Emmy Nominations: The Good, The Bad, and The Snubbed

The Good 

-The Emmys really fucked up last year by not nominated Jodie Comer (or Killing Eve). I think they will try and correct their mistake this year by giving her the win.

-Yay for Schitt's Creek! It's not even their best season, which always seems awkward to me when that happens, but I am so excited for them nonetheless. I really wish Dan Levy snuck in a nod, but I'll take what I can get.

-The "Limited Series" category is really messing things up - I think if it has multiple seasons (like True Detective) it should be included in the Drama or Comedy category (and we should add different genre categories instead - like Fantasy/Sci-Fi - it's weird that they separate the category in terms of cinematography and costume, but not acting or overall category?), but there were some excellent ones nominated - like Fosse/Verdon (I think it might sweep the category, although Chernobyl has picked up a lot of media attention. Escape at Dannemora aired too long ago and already received its awards).

-I'm glad people haven't forgotten about Better Call Saul. I feel like it's been years since the previous season aired, but it's excellent television.

-If you're unsure of whether to watch Bojack Horseman, watch the "Free Churro" episode. It blew me away. Glad it's been recognized.

-The Big Bang Theory getting snubbed for its final season is hilarious. Sorry, but that show was complete garbage (and YES, I've tried to watch it on multiple occasions and it was GARBAGE).


The Bad

- I am still a few seasons behind Game of Thrones, but I haven't come across a season yet that I was blown away by. As a whole, the series is a spectacle, for sure, but each season has dragged and there are too many characters to pay attention to them all. And the acting has been questionable for its entirety (the only good actors the show has is Lena Headey and Peter Dinklage). I just find it really hard to believe that 9 actors deserved a nomination for the final season unless they all got extreme acting lessons.

-Ozark??? Really??? Over so many other shows that got snubbed? Also, I think Julia Garner is one of the worst actresses currently getting work (and solid work that should go to other talented people).

- I love This is Us, but compared to everything television has given us this year - it just doesn't compare.

The Snubbed

-There's just so much tv, and so many good shows nowadays, it's too hard to even choose the best. The amount of snubbed performances and shows is overwhelming but the biggest one that stands out to me - Rob McElhenney for It's Always Sunny. I would have been happy for an acting, writing, or directing nod for that spectacular finale scene. I'm shocked that it didn't get even one nomination?

-Homecoming. It's stunning television, with a movie star in the lead. How does it get overlooked? (it did get a well-deserved Cinematography nod).

-This will likely be the last time I mention it - since it's been cancelled, but Counterpart is the show that everyone missed out on - and it should be nominated in several categories.

-I don't watch many reality shows, but the new revamped Project Runway was pretty satisfying. And I cried like a baby when the winner was announced and tearfully screamed "this is what America stands for!".

-The list goes on: Pamela Adlon for Better Things, Emma Stone for Maniac, Shameless (for several acting categories, but specifically Emmy Rossum), Brooklyn Nine-Nine. 

Thoughts on 5 Films

1. The Greatest Showman - Better than I was expecting. My expectations were pretty low, though. I don't really understand why they made a musical about someone who is known for being a horrible human being. Also, circuses are disgusting (so are zoos). Even as a kid, and as a huge animal lover, I hated going to them. They just made me so sad, seeing all the animals in spaces too small for them. Anyway, I just didn't see how they were going to make this movie work. But it does - mostly because the songs are perfectly executed - really catchy, great choreography, etc. I was singing "This is Me" for days afterwards. I also didn't realize that the P!nk song, "A Million Dreams", that is on the radio every other hour, is from this movie (I dig it. And I dig P!nk. I've been a fan since she opened for *NSYNC back in the day). I always turn it up and sing (if you can call it that...) along. There's a few things that I personally didn't like about the movie - first, the casting of Rebecca Ferguson is really odd. Why not get someone who can sing to portray "the greatest voice"? Second, I appreciate that they did show, to a small degree, what an asshole Barnum was, but they also gave him a "hero" moment of redemption that absolves him, so it's all ultimately pointless. Third, I sadly don't think Zendaya is a good actress. She's just very wooden. I still really like her as a person, and as a role model for young girls. And I love the performance of "A Million Dreams" with Zac Efron. I wonder if the did their own stunts? It was just wonderful.

2. Under the Silver Lake - Ugh, really disappointing. I've seen many people on "film twitter" start off July with their "Best of 2019 So Far" lists - something that I sadly can not do considering that I've only seen like 10 movies from 2019. On several lists, was this small little Indie - so I made it a priority. I just don't get it. One criticism that I whole-heartedly agree with is someone calling it "frat-boy Noir". That's a perfect description, and it's something that I just can't care about. I felt like it was trying too hard to be weird. It's set in a world of entitled rich people who live their life ensuring they are "Insta-ready" at all times, and I just don't care about any of them. I did like the whole mystery thing - with the numbers. He starts to believe that all of these little coincidences have a stronger meaning and are all connected. The numbers thing is weird, but I know someone who takes that shit very seriously (my mother - she truly believes that if she sees certain numbers through-out the day, that everything will be ok). But to think that there is a coded message in all of pop culture, is just straight up crazy. That's too much work, and no-one in the world has that kind of time. The piano scene is absolutely brilliant, though. Also, I'm really loving Riley Keough, but she isn't in this movie that much. Garfield gives a satisfactory performance, but Hipster Topher Grace is awwwkkwwwward.

3. Mid 90s - I am all about Jonah Hill. I love that people my age are making movies (Hill wrote and directed this). The experience of being a teenager in the Mid 90s can only be told by my generation, and I feel like enough time has gone by that we can intelligently reflect on what we experienced. I was never part of the "skater" scene, but it was all around me, and I don't have siblings, and this is very clearly the male experience - but I still get the experience. Lucas Hedges looks like EVERY teenage boy that I went to high school with. Everything about it felt very genuine. The scene in which the one boy tells the main kid about everyone else's life, is really poignant. It's a hard lesson for teenagers to learn - that even though you are having a tough time, there are others that are experiencing worse (although, sometimes I think that leads to unnecessary guilt especially for people who suffer with depression. Like, "I shouldn't feel this way because other people have it worse, so I must be a terrible person" - which leads to more guilt and depression. There has to be a balance of "feeling" your feelings, but also having an awareness for the suffering of others). The music is very key in a film like this, so Reznor is the obvious choice. It definitely captured a moment in time, and I was fully engaged for the whole film. Really fantastic acting all around. On a side-note, I was weirdly enthralled by how they make skateboards! So interesting!

4. Green Book - It's honestly hilarious that this won the Academy Award for Best Picture. HILARIOUS. It's not a bad movie, I would very hesitantly call it a "good" movie. It felt like something made in the 90s, though. It's not modern, artistic, or innovative in any way, so in a way it captures everything wrong with the Academy. There are many controversies surrounding the movie, but even if I ignore all of that - it's simply a fine film about racial relations in the 60s. It didn't even feel relevant to the current racial discourse that is happening in America today, so it's weird that it seemed to get such an honor for "opening up new discussions" the way the creators seemed to think it did (during every award it won, Farrelly seemed to be patting himself on the back). Maybe if they paid a little more attention to the actual "Green Book" that the movie is titled after, it might have "meant" something. This is something I know very little about, and had to instead read about it afterwards while the film could have easily made it more focal. I think both actors did a fine job - Mortensen did a surprisingly great job with the Italian accent, laid on a little thick, but certainly a difficult accent for him. I enjoyed some of the little jokes here and there, like him confusing Orpheus with Orphans. But, overall, if I knew nothing about it, and someone played me this film and asked me when it was released, I would certainly be convinced it was made in 1996.

5. Shazam! -  I don't know why people said that this movie is good? I mean, just because it's lighter than other DC films, doesn't automatically make it good. I didn't think it was funny at all. It's actually really, really dumb. And sooooo, soooo long. I love Zachary Levi (Chuck was great!), and he is definitely the best part of this movie, but the kids that take up a majority of the movie are....not good. It doesn't help that their dialogue is super cheesy, and the characters themselves are very cliched. Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy cheesy superhero stuff (I loved Amazon's The Tick and that couldn't be more cheesy if it tried). This movie just bored me to death. There are a few things I did enjoy - first, anything that is set in Philly always makes me smile. Second, I did laugh pretty hard once, but I have no recollection of what it was that I laughed at so it must not have been that funny. Maybe it was just because all the other jokes landed with a thud, that I was happy to have an actual funny joke appear? And third, I almost jumped for joy when Adam Brody appeared because that is spot-on casting and also because Brody needs to be in more things.

Best Films 2018 ***Updated***

I've been struggling with catching up on movies lately, but it's become a tradition for me to do my updated list in July every year and I would like to keep that tradition, so here goes: 

1. First Man
2. A Star is Born
3. A Quiet Place
4. Thoroughbreds
5. Mid 90s
6. Unsane
7. The Kindergarten Teacher
8. Tully
9. Game Night
10. Eighth Grade 
10.5. You Were Never Really Here 

There are still quite a bit of films I have yet to see - Vice, Can you Ever Forgive Me?, BlacKkKlansmen, etc. but I don't expect any of them to change my list. You never know though!