Heath Ledger, 1979--2008

I can’t really wrap my brain around the idea that Heath Ledger is dead. I have such an indelible image of him in my mind, as Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain, the one left behind after a wrenchingly tragic death, the one left to blink disbelievingly that someone so young, so good-hearted, so beautiful, could be taken from this earth so suddenly and horribly. I remember vividly the first time (and also the second time) I watched this performance in a darkened movie theatre, as Ennis feebly cradled in his hands the few earthly remains of another man’s life, and nearly choked on the wealth of emotion left behind. I imagined this character left to choke on that love and sorrow for the rest of his life; it was the most a film has ever made me cry. Now Ledger is the one gone too soon, breaking the hearts in every life he has ever touched.

I don’t presume to know who Heath Ledger really was, just because I saw him in a movie. I only know how he shook me to the core with that film, and as an actor, I know a performance of that magnitude simply can’t come from a soul that doesn’t have the deepest empathy for the human condition. That was the beauty of Brokeback Mountain, and the beauty of any film that achieves the highest and noblest goal of storytelling: To make us feel profoundly for people we have never met, and to carry that understanding to the people we do meet.

The storytellers who aim for this highest and noblest goal – be they actors, writers, directors – have a tough job. They live with open hearts and exposed skins; they damage easily. Whatever the circumstances of Heath Ledger’s death, I wish him rest and peace.

Oscar Nominee Reactions

Best Actor

George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, No Country For Old Men
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

How I Did: 4/5 (Hirsch instead of Jones)

Wow! Tommy Lee Jones! That was a left-fielder. Maybe Hirsch and Gosling split the youth vote? So Jones did get at least one nomination for his two major performances this year. But I have to say, can we please have an Oscars without Paul Haggis?

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie, Away From Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney, The Savages
Ellen Page, Juno

How I Did: 4/5 (Jolie instead of Linney)

Wow, Jolie was shut out! I'm surprised Linney knocked her out instead of Cate Blanchett, who has shot up from 3-time to 5-time nominee. (See also Best Supporting Actress.)

Best Supporting Actor

Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James...
Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

How I Did: 5/5 Swish!

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Ruby Dee, American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

How I Did: 4/5 (Keener instead of Ronan.)

So the kid made it, huh? Now I have to learn how to pronounce her first name. Hooray for Ruby Dee! (Or as it's pronounced in my house, Roooooooooo-beeeeeeeeee.)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Atonement, Christopher Hampton
Away From Her, Sarah Polley
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Ronald Harwood
No Country For Old Men, Ethan and Joel Coen
There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson

How I Did: 4/5 (Into the Wild instead of Away From Her)

Yeeeaaah, Sarah Polley! Good for her! Here's where you start to see Into the Wild falling apart...

Best Original Screenplay

Juno, Diablo Cody
Lars and the Real Girl, Nancy Oliver
Michael Clayton, Tony Gilroy
Ratatouille, Brad Bird, Jim Capobianco, Jan Pinkava
The Savages, Tamara Jenkins

How I Did: 5/5 Swish!

Ms. Cody, Ms. Oliver, Ms. Jenkins, plus Ms. Polley in the Adapted category; the ladies are representin'!

Best Director

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Julian Schnabel
Juno, Jason Reitman
Michael Clayton, Tony Gilroy
No Country For Old Men, Ethan and Joel Coen
There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson

How I Did: 4/5 (Into the Wild instead of Juno)

Woo-hoo for Jason Reitman! He's gotta be something like the 3rd or 4th youngest Best Director nominee ever. (I'll look it up and get back to you!) And he actually nabbed a Best Director nod while his father Ivan never has. Every father dreams of the day his son will...out-Oscar him. (That's a saying, right?) Ouch for Sean Penn; Into the Wild drops even further...

Best Picture

Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood

How I Did: 4/5 (Into the Wild instead of Atonement)

...and the final thud for Into the Wild, which comes up with a mere 2 nominations, for Hal Holbrook and for Best Editing. Atonement made the cut after all. All hail Juno!

Other Categories

I haven't seen Persepolis yet, but in theory, I'm stoked that it was nominated for Animated Feature. But then they had to ruin it by nominating Surfs Up; What?!?! What the hell is that? Who likes that movie? Who over the age of 5 has seen it? The Simpsons Movie has been bitch-slapped, and I'm not happy.

Best Song, as always, is the kookiest category. I call for a thorough investigation of who these people are who vote on this award, and what they are smoking. For the second year in a row -- and the third time ever -- there are three song nominees from the same film. Really? They couldn't come up with anything else, they just voted for as many Enchanted songs as they could? On the bright side, this means if there is a telecast (please! please! please! I'm scared!), Amy Adams will be asked to perform these songs in some kind of medley, ala Dreamgirls last year. Amy Adams rules. I'm extremely annoyed the Musician's branch failed to nominate "Walk Hard" for Best Song. That would have meant nominations for its four songwriters: Judd Apatow, Jake Kasdan, and John C. Reilly, three of my favorite comedic talents, and Marshall Crenshaw, one of my husband's favorite twangy musicians. Plus that would have made for a Best Song performance on the show that is genuinely entertaining, which is apparently too much to ask for from this bizarre branch of the Academy. On the bright side, that lovely song from Once, by relatively obscure musicians Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, is nominated, and I would LOVE to see them perform on the show. It will be the most un-Beyonce, un-Celine Dion Best Song performance ever.

Finally, the Academy must be scolded for nominating Norbit for anything, even if it is just for Best Makeup. They should not encourage this sort of behavior, and you look like quite the dumb-ass of an institution when you nominate a film that topped the Razzie nominations the day before.

Julie's Predictions for the 80th Annual Academy Award Nominations

It happens every year: You hear about all the prestige pictures that will be released in December, and you’re sure they’ll gobble up all the Oscar nominations. Atonement, a swanky literary adaptation from the creators of Pride and Prejudice; Oooooh! Charlie Wilson’s War, a political satire from Oscar magnet Mike Nichols and Emmy magnet Aaron Sorkin; Aaaaah! Sweeney Todd, the marriage of the Burton/Depp powerhouse and the music of Sondheim; Oooohaaaaah! And yet all three of these films were completely shut out by the Guild nominations, the surest indicator that Academy members (a subset of the guilds) will turn up their noses at these offerings come Oscar time.

So who does the industry like instead? Let’s take a peek…

Best Actor

Remember 5 years ago, when Daniel Day-Lewis emerged from obscurity with a volcanic, dead serious, batshit insane performance in Gangs of New York? He’s done it again in There Will Be Blood, this time as a greedy oil prospector, and critics and peers are kneeling at his feet. He’s a guaranteed nominee, and at this stage the man to beat for the actual award. In second place is another former winner, George Clooney, as the harried lawyer Michael Clayton. Clooney has scooped up the few precursor awards that haven’t gone to Day-Lewis, so he’s the closest thing to a challenger. The last guy on solid footing is Viggo Mortensen, the chameleon star of three consecutive Best Picture nominees (the Lord of the Rings trilogy) and screenplay nominee A History of Violence. Mortensen was mysteriously ignored in the Best Actor race for the latter; this year, re-teaming with director David Cronenberg, he wowed film-goers again as a mysterious member of the Russian mob, and with substantial clout in the race this time, he should get his first nomination. Then the field opens up. There’s Academy favorite Denzel Washington as another mobster, but a weak critical consensus for AG, controversy surrounding the screen treatment of his real-life character, and the simultaneous release of the poorly-reviewed The Great Debaters (which he directs and stars in) has sidelined his chances. Similarly, since Charlie Wilson’s War disappointed, perennial favorite Tom Hanks is unlikely. Frank Langella got excellent notices for Starting Out… but the tiny film hasn’t been seen by enough people. James McAvoy, who many contend was the true main character of last year’s Best Actor winner Last King of Scotland, is disadvantaged by the lukewarm reception to Atonement, and besides, nominations for swoony romances usually go to the ladies, not the men. Philip Seymour Hoffman would be unlikely considering how The Savages has barely made a peep in the acting races. No Country For Old Men has been the critics’ darling this year, but that hasn’t translated into support for Josh Brolin. The last two spots, then, will go to some combination of Johnny Depp, Ryan Gosling, and Emile Hirsch. The SAG passed him up, but I still think Johnny Depp will squeak in; his peers adore him, and they can’t resist when actors show off their singing chops. Now who to pick, Hirsch or Gosling? The 22-year-old Hirsch is in a similar position to Gosling’s in last year’s race, as the hot newcomer among veterans. He also has the advantage with a dramatic role in a Best Picture hopeful; Gosling’s turn as a guy in love with a blow-up doll may be too fanciful for the voting block. So I’ll call it for Emile Hirsch.

Best Actress

Oh, man – if both Best Actor and Best Actress are repeat winners this year, I’ll be so disappointed. Winning damn near everything in sight is 1965 winner Julie Christie as a devoted wife slipping into Alzheimer’s. It was a performance of vivid frailty and strength, and a rare opportunity for an actress over 50 to appear onscreen with such [tasteful] sensuality. She’s golden. The one major award she lost went to Marion Cotillard, the 32-year-old French actress who portrayed Edith Piaf from her teen years to her 40’s (when she looked like she was in her 80’s.) It was a performance of great technical difficulty, capturing the singer’s gradual physical decay, and one of great emotional difficulty, throwing herself into Piaf’s deepest heartbreaks. Also golden. And for delightful contrast, the final mortal-lock for a Best Actress nod is 20-year-old Ellen Page who earned belly laughs and deep affection from peers, critics, and audiences as the wise-ass title character in Juno. Yes, performers that young are a tough sell, as are straight-up comedic performances, but her muscle with the major precursor awards has proven she’s more than the exception to the rule. I didn’t think I’d see Angelina Jolie’s name in an Oscar race again, considering her post-win filmography (and tabloid following), but she made a serious-actress comeback this year with genuine acclaim as Mariane Pearl in A Mighty Heart. The only suspense in this category will be who will get the fifth nomination. Keira Knightley could be invited back, but disappointment for Atonement weakens her chances. Amy Adams was a major surprise this year, with solid critical praise for a movie seemingly too fluffy to be nominated outside the Best Song category. Comparisons to Julie Andrews’s Oscar-winning work as Mary Poppins make her a bona-fide possibility, albeit a long-shot. Laura Linney and Nicole Kidman were early predictions in this category, but The Savages has missed out on many acting awards and Margot at the Wedding has been almost completely ignored. Besides Page and Jolie, there are two more pregnant characters in the mix: Keri Russell of Waitress and Katherine Heigl of Knocked Up, but they too have been largely ignored in the year-end accolades. So by default, my guess is Cate Blanchett will be left standing. Two of the Academy’s recent infatuations include British queens (Mirren, Dench) and actors competing in both the lead and supporting categories in the same year (Jamie Foxx, Julianne Moore.) Blanchett is a stone-cold guarantee for a supporting actress nod in I’m Not There, and you couldn’t show off better range in a single year than by playing Queen Elizabeth I and Bob Dylan. Plus there’s the novelty of nominating her for reprising her nominated role in the first Elizabeth film; the short list of actors who’ve been nominated for both original and sequel includes Bing Crosby as Father O’Malley, Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, and Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson.

Best Supporting Actor

Javier Bardem leaves a bloody path behind him in No Country For Old Men, and off-screen he’s slaying the competition with equal aplomb. His portrayal of an impenetrable serial killer has everyone (except me) pissing their pants with fear and falling over themselves with praise. He just may win the final contest. The precious few prizes that haven’t gone to Bardem went to Casey Affleck, playing the second title character in The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford. (And that’s the last time I’m going to type out the entirety of that long-ass title!) His performance in the psychological Western noir has earned him the first serious-actor reviews of his career, so a coronation is in order. Next up is revered Brit Tom Wilkinson for his nervous breakdown in Michael Clayton, which brought in his best notices since his nominated work in In the Bedroom. Finally, Hal Holbrook is a solid bet for his bittersweet third-act appearance in Into the Wild. The actor best known for his many stage and screen performances as Mark Twain (and as Deep Throat in All the President’s Men), will become a first-time nominee at 82 years old. That leaves one spot up for grabs. It won’t be Globe nominee John Travolta; too many were turned off by his casting in Hairspray. It’s probably not going to be Paul Dano; early buzz for his young preacher in There Will Be Blood has quieted down. It might be Tommy Lee Jones as one of the Old Men in No Country For…, which could also serve as recognition for his well-respected turn in the critical flop In the Valley of Elah. But my money is on Philip Seymour Hoffman, the sweaty tornado of Charlie Wilson’s War. The film’s promise may have tanked, but enthusiasm for his performance is still afloat. A nomination could also be a tip of the hat to his eclipsed candidacies for The Savages and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.

Best Supporting Actress

All hail A-list newcomer Amy Ryan, who is sweeping up all the major and minor awards. A bit player in former nominees Capote and You Can Count on Me, she made a splash this year with supporting roles in Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead and Dan in Real Life, but all the golden attention is focused squarely on her turn as a mother of a missing child in Gone Baby Gone. Ryan missed out on only two major awards, which both went to the incomparable shape-shifter Cate Blanchett as a thinly fictionalized Bob Dylan. Though many actors have been nominated for playing transsexuals, transvestites, and others of non-finite gender, it is quite the rarity for an actress to play an exclusively male character; only Linda Hunt in The Year of Living Dangerously comes to mind, and she won the supporting Oscar. The last sure thing is Tilda Swinton, an art-house favorite who had commercial success with The Chronicles of Narnia; as a different sort of ice queen, she’s sure to land the honor for Michael Clayton that she narrowly missed for The Deep End in 2001. Who will round out the list? I don’t have high hopes for Vanessa Redgrave or Saoirse Ronan, who play the same character at different ages in Atonement. Ronan is only 13 years old; a weak pre-Oscar showing could indicate a current fatigue for nominating child actors. By contrast, Vanessa Redgrave, grand dame of stage and screen, hardly needs another nomination for a mere 5 minutes of screen time. Voters may also find it unnecessary to spend a supporting nomination on box office queen and Best Actress winner Julia Roberts. (Disappointment for Charlie Wilson is another major demerit.) It’s criminal that the Academy has yet to nominate Jennifer Jason Leigh, and though she has the best shot of anyone in Margot, she’s just too far from the finish line. So, when you can’t make a strong case for anyone else, go with all the guild nominees. Hence another one for indie queen Catherine Keener, and a first nomination for 83-year-old Ruby Dee. She’s a living legend, she’s the same age as my Grandma, she has the same name as my cat; now all I have to do is actually see her performance to justify my enthusiasm.

Best Adapted Screenplay

This will be the third writing nomination for the Coen brothers; they won for their original story for Fargo, they were nominated for the just-barely-an-adaption O Brother Where Art Thou, and this year they’ve racked up unprecedented accolades for adapting Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men. As with the Best Director and Picture races, No Country is the front-runner with There Will Be Blood hot on its heels; a nod is certain for this Upton Sinclair adaptation, by two-time nominee Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia). About even for third and fourth place are two biographical films that have emerged as surprise favorites in the race: the French film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and the American Into the Wild. The last slot could go to WGA pick Zodiac, though it might be seen as too “popcorn.” Starting Out in the Evening hasn’t been able to generate support outside of the independent circuit. Actress Sarah Polley could be included as a vote of confidence for her debut film as a director and writer, Away From Her, based on an Alice Munro short story. Charlie Wilson’s War is a genuine possibility considering how many writing awards Aaron Sorkin has won for The West Wing. My money is on Atonement: The film may go belly-up in all the other top categories, but this is Best Adapted Screenplay; the category needs a handsomely polished Brit flick like a zombie needs brains.

Best Original Screenplay

Like the Best Actress field, the Original Screenplay contest looks like a maternity ward. The unlikely front-runner is first-time scribe (and one-time stripper) Diablo Cody for her hysterical and heartfelt Juno. It was the best-reviewed of this year’s three unplanned pregnancy films; Knocked Up may be too vulgar for the crusty Academy, and Waitress may be too slight (and released too long ago.) Cody’s primary challenger is – hey, another lady writer! Tamara Jenkins’s The Savages is her first film since her brilliant Slums of Beverly Hills (1998), and though her triumphant return to film hasn’t nabbed the acting honors it was expected, her script has proven a mighty force in this contest. Next up is – hey, another lady writer! Nancy Oliver’s Lars and the Real Girl may not be anywhere near the Best Picture race, but since there are 10 writing nominees every year versus 5 Best Pics, the Academy has more room to honor the “less serious” (more interesting?) films. Cody, Jenkins, and Oliver will make history for the most women nominated in a writing category in a single year, and a surprise inclusion of the late Adrienne Shelley could bring it up to four. The only dude sure to be included is Tony Gilroy, for the solid Best Picture candidate Michael Clayton. Then the fifth nod is up for grabs. Judd Apatow was the King of Comedy in 2007: He wrote and directed Knocked Up, produced Superbad, and co-wrote Walk Hard; watch those three back to back and you might go into a Funny Coma. (Zing!) But the Academy needs a spoonful of drama to make the comedy go down; straight-up yuk-fests are a tougher sell. There was some early support for Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead by Kelly Masterson (Kelly is a guy), but that film has simply been lost in the shuffle. So I turn to the Academy’s recent taste for nominating sure-fire winners for Animated Feature in the writing categories: Shrek, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles all won Animated Feature with a writing nod under their belts, and so will Ratatouille by Incredibles writer-director Brad Bird.

Best Director

This is the part where I remind everyone that several women did indeed direct films this year (an incomplete list, with their previous writing/directing credits):

Across the Universe – Julie Taymor (Frida, Titus)
August Rush – Kirsten Sheridan (In America)
Away From Her – Sarah Polley
Catch and Release – Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich)
The Namesake – Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding)
The Nanny Diaries – Shari Springer Berman (American Splendor)
Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi
The Savages – Tamara Jenkins (Slums of Beverly Hills)
Stephanie Daley – Hilary Brougher
Talk to Me – Kasi Lemmons (Eve’s Bayou, The Caveman’s Valentine)
Things We Lost in the Fire – Susanne Bier (After the Wedding)
2 Days in Paris – Julie Delpy (Before Sunset)
Waitress – Adrienne Shelley

The only ones who have even a whisper of a chance are Sarah Polley and Tamara Jenkins. Moving on. The Coen brothers have always collaborated on writing, directing, and producing all their films, but until recently, Joel was the only credited director and Ethan was the only credited producer. (They’ve always shared credits for their scripts.) So while Joel was previously nominated in this category for Fargo, Ethan will receive his first directing nod for the brothers’ biggest critical success to date, No Country For Old Men. It will mark only the third time in Oscar history that a directing team has been nominated, after Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise for West Side Story, and Warren Beatty and Buck Henry for Heaven Can Wait. The Coens have split the pre-Oscar pot with Paul Thomas Anderson of There Will Be Blood; this will be his first nomination as a director. I’m going back and forth on whether the French-language The Diving Bell and the Butterfly will get a Best Picture spot, but it’s a sure thing for director Julian Schnabel (the American-born filmmaker of the Spanish-language Before Night Falls and Basquiat), because the Best Director category is always more internationally adventurous than Best Picture. Conversely, even though I’m confident Juno will be short-listed for Best Picture, I don’t see director Jason Reitman making the cut. It’s his second film, he’s only 30 years old…he needs to pay his dues first. That leaves room for both of the remaining Best Picture front-runners, Michael Clayton and Into the Wild. Their respective directors, Tony Gilroy and Sean Penn, were both endorsed by the DGA, which is always a good sign. Even though Gilroy is fairly unknown, I think the steady momentum for MC will carry over for him. Best Actor winner Sean Penn has directed two previous films that were modest critical successes, The Crossing Guard and The Pledge, so I think he’ll make it with his best-received film so far. Tim Burton was an early favorite but again, there was lukewarm response to Sweeney Todd. The Directors’ branch won’t pick Joe Wright even if Atonement manages a Best Picture nod. Fun fact: If Sidney Lumet makes the cut for Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (possible but unlikely), it would be precisely 50 years after his first nomination, for 12 Angry Men.

Best Picture

It goes down like this: absolutely No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Pretty darn sure for Michael Clayton. Juno’s lookin’ good. Finally, I’m torn between Diving Bell or Into the Wild. The Best Picture and Director nominees nearly always have one or two mismatches, and foreign films are often recognized for directing but not for Best Picture (City of God, Talk to Her) unless they were a big cross-over hit (Crouching Tiger…, Life is Beautiful.) So for the sake of finalizing my pics, I’ll give the slight homegrown advantage to Into the Wild.

The Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday, January 22 at 5:30 a.m. (Pacific time.) That’s 7:30 Chicago time; How will I watch the live announcement before work???

The Completely Un-Golden Globes

I wholeheartedly support the Writers Guild of America in their strike for just compensation for distribution of intellectual property. That said, I was kind of looking forward to an awards show without scripted teleprompter drivel.

I was wrong.

The Golden Globes “ceremony” this year – without its shiny movie stars and, yes, teleprompter drivel – was the worst awards “show” I’ve ever watched. Because the alternative to onstage banter penned by union writers is ad-libbing by Billy Bush and Nancy O’Dell, two of the most vacuous presences on television. Bush and O’Dell didn’t just read the list of nominees and winners. No such mercy. They were allowed to offer lame factoids before each category. (“Angelina Jolie has been nominated for every Golden Globe she’s been nominated for!” I guess that means she can’t possibly lose!) They were allowed to offer flaccid praise of the nominees at any time they saw fit. (“Wow. She’s so great.” “Yeah, she really is.”) They were allowed to editorialize about the winners. (“Darn, I really wanted Debra Messing to win.”) Imagine that at the Oscars; imagine Rachel Weisz last year saying, “Holy crap, it’s Alan Arkin! I totally bet the farm on Eddie Murphy!” Billy Bush even referred to the Coen brothers as “boutique” filmmakers; anyone of his lowest-common denominator status isn’t allowed to call anyone “boutique”, and any member of the Bush family is in no position to take pot-shots at any other family.

So from a queasy broadcast came the list of winners. Here is that uncluttered list:

Best Picture (Drama): Atonement
Best Picture (Musical/Comedy: Sweeney Todd
Best Director: Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Best Screenplay: Ethan and Joel Coen, No Country For Old Men

Best Actor (Drama): Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Best Actor (Musical/Comedy): Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Best Actress (Drama): Julie Christie, Away From Her
Best Actress (Musical/Comedy): Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There

Like last year, the Best Picture (Drama) winner scored in no other categories. It’s that laughable phenomenon of the film that you feel like you’re “sposeda” vote for but can’t muster enthusiasm for in any particular aspect.

Johnny Depp won his first Globe on his seventh nomination, and his fourth consecutive nod. He was the only American to win in the six acting categories: the other five awards went to a Frenchwoman, a Spaniard, an Aussie, and of course, two Brits. (It’s just not an awards show without Brits.)

This year’s choices yet again begged for an amendment to the “Musical or Comedy” category, in which Marion Cotillard’s stunning dramatic performance (that happened to include some lip-synching) beat out Ellen Page’s brilliant comedic performance. Cotillard’s Edith Piaf joins such other rib-tickling performances to win this award as Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line, Jamie Foxx in Ray, Madonna in Evita, and Angela Bassett in What’s Love Got to Do With It?.

Strangest of all was the absence of random categories in the telecast. They presented Best Actress in a TV Movie but not Best Actor. (Come on, the kids love their Jim Broadbent!) They couldn’t argue that they were pressed for time, considering how much time they wasted checking in with Shaun Robinson, for an alternate but equally vacant perspective. They also skipped over Foreign-Language film, Score and Song, and Best TV Movie. But perhaps the omissions weren’t all random: They didn’t announce the nominees or winners for their only writing category, Best Screenplay for a motion picture. Draw what conclusions you will.