Screen Actors Guild Awards 2011: The Winners

The Screen Actors Guild, whose members make up a large block of The Academy, chose its winners a short while ago. It's looking good now for The King's Speech, the movie that has become the Oscar front runner, having previously won both the Producers and the Directors Guilds. Natalie Portman, Colin Firth, Melissa Leo and Christian Bale are now the favorite to win the Oscar in their respective categories. Here's a complete list of the SAG winners:

(For Red Carpet photos follow this link.)

Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Motion Picture

Black Swan

The Fighter

The Kids Are Alright

The King’s Speech - WINNER

The Social Network

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Lead Role

Jeff Bridges, True Grit

Robert Duvall, Get Low

Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

Colin Firth, The King’s Speech - WINNER

James Franco, 127 Hours

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Lead Role

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone

Natalie Portman, Black Swan - WINNER

Hilary Swank, Conviction

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Christian Bale, The Fighter - WINNER

John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone

Jeremy Renner, The Town

Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right

Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams, The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech

Mila Kunis, Black Swan

Melissa Leo, The Fighter - WINNER

Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Drama Series

Boardwalk Empire - WINNER

The Closer

Dexter

The Good Wife

Mad Men

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

30 Rock

Glee

Hot in Cleveland

Modern Family - WINNER

The Office

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire - WINNER

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Michael C. Hall, Dexter

Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Hugh Laurie, House

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

Glenn Close, Damages

Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order

Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife - WINNER

Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock - WINNER

Ty Burrell, Modern Family

Steve Carell, The Office

Chris Colfer, Glee

Ed O’Neil, Modern Family

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

Tina Fey, 30 Rock

Jane Lynch, Glee

Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Betty White, Hot in Cleveland - WINNER

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

John Goodman, You Don’t Know Jack

Al Pacino, You Don’t Know Jack - WINNER

Dennis Quaid, That Special Relationship

Edgar Ramirez, Carlos

Patrick Stewart, Macbeth

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

Claire Danes, Temple Grandin - WINNER

Catherine O’Hara, Temple Grandin

Julia Ormond, Temple Grandin

Winona Ryder, When Love is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story

Susan Sarandon, You Don’t Know Jack

Little Things That Count - The Weekly Roundup January 30

Music: Bruno Mars - Grenade Cute little pop song that has already hit no.1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart. I didn't jump on the Bruno Mars bandwagon immediately, but I like what he's been doing recently. Expect to hear this song everywhere in the next weeks. Bruno Mars is nominated for several Grammy Awards (to be held on February, 13).

Movie: The King's Speech Colin Firth is up for Best Actor Oscar next month and he'll probably get it. Not only because he's long overdue, but it's a fantastic performance and rumour has it that the Academy members LOVED The King's Speech. The movie also features great performances from Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter.

Oscars 2011: The Nominees

It's that time of the year again! The Oscar nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards have just been announced: The King's Speech leads with 12 nominations, followed by True Grit with 10 nominations, The Social Network and Inception - both 8 nominations, The Fighter - 7 nominatons and 127 Hours with 6 nominations. Full list below:

Best Picture

The Social Network

The King’s Speech

Black Swan

The Fighter

True Grit

Inception

The Kids Are All Right

Toy Story 3

127 Hours

Winter’s Bone

The sea inside me

I've been tagged by the lovely Claudia in a little game where I have to choose one photo that sums up the entire year of 2010 for me. Here it is:

It's been a year of ups and downs, but after everything that's happened (part of which is mentioned here), I realized that the sea/ocean was a love affair that's meant for life as far as I'm concerned. I will never be able to stay away.  It's part of who I am and I can't change that...I don't even want to. So yes, I still jump for joy like a 10-year-old whenever I go to the beach...And the sea...it's joy and sorrow, it's peace and restlessness, it's all that and more. It's the one place that turns the inner me into a roller coaster of emotions and states of mind. It made me realize that I want all that "drama", because being emotionally numb is being lifeless. It helped me know myself better and, in many ways, it brings out that kid inside me and I'll always, always want to hang on to that.

I'm tagging the lovely Miruna next, hopefully she'll like this little game :)

Golden Globes 2011: Winners

Best Motion Picture - Drama

• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The King's Speech
• The Social Network - WINNER 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama

• Halle Berry - Frankie and Alice
• Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole
• Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone
• Natalie Portman - Black Swan -  WINNER
• Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

• Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
• Colin Firth - The King's Speech - WINNER
• James Franco - 127 Hours 
• Ryan Gosling - Blue Valentine
• Mark Wahlberg - The Fighter

Movie review: 127 Hours

127 Hours tells the story of real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston who becomes trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone in Utah, in 2003. The film, based on Ralston's autobiography Between A Rock and A Hard Place, was written for the screen by Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle who also directed. This is the same team that brought us Slumdog Millionaire in 2008, but these are two very different movies and, dare I say, 127 Hours is vastly superior.

Little Things That Count - The Weekly Roundup January 10

Music: McFly feat. Taio Cruz - Shine A Light. As tempted as I might be to throw in some Pink Floyd at the moment, I'll try to get over the blah caused by the first days of the year and the dreary winter and go for a catchy little pop song. This is quite a radical change of sound for the British band McFly. Everybody wants a piece of Taio Cruz at the moment since he's one of the most successful UK exports in the recent years, so getting him to sing on your track is going to make it more popular. Start the year on a positive note....or something. Shine A Light, eh?

Movie: True Grit. The Coen brothers are back with another great movie. With great performances from Jeff Bridges, newcomer Hailee Steinfeld and Matt Damon, True Grit is a charming, tasteful combination of adventure, humor and melancholy. Critics loved it, so did the audiences and I'm no exception. In a time when western movies are almost an extinct species, the Coen brothers made a western that earned over $100 million at the box office so far. Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Brief movie review: Rabbit Hole

Rabbit Hole is a little gem of a movie in which a married couple tries to figure out life after their son's death. Brilliantly executed, touching, exquisitely human, Rabbit Hole's strongest points are magnificent acting and raw emotions. At 91 minutes long, it does not drag, it does not get sappy or melodramatic thanks to the skillfully incorporated funny moments.