'Mad Men' cast goes Rat Pack

 

Cast members of the Emmy-, Golden Globe- and SAG-winning series "Mad Men" were back at their Rat Pack best in Vegas this week with '60s-era songs, fan dances and Sammy, Dean and Frank-esque onstage patter.

Glad to see the NATPE convention still believes in its high-powered entertainment.

For a full account of the event -- can't you almost smell the bourbon? -- go here. 

GLAAD for 'Milk,' 'True Blood'

Now, it would've been news if "Milk," "The L Word," and "Brothers & Sisters" didn't make the list of GLAAD nominees for sensitive, real-world portrayals of members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.

But that's not the way it went down.

Have to wonder about that nod for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," though. Was that for the soft-core threesome parts, or the one much-overhyped kiss between Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz? Just curious.

Thrilled to see the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation give props to one of the most daring new TV shows, HBO's "True Blood," and one of its most compelling characters, diner-hash-slinger-and-vampire-blood-dealer-extraordinaire Lafayette (played by Nelsan Ellis, pictured). 

The nods also recognize that the gritty and very male Guy Ritchie caper "RockNRolla" successfully and hilariously showed its homoerotic side, and that Kathy Griffin's "My Life on the D-list" always, always belongs in this company.

More details and a full list of nominees here.

Bird's eye view of SAG awards

 

Last night's "15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards" just made us realize, again, that the bird's eye view from the press room -- oh, sure it comes with a few chocolate chip cookies -- can be rather limiting.

So after the live show was over, we did what we often do these days. We went home and watched it on TV. Boy, the stuff we missed while we were jacking around with the settings on our iBook to get Internet access, trying to make heads or tails of Sean Penn's acceptance speech, and wondering just how good those "cheesy eggs" are on the "House" set.

And never mind sitting through the innumerable lame fashion queries from the assembled reporters, along with the long-winded pronouncements about the winner and his/her project. Was there a question in there? Anywhere? Those were the lowlights.

Some highlights:

Jane Krakowski nearly popped out of her gorgeous red dress during the preshow, and later, she cracked an anorexic "Ally McBeal" joke while accepting "30 Rock's" comedy ensemble trophy from a skeletal looking Claire Danes.

This was Sally Field's first SAG Award after six nominations and 45 years in the biz.

It was Penn's first SAG award after three noms ("Dead Man Walking," "Mystic River" and "I Am Sam").

It was Meryl Streep's second SAG award after 11 noms (the other win was for "Angels in America").

In a moment worthy of the ongoing SAG labor dispute, a montage clip of Heath Ledger as the Joker in "The Dark Knight" had prescient words for the actors: "If you're good at something, never do it for free."

Say, did loose cannon Josh Brolin just reach over and pinch James Franco's arse? Sure looked that way. Maybe that's not an inappropriate onstage intro for "Milk."

"The dude playing the dude disguised as another dude" sounds even funnier when it's spoken by the proper British actress, Kristin Scott Thomas.

Number of standing ovations: 5 (Ledger's win for best supporting actor, Penn and Streep's wins, James Earl Jones' accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award -- where he gave shout outs to both the Book of Genesis and the late Paul Newman -- and the energized, pogo-ing cast of "Slumdog Millionaire").

For more details, including the full list of winners and THR video, go here. And for some background on the SAG civil war, which was largely set aside for last night's festivities, check this out.

 

Hamm on labor

It's a solid wall of "Mad Men" in the front of the press room, all tuxedo bedecked and devilishly handsome. Emphasis on the devil part.

But where are the women of "Mad Men," the reporters want to know.

"They're out making sandwiches," one of the crew said. "They're making drinks," somebody else joked.

Oh, those guys. The stunning women showed up shortly, after some photos.

And finally, a timely question about winning an award against the backdrop of SAG's labor unrest.

Hamm took the bait: "It's challenging. It's a difficult time for the union and for unions in general."

With the new presidential administration and its softer stance on labor unions, maybe some of that love will trickle over to Hollywood, he speculated. 

"We will continue to negotiate in good faith and in solidarity," Hamm said rather hopefully, since there's been a bitter split among some actors who think SAG should continue pushing for Internet residuals and strike if necessary and others who want the matter settled.

But just to be reminded of where we are, the next question was about Jon Hamm's hair, which gave him a chance to talk about his Don Draper 'do that held up one time when he got clocked with a piece of scenery on the set. Seven stitches, but not a lock out of place.

Bless that Brylcreem.

Broadcast and cable

Sally Field said she thought it would be "one of the cable girls" who'd take home the SAG Award for lead actress in a drama. 

She meant Elisabeth Moss, Kyra Sedgwick or Holly Hunter.

Turned out she won for playing the omnipresent matriarch on "Brothers & Sisters."

And so far tonight, the trophies have been fairly evenly split, with network holding its own. Cable's been a critical darling for so long now, it's interesting to see a little broadcast showing (even though much of that's resting on the delicate but sturdy shoulders of Tina Fey).

Congrats NBC!

Winslet's awards boot camp

Not sure how much better this makes us feel about "The Reader," but Kate Winslet just told the gathered press folks backstage that she didn't necessarily like or sympathize with her character in the Holocaust drama.

At least it's nice to hear.

Doesn't really change our opinion of the drama, which has polarized audiences into either "love it" or "hate it." Yes, we'd be in the latter camp.

Winslet, luminous and flustered, wondered aloud if there's some kind of awards boot camp that would teach her how to make speeches. (Chances are she'll get good at it by Oscar time. You know, practice, practice). The press let her off the hook by asking those usual probing questions about who designed her dress (Narciso Rodriguez) and why she chose it (the color).

'30 Rock,' 'Mad Men' get SAGs

 

Jane Krakowski is the new Tracy Morgan, kind of, with a good quip about dragging some weirdos off the street to fill out the cast of "30 Rock," which just won the SAG Award for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy.

Maybe she knows that the pickings are pretty good around the Shrine and its surrounding USC 'hood.

But she jested. And she really just meant Jack McBrayer anyway.

So it's "30 Rock" and now "Mad Men" as best comedy and drama, respectively.

Our streak continues, if you don't count those last two winners that we completely missed the boat on (we chose "Mad Men's" Jon Hamm as the leading drama dude, but Hugh Laurie won for the second year in a row for "House"; and we thought "Mad Men's" Elizabeth Moss could pull out a win, but the trophy went instead to Sally Field from "Brothers & Sisters.")

The Kate Winslet show

 

Let's hope the opening "I'm an Actor" montage, especially the Will Arnett "I'm an alcoholic, no, an actor" bit, will make it quickly to the YouTubes.

But we digress.

It's the Kate Winslet show again, just as it was at the Golden Globes, and the lovely British actress just hyperventilated her way through another acceptance speech. This time, like at the Globes recently, the win is in the best supporting category for her performance in "The Reader."

So does that mean she'll pick up a double win tonight? That lead role in "Revolutionary Road," just as the period drama itself, seems to have lost its luster this awards season. Her Oscar nod is for "The Reader," where the voters elevated her to lead, which she is, and ignored her campaign for supporting there.

We'd thought Penelope Cruz could pull it out in this race. Kind of a shame.

Tina Fey gets political

 

Oh happy day. It's not monsooning on the SAG Awards like it was last year, a technical snafu that nearly had your resident Gold Rusher ripping out handfuls of hair (someone's) has been resolved, and we're 2 for 2 on our predictions.

Wahoo!

Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin just picked up the first two trophies of the night. Sure, it was predictable because they're on a roll. But allow us this small measure of gloating. It might not continue.

Last year's SAG Awards happened during the WGA strike, and were allowed to take place because of a waiver. This time, it's not the writers union that's going through labor pains. 

It's SAG itself, and that wasn't lost on Fey, who dedicated her award to her young daughter (who sometimes likes to dress like our new president Barack Obama). Little Fey, her mom told us, will one day watch "30 Rock" on the Internet and say, "What do you mean you don't get residuals for this?"

Doubt this will be the last reference tonight of the ongoing kerfuffle between SAG and the entertainment conglomerates, and between SAG and itself.

SAG award predictions

 

It's a guild kind of weekend, with the PGA awards tomorrow night and the SAG kudos on Sunday, where we'll be live blogging a show that throws film and TV talent into one room, pours copious amounts of hooch and skips along at an unhurried but consistent pace (no bloated three-hour Oscar-style fest here, praise be, because as we recall the heat, the electricity and the coffee maker all failed last year. Damn ghetto press room).

Check out the Gold Rush predictions below (XX marks the spot), and come back Sunday for the SAG results -- we'll go to the Shrine, so you don't have to!

SCREEN ACTORS GUILD

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"

Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"

XX Sean Penn, "Milk"

Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"

 

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"

Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"

Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"

Meryl Streep, "Doubt"

XX Kate Winslet, "Revolutionary Road"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Josh Brolin, "Milk"

Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"

Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"

XX Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"

Dev Patel, "Slumdog Millionaire"

 

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams, "Doubt"

XX Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"

Viola Davis, "Doubt"

Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Kate Winslet, "The Reader"

  

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

"Doubt"

"Milk"

"Frost/Nixon"

XX "Slumdog Millionaire"

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

 Ed. Note: Yeah, we're probably wrong about this, because it's very much a story-driven film, but feel like "Slumdog" is wallowing in so much goodwill right now that we had to pick it to win something. More likely? Any of the performance pieces -- not "Button" -- would be a better bet.

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

XX "The Dark Knight"

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"

"Iron Man"

"Hellboy II: The Golden Army"

"Wanted"

 

TELEVISION

 Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"

XX Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"

Hugh Laurie, "House M.D."

William Shatner, "Boston Legal"

James Spader, "Boston Legal"

 

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

Sally Field, "Brothers & Sisters"

Mariska Hargitay, "Law & Order: SVU"

Holly Hunter, "Saving Grace"

Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer"

XX Elisabeth Moss, "Mad Men"

 

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

XX Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"

Steve Carell, "The Office"

David Duchovny, "Californication"

Jeremy Piven, "Entourage"

Tony Shalhoub, "Monk"

 

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Christina Applegate, "Samantha Who?"

America Ferrera, "Ugly Betty"

XX Tina Fey, "30 Rock"

Mary-Louise Parker, "Weeds"

Tracy Ullman, "Tracy Ullman's State of the Union"

 

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

"Boston Legal"

"The Closer"

XX "Mad Men"

"House"

"Dexter"

 

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

XX "30 Rock"

"Desperate Housewives"

"Entourage"

"The Office"

"Weeds"

 

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

Tom Wilkinson, "John Adams"

Ralph Fiennes, "Bernard and Doris"

XX Paul Giamatti, "John Adams"

Kiefer Sutherland, "24: Redemption"

Kevin Spacey, "Recount"

 

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

Laura Dern, "Recount"

XX Laura Linney, "John Adams"

Shirley MacLaine, "Coco Chanel"

Phylicia Rashad, "A Raisin in the Sun"

Susan Sarandon, "Bernard and Doris"

 

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

"Heroes"

"Friday Night Lights"

XX "Prison Break"

"The Unit"

"The Closer"

PRODUCERS GUILD OF AMERICA

XX "Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

"The Dark Knight"

"Frost/Nixon"

"Milk"

"Slumdog Millionaire"