HOME Saturday, January 07, 2006 It's Nearly Written In Stone This week, the Screen Actor's Guild and the Director's Guild released their nominations for the best of acting and directing for 2005.  And these nominations, especially the Director's Guild nominations, give insight to how directors and actors are voting. In recent history, the nominees of the Director's Guild award go on to be nominated for Best Director and Best Picture nominations at the Oscar.  If you didn't catch the news, here are the nominees for this year's Director's Guild award: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck Paul Haggis, Crash Bennett Miller, Capote Steven Spielberg, Munich Here are the nominations for the SAG Awards: Best Actor:  Russell Crowe, “Cinderella Man”; Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Capote”; Heath Ledger, “Brokeback Mountain”; Joaquin Phoenix, “Walk the Line”; David Strathairn, “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Best Actress:  Judi Dench, “Mrs. Henderson Presents”; Felicity Huffman, “Transamerica”; Charlize Theron, “North Country”; Reese Witherspoon, “Walk the Line”; Ziyi Zhang, “Memoirs of a Geisha.” Best Supporting Actor: Don Cheadle, “Crash”; George Clooney, “Syriana”; Matt Dillon, “Crash”; Paul Giamatti, “Cinderella Man”; Jake Gyllenhaal, “Brokeback Mountain.” Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, “Junebug”; Catherine Keener, “Capote”; Frances McDormand, “North Country”; Rachel Weisz, “The Constant Gardener”; Michelle Williams, “Brokeback Mountain.” Best Ensemble Cast (which equates to Best Picture):  Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Crash, Good Night, and Good Luck, Hustle & Flow. In my opinion, I don't think Hustle & Flow has as much of a chance as Munich for Oscar Best Picture or Director. But I think it is great that it was honored by the SAG. Tomorrow night, turn your flat screen TVs on and watch the Golden Globes.  Prediction: I can't help but think that this is George Clooney's year.  If he comes away empty handed, I'll be surprised. Other than this, I feel all of the nominated films are excellent.  I'll be happy with any one of them as the winner. After all the awards are handed out, we can start talking Oscar nominations.  The envelopes please! 10:24:27 PM   | COMMENT [] | MiPoesias, Volume 20:Issue 1 I read all of the poetry sections this morning, including the best of CafeCafe 2005.  Being a member of the CafeCafe poetry forum, my opinion of the poems will obviously seem biased. So what! I LOVE every single poem listed there! And they should impress everyone because they represent the best the forum offered in 2005. The poets chosen as the best of the forum for 2005 include close friends and poets I have highlighted on my blog: Pris Campbell, Lee Herrick and Diego Quiros. Other poets include: Lyle Daggett,  David Ayers, Ryan Wilson, Annmarie Eldon, Sharon Brogan, and Jill Chan (from New Zealand, my second home).  In the main poetry section of the issue, I am likewise impressed with the poets and poetry selected for this issue. Every poem is excellent in its own way.  And I hope by saying that, you don't get the impression that I'm just being nice. But, I do have my absolute favorites. Here they are: "A Sky That Looked Make-Believe; Buildings That Looked Real" by Jenny Boully (Winner of the best title!) "School Days" by Gianmarc Manzione "Let Us Consider" by Ron Androla "What Has Been Lost" by George Lober "Last Lines" by Richard Blanco All three poems by Reb Livingstone  Also, Birdie's short story Gateway is also a highlight of this issue. Congratulations on a masterful issue, D!  10:07:02 PM   | COMMENT [] | Blog banner taken from the oil painting "The Departure" (40"x 30") by Michael Parker, 1999. E-MAIL ME FILM PAGE BIO PREVIOUS POSTS On Running and My Painting 'Marathon' It Was An Oscar Type of Morning Crash Wins SAG Award for Best Ensemble Cast! Ang Lee Wins DGA Ancora Shines! Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth at Sundance The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe Mary Oliver and Monet Georg Trakl and Fallen Angel Now That the Whole Neighborhood Knows 63rd Annual Golden Globe Awards® Goes Cowboy Mike in front of Costiera Amalfitana Critics Choice Awards Gives Ang Lee Top Awards It's Nearly Written In Stone MiPoesias, Volume 20:Issue 1 Love In A Time of Terror: A Review of Sally Potter's Yes Seafarer Highest Grossing Films of 2005 Colorstrology Working On My Next MiPo Column Roger Ebert and Critics' Top Ten Lists for 2005 Lorna Dee Cervantes, Mammatus What a Week This Has Been! Out on the Town with Vertigo Pushcart Prize for Neil Aitken Golden Globe Nominations for Year Ending 2005 FAVORITE BLOGS    Archives July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 POETRY Walking to the Cineplex My Son’s Chants Plotting Escape Defending Yourself I Don’t Like FAVORITE POSTS The Portrait of Diego Keros Running Isn’t Supposed to be a Contact Sport The Door In the Floor (2004) Sin City (2005) The Head Bonker(2005) Little Terrorist (2005) MUSIC REVIEWS Mario Frangoulis Sarah Brightman's 'Harem' Spectacular Switchfoot: The Beautiful Letdown The Reinvention of Madonna Duran Duran "Astronaut" Tour U2: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb IL DIVO: Review of "Mama" Video NEWS   Salon   LiberalOasis   New York Times   Slate   Tom Paine   Mother Jones   The Guardian   CNN   The Washington Post   - Start your own blog   Subscribe to this blog in   Radio: