Married Life

One of my WIP's that's more of a WFIP (formerly in progress) is/was a series of interconnected stories about single people. And I was planning to have the audacity to to suggest that some of my characters were very happy about their marital/relationship status. I have nothing against marriage or other forms of domestic partnerships and I'm sure many people are extremely happy in their marriages. But what irks me is the assumption that many/most married people have that people who are not married are defacto unhappy or missing something in their lives. That they'd be happier if only they were married. This assumption really offends me and that's the theme I was hoping to bring out in my book. That happiness comes in all kinds of packages. It's not one-size-fits-all kind of thing. And without turning this in to a way-too-personal post when it was supposed to be a movie review... I'm not anti relationship. If the right man came along. Sure. But I so love the freedom I have now to do whatever I want whenever I want.

Now, my book never got off the ground for a variety of reasons... I may still write it some day... but watching the film Married Life made me think about it again, because it made me a little bit happier about my single status.

The Globe and Mail reviewer, Kamal Al-Solaylee suggested in his review that the film Married Life poses two questions. One: can you build your happiness on the unhappiness of others; and two: can attempted murder spice up a marriage.

All I can say to that second question is, "HUH?" Did we see the same film? Just shows how different two people's perceptions of the same film can be. I'm really curious to know if Mr. Al-Solaylee is married and my guess would be yes. And that his marriage needs some serious spicing up. For me, the second very obvious question asked in the film was: Can you ever really know what's going on in the heart and mind of the person sleeping next to you.

In fact, that question was not just implied, it was specifically asked. And to me, that's what the film was about. It was a pretty depressing take on marriage if you ask me. Now, not to get too biased the other way, at the end of the film all the characters seemed outwardly happy. Like I said before, happiness comes in all kinds of packages. But by the end of the film there were a lot of secrets never shared between all the couples. Big secrets (including an attempted murder) brushed under the rug, never to be discussed in order to save relationships.
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Hmmm... Now that I think of it, perhaps it wasn't meant to be an entirely negative look at marriage, merely a realistic one but brought to an extreme to make a point.

Interesting film, anyway. Not amazing. Didn't entirely work for me, I think mostly because of the Chris Cooper character. I normally love him in just about anything... but I found his character's motivations too much of a stretch to be believable in this story. But obviously the film got me thinking.

I'd recommend it as a rental, unless if you suspect (or know) there's a big secret between you and your significant other. Warning. Watching this film together might bring secrets to the surface, and this film certainly suggests that some things are best left buried.

Odd characters

A few years ago, I started making notes whenever I noticed odd characters or events in public, thinking some day I might use them in a book.

Haven't done that for a while.

But I just had to share something. I'm sitting across from a man at Starbucks. I'd guess he's about seventy, but might be younger. He's wearing eighties style big glasses and a paper-boy type navy cap. He's tucked a paper napkin into the buttoned except for the very top button plaid shirt that he's wearing over navy slacks. He came in wearing a decent, clean looking, Columbia sportswear ski jacket over top.
He has one of those metal framed grocery carriers with him. He bought a venti size of some kind of tea. To doctor it, he took his own liter of Silk soy milk out of his carrier and something else that looks like pepper, but I'm not sure. Must be a sweetener of some kind stored in an spice jar? Then... he took out an entire pumpkin pie and has proceeded to eat almost half of it -- straight from the pie tin with a plastic fork. Did I point out that he might weigh a hundred pounds? Tiny man. And he's not eating quickly. Just taking casual bites of pie in between looking at his paper and sipping his tea.

What's his story? I should run a contest. :-)

I should get back to my WIP, that's what I should do.

Definitely, Definitely

I went to see Definitely, Maybe one night last week. The film had already been open for about five weeks and I my expectations weren't that high.

I like Ryan Reynolds but the fact he was in it, plus the way it was advertised and the fact it opened on Valentine's Day made me expect something a bit cheesy and silly and I was okay with that.

Wow, was I wrong. I loved this movie. The characters were real. The dialogue rang true. And the writer really pulled off the mystery love story thing. As many times as I tried to guess who he'd end up with and the few times I thought I was right, the writer flipped it again and again. Nice to see Reynolds in a more serious role. His boyish charm and wit still showed through, but his character was a devoted single dad and deeply romantic and responsible, as opposed to the perpetual boy type characters he usually tends to play.

And the other performances were really good, too. The only one I wasn't sure about was Elizabeth Banks... but Rachel Weisz and Isla Fisher were both great--you could really understand why he fell in love with both women--as were all the supporting characters. Kevin Kline does an amazing small part in this movie. Really great. But he's almost always great. Another minor character of note was played by Liane Balaban. Her part in this was tiny and not all that interesting, I guess... but so nice to see her in a bigger film. Her debut, in a film called New Waterford Girl was nothing short of astounding to me. Love that movie. If you want a quirky cool rental, try it. Probably won't find it at your corner video store in the US, (it was an independent Canadian film), but at a specialty video store or netflicks should have it. And in case I haven't talked you into seeing New Waterford Girl, yet... Andrew McCarthy is in it. :-) And it's set in the 70's -- so great music... But I'm showing my age with both of those arguments, I guess.

Looking through the writer/director Adam Brooks' list of screenplay credits... I think I have a new hero. And, he's from Toronto. How cool is that? I had no idea going in. He did the second Bridget Jones movie, which was pretty good considering how silly the second book was, and Wimbledon which I thought was so smart for a rom com staring Kirsten Dunst (another low expectations, nice surprise film for me) and The Invisible Circus, (a little seen movie, in spite of Cameron Diaz being in it, but I really liked having read the book), and French Kiss (which might explain how he got Kevin Kline to do a small part in this new movie) and Practical Magic and Beloved.

Very interesting list of screenplay writing credits. All smart films that rose above genre -- or in the case of Beloved, defied genre.

Has anyone else seen Definitely, Maybe? Did it work for you?

Urban fantasy romance

I'm blogging about Urban Fantasy over on DWT today.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Since my blog is green and my website is green and I have a very Irish name... I figured I'd better wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day.

I'm actually about 5/8 Irish... but it's funny, because I think the other parts of my heritage were stronger influences in my life growing up. Scottish and Welsh and a little Dutch/Flemish.

About 10 years ago (was it really 10 years???) I went on a cycling trip in Ireland. Fabulous time. I had tacked it on at the tail end of a business trip, so I had too much luggage and a few business suits mixed in with my bike shorts.

Anyway... One night, about 3 days into the trip (and 4 drinks into the evening) I was enjoying the Irish music in a pub and told our tour guide I was really feeling my Irish roots that night.
She turned to me and said, "When I saw your name on the list, I thought you'd be an Irish girl. Then I saw your hair and skin and I assumed you were, but then I saw your luggage and knew you weren't." She nudged me. "But you do drink like an Irish girl."

Never have I been so proud.

Long time no blog

I am becoming a total blog slacker. Sorry. (Or maybe no one has noticed.) I've had a lot on my mind, but somehow haven't managed to translate any of those thoughts into blog posts. Might be just as well, come to think of it...

I made a personal resolution to blog about the movies I see in theatres this year, and I haven't even managed to get to the movies much. But I did go to In Bruges last week.

What did I think of this movie? Two main things.
1) Colin Farrell is an acting god when he's got good material to work with.
2) I really wish I'd gone to Bruges when it was suggested to me on a business trip to Brussels.

But at least now I have Bruges to visit all on it's own someday and probably wouldn't have had enough time on said business trip to do it justice. What a pretty city.

Actually, one of the jokes of the movie is how unimpressed with the city the Colin Farrell character is, while the Brendan Gleeson character is amazed by it.

But back to the movie... Certainly not ever going to be a blockbuster success... But while it's a quieter, dialogue and character driven film, the story is interesting and keeps you guessing for a long time before coming to a more traditional violent, gangster-movie-type climax. But little about this film is traditional. And the characters and dialogue were amazing. Even though the language and actual dialogue is very different from Pulp Fiction, it reminded me of Pulp Fiction in a way, in that the writer shows us brutal killers as humans talking about everyday things. But these are more layered and interesting brutal killers than any Tarantino created, in my opinion. And they both have consciences and their own codes of right and wrong -- where they draw the line and how to deal with conflicting loyalties.

This film isn't for anyone easily offended, but I found bits of it hilarious and both Gleeson and Farrell gave amazing performances for Martin McDonagh, a talented Irish writer/director I've seen compared to David Mamet on a message board on imdb.com.

Slanderous Miss Snark

For those of you who don't follow such things... the websites Predators and Editors, Writer Beware, the Miss Snark blog, and others dedicated to protecting unsuspecting newbie writers from unscrupulous individuals purporting to be agents or publishers (but really charging money) exposed an agent a few years ago and put her on a 20 Worst Agents List. (I'm not going to mention her name, because I'm scared). Said agent is now suing everyone on the planet.

Check out this link, for a very funny take on this. Probably funnier for fans of Miss Snark... :-)

Vote for Trish Milburn

So, unlike the big fix in the US Presidential elections (see post below) the voting for this year's American Title contest is legit and still on. The winner gets a publishing contract with Dorchester Publishing. To vote, send an e-mail to this address: votes@romantictimes.com with the title of your favorite entry in the subject line. (Hint: Out of Sight)

Voting to choose the winner continues until March 2, 2008. Today, I'm glad to host Trish Milburn, one of the final two contenders. Welcome, Trish!

Congratulations on being in the final two for the American Title contest this year, Trish! For my blog pals who aren't familiar with this contest, how does it work?

Initially, Dorchester and Romantic Times make the call for entries. Each year, they have a special sub-genre on which they focus. This year it was paranormal romance. From there, they go through and determine which entries they want to see the full manuscripts for. Then they weed it down to 10 finalists, who compete in up to five rounds of online judging by visitors to the Romantic Times Web site. Each round focuses on some aspect of the books -- descriptions of heroes and heroines, romantic scenes, etc. Each round has a two-week voting period after which the two contestants with the fewest votes are eliminated. We're down to the final two contestants now -- the talented Helen Scott Taylor and myself.

What's your entry, Out of Sight, about?

Out of Sight is about Jenna McKay, a street cop who can make herself invisible but doesn't very often because of the fear that if the government finds out they'll turn her into a lab rat to find out why she has her ability. As you might guess, the government does find out and delivers the news of their awareness via a very sexy agent from an agency that apparently has no name and a murky agenda. But instead of shipping her off to a lab for study, they send her to the White House to go "undercover" to find out which person inside the most powerful address in America is sending threats to the president. Identifying the culprit isn't as easy as it should be,
and neither is figuring out if Agent Daniel Webster is friend or foe.

That sounds fantastic. What I wouldn't give to be invisible some days... Congratulations on your Young Adult and Series Romance book contracts this year. I was so excited when I heard about these deals. When are those books hitting the shelves?

A Firefighter in the Family is going to be out this September from Harlequin American. I don't have a date on the second American yet. My first YA book, Heartbreak River (Razorbill), will be out in the spring of 2009.

Can't wait. I know your "overnight success" came after many years of writing and lots of heartbreakingly close calls. What are your thoughts on so many things hitting for you this year? Karma? Fate? (Or did you finally sell your soul to the devil... I've had the contract on my desk for a while, but am too squeamish to prick my finger for the ink.)

LOL! No contracts that smell faintly of sulphur and with burnt edges here. I think I just refused to give up and became more and more determined to prove to myself that I could do this. My agent and I kept lots of my projects out there, and I took what opportunities presented themselves to me. The American sale came about because of a publisher-sponsored contest, and the American Title is, of course, also co-sponsored by a publisher.

Proof that contests can work! You've been on the Board of RWA for the past few years. Would you recommend this to other writers? What have you learned from the experience?

It really is a very enlightening experience. I have a whole new appreciation for how much work it takes to successfully run an organization the size of RWA, and I'm in awe of how much the staff accomplishes with so few people. I had served on my chapter board for several years before this, and I felt I contributed positively there and thought I'd try it at the national level. After all, someone has to step up to the plate and volunteer for the task of board service.
That said, it has to be an individual decision. It's a fair amount of work, particularly if really big issues pop up or during the weeks leading up to board meetings and the National Conference. But I'm glad I've had the experience.


Thanks for being here, Trish, and good luck!

Thanks, Maureen, for hosting me!

Trish

This is too funny not to post....

Who got passed over for Oscar nominations

Okay, so the Oscars are tomorrow night and I can't figure out why I feel slightly bored about the whole thing. They are all really great films this year. Really great. Maybe that's it? Maybe there aren't any nominations that make me angry, that I'd leap off my chair to yell at the TV if that actor or film won?

There are a few underdogs that could make me leap up if they won, I guess, but they are such incredible long shots, I don't hold out any hope... Like Sarah Polley for directing Away from Her. That would be so cool. But she won't win. I guess I'd like the Coens to win that, because I think their acceptance speech might be fun. I'd also like to see Ellen Page win. She's amazingly talented. (Okay, I may be biased. I've just listed two Canadian nominees.)

So, who isn't on the list that I think should be?

The glaring omission in the Best Picture, Best Director (Sean Penn), Best Actor (Emile Hirsch), Best Score (Eddie Vedder) and Best Song (Eddie Vedder) categories are all Into the Wild. Maybe Best Supporting Actress (Catherine Keener), too. I really don't understand why this movie got so ignored. I felt sure it was going to make Emile Hirsch into a huge star.

David Cronenberg for directing Eastern Promises. I don't know if this was my favourite Cronenberg film ever... but it was his most accessible while still being daring (people will be taking about that Turkish bath scene forever) and I'd love to have seen him nominated.

Gorden Pinsent for best actor in Away from Her. Yes, Julie Christie was great, but he was the heart and the core of that lovely film and his performance was fabulous. But he's not well known outside of Canada (maybe not even well known inside Canada since the 1970's) so not surprising he didn't get a nomination. But that would have been exciting.

Finally, I'd have liked to have seen Josh Brolin get a nomination for No Country for Old Men. Javier Bardem is getting all the attention for that film for playing a psychopath. Yes, he made a great psychopath, but Brolin's was the more interesting, more subtle, more real character. The one we could identify with, who takes a chance and lets greed take over his common sense. And then kindness, too. He might not have been caught if he hadn't gone back with that water...
The night that film premiered in Toronto at the TIFF, the paparazzi outside were all, "Diane, over her. Diane," when Brolin arrived on the red carpet (with his wife, Diane Lane). I kind of thought it was funny that night. To me, Josh Brolin was the son of a guy famous for being attractive and married to a much more famous and powerful woman (Barbra Streisand), who also married an attractive and famous woman (Diane Lane). To me, the Brolin men were boy toys to Barbra and Diane. But this year Brolin-the-younger proved he's not just a trophy husband in both this film and in American Gangster. I'm very interested to see what he'll do as George dubya in the upcoming Bush.

Who do you think got passed over?

Is Harold Perrineau Lost?

Has anyone else noticed that Harold Perrineau's name has been in the opening credits of every episode of Lost this season to date, but we haven't actually seen him in an episode since, what? The second season? Was the Michael character even in Season 3? I don't think so.

I was so excited to see his name show up in the credits and keep expecting Michael to jump from behind some tree, or to be hidden in the strange, moving cabin, or locked in a cell in the barracks. So far nothing... Is he on the ship???We've had a mention of Walt... But no Michael. And I can't even remember exactly what happened to Michael. Did the others let him leave the island on a boat or something? Can't recall.

Theories?

Anyone else still loving Lost?

I'm actually typing while watching tonight's episode... I guess this post'll be kinda dumb if he finally appeared tonight. Oh, well.

Editorial meetings online?

Okay, so this was the bit of the Penguin press release that caught my attention, and I kind of buried it...

"In addition, during the last week in February, the public will have the unique opportunity to get an inside peek into the editorial selection process, when video clips of actual editorial staff discussions at Penguin Group (USA) will be posted online."

The remote chance that some editors might be debating the pros and cons of publishing my book online for the world to see simultaneously thrills and terrifies me. Mostly the latter.

Do you think they'll really show actual editorial meeting???

Penguin press release about contest

Okay, I just think this is interesting... Then again, I'm in the contest. Why wouldn't I find it interesting....



NEW YORK, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Penguin Group (USA) announced today that it will now have the privilege of selecting the Top 10 finalists from among the Top 100 semifinalists for the first Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA), the international writing competition in search of the next popular novel. These 100 semifinalists were ranked by Amazon Top Reviewers and Publishers Weekly and selected by Penguin Group in the previous stage of the competition which was originally launched in October of 2007. A list of all 100 submissions progressing in the semifinal round is posted at http://www.amazon.com/abna. The top 100 contestants represent all walks of life and parts of the world, from Ypsilanti, Michigan to Tokyo, Japan and numerous stops in-between. The public is embracing the contest and forming long- lasting relationships as they continue to flood the Amazon.com message boards with critiques, encouragement, and advice. One contestant even recommended forming an "ABNA Alumni" group to sustain the conversation about reading and writing, a suggestion that was met with enthusiasm. Other entrants are selecting dream casts for film versions of their novels, with Queen Latifah, Adrien Brody and Reese Witherspoon topping several wish lists.

And the competition is heating up as the field of contestants grows smaller. Contestants are getting creative to generate support for their novels on social networking sites. One contestant has set up a global group on Facebook entitled "Find the next great novel." Many are leveraging their MySpace connections to garner votes. And bloggers are mobilizing their readers in anticipation of the upcoming voting period. These aspiring writers are not averse to using the power of video to advance their causes.

Some have posted videos of themselves on YouTube (see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnKnK0OqvH8) to rally voters.

Grass-roots support is thriving offline as well, with the home team effect in evidence. The Indianapolis Star ran a piece about a local music teacher's semifinalist status; the Manila (Phillippines) Times proudly plugged the entry of a Filipino-American emigrant living in California; and a teacher blogged about his pride over a former student's ascension to the ranks of semifinalist, just to name a few.

"That writers and readers everywhere have responded so enthusiastically to this competition is an inspiration to us all," said Susan Petersen Kennedy, President, Penguin Group (USA). "Our editors are carefully going over these manuscripts and making the hard choices that will ultimately determine the Top Ten. This exciting process helps further our commitment to finding, publishing and bringing new literary voices to people around the world.

"As the competition continues, the public is encouraged to participate by reading, rating and commenting on the posted excerpts. In addition, during the last week in February, the public will have the unique opportunity to get an inside peek into the editorial selection process, when video clips of actual editorial staff discussions at Penguin Group (USA) will be posted online. On March 3, the resulting top 10 contestants will be announced, and from March 3 until March 31, the public can log on to officially vote for their favorite writer to win the grand prize.

NOTE TO THE PRESS:

The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition, sponsored by Amazon, Penguin Group (USA), Hewlett-Packard, and CreateSpace, launched on October 1, 2007 and received nearly 5,000 qualified submissions, with representation from approximately 2,000 cities around the world and in every state in the U.S. All submissions were first read by Amazon.com Top Reviewers-individuals recognized for the high quality and frequency of their comments on the site- who generated over 10,000 ratings in selecting 836 submissions to advance to the next round. In January and February, publishing trade magazine Publishers Weekly reviewed each of these submissions. Based on these reviews and the feedback from Amazon Top reviewers, editors from Penguin Group (USA) narrowed the field to the 100 semi-finalists now in the running for the top prize. Penguin Group (USA)'s editorial staff will read and evaluate each of the semi- finalist entries, and ultimately select 10 finalists, to be announced on March 3. Amazon customers will then vote to choose the grand prize winner to be announced April 7, 2008.

The grand prize winner will receive a publishing contract with Penguin,
which includes a $25,000 advance; and an entertainment technology package from Hewlett-Packard that will include an HP 50-inch Plasma TV, Digital Entertainment Center, HP Pavilion Notebook, HP LaserJet All-in-One and HP PhotoSmart Digital camera.

The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award is sponsored by Penguin Group (USA), Hewlett-Packard and CreateSpace.

For complete terms and conditions on the Amazon Breakthrough Novel
Award as well as to read, rate and review the top 100 semi-finalists,
please visit http://www.amazon.com/abna.

About Penguin Group (USA)

Penguin Group (USA) Inc. is the U.S. member of the internationally renowned Penguin Group. Penguin Group (USA) is one of the leading U.S. adult and children's trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including Viking, G. P. Putnam's Sons, The Penguin Press,
Riverhead Books, Dutton, Penguin Books, Berkley Books, Gotham Books, Portfolio, New American Library, Plume, Tarcher, Philomel, Grosset & Dunlap, Puffin, and Frederick Warne, among others. The Penguin Group (http://www.penguin.com) is part of Pearson plc, the international media company.

SOURCE Penguin Group (USA)

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-19-2008/0004758614&EDATE=

Top 100!

Wow.

I made it into the top 100 of this Amazon Breakout Novel contest. I'm a little surprised but very happy. My goal when entering this contest was hoping to get on the desk of a Penguin editor. And I've reached that goal. So, yay!

If you haven't checked out the excerpt and would like to, here's the link.

THE MISEDUCATION OF APRIL HILLSON

Here's the main link for the contest if you want to check out the competition. There are great prizes for writing lots of high quality reviews.

Is facebook turning me into a spammer?

Okay, so I admit I probably haven't spent enough time on Facebook to totally get what's going on... And maybe I'm at least twenty years beyond their target demographic, but certain things are making me crazy.

Like those "click here and see what happens" messages. Am I missing something or are those just nuisance posts, or worse, something where our facebook ID's are getting captured for nefarious purposes. They make you think someone you know has sent you something, but then...

Nothing happens right??? Except, if you're not careful, you end up sending the same damn thing to all your Facebook friends? A spammer.

Please someone tell me if I'm missing something here.

I love certain elements of Facebook. I've reconnected with some people from high school and it's been pretty cool that way. But I could do without all the crap.

Unimportant Meme

Okay, so I don't mean it's an unimportant meme... It's a meme about unimportant facts... Hmmm.. Kind of challenging. I mean, are trivial things unimportant or merely trivial... I can't think of a thing to put on this list. Not that I think anything about me is particularly "important"... I'm just flummoxed. (I love that word -- hey, can that count as one of my things?)

Thanks to Louisa Edwards for tagging me. :-)

So, here are the rules and my attempt at the meme.

Rules:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your blog entry.
5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.

SIX UNIMPORTANT THINGS ABOUT MYSELF:

1. My dad has 3 brothers. Each of the four brothers had 3 daughters. 12 McGowan girls. I know. Scary.

2. I'm a pack rat. I live in a 3 storey house. By myself. I need this much space for all my stuff. Important stuff. Really.

3. I just sold a car I owned for seventeen years. (Suffering from separation anxiety but I sold it to my brother, so I can still visit.)

4. I'm watching Britain's Next Top Model while coming up with this fascinating list.

5. I was born in Saskatchewan.

6. I'm missing a tear duct on my left eye, and the one I have is 80% blocked, so my eye tears all the time. (Messes up my makeup and makes people think I'm crying.)

Phew.

Now, who to tag, who to tag...

Christine D'Abo, Diana Peterfreund, Misty Simon, Kwana, Barrie Summy, and Bonnie Staring.

What not to write

Over on Drunk Writer Talk, we've often discussed how much we've all learned as writers from watching certain well written (in our opinions) TV shows.

In contrast, I've had a few "what not to write" moments watching movies...

I blogged about the horrible Penelope when I saw it at the 2006 Film festival. They really blew that movie in so many ways. So sad since it starred the adorable James McAvoy.

And tonight I saw 27 Dresses. Didn't hate it... but was far from loving it and haven't completely analyzed why yet.

But one thing... And my take-away lesson from the movies tonight. Do not write a scene where one character expresses their undying love -- basically the most pivotal and emotional (should be) scene of your story -- with one character on stage in front of a crowd and using a microphone. Not unless you've got a really compelling and unquestionable reason for said character to do it this way rather than in private.

Crazy storytelling choice. Crazy. I think the movie had already lost me--zero chemistry between the leads--but that stuck several nails in the coffin. Okay, maybe I did hate it.

Anyone else see this movie? Was I just in a bad mood?

SAG Awards

Okay, tells you how much I've been paying attention to something I claim to care about that I didn't even realize that the SAG awards were being broadcast tonight. Luckily I noticed in time to set my digital recorder.

And it makes sense that they'd be the one show on the air this year... I mean why wouldn't a striking union let another supportive union televise their award show? Especially when they've blocked the televising of all the other competing awards shows. It's called solidarity...

And are the SAG awards even normally televised? I'm not sure. I don't think I've ever watched them before. Hmmmmm... Maybe this will permanently increase the popularity and importance of the SAG awards. Really, when you think about all these award shows, the public really only cares about the actor categories... and maybe the best movie ones.... but the SAG awards have the best ensemble categories which in a way is kind of similar to best movie... Okay, I'm certainly not trying to diminish the roles of the writer and director and cinematographer, and make-up artist, etc... but really, we all like to see the actors on these award shows. And more to the point... This year, the SAG awards seem to be the only ones recognizing my fav movie of the year, Into the Wild... So obviously they're smart. :-) Emile Hirsch... you probably don't have a chance in hell of winning best actor, (I'm writing this near the start of the show), but I hope you win. (I've already seen Javier Bardem beat Hal Holbrook... and I guess I can't really argue... but Hal Holbrook was so damned good in Into the Wild.)

Back slightly on track...

Wouldn't it be interesting if a side-effect of this strange award season were to be the elevation of the SAG awards to surpass the Oscars in popularity with the public? Okay, might not happen... but an interesting idea. To me, anyway.

Okay, back really on track... What made me pause the broadcast to pick up my laptop was Tina Fey... Who thanked Alec Baldwin in her acceptance speech, saying that in their scenes together it was like Fred Astaire dancing with a coat rack, and her winning was people saying, "Hey, that coat rack's not bad, either."

So modest. And, you know... I guess I have to agree with her that she's not that amazing as an actor. Not an incredible range of emotion. But she knows this. She recognizes that her real talent isn't as an actor. Her real talent lies in writing and humor and storytelling... and Alec, should he have shown up to accept his own SAG award (which he won just after) should have acknowledged in his speech (and might have) that he couldn't be Fred Astaire without music and choreography, and that Tina Fey is largely responsible for those two things on 30 Rock.

Again. Tina Rocks. See Molly's post on DWT if you haven't already about her conviction that Tina really wants to be Molly's best friend.

Update at 2:00 am...

Okay, so it's not just me who's never paid much attention to the SAG awards before this year... Here's a quote from the NYT.

"...in a year when a writers’ strike has all but shut down much of Hollywood, the Screen Actors Guild Awards — as anonymous in most years as “Cop No. 3” in a summer blockbuster — took top billing Sunday and drew an inordinate amount of star wattage."

Too funny.

Oh, and Daniel Day Lewis dedicated his award to Heath Ledger, who he's never met... just been very moved (as have I) with the man's performances.

I miss Heath already

Okay, I meant to post something about Heath Ledger's death the day it happened, but I think part of me didn't really believe it yet.

It's sad when anyone dies, certainly devastating when someone we know and love dies, but with celebrities, some deaths hit me so much harder than others. And this was one.

I had the thrill of being in the same room as him a couple of times at the TIFF, first for The Four Feathers (which I wasn't crazy about)... and then for Brokeback Mountain (which I was crazy about) and most recently for Candy which was super dark and sad... but he was great in it. I blogged about that day, actually. I almost got roughed up by a security guard when I snapped his picture while he was introducing the film.

Yes, I was that close. No zoom. And as an aside... This year, 2007, they seemed to be fine with photos before and after the films again. Go figure. But they did have guards with night vision watching everyone during the films and the police actually came into one screening at the end... I think it was actually The Assassination of Jesse James... but I'm not 100% sure, anymore... to check out the camera of a guy who was sitting right behind me. I was hoping they were going to arrest him for talking to his girlfriend during the movie, but whatever.

Heath Ledger's death, however it happened, is so tragic. I think he was incredibly talented and I believe we would have been seeing interesting work from him for fifty years to come. Tragic.

Gotta love the entertainment press

Just had to pass this on... ET Canada covered Kiefer Sutherland's release from jail tonight. Okay, fine. I guess that's news. Canadian boy who's made good, does bad, goes to jail, gets released.

But turns out none of the photographers managed to get a snap of Mr. Sutherland coming out of the jail... so what do they use on all those annoying teaser bits leading up to the story? A shot of Kiefer as Jack Bauer coming off the Chinese plane, after however many years of torture it was, at the beginning of the last season of 24.

It was so sad and misleading I just couldn't stop laughing.

Piece of trivia for you non-Canadian readers. Kiefer's late grandfather, Tommy Douglas, was voted "Greatest Canadian" of all time on a TV show/internet voting thing a couple of years ago. He was the preacher turned politician who's largely responsible for Canada having a universal health care system.