Awards Watch: The 2012 Dorian Awards

Earlier this week, the Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA), of which I and my fellow Men on Film Chris Carpenter and Neil Cohen were members this past year, announced the winners of the 4th Annual Dorian Awards. These awards are designed to honor not just GLBT-themed films and television programs, but all films and television programs... albeit as seen through a "queer eye".

Topping the list for as the Film of the Year is Ben Affleck's Argo, fresh off its wins at the Golden Globes and the Critics' Choice Awards. The Film Performance of the Year Awards (now split by gender) went to Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln and our Dearie Award-winning Woman of the Year Anne Hathaway in Les Misérables. All three of these winners are poised for possible victory at next month's Academy Awards.

The searing gay drama Keep the Lights On, which was also nominated for Film of the Year, took the prize for LGBT-Themed Film of the Year, while the Oscar nominated How to Survive a Plague won Documentary of the Year. In the new category Visually Striking Film of the Year, Ang Lee's Life of Pi was deemed the most, well, visually striking.

A triple feature of Matthew McConaughey movies round out the film awards, with Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike and Lee Daniels' The Paperboy tied for Campy Film of the Year and Bernie named Unsung Film of the Year.

On the TV side, Homeland and American Horror Story: Asylum not only tied for TV Drama of the Year, the shows' respective stars, Damien Lewis and Jessica Lange won in the TV Performance of the Year categories.  TV Comedy or Musical of the Year went to Girls, while LGBT-Themed TV Show of the Year was shared by Modern Family and the Dearie Award-winning The New Normal. The Campy and Unsung TV Shows were the tragic biopic Liz & Dick and the sitcom Happy Endings.

Capping off the Dorians are a few prizes for individuals, including the "We’re Wilde About You" Rising Star of the Year Award, which went to The Perks of Being a Wallflower's Ezra Miller. "Wilde Wit" and "Wilde Artist" titles were bestowed on The Daily Show's Jon Stewart and Glee/American Horror Story/The New Normal creator Ryan Murphy.  And last, but certainly not least, the "Timeless" Award (the Dorian version of a lifetime achievement honor) went to the one and only Sir Ian McKellen, seen this year in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Congratulations to all of this year's Dorian Award winners! The awards will be presented on February 17 in Los Angeles at the Fourth Annual GALECA Dorian Awards Winners Afternoon Tea. See the comments section below for the full list of this year's nominees, and be sure to follow GALECA on Facebook and Twitter.

BUTTER

BUTTER
Written by James A. Micallef
Directed by Jim Field Smith
Starring Jennifer Garner, Ty Burrell, Oliva Wilde and Hugh Jackman

Ask anyone who enjoys a good dessert and they will tell you that butter makes everything better (and fatter, but that doesn’t work with my metaphor). Unfortunately, this same logic does not apply to the movies. BUTTER, directed by Jim Field Smith, whose only previous feature credit is SHE’S OUT OF MY LEAGUE, takes an incredible ensemble, including Jennifer Garner, Hugh Jackman and MODERN FAMILY’s Ty Burrell, throws them into a bowl, mixing political satire and family drama into the fold. This should be an easy recipe for success but Smith has no idea how to measure out portions. The politics are blatantly obvious; the performances are cartoonish at best, especially Garner, who is an exaggerated version of her usually endearing control freak self; and the whole thing feels sorely undercooked. BUTTER, while clearly well-intentioned, simply melts away before your eyes into one big pile of gooey (and fatty) mess.

Black Sheep does TV: MODERN FAMILY Season 3

These days, there are so many options on television for people to choose from, it can be pretty difficult to get people to agree on just one show. There is one show that everyone I know never fails to miss though. It doesn't matter who I speak to - my boss, my mother, heck even my cat loves MODERN FAMILY. And while the fourth season may have just started up again recently on ABC, the third season is now available to purchase from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Did I mention that this season also just took home four Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series itself, an honour MODERN FAMILY has now won each of the three years it has been on the air? Oh, I didn't. Well, it did.

MODERN FAMILY also picked up supporting actor Emmy wins for Julie Bowen and Eric Stonestreet, who play Claire Dunphy and Cameron Tucker, respectively. Both are now two-time winners for playing these parts and both of the episodes they won for are stellar examples of how the show continues to find new ways to showcase its incredibly talented ensemble. In "Go Bullfrogs!", while Phil (Ty Burrell, himself a past winner) shows Haley (Sarah Hyland) around his old campus stomping grounds, Claire takes advantage of an empty house to have a night all to herself, which involves a fair amount of alcohol and hilarity. And in "Treehouse", Cameron makes a bet with his partner, Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), that he cannot pass for straight and pick up the hot girl at the bar. Best part about this bet, the hot girl is Leslie Mann. The season finale, "Baby on Board", in which Cameron, Mitchell and Gloria (Sofia Vergara) head to a border town hospital to get a new baby brother for Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons), clearly demonstrates why it won the show it's directing honours (for show co-creator, Steven Levitan), as the whole thing unravels into a Spanish telenovela.

After devouring the first two seasons of MODERN FAMILY, I wondered to myself how this show could remain so fresh despite not really progressing much at all. Not much has really changed for the extended Pritchett/Dunphy family over the years but somehow the show is never dull. After seeing the third season, I think I've finally figured it out. The secret to the show's success can simply be attributed to how this mix of people actually seem like a real, genuine family, one that is growing closer every year and that is supportive to a fault. As the real modern family continues to grow further and further apart, it's very nice to be let into a few homes each week where the original pillars of society are not only still in tact but standing tall and proud. And now you can have that in your home.

Review copy provided by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

MODERN FAMILY: Season 2

At the end of the first season of the breakout hit, MODERN FAMILY, the Dunphy family finally fixed that stair they were always tripping over every time they ran up and down between floors. It had been a running gag throughout the whole season and it isn't long into the second season, now available on DVD and blu-ray, that the stair comes loose again, allowing for the same running gag to run right through the second season. Yet, instead of coming across as a lack of creativity, it only continues to be absolutely hilarious.

The broken stair example is fairly apt when it comes to describing the rest of the season as well. First of all, it wasn't really broke so there was no need to fix it to begin with. And so, MODERN FAMILY follows much of the same trajectory it did last year. The series avoids anything remotely serialized and allows the same family interactions we're already accustomed to, to continue happening naturally. Claire (Julie Bowen) is still a control freak, which drives her kids nuts. Phil still mucks everything up while Jay (Ed O'Neill) still mocks him constantly. Mitchell and Cameron (Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet) continue to fuss over their daughter, Lily, and each other. And of course, Gloria (Sofia Vergara) is still shouting and misusing the English language every chance she gets. Safe for some last minute adjustments come the end of the season, nothing really changes for this family and yet somehow, the family has gotten stronger and continues to prove why they are one of the most celebrated casts in television history. MODERN FAMILY: Season 2 is is just stellar.

Review copy provided by 20th Century Fox.

Emmy Predictions - Comedy Series

I'm saving the best for last.  I actually watch most of these shows on a regular basis, and the others I've seen a few episodes here and there.  That, combined with "what's out there," is what I'm using to predict these races.  Also, I won't be predicting any of the directing, writing, or movie/miniseries categories.  See my Drama predictions here.

The real nominations come out on July 14th.  So, here we go!  All my predictions can be seen over on GoldDerby.com, where you can conveniently make your own.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - COMEDY SERIES

• 1

  Chris Colfer  -Glee

• 2

  Ty Burrell  -Modern Family

• 3

  Jesse Tyler Ferguson  -Modern Family

• 4

  Eric Stonestreet  -Modern Family

• 5

  Neil Patrick Harris  -How I Met Your Mother

• 6

  Nick Offerman  -Parks and Recreation

(Confession: this is my favorite category, if only for my Modern Family men, and that it's so fun and hard to predict.  So many theories abound!  Are they tired of NPH yet?  Will 2, 3, 1, or all 4 Modern Family men make it in?  What about Cryer; are they jumping ship entirely on Two and a Half Men?  Any chance for a much-loved newbie to make a splash?  Well I think we can all agree that Glee's stalwart standout Colfer is going to be nominated, and probably win this race.  As far as the Modern Family men go, I'm very confident in saying Burrell and Ferguson are safe; both have the industry support and the episodes, and specifically are standout comedy performances on their shows.  I'm wary of predicting Stonestreet again, since I'm conflicted over O'Neill presence in this race.  However, I'm sure Harris will be back for another fruitless nomination for How I Met Your Mother.  And with new blood and new love for I'm predicting for Parks and Recreation, I think Offerman is going to squeak in.  And between Stonestreet's obvious comedy and O'Neill's dry, I think they'll be forced to snub the veteran and nominate Fitzbo.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - COMEDY SERIES

• 1

  Jane Lynch  -Glee

• 2

  Sofia Vergara  -Modern Family

• 3

  Julie Bowen  -Modern Family

• 4

  Jane Krakowski  -30 Rock

• 5

  Betty White  -Hot in Cleveland

• 6

  Kristen Wiig  -Saturday Night Live

(Knowing that Betty White is all but a lock for a nomination is almost enough for me to stop caring about this race.  But she's assured a nod, if not a win.  Emmy host and last year's victor, Lynch, is very likely to return not only to the show but to the winner's circle.  Two people who threaten Lynch's crown is the duo of Modern Family ladies, Vergara and Bowen, either of whom could win too.  Krakowski has manages to make it in this race recently, and I don't see cause for not predicting her.  Finally, though something is telling me to go with Amy Ryan in The Office, I'm predicting for a Bridesmaids bump and the third consecutive nomination for SNL's Wiig.)

BEST ACTOR - COMEDY SERIES

• 1

  Steve Carell  -The Office

• 2

  Alec Baldwin  -30 Rock

• 3

  Jim Parsons  -The Big Bang Theory

• 4

  Joel McHale  -Community

• 5

  Rob Lowe  -Parks and Recreation

• 6

  Danny McBride  -Eastbound & Down

(This race is uncharacteristically wide open, in terms of the nominations that is.  I think everyone knows who the winner is favored to be, if his name isn't already engraved on the trophy.  Anyway, five-time nominee Carell should be nominated for his final season on one of TV's most popular shows.  Past winners Baldwin and Parsons should be invited back, and with threats to win.  The last three spots are really a mystery, given there's no Monk or Larry David to take up spots.  Community had a strong season this year, and many were surprised when McHale was snubbed last year, so I expect him to safely make it in this round.  Emmy races are often about star power (see: Best Actress Comedy Series), and fewer stars on TV comedies are more famous than Rob Lowe, who, however, has had quite a tepid relationship with Emmy.  Alas, his questionable category placement may ultimately harm his chances, but I think his name, acting, and popularity of the show will be enough to push him in.  Finally, the voting is done with #1 popular rankings, which allow little-watched but heavily-loved show to make it in; McBride is such an actor on such a show.  If not him, then I'm thinking Louis CK for Louis.  A shame for Ed O'Neill, who could have easily made it in this weak race.)

BEST ACTRESS- COMEDY SERIES

• 1

  Laura Linney  -The Big C

• 2

  Edie Falco  -Nurse Jackie

• 3

  Amy Poehler  -Parks and Recreation

• 4

  Tina Fey  -30 Rock

• 5

  Lea Michele  -Glee

• 6

  Courteney Cox  -Cougar Town

(Linney, the presumed winner, is expected to make it in, the third in Showtime's Women in Dramatic Comedies series.  Last year's winner, Falco, I expect to return, as with last year's nominees Fey, Michele, and Peohler.  The 6th nominee from last year, Aussie Toni Collette I'm predicting to get the snub, in favor of Friends alum Cox.  Out of the Linney, Falco, Fey, and Peohler, I think we'll have a winner.  I won't say who I'm putting my money on, but I am saying that it's not Linney, who actually has never lost an Emmy race.)

BEST COMEDY SERIES

• 1

  Modern Family

• 2

  30 Rock

• 3

  The Office

• 4

  Glee

• 5

  Parks and Recreation

• 6

  The Big Bang Theory

(I think last year's winner easily repeats this year, but we're not talking winners just yet.  Modern Family, 30 Rock, and The Office are safe bets for traditional comedies, and everyone's favorite non-comedy Glee is sure to return as well.  I'm getting a feeling neither of Showtime's comedy submissions are getting in this year, and a surprising network comedy coup will take place.  You parents' favorite comedy show, The Big Band Theory, I think makes it in on popularity, unlike last year.  Finally, I'm one of the few fans of Parks and Recreation that thinks it has a real chance to make a presence at the Emmys; the show is in the zeitgeist, Ron Swanson is everywhere online, Rob Lowe was a hit, and EW named it the smartest show on TV.  I think it's the best comedy on television, and I don't see a reason why, if anyone watches a single episode of it, it won't get in.)