (HBO), Elizabeth McGovern – Downton Abbey (Masterpiece) (PBS), Emily Watson – Appropriate Adult, Kate Winslet – Mildred Pierce (HBO)
I've Seen: The Hour, Downton Abbey
I Pick: Romola Garai.
My Dream Pick: Romola Garai.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
The Nominees: Hugh Bonneville – Downton Abbey (Masterpiece) (PBS), Idris Elba – Luther, William Hurt – Too Big To Fail (HBO), Bill Nighy – Page Eight (Masterpiece), Dominic West – The Hour (BBC AMERICA)
I've Seen: Downton Abbey, The Hour.
I Pick: Dominic West.
My Dream Pick: Rufus Sewell for Zen.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
The Nominees: Jessica Lange – American Horror Story (FX), Kelly MacDonald – Boardwalk Empire (HBO), Maggie Smith – Downton Abbey (Masterpiece) (PBS), Sofia Vergara – Modern Family (ABC), Evan Rachel Wood – Mildred Pierce (HBO)
I've Seen: Downton Abbey.
I Pick: Maggie Smith.
My Dream Pick: Maggie Smith, or Archie Panjabi for The Good Wife.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
The Nominees: Peter Dinklage – Game Of Thrones (HBO), Paul Giamatti – Too Big To Fail (HBO), Guy Pearce – Mildred Pierce (HBO), Tim Robbins – Cinema Verite (HBO), Eric Stonestreet – Modern Family (ABC)
I've Seen: Some of Game of Thrones.
I Pick: Peter Dinklage.
My Dream Pick: Any of three guys from The Good Wife: Josh Charles, Alan Cumming, Matt Czuchry. Each deserves it, really.

News from TCA Press Tour & More at TheTelevixen!

Seriously, you guys, SO MUCH NEWS this week. Catch up with my column.

Golden Globes Liveblog/Chat Tonight!

If you're watching the Golden Globes tonight, you should head over to TheTelevixen.com, where I'll be live blogging and chatting with a few other Televixen writers. Come join in! I can promise lots of fashion snarking and commentary on how I'm really going to watch Man Men, eventually, I promise.

The Good Wife, "Alienation of Affection" - Recap at ThinkProgress

The Good Wife is back, and so are my recaps at Alyssa's ThinkProgress blog!

David is in the middle of a Gilbert and Sullivan performance and shows up at the office in historical military costume, and if this were an Aaron Sorkin show, that would mean something about duty, but in this case it’s probably just an easy laugh (Diane: “So, David, not to pry, but did you enlist?”) and a reminder that David takes himself very seriously while everyone else thinks he’s ridiculous.

Read the rest.

Get ready for tomorrow's new Castle...

By refreshing your memory with my recap of "Cuffed." Castle and Beckett! Cuffed together! Being eaten by exotic wild animals! Fun all around!

While you're over at TheTelevixen, also check out my weekly news column and recap of the Haven Christmas special.