Paramount leads all studios/HBO leads nets

i-c7fd23bc26e447bdd9919a97f50a40eb-alogo.jpgYou can’t blame Paramount for crowing this morning about the fact that films released by their studio received a total of 15 Golden Globe Award nominations this morning – more than any rival studio and a record for Paramount.
You see, Paramount had been in something of an awards drought since 1999 when it napped 13 nods.
“Babel,” the first title released under the studio’s newly-named specialty label Paramount Vantage, got seven nods while the musical “Dreamgirls” got five. “Two co-productions with Warner Bros., “Flags of Our Fathers” and “Letters From Iwo Jima” got one a piece.

Warner Bros was a close second with 13 nods followed by six a piece for Miramax, Sony Pictures, and 20th Century Fox.
i-7b24014753d395a0dde0244a14d962b9-alogo2.jpgAs far as television nets go, HBO leads with 14 nods followed by ABBC (11) and NBC (9). NBC was boosted nominations for performers in its Thursday night comedies who snagged four of the five slots: Alec Baldwin for “30 Rock,” Zach Braff for “Scrubs” Steve Carrell for “The Office”: and Jason Lee for “My Name is Earl.”

For magic Meryl, “Prada” brings her 21st nomination…

i-5047c83472142e4aa83c4832ef8ae874-ameryl3.jpgMeryl Streep may only have two Oscars (criminal!) but she has had 14 nominations overall. Her record is slightly better at the Golden Globes where she have won five trophies and this morning, received her TWENTY-FIRST nomination for her performance in “The Devil Wears Prada.” The first was for 1979’s “The Deer Hiunter” and the first win came a year later for “Kramer vs. Kramer.” In between there were wins for “Angels in America,” “Adaptation,” “Sophie’s Choice” and “The French Leuitenant’s Woman” and nominations for “The Mancharian Candidate,” “The Hours,” “One True Thing,” “Music of the Heart,” “Marvin’s Room,” “The Bridges of Madison County,” “Postcards from the Edge,” “Ironweed,” “A Cry in the Dark,” “Out of Africa,” “Silkwood,” the comedies “She Devil” and “Death Becomes Her” and the TV movie “First Do No Harm…”

What a body of work.

i-e585985c29ac4666f16f95ebd70f49de-ameryl.jpgStreep’s co-star in “Heartburn” and “Ironweed,” Mr. Jack Nicholson also added to his impressive total landing his 17th nomination in the supporting actor category for “The Departed.” Nicholson has won seven Globes and was also the recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award.
Congrats to both of these acting legends!!!

Heartfelt reactions from stars…

It’s always nice when you can get a star or two on the horn to get their reaction to the BIG NEWS that they are nominated for a Golden Globe Award. But this year, who has the time? But we do have prepared statements from three nominees that I am happy to share with you and as prepared statements go, the ones from Helen Mirren and Judi Dench are actually pretty good:

i-8e774518a06726f8f2890a05bd57bfb8-aqueen.jpgTriple-nominee Helen Mirren had a lot to make a statement about. She’s up for best actress-drama for “The Queen” and was nominated twice in the best actress television movie category for “Elizabeth I” and “Prime Suspect.”
“I am extremely honored to be recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for The Queen, Elizabeth 1 and Prime Suspect. This has been an unprecedented year for me, and I am grateful to have had such well-written roles and to have worked with wonderful directors, actors and crews. I am amazed by the timeliness of The Queen, a story about a leader out of touch withthe people, and how the film has struck such a chord with audiences, both British and American, and around the world. Likewise the roles of Elizabeth I and Jane Tennison are so very different from each other, but both are powerful, vulnerable and flawed women, and have a strong
impacton audiences as well.”

Best actress-drama nominee Judi Dench (NOTES ON A SCANDAL) — “I am incredibly grateful that the
HFPA has been able to see past my sinister deeds as the deliciously wicked Barbara Covett by acknowledging my work. This is also recognition of Patrick Marber’s thrilling screenplay, Richard Eyre’s impeccable direction, the ever-astonishing Cate Blanchett and Bill Nighy, and our incredible cast and crew. I am proud to be in the same company as Penelope, Maggie, Helen, and Kate.”

And finally, this from Peter O’Toole, up for best actor-drama for “Venus” but it’s pretty generic: “I am very pleased and honored to be nominated and I would like to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press very much for thinking of me. I would also like to thank everyone who worked on’Venus’ as they share this honor with me.”

Closing thoughts…

i-86db14d4501a1639092d3188c1d60446-aaron_eckhart_2006_interview_top.jpgThey are literally disassembling the ballroom. Guys with power drills are talking down platforms and all the glitzy TV folks are long gone. It’s just me and some radio reporters and wire reporters. I swear, 30 minutes ago, there was glitz and glam, cameras everywhere and a real buzz in the air. Hollywood is all smoke and mirrors.
So, movies nominated for one category or another that I have never heard of: “Sherrybaby,” “Mrs. Potter,” two of the foregn language films, and “Nomad.”

i-45056b32c58404e82c9c2ab9a5d0bd0c-betty222.jpgPleasant surprises: “Thank You For Smoking” getting a best motion picture nod (comedy or musical) and the film’s Aaron Eckhart for best actor. Eckhart (pictured at top of post) rarely gets the recognition he deserves….America Ferrera nominated for best actress in a comedy series for “Ugly Betty,”…Alec Baldwin’s nod for best actor in a comedy series for “30 Rock,” Justin Kirk for supporting actor television (“Weeds”).

Personal faves: Kyra Sedgwick for TV actress drama (“The Closer”), Meryl Streep for musical/comedy actress (“The Devil Wears Prada”), Best Comedy of Musical movie nominees “Prada” and “Little Miss Sunshine,” Jennifer Hudson and Emily Blunt for supporting actress in a movie for “Dreamgirls” and “Prada,” respectively, Eddie Murphy, supporting actor for “Dreamgirls,” best comedy actor nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor for “Kinky Boots,” the song “Listen” from “Dreamgirls,” Bill Paxton for “Big Love,” and the wicked funny Elizabeth Perkins for “Weeds.”

Left out: Hmmmmm. I guess I expected Jamie Foxx to be nominated for musical/comedy actor for “Dreamgirls” and not Will Ferrell (“Stranger than Fiction”) and everyone expected Clint Eastwood’s “Flags of Our Fathers” to get a best picture-drama nod instead of Emilio Estevez’s “Bobby.”

OK, time to leave. The STAGE is being taken out, there is no food left and the lights are going out!

Seeing double…

i-53f8f1474f07834364d744d50730faf6-damon.jpgYou’ve got Leonardo DiCaprio (pictured with co-star Matt Damon) and Clint Eastwood each up for two, in Helen Mirren’s case, it’s a case of triple-vision. The actress is up for best actress/drama for “The Queen” and is the front-runner to win the Globe and just about everything else. Her compeition will be Penelope Cruz (“Volver”), Judi Dench (“Notes on a Scandal”), Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Sherrybaby”), and Kate Winslet (“Little Children”).

Mirren competes against herself in the TV movie best actress competition (“Elizabeth I” and “Prime Suspect: The Final Act”) and will also face-off against double nominee Anette Bening (“Mrs. Harris”), Gillian Anderson (“Bleak House”) and Sophie Okonedo (“Tsunami, The Aftermath).

Emily Blunt got a pair of nods in the supporting categories: movie: “The Devil Wears Prada” and tv movie “Gideon’s Daughter.” Toni Collette, so often overlooked for her stellar work in film after film, also got two nominations: best actress- musical or comedy (“Little Miss Sunshine”) and best supporting actress (television) for “Tsunami, The Aftermath.”
*Eastwood might have three nods if he produced “Letters from Iwo Jima” which got a foreign film nod.

Powerhouse movie categories…

I’ve already mentioned the supporting actor race w/Pitt, Nicholson, Wahlberg, Affleck and Murphy but it is not the only superstar face-off.
i-0d656a99fecc6f8fa7e44e37096fc8fd-aforest.jpgStart with best actor in a drama: Leonardo DiCaprio in “Blood Diamond” will face off against a star of equal stature: Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Departed.” He will compete with acting legend and sentimental fave Peter O’Toole up for “Venus.” Then there’s a little-known actor named Will Smith who was nominated for “The Pursuit of Happyness.” All will likely lose though to the fifth nominee: Forest Whitaker for “The Last King of Scotland.”

The competition for best actress in a movie (musical or comedy) is also a doozy. You’ve got Beyonce Knowles up for “Dreamgirls,” Toni Collette for “Little Miss Sunshine” and Renee Zellweger for “Miss Potter” (never HEARD of it!). But the race will come down to marvelous Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada” and Annette Bening for “Running With Scissors.” I give the edge to Streep who is a Globe fave.
i-5749f91548c4510368427ed55f07b153-clint_eastwood_show.jpgFor best director, Martn Scorsese (“The Departed”) is up against not one, but two familiar foes: Clint Eastwood (“Flags of Our Fathers”) and Clint Eastwood (Letters From Iwo Jima”). Also in the running are Stephen Frears (“The Queen”) and (say this one fast five times): Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (“Babel”).

Most noms…

The record nine nominations for “Nashville” is safe for another year. “Babel” came closest with seven nominations followed by “Departed” with six. “Dreamgirls” was in third-place with five nominations while “The Queen” nabbed four nods. Movies that received three nominations were: “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Little Chilren” and “Notes on a Scandal.”

On the TV side of things, “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Weeds” led the way with four nods each while the following series or movies got three nominations overall: “Broken Trail,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Elizabeth I,” “Mrs. Harris,” and “Tsunami, the Aftermath.”

Jessica Biel and Rosario Dawson gorgeous even at 5 a.m.

i-7fdbd746cc0915554a6ae71c00ed77ac-biel-facial_jpg.jpgJessica Biel says she considered just staying up all night since she had to be up at 3:15 a.m. to start getting ready for her gig announcing the nominees. She looked fresh as a daisy and is still over there happily doing interviews as I type. Here’s what I got from this talented and gorgeous actress:
On announcing the nominees:
“It’s really cool. I feel really honored to be a part of it. But 3:15 to start getting ready. I’ve never been up this early! I fell asleep at 12:30. It was not good. I couldn’t fall asleep because I was so excited. I’m really happy to be here and to share the joy with others.”

So sweet.

i-7ff5620de082eb6f4440925ffde7ce1f-adawson.jpgAs for Rosario Dawson, what a star! I loved her in “Rent,” I loved her in “Clerks 2” and I’m sure I’ll love her in her next project in which “I play a make-up and hair artist for Lindsay Lohan. I think that’s pretty insane!”
I’m not sure what movie it is and to stop and look it up this early in te morning seems just a little too daunting for me right now.
Rosario says the Golden Globe competition “is going to be really intense. I haven;t seen a lot of the stuff but I love a lot of the people who were nominated. ‘Borat’ was one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen in my life!”

Matthew Perry’s a happy man

I’m not a name dropper (ha!), but I was just talking to Matthew Perry. Well, sorta. I was standing next to the TV reporter from “Access Hollywood” intervewing Matthew and I think at one point Matthew looked at me as he was talking to the other dude.
i-1822a52bbae9178327377981eab372d0-aperry.jpgAnyway, Matthew told “us” that he had text-messaged his “Live on the Sunset Strip” co-star Sarah Paulsen about her nomination during the break they had between the first and second batch of announcements. Matthew wasn’t nominated for “Strip” but he could console himself for a nod for “The Ron Clark Story” which aired on Lifetime.
“I’m thrilled. I’m happy,” Perry said. “It’s very nice to get a nomination this early in the morning, or in the afternoon or evening!”
He said “you get warned” by the Foreign Press Assn. peeps that just because you have been asked to read the nominations, it by no means is any kind of indication that you will be nominated. “They even tell youj, it doesn’t mean anything.”
Of the role, he says: “It was an interesting challenge. I’ve never played a real person before. He’s a great guy.”
Of Pauseln, he said: “She’s one happy chick!”

Gibson gets nod…Mirren and Blunt get two each

These stars read those nominations fast but I scribbled down what I could for now. Mel Gibson did get a nomination for “Apocalypto” in the foregn language category. His competition will include Clint Eastwood for “Letters from Iwo Jima.”

Helen Mirren deservedly is up two Globes already (and will definitely make it three when actress in a movie is announced) but for now can celebrate nods for “Prime Suspect” and “Elizabeth I.” Meanwhile, Emily Blunt was nominated for “The Devil Wears Prada” and a supporting actress television but no one sitting near me can remember for which program! Well, it IS early.

back in a few.

Oh yea, it was kinda cute that Matthew Perry was nominated for lead actor in a TV movie and is here this morning. He took the stage to read some nominees and said, “I Love You All!”