Recap of the Emmy Awards

So, yeah....the Emmy Awards aired last night. Granted, most of the time I was primarily focused on the Bears vs. Steelers game, which was at first much less painful, then became far too close, to the point that I turned it off because I didn't care to watch them blow a 3 TD lead. Of course, some of the weird filler crap at the Emmys was so bad that it made me want to turn back to NBC to see Roethlisberger pick apart Chris Conte again. Death seemed to hover over the entirety of the broadcast, with long tributes to various actors that died in the last year, plus Carrie Underwood singing "Yesterday" (Released in 1965) to commemorate the broadcast of Kennedy's assassination (1963, of course). This was in addition to the usual "In Memoriam" segment. Now remembering these actors, who are gone but not forgotten is not a problem. However, could you have shown some of their work?

I don't know why I care about these awards (or any awards) for that matter. They should matter to me about as much as they do Ron Swanson*, although perhaps they'd mean more if the right people won them. In some cases they did (Tony Hale, Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad), in other places the wrong person/show won (Modern Family for anything it won, Jeff Daniels), and others someone won who deserved it, although in the process shutting out someone who also deserved it (Julia Louis-Dreyfus beating out Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Lena Dunham, and Laura Dern for Best Actress in a Comedy).

I still can't believe that Amy Poehler and Jon Hamm have yet to win an Emmy. Part of the problem is tough competition, especially with Hamm. Having to go up against Bryan Cranston almost every year is never an easy thing to do. With Poehler, I wonder if the character of Leslie Knope is just not the type of character that tends to win these awards. Both Mad Men and Parks & Recreation, home to two of the best ensembles on TV right now, have never won a single acting Emmy. I'm not sure how that happened, but there it is.

I suppose it's nothing new. It took until this year for Bob Newhart to win an Emmy (for guesting on The Big Bang Theory). The characters of Leslie Knope, Don Draper, Ron Swanson, and Michael Scott have exactly zero wins to their name. The Wire was never even nominated for Best Drama. Of course, animated series are completely ignored. I'm sure you can go back through the years and find many other examples (such as Bob Newhart).

So another year is down, and we can forget about the snubs, while remembering the few that they actually got right for a little while longer. Then next year, when the nominations come out, we can gripe again how Nick Offerman was criminally ignored, Modern Family is over-represented, and figure out who's going to beat Jon Hamm and Amy Poehler...again. And hopefully, the awards show won't take place the same night as the penultimate episode of the Best Drama winner's series, and a Bears game.

*A character that has netted Nick Offerman no nominations, let alone wins. One of the best comedy characters out there can't get a nomination because it's apparently guild rules that 67% of the spots go to Modern Family actors.

Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: The Family

While watching The Family, I was struck by how similar it was in ways to one of my favorite movies. No, not Goodfellas, although there was the obligatory reference to the film. Instead it was The Incredibles. Now granted, the Parrs were routinely moved around because of the country's disdain for their former heroes, not because he was a snitch against the mob. And in the Pixar film, only Bob seemed to have the problem of reverting to his old ways, as opposed to the family in The Family. Oh, and I'll have to watch The Incredibles again to confirm this, but I'm pretty sure none of the characters went around dropping f-bombs. Nevertheless, there was still a familiarity there, particularly with Tommy Lee Jones as the put upon government official who keeps having to cover the tracks of the violent family.

I wish it was as good as The Incredibles. It felt kind of half-baked, alternating between light-hearted "fish out of water" comedy with deadly-serious violence. Sometimes this works pretty well, but more often it is just confusing and jumbled. In addition, I can't imagine even a valuable and politically connected witness like Robert DeNiro's character would be able to get away with some of the crap he was doing.

I wouldn't call it a total waste of time, as there were a few good chuckles. For a movie from the doldrums of early September it was fine. I'd say it's worth checking out once it comes out on Blu-Ray and DVD, or if you are just itching to see a movie and have already seen better ones already.

Summer Movies, Part 3

Now that Labor Day has passed, the summer movie season is officially over. In a few weeks the Fall/Holiday movie season will kick off, and I am eagerly awaiting many movies that will be coming out this fall. However, that is another post, as this one is for taking a breather and looking back at the last group of movies I watched this summer. Despite only having one "summer blockbuster" in this batch, it was probably my favorite set, as some of my favorite movies of the summer were in this group.

The Wolverine
Eh, it wasn't too bad, bub. That seems to be the theme of the movies this summer, as most of the movies I've seen have been OK, but not anything great. The most interesting thing about this movie is it sets up the next X-Men movie that sounds like it could be an absolute flustercuck.

The Way Way Back
I really liked this film. In fact, it almost felt like it was manufactured for the express purposes of me enjoying it. In other words, it kind of felt at times like a paint-by-numbers coming of age story with "quirky" characters. However, the performances of the cast (especially Sam Rockwell and Allison Janney) are anything but cookie-cutter, and its still an enjoyable story.

We're the Millers
This would probably be my vote for surprise of the summer, as it turned out to actually have some fairly funny parts. Considering how awful the trailer was (the Red Band one was a bit better), the fact that it was merely decent makes it a welcome surprise. Again, the cast plays a big role in making this work, especially Nick Offerman.

Jobs
I almost forgot I saw this film. It wasn't too bad, although it seemed a bit second rate at times. Josh Gad was pretty good as Steve Wozniak, and Kutcher's Jobs was actually fairly decent. It wasn't quite as enjoyable as Pirates of Silicon Valley. I wonder how much better Aaron Sorkin's will be, assuming that ever gets made.

Blue Jasmine
I'm pretty certain this is the first Woody Allen film I've ever seen in a theater*. Definitely one of my favorites of the summer, although definitely not an uplifting film. All of you Louis CK completeists will want to check this out, as he makes a rare cinematic appearance in this one. I would gather this is probably worth a longer post, once I get a chance to see it again.

The World's End
I actually saw this before Blue Jasmine, but I figured I would save the best for last. This was definitely my favorite movie of the summer. In fact, I think it might be my favorite entry in the Cornetto Trilogy**. It's definitely the most mature and reflective of the three movies. More importantly, it's damn funny, in several different ways. Like the other two movies in the trilogy, this one is a gold mine for quotes, many of which are most certainly not PG-13***. Although I'm not quite as old as the characters in the story, it still resonated with me, and the end...yeah...the end. I can see how this might not be a favorite of a lot of people, but I really like the ending. If you can, I recommend you see this with someone who has no idea what the hell the Cornetto Trilogy is, has never seen the other two movies, and assumes this is just a small foreign film about some schoolyard chums getting back together for a night of drinking and self-reflection.****

Recommendations
Blue Jasmine
The World's End
The Way Way Back

My Favorite Five of the Summer
5. Blue Jasmine
4. Monsters University
3. The Heat
2. The Way Way Back
1. The World's End

*I have yet to delve deeply into his films. The only one I own is Midnight in Paris, although I really liked Manhattan and Annie Hall.
**Yes I'm aware that this might be fightin' words with the other member of this blog. I don't care.
***The rough standard I try to maintain on this blog. Please don't go back through the archives to prove me wrong.
****Yes, that totally is what this is. Totally. Mm-hmm.