Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are not only co-hosts of the 70th Golden Globes this year, they’re also competitors. Both were nominated for Best Actress in a Television Musical or Comedy, with Fey duking it out with her counterpart for 30 Rock , while Poehler is up for the award for Park and Recreation . [ Related: Golden Globes Unveil 70th Edition Nominees ] But while the co-hosts won’t conceivably know the results until the envelope opens at the ceremony on January 13th, the pair are busy working together in the lead-up to the big event, and no doubt re-calling those good ol’ Saturday Night Live days. In this promo for the Globes, the duo are dressed in matching golden sparkly dresses and they both dish out cheesy Brit(ish) accents (until they don’t). Maybe they’re commenting on the resurgence of British-speak in Hollywood films reminiscent of the very early “golden days” of Hollywood? Who knows, but here’s a funny look at what may bode well for the Globes telecast after the New Year. [ Source: Huffington Post ]
The Oscar Index’s head is spinning. What critics organization didn’t announce their nominees or award-winners this week? On Thursday it was the Golden Globes , on Wednesday the SAGs , and Monday the AFI and BFCA. The Boston, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles , Phoenix, San Diego, St. Louis and Washington critics associations also weighed in with their picks. But critics don’t vote for the Academy Awards, so much of this will have little bearing on who will be nominated for an Academy Award; not Lincoln ’s seven Golden Globe nominations, not Dwight Henry’s Best Supporting Actor win from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for Beasts of the Southern Wild , and not the Washington D.C. Film Critics Association’s pick of Zero Dark Thirty as the year’s best film. By splitting its acting categories into drama and musical-comedy, the Golden Globes muddle the view of the fields , but they do afford some Oscar dark-horses like Richard Gere some necessary exposure to keep their chances alive. Meanwhile, the Screen Actors Guild Awards do matter as an Oscar precursor, as do perhaps some preemptive strikes at a probable Oscar frontrunner. But how big a target is Zero Dark Thirty ? We got a pretty good idea this week. Let’s go to the Gold Lining Playbook. Best Picture Zero Dark Thirty might have sustained some damage this week in the wake of several newspaper pieces that charge the film with being pro-torture and questioning the character of the real-life inspiration for the CIA analyst portrayed in the film by Jessica Chastain . A New York Times Op-Ed piece provocatively opened, “I’m betting that Dick Cheney will love the new movie Zero Dark Thirty ,” Greg Miller in the Washington Post wrote that the real-life operative, who remains undercover, “was passed over for a promotion that many in the CIA thought would be impossible to withhold from some who played such a key role in one of the most successful operations in agency history.” A New Yorker profile of director Kathryn Bigelow questions whether the film’s waterboarding scene takes dramatic liberties with the true story. The timing of these stories is suspect. If past Oscar campaigning has taught us anything, one has to ask at this early stage: Just how far will Harvey Weinstein go to win Oscars for Silver Linings Playbook ? which did receive a Screen Actor’s Guild’s ensemble nomination, a Best Picture equivalent. Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ’s SAG ensemble nomination could boost the film’s chances for a Best Picture nomination. Its distinguished British cast (classy) and pure escapism would seem irresistible to the typical Oscar voter, which the Los Angeles Times last year found was 94 percent Caucasian and a median age of 62. The Dark Knight Rises and so perhaps its Best Picture hopes after being named among the year’s 10 best films by the American Film Institute. Amends for The Dark Knight ? That The Master was not noticed by the SAG for its powerhouse ensemble is testament to the once presumed frontrunner’s fading buzz, while the omission of the critically praised Beasts of the Southern Wild was due to its SAG ineligibility. Likewise, the shutout of Quentin Tarantino ’s wildly anticipated Django Unchained might be a simple matter of screeners not being available in time for voters, theorizes Awards Daily ’s Sasha Stone. And with its five Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture, Django could join the Oscar Best Picture race. 1. Lincoln 2. Zero Dark Thirty 3. Silver Linings Playbook 4. Les Miserables 5. Argo 6. Beasts of the Southern Wild 7. Life of Pi 8. Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 9. The Sessions 10. Django Unchained Ones to watch: The Dark Knight Rises, The Impossible, The Master, Moonrise Kingdom, Skyfall Best Director It’s doubtful that the potshots at Zero Dark Thirty will be enough to keep Bigelow out of the running. The director and screenwriter Mark Boal returned fire against agenda-driven critics. “This movie has been and will continue to be put in political boxes,” Boal told The Wrap this week. “Before we even wrote it, some people said it was an Obama campaign commercial, which was preposterous. And now it’s pro-torture, which is preposterous.” That leaves a slot for David O’Russell , Ang Lee , or late entrant Quentin Tarantino, who received his inevitable Golden Globe nomination Thursday. Pundits still give Lee an edge. The Golden Globes’ surprise snub of Tom Hooper is another indication that this field is anything but set. The Director’s Guild nominations, a reliable Oscar precursor, will be announced on Jan. 8, two days prior to the Academy. 1. Steven Spielberg ( Lincoln ) 2. Kathryn Bigelow ( Zero Dark Thirty ) 3. Ben Affleck ( Argo ) 4. Ang Lee ( Life of Pi ) 5. Tom Hooper (Les Miserables) Ones to watch: Paul Thomas Anderson ( The Master ), Michael Haneke ( Amour ), David O. Russell ( Silver Linings Playbook ), Quentin Tarantino ( Django Unchained ) Next: Best Actor & Actress
This may sound like great news… but don’t be fooled by Ben Bernanke’s azz dressed in sheep’s’ clothing. According to The Huffington Post , the hold on rates may help stimulate the economy, but it’s going to hurt millions who are retired and others who live off of savings. The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it plans to keep interest rates ultra-low even after unemployment falls close to a normal level – which it thinks could take three more years. For the first time, the Fed made clear to investors and consumers that it will link its actions to specific economic markers. As long as inflation remains tame, the central bank said it could keep key short-term rates near zero, even after unemployment returns to a more typical rate. Previously, the Fed said it expected to keep interest rates at record lows at least through mid-2015. Now it expects rates to stay low at least until unemployment drops below 6.5 percent – a threshold the bank believes may not be crossed until the end of 2015. Analysts said the Fed’s new guidance will make it easier for companies, investors and consumers to make financial decisions because they will have a clearer grasp of when borrowing costs will begin to rise. “This approach is superior” to setting a timetable for a possible rate increase, Chairman Ben Bernanke said at a news conference after the Fed held a two-day policy meeting and issued a statement. “It is more transparent and will allow the markets to respond quickly and promptly to changes” in the Fed’s economic outlook. Though the Fed’s low interest-rate policies are intended to boost borrowing, spending and stock prices, they also hurt millions of retirees and others who depend on income from savings. Bernanke made clear that even after unemployment falls below 6.5 percent, the Fed might decide that it needs to keep stimulating the economy. Other economic factors will also shape its policy decisions, he said. Economists regard a normal unemployment rate as 6 percent or less. “The Fed has become more explicit and more transparent,” said Steven Wood, chief economist at Insight Economics. “This should provide the markets with much more clarity around monetary policy action in the upcoming year.” Still, Bernanke warned that none of the Fed’s actions could outweigh the economic pain that would be caused by sharp tax increases and government spending cuts that are set to kick in next month. The standoff between President Barack Obama and Republican lawmakers over how to resolve the “fiscal cliff” is already hurting the economy, in part by reducing consumer and business confidence, he said. We’re not surprised that some people are blaming Barack on this one…even though he doesn’t control the Federal Reserve. While Bernanke holds rates so low, older working folks aren’t earning any interest on their 401k’s and, IF the unemployment rate ever drops below 6.5%, that 3% interest everyone’s been enjoying in the housing market is going to jump up to ‘normal’ again and then what?? Another real estate collapse? Watch out folks! Images via tumblr
With a highly combative presidential campaign behind him, President Barack Obama has had quite a year. In no particular order, NewsOne put together the commander-in-chief’s …
With a highly combative presidential campaign behind him, President Barack Obama has had quite a year. In no particular order, NewsOne put together the commander-in-chief’s …
Celebrities Who Went Broke In 2012 If you listen to our re-elected president Mr. Barack Obama, we are about to enter into a golden age where the recession is nothing but a shadow in our rear view mirrors. But for some, the year wasn’t so bountiful as a bevy of celebrities had to beg for more money as they are now unmistakably broke as hell. Saving is caring.
Eva Longoria in the December issue of GQ Mexico. Eva Longoria looks s exy in lingerie. If it ever slipped your mind, you might want to check the most recent issue of GQ Mexico. The “desperate housewife” turned symbol had a busy year–campaigning for President Barack Obama, pursuing a Masters in Chicano Studies, and opening her own foundation–but the 37-year-old actress took some time to remind fans why she’s the only woman to have been ranked No. 1 twice in Maxim magazine’s Hot 100. With puc
If they keep blaming that “47%” for everything , how the hell are we supposed to move on as a nation?? According to The Huffington Post , John Sununu’s grumpy white azz isn’t ready to let this one go anytime soon: If Republicans are trying to shy away from the notion that America is divided between productive capitalists and dependent moochers, they forgot to tell John Sununu. The former New Hampshire governor and Mitt Romney campaign surrogate said Tuesday that Democrats and President Barack Obama won reelection by turning out the moochers. “They aggressively got out the base of their base, the base of their base that’s dependent, to a great extent economically, on government policy and government programs,” Sununu said at a forum with two other Republican governors, according to the Concord Monitor. Sununu’s comment recalled Romney’s infamous statement during the campaign that 47 percent of Americans are dependent on government and would vote for Obama no matter what. The remarks, delivered at a big-donor fundraiser in May, roiled the campaign. “There are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent on government, who believe that, that they are victims, who believe that government has the responsibility to care for them,” Romney said. “I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” As it happens, Romney’s former running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), repudiated that notion during an awards dinner in Washington on Tuesday evening. “Both parties tend to divide Americans into ‘our voters’ and ‘their voters,’” Ryan said, according to Politico. “Republicans must steer far clear of that trap. We must speak to the aspirations and anxieties of every American. I believe we can turn on the engines of upward mobility so that no one is left out from the promise of America.” Romney, for his part, initially defended his “47 percent” comment, then said he had been “completely wrong.” But after the election he returned to the idea, saying Obama won by giving “gifts” to blacks, Hispanics and young voters. This is coming from the guy that spent over $600,000 of taxpayer money, for private government jets for himself! SMH Images via facebook
SMH. Somebody paid him $15K to put that on his face and now he’s gonna go erase it. Via NY Daily News reports : A northern Indiana man who had the Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan campaign logo tattooed onto his face “to make politics fun” says it’s time for it to come off. Eric Hartsburg of Michigan City, Ind., says he plans to have the red-and-blue “R” removed from its prominent place next to his right eye. He says a Republican supporter paid him $15,000 to get the tattoo and keep it until at least the election was over. Weeks after President Barack Obama defeated the former Massachusetts governor in the Nov. 6 election, Hartsburg says “now to me it represents not a losing campaign, but a sore losing campaign.” Hartsburg says he reached out to the Romney campaign about the tattoo, but feels snubbed that no campaign staffer ever contacted him. Does this guy make you feel proud or ashamed to be an American? Facebook
Easiest Cities To Find A Job Despite how awesome Obama is, we still have tons of people that need jobs out there. The unemployment rate is better but we’re still circling around the toilet bowl looking for jobs and struggling to pull it together. However, there’s a glimmer of hope. The good folks at Forbes have managed to find the 10 cities that are the easiest to find jobs.
