Awards 2010: Writer's Guild of America Winners

This week, I did something that I haven't done since late 2009. I sat down and watched Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight from start to finish. I'd seen fragments of it on television, usually during the ambitious gotham city car chase that takes place in the middle of the film. I can honestly say that I've never fully realize the full scale of Nolan's accomplishment until just now. At face value, it's a dark crime thriller with some breathtaking action set-pieces propelling it, but what always shook me to my core was that final 25 minutes. The Joker had already made it abundantly clear of his intention to show the citizens of Gotham as the murderous fiends they truly are. Ultimately what that final showdown, and what the entire film actually boils down to is the struggle to keep hope alive at whatever the cost. The stakes are made so personal by the face-off between Harvey Dent and Jim Gordon, and that menace shows how painful it is to live in a world with absolutely no hope. That was what made the film so unforgettable.

With that said, Inception is never going to come close to what that film meant and what that film did. To even suggest that is crazy, because Nolan creates a softer film with less emotional stakes. It's dazzlingly well crafted with a powerful and under-appreciated supporting turn from Marion Cotillard, but it won't be what Nolan is remembered for. Recently I have been twisting and turning at how unbearably predictable the Oscar race has become, and it's so unbearable because it's currently in favor of The King's Speech, which is quickly becoming my least favorite film of the bunch, aside from The Fighter. It's amazing how unanimous praise can expose your despise for a film.

Yet this evening we got a glimmer of hope that maybe everything isn't set in stone. Inception took home the WGA award for Best Original Screenplay, making it Nolan's first win at the prestigious awards. For the past seven years the WGA has been spot on in predicting the outcome of the race, despite the strict rules of qualification. This year, The King's Speech was cut out of the race because of such technicalities, so this could break the WGA's streak of voting so correctly. However, I manage to believe that Nolan still has a shot at the win. The message of outcry amongst the fans at Nolan's omission from Best Director has been heard, so voting for Inception could also work as a bit of damage control.

Of course Aaron Sorkin also took the obvious win for his precise screenplay for The Social Network, which has a much greater struggle for the win in Best Picture. It'll be a struggle for David Fincher to recieve his deserved Best Director win against the undeserving Tom Hooper. I feel a greater stream of optimism this evening than I have in a long time. I've adjusted my Oscar Predictions page, so check it out. The winners are listed below.

Best Original Screenplay: Inception
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
Documentary Writing: Inside Job
Miniseries/TV Movie Adapted Screenplay: The Pacific
Miniseries/TV Movie Original Screenplay: The Special Relationship
Episodic Comedy: Modern Family
Episodic Drama: Mad Men
New Series: Boardwalk Empire

Small Glass Screen: Ratings, Pickups, and Drop-offs

Now that the premiere week has come to an end, it's a good time to decide which shows I'll be sticking with throughout the season, and which I'll be kicking aside. It may be a while before I am able to get AMC on my television, but even so, I have no problem purchasing those Mad Men episodes on iTunes. Fringe, which opened to a rating of about 5.9 million viewers, has fought long and hard for it's place on my schedule, and I'm not about to abandon it like many have mistakenly done in the past. If there's a show that I recommend catching up on, it's that. The season premiere does a superb job of catching new viewers up on the events of previous seasons, so it's not a problem if you just start from there.

There are a few shows that I plan on sticking with for now, but that don't offer quite enough to comment on weekly. So don't expect many reviews on the events of How I Met Your Mother (8.8 million viewers), Cougar Town (8.3), 30 Rock (5.8), or Glee (12.5) any time soon. J.J. Abrams' new show, Undercovers (8.6), looks like the sort of casual action series that I could get into every week just to cool off from everything else. Only time will tell if it offers enough to report on weekly. Capping things off, I think I'll stick with The Event (11.2) throughout the entirety of this season. Word has it that the two episodes that follow up the pilot deliver answers and action in an interesting way.

I'm completely dropping Running Wilde and Raising Hope, because they just didn't deliver anything of value. So in summation, I'll be reporting to you every Friday on Fringe, Mad Men, Undercovers, and The Event. Mad Men will filter out once it finishes it's season run in a few more weeks, and I may take up AMC's The Walking Dead once it premieres. Thanks for tuning in, and I hope to have you here again next Friday. And in case I wasn't clear enough, please pick up watching Fringe. If you're watching Grey's Anatomy, there's probably nothing I can do to change your mind, but please just take it into consideration.

The Small Glass Screen: The Week in Television Premieres

I do mostly indulge in films on this site, but I also enjoy television for the same reasons. Most commonly, expect me to do just one of these posts a week, but this week I'll be shuffling through a few premieres to see which I want to stick with, and which I'd rather discard. Below is my schedule of premieres for the next four days, in case you want to follow me along and offer your own thoughts.

Monday: How I Met Your Mother (Sixth Season; 8-8:30; CBS)
The Event (New Series; 9-10; NBC)

Tuesday: Glee (Second Season; 8-9; FOX)
Raising Hope (New Series; 9-9:30; FOX)
Running Wilde (New Series; 9:30-10; FOX)

Wednesday: Undercovers (New Series; NBC)
Modern Family (Second Season; 9-9:30; ABC)
Cougar Town (Second Season; 9:30-10; ABC)

Thursday: Community (Second Season; 8-8:30; NBC)
30 Rock (Fifth Season; 8:30-9; NBC)
Fringe (Third Season; 9-10; FOX)