You Link Me. You Really Link Me!

The Wrap Sally Field (Lincoln) is the talk of the Palm Springs festival with her lively speech.
The Playlist has a clip of the new Pixar short The Blue Umbrella but be forewarned. It's really not much bigger than a new film still it's so short.
EW in another break with tradition Seth MacFarlane rather than an AMPAS official will be announcing the Oscar nominations on Thursday morning with the requisite actress (this year: Emma Stone)

Letterbox'd Vadim Rizov isn't terribly impressed with Zero Dark Thirty
Pajiba has amusing standards when it comes to red band trailers. (Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters)
The Advocate promises that actress Busy Phillips is as awesome as she appears to be. (Michelle Williams has always had such good taste!)
Slate's movie club beginswith Dana Stevens, Wesley Morris, Stephanie Zachareck and Keith Phipps talking up Zero Dark Thirty and Django and moral ambiguity in film
The Carpetbagger talks to Baltasar Kormakur about The Deep

It turns out that there is a reason most directors don’t film shipwrecks in the open water”

Ha.

Smash!
29 DAYS UNTIL "SMASH" RETURNS!'

I'll be recapping as I did last year. I'm not crazy about this sneak peek which sadistically continues to pretend that Megan Hilty is NOT the true star of Smash (LIES. ALL LIES). She's not even #2 anymore according to this trailer which seems to suggest a season all about American Idols Jennifer Hudson  and Katharine McPhee. Meanwhile the cast album of "Bombshell", the stage musical within the tv musical series, will be out in mid February. If Hilty doesn't get the Marilyn solo numbers on the "cast album" than they shan't have my moneys! 

Which TV Shows Do You Watch and Read About?

It's Emmy Week so the small screen is naturally on my mind. This time of year I'll usually try out a show or two and roll my eyes in disgust. Revolution was SO terrible: generic actors, pandering action sequences, and terrible authenticity problems. I should elaborate so here's just one example. If there's no electricity and there hasn't been for 15 years why have men's hairstyles not evolved into something manageable that doesn't require the weekly use of electric razors or blowdryers or what have you to maintain??? All the actors looked so freshly scrubbed clean, perfectly coiffed, and flawlessly made-up like they've never spent even one minute away from their huge hair and makeup team in a nearby trailer, let alone been without luxury beautification for 15 years! 

Despite the easy-to-ignore mediocrity of the TV landscape (easy to ignore given that the highs are so very high and you're reminded of them weekly while the dross you only have to see once!) I do watch my share of TV.

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Links: Emmys, Normans, Books, Critics

Flavorwire has 20 film books for film lovers to own. Christmas list ideas?
Slant Kurt interviews the great Alison Janney who has a 'special knack for spurring films to life'
Arts Beat Adele records song for the new James Bond film Skyfall. Can't wait to hear it
Slate another perceptive review of Bachelorette
Deadline Adorable little Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland) is no longer adorable. He's grown up to become a young Norman Bates in that Psycho prequel TV series "Bates Motel". 

HitFix interviews Chris Evans about his Captain America break, puking gym sessions, and the indie flick Iceman which just played at TIFF
IndieWire polled critics about the best films and performances at TIFF -- The Master nearly tops every poll its eligible for but fails to win "Most Disappointing" (edged out by To the Wonder)
The Advocate a new celebrity photographry book compiling Jack Robinson's 70s portraits. Clint Eastwood somehow looks like Hugh Jackman and Warren Beatty is all in leather
Playbill congrats to Leslye Headland again. Her play Assistance (about showbiz assistants) will be developed for a television series
Broadway Blog Cheyenne Jackson (yay!) to star in a new Broadway romantic comedy about adult film performers. Alicia Silverstone and Ari Graynor co-star!
MNPP attends a star-packed Q&A for 10 Years
Towleroad My latest column finds me blathering on about a handful of future Oscar players

Congratulations to Joshua Bergasse for his Best Choreography Win for "SMASH". It's the first time a TV series has claimed the prize in 17 years

Emmy Time - yes, I'll live blog on Sunday
Playbill Smash wins Joshua Bergasse an Emmy for Best Choreography for "Wolf" "National Pasttime" and The Film Experience's all-time favorite Smash number "Let's Be Bad". 
LA Times & Deadline HBO leads the Emmys so far with 17 wins including several for Game of Thrones. And, yes, Mad Men lost costume design AGAIN. It will go down as one of the great awards injustices that that series never wins costume design. Just shameful! Guest Acting Emmys: Kathy Bates (Two and Half Men), Martha Plimpton (The Good Wife), Jeremy Davies (Justified), and Jimmy Fallon (SNL)

Smash Season 2 Now Filming

If it were January instead of July we'd be tuning in to Season 2 of Smash right this second. Mondays at 10:00 PM on NBC, don'cha know. Only six months to go. Ugh!

Here is Katharine McPhee as "Karen" (who won the Marilyn Monroe role on Season 1) bowing down to Jack Davenport as "Derek" her director. As well she should since Davenport runs circles around her as an actor and convincingly sells us on his Karen-fixation which goes at least a little bit of the way towards understanding Karen's otherwise invisible charms as a leading lady.

I kid. I kid.

About the bowing down part (I meant everything else). I have no idea what McPhee is doing in this photo?Adjusting her marks maybe -- but doesn't she have people for that?

I am so excited for Season 2 of Smash and I have no idea why since there might be less Megan Hilty (the MVP) since she didn't get the Marilyn part. But a new show runner, new song writers (for a competing musical in the Season 2 plotline), and new cast members including Jennifer Judson in a multiple episode arc (a la Emmy nominated Uma Thurman last year), and rising stage star Jeremy Jordan of Broadway's Bonnie & Clyde and Newsies (and the Dolly/Latifah musical Joyful Noise) could mean a better show but it could also mean a lot of change for the sake of change and that's not always helpful either.  

Right about now or 5 minutes ago, you're like "Why is Nathaniel talking about Smash in July?". It's only because I'm suffering withdrawal and seeking solace in my Smash-patch (i.e. playlists. I recommend listening to Hilty tearing into "Let's Be Bad" at least once a week to stave off the cold sweats and palpitations).

Smash was the target of much internet and media ire last season (musicals always have big bullseyes on their chests just visible underneath the sequins) so I was happy to read recently in Variety that its fate wasn't as dire as armchair and professional TV pundits originally suggested which could bode well for a Season 3 unless Season 2 is disastrous. Apparently Smash commands a very high CPM for an in house drama and it's also popular in high income households which is a big deal to massive corporations like NBC. 

Are you hopeful or un about Smash S2? Will you join us on Tuesdays in the winter for weekly recaps like we did this year?

Emmy Nominations 2012

Mad Men, The Film Experience's favorite show for five years running, and American Horror Story -- cheating with a "miniseries" categorization (like Downton Abbey in its debut year) -- led the nominations with 17 a piece. 

The Emmys seem to be over genre shows... or perhaps American Horror Story and Game of Thrones hogged too much attention for the wealth to be spread. True Blood and Teen Wolf scored 0 nominations between them (and to think True Blood once was a nominee for "Best Drama Series") and The Walking Dead and Ocne Upon a Time scored only 3 nods apiece. Dexter somehow managed to keep Michael C Hall nominated for a really terrible season despite earning no other nominations.

Best Dramatic Series
 

• Boardwalk Empire 
(not my cuppa)
• Breaking Bad
 (the show I feel guiltiest about missing year after year)
• Downton Abbey 
(bliss. I'd be happy to see this win)
• Game of Thrones
 (wildly overrated)
• Homeland 
(so much better than I expected. a worthy nominee.)
• Mad Men (still the best show on television - my vote)

Snubbed Entirely and Not Just Here: REVENGE. How weird is that given the impact it made as a new show? It's the best nighttime soap since Dynasty. Respect!

Best Comedy Series
 

• The Big Bang Theory
 (laugh track.noooooo)
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
 (still. really?)
• Girls (yay! so individualistic)
• Modern Family
 (still funny. but not as strong as parks & recreation)
• 30 Rock
 (still hilarious. but not as strong as parks & recreation)
• Veep (often funny. but not as strong as parks & recreation which also lampoons government)

Snubbed: You guessed it!

"We demand a recount"

And the rest of the nominations play like those are the only 12 series the voters watch, if you ask me!

MORE after the jump including THREE UNFORGIVABLE SNUBS

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