(Kate Winslet's) Golden Globes!

Awards season is upon us, and normally I don't really care all that much because I rarely get out to the movies, but as previously mentioned, I am now getting advance copies of most of the awards contenders, and I've noticed these awards show are actually much more interesting when I know what's going on!

Just a couple of things to mention here from last night's Golden Globes...

A big hurray for Kate Winslet winning both Best Actress for "Revolutionary Road" and Best Supporting Actress for "The Reader". Winslet is this generation's Meryl Streep - simply the best actress working today, bar none. Plus, I've had a giant crush on/obsession with her since "Titanic". "The Reader" was an excellent film, and I highly recommend it... I still have not seen "Revolutionary Road", but with Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, how can it go wrong?


It's clear that "Slumdog Millionaire" is the can't-go-wrong choice for 2009... It swept all four categories it was nominated for, including Best Drama. I did enjoy "Slumdog", but I have to tell you - it reminded me a lot of "Sideways", which was the hot film during its own awards cycle a few years back. "Sideways" was a nice light comedy - a good rental, but otherwise a formulaic movie that really did nothing to advance the art of filmmaking. In other words, it was way overrated. So is "Slumdog Millionaire", in my opinion. This rags-to-riches tale of an Indian street rat winning the grand prize on the Mumbai version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" was fun, but completely predictable.

"30 Rock", "Mad Men" and "John Adams" won the big TV awards - No surprise there - all three are fabulous in their own right.

Did I mention Kate Winslet and her twin globes?

I Have Perks Again!

One thing I've definitely missed about my old job is that I used to get perks. Some pretty good perks, actually. When I worked for Disney, there were free theme park tickets and huge discounts for everything else, making it easy to feed my Disney addiction.

But being a news director had its own benefits all by itself. I would routinely receive gifts in the mail - things like T-Shirts, or tote bags, or Girl Scout cookies, from outfits looking for some free publicity. I could routinely schmooze myself into sporting events or local shows without paying. If I wanted to go to Sea World or the San Diego Zoo, I could arrange to get into those places for free as well.

So imagine how quickly I crashed to Earth knowing I could no longer just fire off an email or pick up the phone to arrange freebies. Well, at least in a small way, I'm back to getting a pretty cool perk.

When I started freelance work at ABC News, I was required to join the Writer's Guild of America. And I did not discover until just this week that it came with a pretty nifty side benefit.

It turns out the Writer's Guild hands out awards each year for writing in tv shows and movies... It's part of the same awards season that includes the Golden Globes and the Oscars. Well, as a member of the guild, I am eligible to vote. And I have started receiving review copies of Hollywood movies!

Two of the movies I've received have just arrived in theaters - In fact, one of them, "Slumdog Millionaire", arrived at my home the day before it opened in theaters. In the packaging, Fox Searchlight pictures has basically threatened my life if I try to pirate the dvd they sent me, and they've asked me to destroy the dvd as soon as I've watched the movie. I'll take that request under advisement.

I don't know if I'll ever watch any of these movies, let alone vote in the Writers Guild awards. But it's still pretty cool to own films that are still showing in theaters!

Of course, I'd trade them all to get my Disney Silver pass back... But that's another story!