Oscar Watch: Golden Globes spoiler!

The Globes' website may not have posted the winners yet, but I have 'em if you want 'em. Trust the Internet Movie Database to provide you with the scoop: go to http://www.imdb.com/ for the complete list.

Spoiler!!! Spoiler!!! Spoiler!!! Look away if you want to continue watching the Globes with (some) surprise:

• Best picture, drama: Babel
• Best picture, musical or comedy: Dreamgirls
• Best actor in a drama: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
• Best actress in a drama: Helen Mirren, The Queen
• Best actress in a musical or comedy: Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
• Best actor in a musical or comedy: Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
• Best director: Martin Scorsese, The Departed
• Foreign language film: Letters from Iwo Jima
• Supporting actor: Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
• Supporting actress: Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

Whew! Oh, you want the tv winners, too? Go to http://www.imdb.com/! Lazy!

'K, since I just got back from vacation to discover my power went out over the weekend, I now have to go around my apartment and reset all of my clocks. See how I care? The Globes come first!! I'll come back to comment later.

Grammy Watch: first performers announced; Best Pop Vocal Album

Hi, it's Albert at the Seattle Gay News on a very chilly night. If you're hitting the clubs tonight, be careful driving or walking - it's really slick out there.

Leading up to the Grammy Awards on February 11, I'll be posting updates on what to expect on music's biggest night. And, I'll be posting predictions and personal picks for awards in several categories. There are a lot of Grammy voters in Seattle, believe it or not. Let's hope the most deserved nominees walk away with the hardware this year. Look for a Grammy preview in the SGN on February 9.

Thus far, the Dixie Chicks, Gnarls Barkley, and Red Hot Chili Peppers have been confirmed as performers. Justin Timberlake is also performing on the live telecast with a nationally selected contest winner included in his background posse.

The nominees for Best Pop Vocal Album are:

Back to Basics - Christina Aguilera
Back to Bedlam - James Blunt
The River in Reverse - Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint
Continuum - John Mayer
Futuresex/Lovesounds - Justin Timberlake

Will win: Futuresex/Lovesounds

Grammy voters love John Mayer, by proof of his Song of the Year win for "Daughters" and his mysterious inclusion in the Best Rock Album category for a jazz-blues experimental project (Trio). But Timberlake is a pop superstar who continues to surprise those who dig him, and those who don't. Two smash hits, "SexyBack" and "My Love", should give him the edge over Mayer. The surprise could be Aguilera, another Grammy favorite and well-respected by her peers for attempting something different.

Should win: Futuresex/Lovesounds

Mayer and Aguilera went outside of the box and delivered career-bests last year. But Timberlake's hip-pop collaboration with Timbaland gets my vote; if not for its irresistable beats and dance floor shout-outs, then for delivering sexy back from wherever it had wandered off to.

Oscar Watch: Critics' Choice Awards

Scoop! This is so new, the website for the Broadcast Film Critics hasn't been updated yet! The Critics' Choice awards were announced tonight:

• Best Director & Film: Martin Scorsese, The Departed
• Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
• Best Actress: Helen Mirren, The Queen
• Best Documentary Feature: An Inconvenient Truth
• Best Soundtrack & Song, Best Supporting Actor & Supporting Actress: Dreamgirls, "Listen" (Beyonce); Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson
• Best Composer: The Illusionist, Philip Glass
• Best Animated Feature: Cars
• Best Acting Ensemble, Writer. Young Actor & Young Actress: Little Miss Sunshine, written by Michael Arndt, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin
• Best Comedy movie: Borat...
• Best Family Film (Live Action): Charlotte's Web

I'm a little surprised that Little Miss Sunshine did so well ... happy, but surprised. Dreamgirls really made out, as did Scorsese & The Departed. He just might get his Oscar! If you want to see the entire list of nominees, here's a link to the Broadcast Film Critics' Association: http://www.bfca.org/NomineesWinners.asp

So, what did you think of my top 10 list? What do you mean, what do you mean? You did pick up a print copy of the Seattle Gay News today, right? Discuss. And check out next week's edition, where I'll propose a few names for the Academy to consider for the nominations. Well, beg, really. (Please, Mr. Oscar -- Forget Streep in The Devil Wears Prada - that was in no way a leading role. But Gretchen Mol so-o-o-o deserves recognition for The Notorious Bettie Page!)

I'm out of town this weekend, so I must leave you until Monday's Golden Globes. I'll blog when I return (around 9 pm) with what went down. Coming up on Oscar Watch: Oscar predictions and a wrap on the Guild nominations.

The Departed's Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio & Matt Damon; courtesy Warner Bros.

Oscar Watch: SAG and PGA nominations

It's getting hot and heavy in Oscar land! The Screen Actors' Guild and Producers' Guild just announced their nominations for 2006 in the acting and best film categories, respectively.

So far so boring - no surprises in the noms. I'm pleased that Rinko Kikuchi, a veritable unknown, continues to gain recognition for her performance as a deaf mute in Babel. I'm not sure she has a chance against those shaping up to be her competition: Cate Blanchett in Notes on a Scandal and Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls. And as brilliant as Forest Whitaker was in The Last King of Scotland, I'm really pulling for Peter O'Toole (in Venus). Here's a legendary actor who's never won an Oscar despite 7 nominations. He received an honorary Oscar last year, and he responded with a handwritten letter saying he was "enchanted" at the thought, but that he was "still in the game, and might yet win (the award) outright." Between this SAG nom and the Globes nom, he's pretty much guaranteed an Oscar nomination, if not an outright Oscar!

A complete list of SAG noms can be found at http://www.sagawards.com/PR_070104.htm; PGA noms are at http://www.producersguild.org/pg/awards_a/. And check out next week's print version of the Seattle Gay News for my own 2006 top 10 list of films!

I'll return to the blogosphere next Tuesday with the Directors' Guild nominations and the National Board of Review winners; then Friday it's the BAFTA noms and Critics' Choice Awards. The clock is ticking - faster and faster, it seems - until the Oscars nominations are announced on January 23rd!

Rinko Kikuchi in Babel, photo courtesy Paramount Classics; Peter O'Toole and Jodie Whittaker in Venus; photo courtesy Miramax Films

Get Stroked: Albert Hammond, Jr. interview this Friday

Seattle Gay News is pleased to feature a 1-on-1 interview this week with Albert Hammond, Jr., guitarist for globally known rock band The Strokes and now a fine solo artist in his own right.

Hammond, Jr. begins a five-week tour with Incubus this weekend in the Northwest. In fact, he may be en route to Seattle for a last-minute rehearsal at this very moment. His debut release Yours to Keep hits store shelves on March 6, but you can ear-sample cuts from the CD by visiting http://www.myspace.com/alberthammondjr.

Pick up a copy of the Seattle Gay News on Friday, January 5 and kick off 2007 by hanging out inside "The Music Lounge" with Albert Hammond, Jr.


Photo of Albert Hammond, Jr. (pictured left), courtesy of Rough Trade Records.

Kevin Shaw murderer found guilty

A jury found 24-year-old Michael Maiava guilty of murder in the first degree in the brutal death of a local Gay businessman. The verdict was read this morning (01/02/07) in the courtroom of King County Superior Court Judge Theresa Doyle. Maiava was also found guilty of use of a deadly weapon.

Kevin Patrick Shaw (pictured) was found inside his parked red Porsche Boxster on the morning of on October 21, 2004. His naked body had been wrapped inside two sheets and a garbage bag and was discovered slumped over the front passenger seat.

According to the Medical Examiner, Shaw's death was caused by a penetrating wound to his head. Shaw had recieved other wounds before his death, including strangulation, a broken back, blunt force trauma and lacerations caused by the binding of his ankles.

Phone records, DNA evidence, and items recovered from Maiava's residence link the suspect to the crime. Witnesses also reported seeing a red Porsche Boxster parked near the suspect's home around the time of the murder.

Coming up: interview with a Stroke

Which band member of The Strokes recently went one-on-one with the Seattle Gay News?

Pick up a copy of this week's issue, hitting the streets tomorrow afternoon, and find out inside "The Music Lounge" column.


Photo of The Strokes, courtesy of RCA Records.