2015 Best Films

1. Carol

2. Spotlight

3. Diary of a Teenage Girl

4. Mad Max

5. What We Do in the Shadows

6. World of Tomorrow

7. The Look of Silence

8. Brooklyn

9. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

10. The Hateful Eight

11. The Royal Road

12. The Duchess of Malfi

13. Room

14. Son of Saul

(yeah, nope.)

15. The Martian

16. Tangerine

17. Amy

18. Results

19. Kingsman

20. Crimson Peak

(OH GOD SO PRETTY.)

21. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Honorable mentions: Jimmy's Hall, Charlie's Country, The Dark Horse, Far from the Madding Crowd
   

(13/25 female led, unfortunately only one female-directed (need to see Mustang and Girlhood!))

New to Me and Excellent: Rififi, the Devil's Backbone

Saw Last Year: Kumiko the Treasure Hunter

My notable omissions for the year: Anomalisa, Phoenix, Mustang, Girlhood, Clouds of Sils Maria, the Duke of Burgundy, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Straight Outta Compton, Heaven Knows What, Boy and the World, When Marnie Was There, Black Coal Thin Ice, the Assassin, Tom at the Farm, Dope, White God, Beasts of No Nation, Eden, Maps to the Stars, Going Clear, Tanna, The Postman's White Nights, the Keeping Room, About Elly, Amour Fou, Ballet 422, Beloved Sisters, Black Mass, Respire, Buzzard, Kurt Cobain Montage of Heck, Dreamcatcher, Democrats, Far from Men, Faults, Fidelio Alice's Odyssey, Finders Keepers, Gabriel, Goodnight Mommy, H., In Jackson Heights, Janis Little Girl Blue, Jauja, Lamb (the Ethiopian one), Legend, Macbeth, the Man from Reno, Medeas, Meru, Mississippi Grind, Slow West, Spring, Stations of the Cross, Stray Dog, Suffragette, T-Rex, the Daughter, the End of the Tour, the Last Five Years, the New Girlfriend, the Overnight, the Stanford Prison Experiment, Beats of the Antonov, the Voices, the Wolfpack, this Changes Everything, Tokyo Tribe, Victoria, and Western.  A few other film fest films, too, but I think those may be coming out in 2016.

I need to watch more films.

2016 Oscar Predictions

Okay easy blog first: What should win/What will win (As always, happy if a should win makes an upset tomorrow.)

Best Motion Picture:
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant - Will Win
Room
Spotlight - Should Win

I mean. Carol should be nominated. But I do really love Spotlight - it's great, and I'm glad it won the indie.

Best Actor:
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant - Should Win/Will Win
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

Huh - I'm not thrilled with this category at all. So I'll go with Leo, although he was better in both Catch Me if You Can and Wolf of Wall Street.

Best Actress:
Brie Larson, Room - Will win
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn - Should win
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years

Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara should absolutely be in the opposite categories (as should Alicia Vikander). So I'm not voting for them (although Rooney Mara does absolutely amazing work.) So it comes down to Brie Larson and Saoirse Ronan for me. They're both excellent, and Saorsie *just* nudges it out for me, as she carries the whole film so well.

Best Supporting Actress:
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight - Should Win
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl - Will Win
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

CATEGORY FRAUD AHOY. I'd be okay if Alicia Vikander were up for Ex Machina. Sheesh. I've heard Kate Winslet is excellent in Jobs, but I'm going to go with Rachel McAdams, who was great in Spotlight (the whole cast was - I'm sorry it didn't get more recognition in acting in Oscars - I'm thrilled it got the Altman at the Indies.)

Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies - Should Win
Sylvester Stallone, Creed - Will Win

Christian Bale was also easily the best part of the Big Short. I thought Ruffalo was the weakest link in Spotlight - his big monologue was too showy.

Best Director:
Adam McKay, The Big Short
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road - Should Win
Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant - Will Win
Lenny Abrahamson, Room
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight

Best Original Screenplay:

Bridge of Spies

Ex Machina

Inside Out

Spotlight - Should Win/ Will Win

Straight Outta Compton

Best Adapted Screenplay:

The Big Short

Brooklyn

Carol - Should Win

The Martian

Room - Will Win

It may actually be The Big Short, but I hated the writing so much that I can't deal with that. So I'm going with Room as will win. 

Best Animated Film:
Anomalisa - Probably Should Win (I haven't seen it yet!)
Boy and the World
Inside Out - Will Win
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There

Best Documentary Feature:
Amy - Will Win
Cartel Land
What Happened, Miss Simone?
The Look of Silence - Should Win
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

Best Foreign Language Film:

Embrace of the Serpent

Mustang

Son of Saul - Should Win/Will Win

Theeb

A War

Although I do still really want to see Mustang. 

Best Costume Design:
Carol - Should Win
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road - Will Win
The Revenant

I think Sandy Powell will split her own votes, so yay Mad Max!

Best Sound Editing:
Mad Max: Fury Road - Should Win/ Will Win
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Sound Mixing:
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road - Should Win/ Will Win
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Cinematography:

Carol

The Hateful Eight

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant - Should Win/ Will Win

Sicario

I love the Cinematography in all of these. But the cinematography was easily the best part of the Revenant, and I so love Emmanuel Lubezki's work and pretty wilderness shots. I'm not sure I want him to win three in a row (Roger Deakins already!!), but there it is. That's what the Revenant has to recommend itself. Long pretty shots of birch trees. 

Best Film Editing:

The Big Short

Mad Max: Fury Road - Should Win/ Will Win

The Revenant

Spotlight

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Production Design:

Bridge of Spies

The Danish Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road - Should Win/ Will Win

The Martian

The Revenant

Best Original Score:

Bridge of Spies

Carol - Should Win

The Hateful Eight - Will Win

Sicario

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

That said, I do love the Hateful Eight score. I loved that movie - and I'm sorry it's not up for more. 

Best Original Song:

“Earned It,” 50 Shades Of Grey - Should Win

“Manta Ray,” Racing Extinction

“Simple Song #3,” Youth

“Til It Happens to You,” The Hunting Ground - Will Win

“Writing’s on the Wall,” Spectre

WHY WOULD YOU NOMINATE THE SPECTRE SONG?! (I also really like Manta Ray - and I'm absolutely appalled that the Oscars didn't invite Anohni to perform. I actually thought the Weeknd would have more of a shot here, but prevailing opinion is Lady Gaga has this in the bag.)

Best Visual Effects:

Ex Machina

Mad Max: Fury Road - Should Win

The Martian

The Revenant

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Will Win

Hmmm - I'm very torn on this. My gut reaction is Mad Max, but part of the appeal of the film was just how much of it was done with practical effects. The VES awards all went Star Wars - so I'm going to say that Star Wars takes this one. 

Best Makeup & Hairstyling:

Mad Max - Should Win/ Will Win

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared

The Revenant

Best Documentary Short:

Body Team 12 - Will Win & from what I hear Should Win

Chau Behind the Lines

Claude Lanzman

A Girl in the River

Last Day of Freedom

Best Live Action Short Film:

Ave Maria - Will Win

Day One

Everything Will Be Okay - Should Win

Shok

Stutterer

Hum. The only one I liked was Stutterer, and that was too precious. The prevailing crowd wisdom seems to be Ave Maria, which I thought was not particularly well done, although it was an interesting setting. I thought the German film was probably best, although the subject matter was so harrowing to watch. Then again, the Academy skews Jewish, so I think Ave Maria might edge it out. 

Best Animated Short Film:

Bear Story

Prologue

Sanjay’s Super Team

We Can’t Live Without Cosmos

World of Tomorrow - Should Win/ Will Win. 

I refuse to believe the Pixar one will pull it out over this. 

2015 Mixes!

I've been futzing with these for weeks. They aren't my best mixes (in terms of ordering), but it's January. They need to go up now, so that I can move on to new songs!

[2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014]

Disc 1
1. Garbage - Supervixen. It's been 20 years! 20 YEARS. And Garbage did an awesome tour this year where they played their debut in full, plus the B-sides. (And Paranoid for an encore). This is really the best opening song of all time, so it opens.
2. Muse - Psycho.
3. Rihanna - Bitch Better Have My Money (Diplo & Grandtheft Remix). So it turns out RiRi is a fannibal (very NSFW).
4. Santigold - Radio.
5. The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face. It took me a really long time to get on board with song - it was just so different from The Birds Part 1 and Wicked Games and the other songs I was used to. But then I learned to love it. Also, if anything from the 50 Shades soundtrack is up for an Oscar, it better be the Weeknd and not Ellie Goulding.
6. Royksopp ft. Robyn - Monument (The Inevitable End Version). Okay - I technically first listened to this song on 12/28/14, but therefore it wasn't on the mixes last year...
7. Alessia Cara - Wild Things.
8. Ms. Lauryn Hill - Feeling Good (Nina Simone cover). Lauryn did 6 of the songs on the album "Nina Revisited", which came out alongside the documentary "What Happened, Miss Simone?"
9. John Grant ft. Amanda Palmer - You and Him.
10. Meg Myers - Lemon Eyes.
11. Florence + the Machine - Delilah. I love this so much.
12. Okkervil River - Down Down the Deep River. My stylist introduced me to Okkervil River this year, as they are her favorite band (I had heard *of* them, but I hadn't listened to them.) This was the one that really caught on with me.
13. FKA Twigs - In Time. I love her whole M3LL155X EP. There's an astounding short film for 4/5ths of the album, too.
14. Future - Blow a Bag.
15. Erykah Badu - Phone Down.
16. Hozier - Take Me to Church. Years are long things.
17. Sharon Van Etten - Your Love is Killing Me.
18. Santino Fontana (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) - What'll It Be? (Have you guys seen Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? It's totally delightful, and I'm very glad Rachel Bloom is up for a Golden Globe and CCA. She gave a great interview with Vulture in which she discussed her admiration of Kander & Ebb. A woman after my own heart.)
19. Leslie Odom, Jr. (Hamilton) - Wait For It. Quite possibly the best musical song from the last 20 years. (Watch the other cast members listening to him record.) Also, I may be utterly obsessed with Hamilton.

Disc 2 - The Bonnie & Clyde Mix. A word of explanation - while I quite often make theme mixes throughout the year - this one ended up with so much new-to-me music, and I listened to it so often, I thought it deserved a spot. Basically, I really loved the song Criminals off the new MS MR album, and it reminded me that I had been meaning to do a Bonnie & Clyde themed mix for a while - and this is (some) of the result:
1. Kyla La Grange - Vampire Smile
2. MS MR - Criminals
3. Ludo - All the Stars in Texas
4. Gill Landry - Never Coming Here Again
5. Better than Ezra - A Southern Thing
6. Royal Blood - Blood Hands
7. Lana Del Rey - Queen of Disaster
8. Bitter:Sweet - Dirty Laundry
9. Laurel - Fire Breather
10. Martina Sorbara - Bonnie and Clyde II
11. Daughter - Run
12. Bree Sharp - The Ballad of Grim & Lily
13. Fleet Foxes - Your Protector
14. Plain White T's - Killer
15. Shovels & Rope - Boxcar
16. Kill It Kid - Run
17. Soap & Skin - Me and the Devil
18. Nina Simone - Sinnerman (Hey! Let's all watch the end of the Thomas Crown Affair)

Disc 3
1. Florence + the Machine - What Kind of Man.
2. Meg Myers - Go.
3. White Lung - Down It Goes.
4. Charli XCX - Allergic to Love (Snuffed by the Yakuza cover).
5. Slutever - White Flag.
6. Mitski - Townie.
7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Down Boy.
8. Sleep Machine - Wild for You.
9. Laura Marling - I Feel Your Love.
10. Adele - Hello.
11. MXMS - Rx.
12. Hayley Richmann - Heart Shaped Box (cover of Lana Del Rey's cover of Nirvana).
13. Alessia Cara - Here.
14. Bibi Bourelly - Ego.
15. Léon - Tired of Talking.
16. Wolf Alice - Freazy.
17. The Do - Trustful Hands.
18. Natalie Prass - Sound of Silence.
19. Alex Winston - Careless.
20. Regina Spektor - Us.
21. Idina Menzel - No Day but Today. She does a similar version in Barefoot at the Symphony, but I like this one better.
22. Florence + the Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful.

Disc 4
1. The Tallis Scholars - William Byrd Mass for 4 Voices - 1. Kyrie. Hey! A new (to me) classical piece short enough to fit on a mix.
2. SFIFF58 Trailer. I have no idea what this is. All my music spotting software has failed me. But unlike most film fest trailers, which I absolutely loathe by the third day, I just loved this one more and more.
[EDIT: this is the one and only time I'm going to say this - but thank god for YouTube's copyright feature. This is apparently Paul Martin Pritchard - Steps to Success (b). I haven't been able to find another video with this version of Steps to Success, though, so I'm glad I uploaded this.]
3. Broken Bells - After the Disco.
4. Ratatat - Cream on Chrome.
5. Grimes ft. Blood Diamonds - Go.
6. Tame Impala - Eventually.
7. Panda Bear - Boys Latin.
8. Royskopp - I Had this Thing.
9. Hollow Wood - Oh My God.
10. Deerhunter - Living My Life.
11. Chemical Brothers - Wide Open.
12. Panic at the Disco - Hallelujah.
13. Arctic Monkeys - Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?
14. Rival Sons - Open My Eyes.
15. Garbage - Love Like Suicide.
16. Lucinda Williams - Protection. (I know, I know. It's really rare for me to include country songs. But this was the song they used to open this season of Justified which was SO GOOD, and they totally stuck the landing so hard, which is clearly nearly impossible for lots of shows to do, and I may miss it very much.) (Also, Walton Goggins is fantastic in the Hateful Eight, and you should totally go see that in 70mm.)
17. Richard Thompson - All Buttoned Up.
18. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear.
19. Siouxsie Sioux and Brian Reitzell - Love Crime. SPEAKING OF sticking the landing (*ahem* sorry not sorry); the Hannibal season finale*. The score on Hannibal is/was always fantastic; a mix of classical and Brian Reitzell's original compositions. But for the ending, when (spoiler) Will and Hannibal team up to take down the Red Dragon (Richard Armitage - thankfully up for a CCA, along with Hugh Dancy), Siouxsie Sioux teamed up with Brian for her first new music in eight years.

[You guys, Hannibal is/was SO GOOD. Can I just quote Matt Zoller Seitz's review when he named Hannibal the best show for the second year in a row? "Other series were more comprehensible, and nearly all were less gore-soaked, but none was as consistently innovative and sublime as Bryan Fuller’s take on Thomas Harris’s fiction. This visionary drama evoked German Expressionist cinema, glossy-pretentious art-house pictures like The Hunger and Zentropa, super-sexy fanfiction, and even experimental film. Long stretches surrendered to pure sensation, cutting images together in a free-associative rather than literal way. The third season of this lamentably canceled series was really two seasons: the first following Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) to Florence (the basic plot of the book Hannibal) and the second revisiting the plot of Red Dragon/Manhunter (with Richard Armitage as the terrifying yet pitiable Francis Dolarhyde). The climactic showdown between Dolarhyde, Hannibal, and the doctor’s nemesis/pupil/platonic love interest Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) was the most orgiastic display of choreography, music, lighting, and gore since the glory years of Miami Vice; Fuller might as well have reached through the screen and handed viewers a cigarette and a towel."]

(*SEASON finale, do you hear me?! sob.)

GG nom thoughts

Well, the upside of a wide-open race is that each announcement is interesting, and that the love is getting spread around.

Golden Globe Thoughts:
Boo snubbing most of the Spotlight ensemble.
It is weird that the HFPA *didn't* go for Johnny Depp.
WHO NOMINATES THE SPECTRE THEME SONG?!?
No one can decide who is supporting and who is lead. Rooney Mara and Alicia Vikander have both been nominated in both categories for the same performance. (So was Mya Taylor, but she was sadly not nominated for the Globes, sadly.)
Yay Mad Max!

And on the tv side:
Holy Hell YES EVA GREEN!
Rachel Bloom! Yay!
woohoo Outlander!
Yay Mr. Robot and Rami Malek!
Huh - Flesh and Bone got a nod? Maybe I should get on watching that.
I'm still torn on watching Bloodline. I like Ben Mendelsohn, so I'm glad he's got a nom.
Boooo - no Jessica Jones noms.
BOOOO NO JUSTIFIED.

And as Vulture put it: "Sorry, networks: Starz shows have more nominations than ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and the CW. Starz." 

The Emmy Nominees - Everything else

Outstanding Variety Series
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight
Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

That's really all that needs to be said about that category.

Outstanding Limited Series
American Crime
American Horror Story: Freak Show
The Honorable Woman
Olive Kitteridge
Wolf Hall
Babylon?

Poldark was not eligible. That said, Freak Show? Really? REALLY? I'm glad it's up for title design, but that season was a MESS. What about Babylon? I've yet to see it, but a Danny Boyle show MUST be better. And I heard good things about the Wrong Mans... There aren't a lot of limited series, but you don't HAVE to nominate something when it goes wildly off the rails (see: The Good Wife).

Helen McCrory did it better.

Outstanding Television Movie
“Agatha Christie’s Poirot” Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case, Acorn
Bessie, HBO
Grace of Monaco, Lifetime
Hello Ladies: The Movie, HBO
Killing Jesus, National Geographic
Nightingale, HBO

Aw, yay, Poirot! I also appreciate that the BoJack Horseman Christmas episode was eligible. I'm not sure why Death Comes to Pemberly wasn't eligible - I really enjoyed that.

Outstanding Actress in a Mini-series or Movie
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Queen Latifah, Bessie
Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge
Emma Thompson, Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Live from Lincoln Center

WHAT? LIVE SWEENEY TODD IS ELIGIBLE? IS IT ONLINE? EXCUSE ME I NEED TO GO SEE IT.

Outstanding Actor in a Mini-series or Movie
Richard Jenkins, Olive Kitteridge
David Oyelowo, Nightingale
Adrien Brody, Houdini
Mark Rylance, Wolf Hall
Ricky Gervias, Derek

Ok?

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie
Richard Cabral, American Crime
Denise O’Hare, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Finn Wittrock, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Michael Kenneth Williams, Bessie
Bill Murray, Olive Kitteridge
Damian Lewis, Wolf Hall

Yay. I'm glad Finn got a nomination to committing so hard for some very bad writing. And... Denise?

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie
Regina King, American Crime
Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Angela Bassett, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Mo’Nique, Bessie
Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Zoe Kazan, Olive Kitteridge

Okay.

Outstanding Special Class Program
Beyonce and Jay Z On the Run
The 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards
The Oscars
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Live From Lincoln Center)
68th Annual Tony Awards

SWING YOUR RAZOR WIDE, SWEENEY!


And finally:

Pajiba has a great reaction post to the nominations. To which I would add:

Biggest waste of a potential story line: Finn - Good Wife

(Runner up: Sansa and Petyr Baelish on Game of Thrones. I was so excited to see these two all through the hiatus, and then he goes and marries her off? Boring. Stupid.)

Best way to hide a pregnancy: Shaw - Person of Interest

Best tracking shot: It's Always Sunny - Charlie Work
Runner Up: Daredevil - The Hallway Fight

Best sketch: Inside Amy Schumer - 12 Angry Men (runner up: Key & Peele - Aerobics Meltdown)

Best balloon: Daredevil

Best score: The Knick

Best intro music: True Blood - Eric meeting Ginger for the first time, #1 Crush - Garbage

Best Wedding: Outlander. Duh.

Most Underwhelming: Galavant. Doesn't it seem like a musical with a Mel Brooks sensibility should have been more memorable?

Most welcome return: SNL Celebrity Jeopardy - 40th Anniversary show. Not the best bit, but... Sean Connery! Burt Reynolds!

Best gag that I couldn't believe had never been done before: Doctor Who - the TARDIS getting smaller on the outside.

Best thing that should fit in a category somewhere - wait, what was nominated for best song: Too Many Cooks [Update: it's not up, but Darren Criss is for Glee. Aww.]

Not Eligible in 2015, but amazing: Hannibal's European Vacation.

THANK YOU BRYAN

Dumbest enjoyable plotline: Orphan Black - Alison & Donnie become drug dealers

Best Fight Music: Agent Carter - Peggy Lee 

Biggest bombshell: The Americans - "I need to know the truth. I don’t care what it is. But if you love me, if you really love me, then please tell me. What are you, in the witness protection program? Did you kill someone? Are you guys drug dealers like your friend Gregory? Are we adopted? Are we aliens? What?”

Best character ever: The Honorable Miss Phryne Fisher

Best Finale: Justified. Way to stick the landing, guys. 

The Emmy Nominees - Comedy

I care much less about the comedies, as I've seen fewer of them. If only I didn't need sleep...

Outstanding Comedy Series
Louis
Modern Family
Parks and Recreation
Silicon Valley
Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Veep
Jane the Virgin, Broad City, It's Always Sunny, Moone Boy

I'm very excited!

This is a pretty great category! (Terrible Modern Family inclusion aside.) Inside Amy Schumer and Key & Peele are down under Variety Sketch Show. I couldn't get into Last Man on Earth, but I know a lot of people were disappointed in its exclusion.

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
Drunk History, Comedy Central
Inside Amy Schumer, Comedy Central
Key & Peele, Comedy Central
Portlandia, IFC
Saturday Night Live, NBC

Yay Key & Peele, Inside Amy Schumer, and Portlandia!

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy
Anthony Anderson, Blackish
Louis CK, Louis
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
William H Macy, Shameless
Jeffrey Tambour, Transparent
Adam Scott, Parks & Rec
Joel McHale, Community
Jonathan Groff, Looking 

Om nom nom

Well, it's silly that Shameless is in comedy at all. I had to finally quit season 4 because it got too dark for me. I didn't like writing of Last Man, but I generally like Will Forte, so good for him. As the true dramedy entry (shouldn't that be a category now? It could be Shameless, Transparent, OITNB, Nurse Jackie...), I'm guessing Jeffrey Tambour has the lead here. And I like Matt LeBlanc, but... really? That said, I don't watch a ton of comedies, so I don't have a long list of snubs here. I would have liked to see Adam Scott recognized for Ben Wyatt at some point. He played a believable funny straight man, which is a hard line to toe. And while I eventually stopped watching Community, I with Joel McHale would have been recognized once for his work there. I've heard good things about Jay Baruchel in Man Seeking Woman and have been meaning to watch it.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Aya Cash, You're the Worst 

Yay Amy Poehler! Yay Amy Schumer! Yay Lisa Kudrow and Lily Tomlin. I've yet to see veep, but go JLD. That said, Gina Rodriguez. She won the Golden Globe, for chrissake. Also, Constance Wu has been getting acclaim for Fresh Off the Boat. And, as stupid as it is for Shameless to compete as a comedy, Emmy Rossum was consistently great on it (as far as I watched). Finally, I feel like I should give a shout out to Aya Cash, who was once my roommate at summer camp.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy
Niecy Nash, Getting On
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Allison Janney, Mom
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
Gaby Hoffmann, Transparent
Jane Krakowski, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Anna Chlumsky, Veep

Why does this category get 8??? That said, yay Anna Chlumsky! Yay Kate McKinnon! I'm not even mad at Mayim, because I like her. That said, if Keegan-Michael Key is up for supporting, it feels like Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer should be in here.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Adam Driver, Girls
Keegan-Michael Key, Key & Peele
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Tony Hale, Veep
Jordan Peele, Key & Peele
Nick Offerman, Parks & Rec

Key without Peele, really? Again with the Shameless: I've heard Cameron Monaghan and Noel Fisher did their best work this season, and Jeremy Allen White was always my favorite on the show. And I know a lot of people thought that other members of the Veep and Silicon Valley casts were snubs.

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Mel Brooks, The Comedians
Paul Giamatti, Inside Amy Schumer
Bill Hader, Saturday Night Live
Louis C.K., Saturday Night Live
Bradley Whitford, Transparent
Jon Hamm, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Josh Charles, Inside Amy Schumer
John Hawkes, Inside Amy Schumer 

I'm surprised the Comedians was canceled - I heard good things. I also heard mixed things about Jon Hamm on Kimmy Schmidt. Yay everyone else. But Josh Charles and John Hawkes were also brilliant on Inside Amy Schumer.

Fun with the ballot: I enjoyed Werner Herzog on Parks & Rec.

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Christine Baranski, The Big Bang Theory
Gaby Hoffmann, Girls
Pamela Adlon, Louie
Elizabeth Banks, Modern Family
Joan Cusack, Shameless
Tina Fey, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Kathryn Hahn, Parks & Rec

Sure? I will say I always liked Kathryn Hahn on Parks & Rec.

Outstanding Directing of a Comedy Series
The Last Man on Earth, “Alive in Tucson”
Louie, “Sleepover”
Silicon Valley, “Sand Hill Shuffle”
Transparent, “Best New Girl”
Veep, “Testimony”

It's Always Sunny, "Charlie Work"

IT IS CRIMINAL THAT CHARLIE WORK IS NOT NOMINATED.

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
Episodes, “Episode 409″
The Last Man on Earth, “Alive in Tucson”
Louie, “Bobby’s House”
Silicon Valley, “Two Days of the Condor”
Transparent, “Pilot”
Veep, “Election Night”
Broad City, Knockoffs

It is boring that the same 5 shows are up for directing and writing. As I mentioned, I'm not a fan of the writing for Last Man on Earth, but the pilot was the best of the episodes I saw, so good on Will Forte there. But... Parks and Rec? Jane the Virgin? Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which got so many other nods? Girls? Hell, I even heard New Girl rebounded this year.

The Emmy Nominees - Drama

Predictably terrible. Granted, Hannibal wasn't eligible this go-around, but JUSTIFIED AND THE AMERICANS SURE AS HELL WERE.

(Here were my wishes last year and the eventual reactionary post).

Okay. Let's do this.

Outstanding Drama Series
Better Call Saul
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
House of Cards
Mad Men
Orange is the New Black
The Americans
Justified 
The Knick
Daredevil
Outlander 

Me, too, Raylan. Me, too.

Clearly, The Good Wife and The Fall whiffed this season, nor was I entirely thrilled with Broadchurch S2. Sons of Anarchy was a snub for lots of folk, and the Leftovers and Rectify have small, but devoted followings. I've heard S2 of Halt and Catch Fire is a huge improvement from S1. I haven't finished Outlander quite yet, but the first half was fab (THERE'S A COSTUME DRAMA FOR YOU, OLDER EMMY VOTERS), and easily better than Downton. I mean, seriously: nominating Downton and Homeland at this point is ridiculous, I'm kinda almost okay with HoC and OITNB, but GoT is just fucking irresponsible. THERE IS SO MUCH GOOD TV OUT THERE AT THIS POINT, EMMYS. YOUR JOB IS TO WATCH IT.

(Fun with the ballot: True Blood was submitted for its final season! BWAHAHAHAHA.)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Kyle Chandler, Bloodline
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Timothy Olyphant, Justified
Matthew Rhys, The Americans 
Sam Heughan, Outlander
Charlie Cox, Daredevil
Grant Gustin, The Flash
Josh Hartnett, Penny Dreadful

I know several of those sound like fan service, but hear me out.

First off, no Timothy Olyphant? Unacceptable.

ME TOO.

I'm surprised that Josh Hartnett was submitted as a lead for Penny Dreadful, but he had a terrific arc this season. I've never been a fan of his, but he's really surprised me on this show. Plus, he is responsible for my single favorite, most believable moment on tv this year:

And, in that moment, we were all Ethan Chandler.

And granted, it shouldn't surprise me that the Emmys overlook genre work - it took Tatiana three years to be nominated - but it's such a shame to have so much good work overlooked. Speaking of which:

*sniffle*

Daredevil was surprisingly good, and with Charlie Cox's portrayal of Matt Murdock gave us some great scenes, like Matt being surprised by Fisk, his chats with his priest, or - what I think is the crowning bit of the series - Matt and Foggy's episode long-fight when Foggy discover's Matt's secret. It was so devastating and so well played by the two of them. Oh - and he played blind really well.

*open sobbing*

The Flash is, let's face it, a superhero show on the CW, and one that has astoundingly stupid villain names and a hyper-intelligent talking gorilla. Plus it took a few episodes to find its footing -- but damn if it didn't get great. Part of that was due to the season-long arc with Tom Cavanagh's excellent, complex villain. But at this point? I care waaaaay more about Barry Allen's emotional well-being than... most other superheroes. Certainly most of the Avengers. And Grant Gustin gets several great scenes to play: meetings with his father in prison, any father/son scenes with Jesse L. Martin - particularly the finale, watching his mother die AGAIN. Basically, what I'm saying is: the boy cries well.

(I haven't seen S2 of Peaky Blinders yet, so I can't be sure, but I'd be surprised if Cillian Murphy weren't excellent. And I've heard the same for Aden Young in Rectify. He'll never be up, but I love Michael Emerson on Person of Interest.)

OH. PETER CAPALDI. Why is he not eligible for Doctor Who? I LOVED his take on the character.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Claire Danes, Homeland
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Taraji P Henson, Empire
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Keri Russell, The Americans
Eva Green, Penny Dreadful
Hayley Atwell, Agent Carter 
Caitriona Balfe, Outlander 
Olivia Colman, Broadchurch 

Helena to all the other nominees

Huzzah for Tatiana! ABOUT DAMN TIME. (Even if I was less thrilled with S3 than previous ones).

And I would like to have seen these ladies included as well:

That is some serious intensity

At least someone does

Finally, The Fall fell off a cliff (heh) at the end of S2, but Gillian Anderson did some more great work up to that point. I haven't seen The Affair, but I love Ruth Wilson so much from Luther, that I'll add her in here.