giovedì 14 luglio 2016

Some thoughts on the Emmy nominations

With some odd snubs and equally odd surprises, the Emmy nominations are out. Here are my brief opinions about them.

PROS:

Game of Thrones receives 23 nominations!
Game of Thrones is probably my favorite show so I was obviously thrilled to see how many nominations it received. I loved the sixth season - of course it wasn't perfect but it was consistently compelling and the last two episodes were simply phenomenal. I'm thrilled about Kit Harington's nomination as I found his work this year absolutely excellent with his performance in The Battle of the Basterds being particularly amazing. I preferred Lena Headey's work in the previous season (for which I think she easily should have won) but she's been excellent this season as well and I am glad she was nominated (she's probably going to submit the season finale and rightfully so as she's brilliant in it), Maisie Williams' nomination is indeed a surprise but a welcome one: I think she gave her best performances in the first two season but she's been pretty great this season nonetheless. The directing nominations for The Battle of the Basterds and The Door are very deserved (I wish The Winds of Winter was nominated in this category as well) and while I don't quite agree with all of the nominations I'm still glad that this great show has been nominated in so many categories.

Sarah Paulson's two nominations
I love Sarah Paulson: she's a brilliant, versatile actress whom I think should have won two Emmys by now - one for her powerhouse performance in American Horror Story: Asylum and one for her excellent work in American Horror Story: Freak Show. Her two nominations this year are extremely deserved as well: she is amazing in The People v. O.J. Simpson, bringing both the determination and vulnerability needed for the role of Marcia Clark (her performance in the episode Marcia, Marcia, Marcia is downright groundbreaking); and, despite being a bit underused, she is excellent in American Horror Story: Hotel making Sally the pathetic and grotesque figure she is supposed to be. 

Fargo's ensemble
I loved the second season of Fargo and I hope it wins Best Miniseries or TV Movie. But I'm even happier for the fact that almost all of the members of the main cast were nominated: Kirsten Dunst delivered one of the best performances I have ever seen as one of the best written characters ever and, even if I loved Sarah Paulson's work in The People v. O.J. Simpson, I hope she wins the Emmy; Jesse Plemons is heartbreaking in the role of her good-hearted husband and Bokeem Woodbine is an incredible villain as the fascinating Mike Milligan; Jean Smart is brilliant as the though crime boss who sees her family collapsing around her and she would be very deserving of the award. I'm sad there wasn't room for Patrick Wilson's excellent leading turn although is snub is not quite as surprising as Oscar Isaac's (I haven't seen Show Me a Hero but I took his nomination for granted).

MINOR DISAPPOINTMENTS:

Taraji P. Henson's second nomination for Empire
I really liked Empire's first season and I thought Taraji P. Henson did an amazing job with the role of Cookie (I was actually rooting for her to win): she was hilarious, fierce, heartbreaking and scene-stealing. The second season of Empire, though, is a huge, melodramatic mess that I found almost unbearable to watch sometimes (I actually stopped watching midway through the season). Henson is not bad in it but I found her work in this season surprisingly disappointing: despite a few decent dramatic moments, the comedic moments feel a bit phony and overdone - her sassy one-liners in the first season were gold, here they are just forced as if Henson was trying way too hard. I'm not putting this in my "cons" list as I haven't seen the whole season and I don't hate her work at all, but I found the acclaim for her performance this year a bit puzzling. 

Emilia Clarke and Peter Dinklage are nominated again
I love Peter Dinklage, I really do. I think he's an amazing actor and I thought that he should have won for his brilliant performances in Season 2 and 4 of Game of Thrones. But I can't understand his nomination this year: he did absolutely nothing to warrant a nomination as he was wasted in the show's weakest storyline - Liam Cunningham, Jonathan Pryce and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau would have been much more deserving of his slot. I don't hate Emilia Clarke and I thought her performance this season was her best since the first one (her final scene with Iain Glen features her best acting in the whole series): but, still, she didn't deserve to be nominated instead of Carice van Houten, Natalie Dormer, Diana Rigg and especially Sophie Turner who was phenomenal this season. I'm not mad about these two nominations, but they really could've picked someone else.

CONS:

John Travolta's and Cuba Gooding Jr.'s nominations
I loved The People v. O.J. Simpson and I was glad about most of its nomination: as I said, Sarah Paulson is incredibly deserving, and the same goes for Sterling K. Brown and Courtney B. Vance. I'm also fine with David Schwimmer's nomination for his rather moving performance as Robert Kardashian - I didn't quite love it as I found the aforementioned actors more memorable but he's the conscience of the movie and he does a good job. But I can't get past the other two acting nominees: Cuba Gooding Jr. was extremely disappointing as O.J. as he was either over-the-top or an absolute non-entity; and John Travolta was terrible as Robert Shapiro, he hammed it up a lot in the first half of the season and even if in the second half he was a bit more tolerable, his nomination is still pretty much a joke. 

American Horror Story: Hotel gets horribly snubbed.
I get this season wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but I personally thought it was quite great and I can't get behind a few snubs. Denis O'Hare was amazing as Liz Taylor, the transgender bartender of the hotel - he was both funny and heartbreaking and I really don't understand why he was nominated for his work in Freak Show (in which he was still very good, by the way) and not for his work in Hotel. I never thought I would say it, but I honestly think Lady Gaga should have been nominated: she delivered a masterclass of subtlety in this season making The Countess a compelling and unforgettable character. She is chilling in the moments in which The Countess reveals her dangerous, menacing side but she's also quite moving in portraying her loneliness and desperation: the look on her face in the ending of Battle Royale is simply devastating. I also thought that Mare Winningham's wonderful performance as Hazel was much more deserving of a nomination than Kathy Bates, who was good as Iris but a bit limited.

Jane Krakowski's missed nomination!
The second season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt despite a few flaws was consistently entertaining and I'm very happy about Ellie Kemper's and the hilarious Tituss Burgess's nominations. I can't understand why Jane Krakowski was snubbed though: she was (rightfully) nominated for her work in the first season and she was even better in the second one. She was funny, charming, moving and quite simply wonderful whenever she appeared on screen. A rather ugly snub.

And that's it. What do you all think of this year's Emmy nominations?

5 commenti:

  1. I LOVE this year's Emmy nominations, especially because of the GOT and Mr. Robot love.
    Giueseppe: Do you watch or like any anime series? If you do, I highly recommend "Assassination Classroom"- it's an instant classic, and it has something in it for anyone, and I think you'd like it.

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. I haven't seen Mr. Robot but I really want to. Aren't you a bit pissed off by the fact that Christian Slater was snubbed? I've heard he's amazing.

      Anyway I do not watch anime series, not because I dislike them there isn't a reason in particular. I'll check "Assassination Classroom" out then :)

      Elimina
    2. Slightly pissed off, but I kinda saw it coming. Golden Globe acting winners aren't exactly lucky at the Emmys. It was a question of who'd miss out.

      PS. Please watch the english subbed version (original dub). I have a link for the show, with all the episodes- watchac2.com

      Elimina
  2. Which are your winner predictions for the acting categories?

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. I could be completely wrong but, anyway:

      Best Actor, Drama: Spacey
      Best Actor, Comedy: Tambor
      Best Actor, TV Movie or Miniseries: Vance, Cranston or even Hiddleston maybe? No idea at all
      Best Actress, Drama: Davis
      Best Actress, Comedy: Louis-Dreyfus
      Best Actress, TV Movie or Miniseries: Paulson
      Supporting Actor, Drama: Banks
      Supporting Actor, Comedy: Burgess or Hale
      Supporting Actor, TV Movie or Miniseries: Brown
      Supporting Actress, Drama: Headey
      Supporting Actress, Comedy: Janney
      Supporting Actress, TV Movie or Miniseries: Smart

      Elimina