OSCAR NOMINATIONS: Did you wake up at 535am this morning to hear the Oscar nominees? I did, because even though I’m a TV gal at heart, I love to hear the Oscar noms when they’re announced. If you missed them this morning, I’ve included the nomination list at the end of today’s Surf Report. I’m happy THE ARTIST is getting so much love, I’m all for Rooney Mara getting a Best Actress nod, and I really love Jonah Hill’s nomination for his performance in MONEY BALL because I loved that movie and thought he was very good in it. I also admired that he played against his comedic persona that everyone expects. Disappointments: no Oscar love for Albert Brooks or Ryan Gosling in DRIVE. Mark your calendar: watch the Oscars Sunday February 26 at 5pm PST on ABC. Billy Crystal returns after a long hiatus to host the big show.
THE BACHELOR: Yes, I’ve been watching some of THE BACHELOR, mostly to see if it’s still as revolting in terms of feeding the romantic delusions of young women. It is, and what makes it even worse this season is that Ben Flajnik is quite boring. Not that the show ever casts a guy who seems like he’d be a real catch, so maybe Ben’s middle-of-the-road, ho-hum quality means he’d be a nice, calm guy to settle down with? What still astounds me is how the women cast on the show immediately start to project their romantic hopes and dreams on the guy, without knowing him at all, except for what they saw last season on THE BACHELORETTE. Look, I love my TV as much as the next gal, but I know better than to fall in love with the fictional men in my favorite shows. Though THE BACHELOR calls itself a reality show, it’s anything but as every moment, scenario and “date” is manufactured, which is why none of the romances last: they can’t survive in the harsh light of true reality. In a related announcement: ABC made it official yesterday that Emily Maynard will be the next Bachelorette, which means you can expect to see numerous heart-tugging montages of Emily’s backstory about the man she loved and lost and how she’s a single mom to her little girl. It’s feeling treacly in here already.
REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS SEASON FINALE: At least we still have the RHOBH reunion to look forward to because this season finale did nothing for me. Yes, it was lovely to see Pandora’s wedding and all the pretty that went with it. Yes, we saw Taylor after Russell’s self-inflicted demise and that she was doing her best to make things bearable for daughter Kennedy, and we got an oddly pat wrap-up to bring us up to date about all the women. The reunion episode airs Monday 1/30 and of course I’m most curious to see if Kim Richards will attend, and if she’ll be coherent. I’m also curious to see how Taylor presents herself. As last night’s epilogue stated, she has personal and legal issues to deal with and she has her book of memoirs coming out soon. That’s not a book I’ll be reading and I find her shilling a book about her abuse at the hand of her now-deceased husband more than a little creepy. But hey, everyone’s gotta make a buck, right? Kyle Richards and Lisa Vanderpump have books too, which shows they know how to make hay while the sun shines.
DOWNTON ABBEY: I have completely fallen under the spell of this series, hook, line and sinker. It’s very UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS with writing and acting so smart, witty and precise that you can’t help but adore it; it’s the highest-class of soap opera and I mean that in the best possible way. Sunday night TV is very crowded what with SHAMELESS, HOUSE OF LIES, and THE GOOD WIFE, but DOWNTON ABBEY quickly became a must for me after catching up with Season 1 when PBS re-aired them in December. New episodes air Sunday nights at 9pm on PBS; I urge you to join in and find out why so many people are in love with the series.
SHAMELESS and HOUSE OF LIES: I’m liking SHAMELESS more than I did last season even though Frank is completely heinous. The reasons to watch: all the actors who play the kids, from Emmy Rossum on down. Jeremy Allen White continues to make Lip one of the more complex and interesting teens on TV and you get the feeling he could be a Master of the Universe if he decides to go that direction. I also love Emma Kenney as Deb, a very bright young girl whose inquisitive mind works in astounding ways. I’m still liking HOUSE OF LIES because the characters are well-defined and never stock caricatures. I know the characters are all twisted in their own way, but I like that too.
PILOT SEASON: I’ll be reading pilot scripts for the next few weeks (at least) so I will not be sending Surf Reports every day. After reading scripts, I will either be filled with hope or I will need to be dragged from a pit of despair. Could go either way, but then, that’s the adventure of pilot season.
Tonight’s rundown: The President’s State of the Union Address airs at 6pm PST on all major broadcast networks plus CNN, MSNBC. Look for repeats of shows on broadcast networks. For fresh episodes, look to cable and the 10pm Tuesday hits WHITE COLLAR (USA), JUSTIFIED (FX) and SOUTHLAND (TNT).
ABC: 8:00 p.m. Last Man Standing 8:30 p.m. Last Man Standing 9:00 p.m. State of the Union Address (90-minutes) 10:30 p.m. Last Man Standing (R)
CBS 8:00 p.m. NCIS (R) 9:00 p.m. State of the Union Address (90-minutes) 10:30 p.m. The Big Bang Theory (R)
NBC 8:00 p.m. The Biggest Loser (one hour) 9:00 p.m. State of the Union Address (90-minutes, plus analysis at 10:30 p.m.)
Fox 8:00 p.m. American Idol (repeat of the Sunday 11 p.m. telecast) 9:00 p.m. State of the Union Address (90-minutes)
CW 8:00 p.m. 90210 9:00 p.m. Remodeled
Bravo: 10pm: Tabatha Takes Over, 11pm: Watch What Happens Live – Mary J. Blige visits with Andy Cohen
USA: 10pm: White Collar
Neal poses as a substitute teacher at a prep school. Yes, many “hot for teacher” jokes have been bandied about the twitterverse this week.
FX: 10pm: Justified
More Neal McDonough — do I really need to say anything else to make you watch?
TNT: 10pm: SouthLAnd
Tang and Cooper (Lucy Liu and MIchael Cudlitz) are attacked, Ben and Sammy team with a bumbling officer.
That’s a wrap for now.
Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards. The awards will be presented Sunday February 26, 2012 – ABC airs the Oscars LIVE at 5pm PST.
Best Picture
“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) A La Petite Reine/Studio 37/La Classe Américaine/JD Prod/France3 Cinéma/Jouror Productions/uFilm Production, Thomas Langmann, Producer
“The Descendants” (Fox Searchlight) An Ad Hominem Enterprises Production, Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” (Warner Bros.) A Warner Bros. Pictures Production, Scott Rudin, Producer
“The Help” (Touchstone) A DreamWorks Pictures Production, Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
“Hugo” (Paramount) A Paramount Pictures and GK Films Production, Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
“Midnight in Paris” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Pontchartrain Production, Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
“Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing) A Columbia Pictures Production, Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
“The Tree of Life” (Fox Searchlight) A River Road Entertainment Production, Nominees to be determined
“War Horse” (Touchstone) A DreamWorks Pictures Production, Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
Directing
“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” (Fox Searchlight) Alexander Payne
“Hugo” (Paramount) Martin Scorsese
“Midnight in Paris” (Sony Pictures Classics) Woody Allen
“The Tree of Life” (Fox Searchlight) Terrence Malick
Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in “A Better Life” (Summit Entertainment)
George Clooney in “The Descendants” (Fox Searchlight)
Jean Dujardin in “The Artist” (The Weinstein Company)
Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (Focus Features)
Brad Pitt in “Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn” (The Weinstein Company)
Jonah Hill in “Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Nick Nolte in “Warrior” (Lionsgate)
Christopher Plummer in “Beginners” (Focus Features)
Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” (Warner Bros.)
Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs” (Roadside Attractions)
Viola Davis in “The Help” (Touchstone)
Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady” (The Weinstein Company)
Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn” (The Weinstein Company)
Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist” (The Weinstein Company)
Jessica Chastain in “The Help” (Touchstone)
Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids” (Universal)
Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs” (Roadside Attractions)
Octavia Spencer in “The Help” (Touchstone)
Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris” (GKIDS) Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
“Chico & Rita” (GKIDS) Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
“Kung Fu Panda 2” (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount) Jennifer Yuh Nelson
“Puss in Boots” (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount) Chris Miller
“Rango” (Paramount) Gore Verbinski
Foreign Language Film
“Bullhead” A Savage Film Production, Belgium
“Footnote” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Footnote Limited Partnership Production, Israel
“In Darkness” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Studio Filmowe Zebra Production, Poland
“Monsieur Lazhar” (Music Box Films) A micro_scope Production, Canada
“A Separation” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Dreamlab Films Production, Iran
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“The Descendants” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Hugo” (Paramount) Screenplay by John Logan
“The Ides of March” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
“Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (Focus Features) Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan
Writing (Original Screenplay)
“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Written by Michel Hazanavicius
“Bridesmaids” (Universal) Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
“Margin Call” (Roadside Attractions) Written by J.C. Chandor
“Midnight in Paris” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Woody Allen
“A Separation” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Asghar Farhadi
Art Direction
“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Production Design: Laurence Bennett, Set Decoration: Robert Gould
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” (Warner Bros.) Production Design: Stuart Craig, Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“Hugo” (Paramount) Production Design: Dante Ferretti, Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“Midnight in Paris” (Sony Pictures Classics) Production Design: Anne Seibel, Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
“War Horse” (Touchstone) Production Design: Rick Carter, Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
Cinematography
“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Guillaume Schiffman
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Jeff Cronenweth
“Hugo” (Paramount) Robert Richardson
“The Tree of Life” (Fox Searchlight) Emmanuel Lubezki
“War Horse” (Touchstone) Janusz Kaminski
Costume Design
“Anonymous” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Lisy Christl
“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Mark Bridges
“Hugo” (Paramount) Sandy Powell
“Jane Eyre” (Focus Features) Michael O’Connor
“W.E.” (The Weinstein Company) Arianne Phillips
Documentary (Feature)
“Hell and Back Again” (Docurama Films) A Roast Beef Limited Production, Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) A Marshall Curry Production, Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” An @radical.media Production, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
“Pina” (Sundance Selects) A Neue Road Movies Production, Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
“Undefeated” (The Weinstein Company) A Spitfire Pictures Production, TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas
Documentary (Short Subject)
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” A Purposeful Production, Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
“God Is the Bigger Elvis” A Documentress Films Production, Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
“Incident in New Baghdad” A Morninglight Films Production, James Spione
“Saving Face” A Milkhaus/Jungefilm Production, Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” A Supply & Demand Integrated Production, Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen
Film Editing
“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” (Fox Searchlight) Kevin Tent
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“Hugo” (Paramount) Thelma Schoonmaker
“Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Christopher Tellefsen
Makeup
“Albert Nobbs” (Roadside Attractions) Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” (Warner Bros.) Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin
“The Iron Lady” (The Weinstein Company) Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland
Music (Original Score)
“The Adventures of Tintin” (Paramount) John Williams
“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Ludovic Bource
“Hugo” (Paramount) Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (Focus Features) Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse” (Touchstone) John Williams
Music (Original Song)
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio” (20th Century Fox) Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett
Short Film (Animated)
“Dimanche/Sunday” (National Film Board of Canada) A National Film Board of Canada Production, Patrick Doyon
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” A Moonbot Studios LA Production, William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
“La Luna” (Walt Disney) A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Enrico Casarosa
“A Morning Stroll” (Studio AKA) A Studio AKA Production, Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
“Wild Life” (National Film Board of Canada) A National Film Board of Canada Production, Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
Short Film (Live Action)
“Pentecost” (Network Ireland Television) An EMU Production, Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
“Raju” A Hamburg Media School/Filmwerkstatt Production, Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
“The Shore” An All Ashore Production, Terry George and Oorlagh George
“Time Freak” A Team Toad Production, Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
“Tuba Atlantic” (Norsk Filminstitutt) A Norwegian Film School/Den Norske Filmskolen Production, Hallvar Witzø
Sound Editing
“Drive” (FilmDistrict) Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Ren Klyce
“Hugo” (Paramount) Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (Paramount) Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“War Horse” (Touchstone) Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
Sound Mixing
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Sony Pictures Releasing) David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
“Hugo” (Paramount) Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
“Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (Paramount) Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
“War Horse” (Touchstone) Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson
Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” (Warner Bros.) Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
“Hugo” (Paramount) Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
“Real Steel” (Touchstone) Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (20th Century Fox) Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (Paramount) Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier
