Mad Men @ the Movies: Mutilations, Model Shop, and Mojo

Don't open the box, Peggy, don't open the box! DON'T OPE

Too late. With so much time, cameras and distance between us Peggy didn't hear the shouting from my apartment. Yeah, I was actually shouting. I am generally as quiet with the TV as I am in movie theaters... unless the show calls for raucous participation like, oh, Election Night or Drag Race. And though Mad Men invites gasping and laughter and speculation and veritably lives to provoke responses those responses are generally of the sort that take time to unpack. 

Which is, perhaps, why I never write about the show. Or at least not weekly as intended. I'm always still unpacking; the show seems denser than ever what with its ever expanding universe (now bicoastal and double-floored in NYC) and ever growing cast of characters to populate the agency which has tripled (at least) in size since Season 1. That's a lot of baggage to unpack. And not just of the personal damage variety... though there's always been plenty of that in Matthew Weiner's masterwork.

A trip to the movies, intruding showbiz, and a couple of stray observations after the jump...

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Emmy Night Winners

I've opted not to live blog tonight since I was bombing earlier on twitter. Not my night...

what i'll be doing later when Jon Hamm loses again

But that's okay because it's the Emmys and my attention drifts in and out and I'm way behind on writing projects which I'll sneak in on the side when things get dull in the middle.

Here are the acting and series winners... (refresh for updates)

LEAD ACTRESS, COMEDY Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Her fourth win so she joins the top ten actresses of all time for Emmy comedy (only 10 women have 4 or more) The speech was priceless with a meta-Veep moment with Tony Hale standing behind her, giving cues.
LEAD ACTOR, COMEDY Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
His third win for this role
SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY Tony Hale, Veep
A minor surprise that also doubles as a tip of the hat to Arrested Development. Buster!
SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY Merrit Wever, Nurse Jackie 
The most adorable acceptance speech. Wever is amazing on that show and a true original but given that Emmy seems to be over Nurse Jackie it was a surprise. Jane Krakowski must have murdered someone in Hollywood to go totally Emmyless for one of TV's all time funniest characters on a multi-Emmyed show (30 Rock) but what can you do? 

LEAD ACTRESS, MINISERIES The Lovely Laura Linney, The Big C: Hereafter
So Elisabeth Moss lost which is a mystery as complex as the one she was investigating in Top of the Lake. But clearly the cast of Mad Men will collectively never win any Emmys. Someone has voodoo dolls.
LEAD ACTOR, MINISERIES Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra 
And yes he asked Matt Damon if he wanted to the top or the bottom of the statue. 
SUPPORTING ACTRESS, MINISERIES/MOVIE Ellen Burstyn, Political Animals
SUPPORTING ACTOR, MINISERIES/MOVIE James Cromwell, American Horror Story: Asylum

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA Bobby Cannavale, Boardwalk Empire
LEAD ACTRESS, DRAMA Claire Danes, Homeland
Her second win despite that awkward awkward moment early on when Diahann Carroll demanded a win for Kerry Washington 
LEAD ACTOR, DRAMA Jeff Daniels, Newsroom

MINISERIES / MOVIE Behind the Candelabra
Oy. Listen I liked Behind the Candelabra a lot but the fact that it won all these things and Top of the Lake went home empty-handed is kind of embarrassing. 
DRAMA SERIES Breaking Bad
Apparently it's only the third series to ever win for the first time on its fifth season
COMEDY SERIES Modern Family
four consecutive wins seems crazy but what can you do. It's Emmys. It's tough for them to break character. The only show with five consecutive wins is Frasier so we'll see if Modern Family can do it next year, too. 

Now to attempt to scrub out the horrific memory of Carrie Underwood covering the Beatles.

Peace out. 

Emmy Predictions. Who Are You Rooting For This Weekend?

Giant all caps disclaimer coming at'cha: I AM NOT A TELEVISION PUNDIT. I have never claimed to know what I'm doing with predicting Emmys though occassionally I try. I watch way more TV than I did a decade ago mostly due to the invention of the DVR and also probably because TV got more cinematic and thus better. I am not a TV pundit but I like to watch and you know I like to opine. It's an action verb. 

Herewith my poorly informed predictions regarding Sunday nights award's. Plus a few comments and trivia notes.

DRAMA
The Nominees: Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Homeland, House of Cards, and Mad Men
I'm Rooting For: Mad Men. Always. It's literally the only show I've ever watched as it aired that I'd hand the best series prize to for each and every one of its seasons (thus far). For example: I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer like life but I would've handed the top prize to a couple of different things and different times during its 7 year run.
Prediction: Given Emmy's prospensity/habit to repeat winners, you have to consider Homeland a threat for a second consecutive win even though you'd be hard pressed to find one person alive who thinks the second season measures up to the first. Downward sloping quality both true (Downton Abbey) and perceived (Mad Men isn't as "enjoyable" as it once was but it's still challenging meaty triumphant television) rules them out as well. Which leaves us with House of Cards and Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, the latter of which I think is winning the internet the Emmy for the first time.

comedy series and 8 acting categories after the jump...

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Team Experience: (More) Emmy Reactions

Now that we've had a few days to process the Emmy award nominations, do we have any outrage left over?Though we’re a film site, it’s unwise to ignore proclaimed golden age of television we’re living in -- even if the arguments that TV is greater than film is wholly suspect --  especially when so many movie stars keep on crossing over. So we surveyed Team Experience with the following questions:

• win you're most rooting for?
• most baffling nomination?
• most compelling category?
• better luck next year?
• which Oscar-winning actress?

Which Oscar Winner Are Your Rooting For For Emmy: Helen, Jane, Jessica, Maggie or Melissa?

Read our collective responses and answer the same questions after the jump. No small screen coverage is complete without your comments, TV being so communal.

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Mad Men @ the Movies: "You Maniacs! God Damn You All to Hell"

You may have noticed that Mad Men at the Movies has been absent for over a month. I'm kind of like that date Ginsberg had with the hot teacher or Betty's brunette dye job - I am dropped plot threads!  Rather than giving up entirely I thought we'd discuss the season thus far with The Planet of the Apes (1968) as our rough focus / entry point.

New York ad man Don Draper reads the promotional in-theater newsletter created for "The Planet of the Apes" movies by an actual NY ad agency

For those of you with short memories, in the fifth episode of the season "The Flood" (episode 6.5) Don Draper plays hooky with his son Bobby who is feigning illness and they go to see The Planet of the Apes (1968)... twice! (This scene made me smile from ear to ear since I remember doing this as a kid in the late 70s / early 80s. Yes, they did use to let you stay and watch the movie again for free.) Roger Sterling, following Don's lead, takes his grandson to see the same movie in "The Better Half" (episode 6.9) though the results are not the same. [more...]

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