2015-2016 Emmy Awards

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Re: 2015-2016 Emmy Awards

Post by Big Magilla »

Oswalt's acceptance speech was one of the highlights of the evening for me, right behind Rami Malek's. I also liked Louie Anderson's a lot, although I have no idea what Baskets is all about.

I thought Soloway was high on something. Even though I've got my hearing back, I misheard her "topple the patriarchy" comment as "top of the patriarchy" which made no sense. That's an interesting turn of phrase for the woman whose latest project is called I Love Dick about a husband and wife who both fall in love with Kevin Bacon's Dick.
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Re: 2015-2016 Emmy Awards

Post by Sabin »

I don't have a TV so my Emmy viewings are largely absorbing clips online. Considering that I've largely abandoned watching dramas for reasons of time commitment, I didn't really have a dog in the race. My favorite comedy win was probably Kate McKinnon. My least favorite is a tie between Jill Soloway's directing win for Transparent and Aziz Ansari & Alan Yang's writing win for Master of None. I can't think of two shows out there that I wish I enjoyed more than I do than these two.

But there was one moment that stands apart for me and that's Patton Oswalt winning for his standup special which aired the night his wife died [I think?]. Tiny glimpse into my life: my sister is Patton's personal assistant and Patton has been immensely encouraging of my own career. He's been through indescribable hell this past year. Shortly after his Emmy win, he thanked my sister in the IMDB Live After the Emmys forum.
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Re: 2015-2016 Emmy Awards

Post by Bog »

Mister Tee wrote: (I have no idea if Mendelsohn deserved it, but his win was a jolt).
If you inhale this as well, you will be doing yourself a favor...and your jolt will be extremely solidified. The role has a Zeljko Ivanek feel where you just know you are watching what should be an Emmy winner but not being a David E. Kelley/ER/West Wing/Lost/Sopranos type supporting role you don't even figure a nomination is in order...lo and behold the Kesslers again get their guy all the way to gold.

Malek and Maslany were jolts unlike any year I can remember. This completed a night where the acting awards went to USA, BBC America, Netflix, and PBS...who could have seen this coming even at the turn of this decade? Spacey's FU probably should win an Emmy at some point, but failing to do so at the hands of Walter White, Don Draper, and Elliott Alderson is damn hard to argue.

Paulson, Vance, and Brown should and could win any award for which they were nominated. I've never gone the Horror Story route and thought Murphy and his actors was some sort of Lange/Bates Emmy voter whoring plus what has appeared to be shock factor. If they coax performances such as these 3 out of all the hired actors then each and every nomination is not to be begrudged.

That Kimmel and Damon stuff just somehow stays fresh.

Interesting Mark Burnett's ad hominem-esque retort was to pretend Hillary (not owning the joke that he made this monster) is upset Kimmel is spending time even allowing the words Trump to cross his lips. Free publicity cannot be too effective when it is total mockery, no? Everyone voting Trump was watching middle America NFL or Jon Benet anyway.
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Re: 2015-2016 Emmy Awards

Post by Mister Tee »

Well, a surprisingly invigorating evening, partly because Jimmy Kimmel was often genuinely funny, and partly because the voters at certain points parted from their "let's just go with last year's winners" tradition in startling ways.

To Kimmel: I guess I've been a bit asleep on this guy; I always viewed him as the hack ABC threw on for a pathetic third place behind Leno/Letterman. But he's evolved into a truly funny guy with sharp observations (after the tongue-bath Jimmy Fallon gave Trump last week, it was good to see a comedian go after him -- and Mark Burnett, standing in for all of the media -- full force). Oh, and his tete a tete with Matt Damon was priceless.

Almost from the start, when voters passed on their usual reflexive choice of Alison Janney, the winners had a fresh cast to them. Yes, there was Veep/Game of Thrones deja vu in the end, and Maggie Smith continues to be a joke only Academy members don't seem to get. But Peter Dinklage startlingly failed to repeat (I have no idea if Mendelsohn deserved it, but his win was a jolt), Suzanne Bier interrupted the otherwise all-encompassing OJ sweep with her directing win, and, in the closing moments, two highly hip choices took the drama actor/actress trophy. I've never seen Orphan Black, but everyone I know whose taste I respect says Maslany's deserved it for years. As for Malek: I took the time between nominations and tonight to inhale Mr. Robot. I do have my issues with it, related to the problems I said I have with many shows in this era -- because it wants to go on and on, it keeps spinning new plots and complications, where my classicist soul wants the original ones resolved on a more timely basis -- but it's got a good deal of bite and invention, and Malek offers a truly original TV character whose narration has some of the deadpan wit Michael C. Hall used to provide on Dexter. I was very enthused about his win. (And if you've watched the show, his first line upon hitting the stage was beautiful.)

All tolled, a fun evening that reminded me once again how much I miss such nights of pure spontaneity from the Oscars in this blogger era.
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Re: 2015-2016 Emmy Awards

Post by anonymous1980 »

Complete list of Creative Arts Emmy winners.

It was presented over the course of TWO nights!
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Re: 2015-2016 Emmy Awards

Post by Big Magilla »

Bog wrote:
Mister Tee wrote: [(I also don't have the newfangled Blu-Ray, and I prefer to watch my TV on a TV rather than computer.)
Meh...blue ray means little and you merely need a fire stick or chromecast, both around $39 and will stream in addition to mailing Netflix with 1 button press.
The Amazon fire stick is still around $39, but the Google Chromecast and several generic brand imitations are about half that. Still, you need an HDMI connection and if you have an old TV you may not have one or you may have just one connection with a DVD player connected which means changing that around. Also, the last I checked Chromestick works off of Google Chrome, not sure if it will work with Windows now. You still need WiFi to make the connection. With a "newfangled" WiFi enabled Blu-ray player you can play everything through a single set-up. It's easier for us old farts.
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Re: 2015-2016 Emmy Awards

Post by Bog »

Mister Tee wrote: Everything I hear about streaming vs. traditional Netflix tells me the former is superior if your primary interest is TV shows, but that the latter has far greater selection when it comes to old films.
Extremely true...you really could amend this to say 'films' period. Prior to adding Spotlight the highlight "hey you can stream THIS!!" film was The Usual Suspects.
Mister Tee wrote: (I also don't have the newfangled Blu-Ray, and I prefer to watch my TV on a TV rather than computer.)
Meh...blue ray means little and you merely need a fire stick or chromecast, both around $39 and will stream in addition to mailing Netflix with 1 button press.
Mister Tee wrote: However, I still have to say I get suspicious when people are telling me upwards of 15 or 20 series are all of don't-miss calibre.
Now you're onto something...the movie going doldrums have aided and abetted this situation which includes a smattering of all scenarios....big movie stars (and winners) doing television, the (fan-forced) Lost/24 effect of filming and airing straight through in 4 months or less rather than the September-to-May-reruns-included formats...this idea then trumped by streamingNetflix dropping entire seasons to be binged or watched at a normal pace, and finally the possible overrating (myself included at times) of a large portion of the glut of new television due to ease of accessibility and lack of options.

Speaking of can't miss suspicions...I cannot totally nail down what you'd enjoy or not, but based collectively upon your comments here and elsewhere...were I you I would go with The Americans, Rectify, The Knick, Sherlock, Top of the Lake, Black-ish, maybe Bloodline for starters representing a wide range and smallish committments. Silicon Valley, Mr. Robot, unREAL, Outlander, Orphan Black are all very recommendable but your desire would likely proclue any of those options to begin...while Casual and Transparent and Mozart are going to be harder for you to access.

I also did not mean any offense earlier...hopefully none taken...yes USA has been gone from radar for quite some time. When you rediscover it my prediction = Tee likes Manhattan more than Mr. Robot.
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Re: 2015-2016 Emmy Awards

Post by Big Magilla »

Mister Tee wrote:Everything I hear about streaming vs. traditional Netflix tells me the former is superior if your primary interest is TV shows, but that the latter has far greater selection when it comes to old films. In the last year or so alone, I've seen Truffaut's The Soft Skin, Malle's The Fire Within, Renoir's The Lower Depths, Borzage's Liliom and Godard's Contempt and Pierrot le Fou through Netflix -- plus a whole bunch of the lesser screenplay nominees for our historical threads (Black Legion, Destination Tokyo, Knock on Wood, The Eddy Duchin Story). I choose to keep that, even at the cost of falling behind on television. (I also don't have the newfangled Blu-Ray, and I prefer to watch my TV on a TV rather than computer.)
Netflix isn't the only game in town, but it, YouTube, Amazon and virtually all other streaming services will stream right to your TV through an enabled DVD or Blu-ray player. They look better via the higher resolution Blu-ray player which will also play standard DVDs. If you have a smart TV you don't even need a DVD player for streaming. Of course if your DVD or Blu-ray player is not WiFi equipped or it is, but you don't have a WiFi router you will have to connect your TV to your computer to access the internet. Then again, if either your TV or your computer is more than ten years old, you may not have the right connections.
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Re: 2015-2016 Emmy Awards

Post by Mister Tee »

The Original BJ wrote: Looking over the Emmy nominees yesterday, I realized I haven't seen a single episode ever of any show nominated for Best Drama or Best Comedy, which has to be the first time that's the case in basically two decades.
Wow, even I do better than that. I've seen all of Homeland and Better Call Saul, a season-plus of Veep (when I had free HBO), and a few episodes of Modern Family and Game of Thrones. (Enough of the latter to know that it's not my thing, no matter how gaga people are over it, or how many naked women they display.)

Everything I hear about streaming vs. traditional Netflix tells me the former is superior if your primary interest is TV shows, but that the latter has far greater selection when it comes to old films. In the last year or so alone, I've seen Truffaut's The Soft Skin, Malle's The Fire Within, Renoir's The Lower Depths, Borzage's Liliom and Godard's Contempt and Pierrot le Fou through Netflix -- plus a whole bunch of the lesser screenplay nominees for our historical threads (Black Legion, Destination Tokyo, Knock on Wood, The Eddy Duchin Story). I choose to keep that, even at the cost of falling behind on television. (I also don't have the newfangled Blu-Ray, and I prefer to watch my TV on a TV rather than computer.)

Okri, I take your point that, with movies being in such a quality recession, it's strange to be hacking at television here. However, I still have to say I get suspicious when people are telling me upwards of 15 or 20 series are all of don't-miss calibre. I already lived through an era when people were touting L.A. Law and thirtysomething as cinema-worthy efforts -- an opinion I never came close to sharing -- and there've been shows even in this far more golden era that i haven't felt met the critical hype (i.e., season one of True Detective). So I'm automatically wary of the oversell, especially when it's something that requires me to invest so much time, and prefer to err on the side of maybe missing something for a while.
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Re: 2015-2016 Emmy Awards

Post by Okri »

The Original BJ wrote:Looking over the Emmy nominees yesterday, I realized I haven't seen a single episode ever of any show nominated for Best Drama or Best Comedy, which has to be the first time that's the case in basically two decades. For me, it's not so much lack of interest as the commitment thing -- after I mark out free time for movies & theater & reading, I can only fit in a few TV shows during the week, and if you don't start with a show right away, it can feel pretty daunting to catch up on, say, years worth of Game of Thrones at this point. I feel like the explosion in TV content has had the reverse effect on my viewing habits -- there's just so much to keep track of that I've started to just drift away, to forms of media that just don't require as many hours of my life.
Wait, you haven't seen Veep? Seriously, get to that posthaste. Especially this election cycle.

This comment is kinda fascinating, especially when you contextualize it with modern movie making in general. We've already gone on about how poor mainstream Hollywood (redundant, I know) film-making is this year. I mean, when the only reason I'm going to go see a movie is to tell the internet to fuck off (Ghostbusters remake), something's pretty dire. Now, television and film are different media with different goals, so to use one to berate the other is kinda silly.

It's interesting because I actually do the opposite - I try to get on board earlier because I can always jump off if I don't care for the show part way through without feeling like I wasted my time.
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Re: 2015-2016 Emmy Awards

Post by Big Magilla »

OscarGuy wrote:Streaming is super easy nowadays. It's a matter of clicking on the show you want to watch and selecting episode and hitting the play button. After the episode's over, you even have an option to click the button that says "Next Episode" and it will start playing the next episode. As long as you have any of the current browsers (Chrome, Firefox, MSIE, Edge) and don't have a computer from the Stone Age, you should be able to stream.

Amazon Prime may be the same way, but I haven't tried any of their stuff yet.
You can also stream on your TV even if you don't have a smart TV. All you need is a DVD or Blu-ray player that is streaming enabled. They've been in existence for at least the last five years and have come way down in price.

Sony's newest model streaming Blu-ray player with Wi-Fi is $85 at Amazon and probably anywhere else it's sold. You'll just need to connect to the internet either with a connection to your computer or via Wi-Fi.

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-BDPS3700-St ... ay+players
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Re: 2015-2016 Emmy Awards

Post by The Original BJ »

With the exception of the just-dropped seasons, a lot of the Netflix shows are in fact available to rent on disc, Mister Tee. Although I guarantee you, if you did choose to sign up for the streaming service, you would find it EXTREMELY easy to watch on your computer. (If you wanted to watch on your TV, that requires a bit more set-up and cost, unless you already own a Blu-Ray player with Internet access.)

Looking over the Emmy nominees yesterday, I realized I haven't seen a single episode ever of any show nominated for Best Drama or Best Comedy, which has to be the first time that's the case in basically two decades. For me, it's not so much lack of interest as the commitment thing -- after I mark out free time for movies & theater & reading, I can only fit in a few TV shows during the week, and if you don't start with a show right away, it can feel pretty daunting to catch up on, say, years worth of Game of Thrones at this point. I feel like the explosion in TV content has had the reverse effect on my viewing habits -- there's just so much to keep track of that I've started to just drift away, to forms of media that just don't require as many hours of my life.
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Re: 2015-2016 Emmy Awards

Post by OscarGuy »

Streaming is super easy nowadays. It's a matter of clicking on the show you want to watch and selecting episode and hitting the play button. After the episode's over, you even have an option to click the button that says "Next Episode" and it will start playing the next episode. As long as you have any of the current browsers (Chrome, Firefox, MSIE, Edge) and don't have a computer from the Stone Age, you should be able to stream.

Amazon Prime may be the same way, but I haven't tried any of their stuff yet.
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Re: 2015-2016 Emmy Awards

Post by Mister Tee »

Bog wrote:
Mister Tee wrote: Maybe this was more along the lines of "you philistines and your television"...but seemed odd to me.
Au contraire -- if anyone's the philistine, it's me, being unacquainted with so many things considered the epitome of coolness.

As for the availability question, don't underestimate my tech-clunkiness: I wouldn't have a clue how to watch something on Amazon Prime, and the Netflix nominees aren't available to those of us who do Netflix the old-fashioned, disk-in-the-mail way -- I have no idea how to stream. And then there's Crackle?

I know you're sort of joking about USA, but that's a station I've excluded from my thought process for decades (having seen enough Law and Orders in my lifetime). By the time I realized that's where this highly-touted Mr. Robot was showing, it was too late to get the starting episodes on demand, so, if I'm going to look at it, I'm going to have to do it via Netflix disk.
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Re: 2015-2016 Emmy Awards

Post by Bog »

Mister Tee wrote: Some of these nominees I wouldn't even know where to find, even if I were inclined to put in the hours.
I guess this comment was meant to be hyperbolic due to the massive amounts of television outlets v. a simple movie theater? Seems odd though...looking at the top 14 nominees it represents John Oliver's network 3 times, Netflix 3 times, Better Call Saul which you watch, Amazon a few times, ABC, The Americans comes on after OJ, I guess the outlier is USA? Seems odd you can find TBS but not USA?

The acting categories don't present many more difficult options really...

Maybe this was more along the lines of "you philistines and your television"...but seemed odd to me.
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