Nikki Finke will give you a vision of low-rent corruption that, for all I know, is entirely true. It sure seems to match the often bizarre-to-inexplicable nominations and awards at times. One thing is sure, few of us will ever let the Globes live down that infamous 1982 award to Pia Zadora when she won “New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture” award for a movie called “Butterfly.” People make fun of the fact that the less than superb actress won the award, but it’s a lot more shocking when you consider that her competition was probably two of the more exciting movie performances of the entire 1980s, Howard E. Rollins in “Ragtime” and, more famously, Tim Hutton in “Ordinary People.” I guess they split the pro-talent vote. The category was dead within two years.

Meanwhile back here in 2010, the dramatic “Best Picture” list is mostly in line with the movies that are generally getting a lot of awards and nominations, though I’m sure people will have the usual disagreements. (I know I do). Also, no big surprise, “The Social Network” and “The King’s Speech” did very well in the nominations. “The Fighter” and “Inception” also got a bit of a boost that might Academy voters keep them in mind as Oscar dark horses.

This year’s “Comedy or Musical” Best Picture category is, however, a real doozy. It really looks like the foreign press thinks that comedies don’t really have to be good to be nominated; it’s a sort of twisted semi-reverse snobbery. I know reviews and awards are not the same, but the critically drubbed “The Tourist” got a “Fresh” rating of 07% from “Top Critics” and 20% from critics overall at Rotten Tomatoes. Could the reactions of Hollywood Foreign Press members be that different from domestic press?

I know there’s been some quibbling about whether it qualifies as a “Comedy.” That doesn’t really bother me. I’m sure it’s trying to be funny and probably has a happy ending. That makes it a comedy in my book, though not necessarily a good one. Also, I have nothing against contrarians who laud movies others deride, but the Hollywood Foreign Press isn’t some group of freethinking cinephiles in the tradition of Pauline Kael and Manny Farber.

As for the other films in the category, only “The Kids Are All Right” has been generating the kind of overall appreciation that makes it awards material. “RED” is a reasonably well-liked, successful film, but this will probably be it’s only award nomination outside of genre-specific groups. “Alice in Wonderland” did very well but got a “meh” critical reaction overall and will probably get some technical Oscar nominations. “Burlesque” is a movie that people barely liked as a sort of guilty pleasure and pretty clearly is only on the list because the Golden Globes people really want Cher and Christina Aguilera to drop by.

On the other hand, a couple of thoughts about the overall awards trends. It’s really looking like “True Grit” isn’t going to get a whole lot of Oscar love if these patterns hold, though it did do pretty well with the Critics Choice Awards. Between the past awards given to the Coen Brothers and Jeff Bridges (the Academy likes to spread the awards around) and the fact that even critics’ groups, the Coens’ natural constituency, haven’t given it that many awards, I’d say it’ll lucky to be one of the 10 films nominated for Best Picture. Not that that means I’m looking any less forward to seeing it. If anyone out really thinks that really awards make a movie necessarily better than one that doesn’t, please stop thinking that. On the other hand, it’s better when movies that win awards are, at least, considered to be good by a sizable number of people.

Not too much to say about the acting nominations except that they are generally in line with the overall starfracking and glamor obsession that is the Globes’ specialty. Therefore Lesley Manville’s highly unglamorous performance in “Another Year” was ignored. Let’s hope the Academy voters are a bit more discerning, though Manville’s character won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.

After the flip, I’ll present the complete list of awards, including for television. First, however, I’ll permit myself one TV thought, which is also a movie thought. The love for Olivier Assayas’s “Carlos” continues from the L.A. Film Critics awards, but this time it really was the 5.5 hour version, primarily intended for European television but shown on Sundance and screened in theaters here as well, that was nominated.

*****

1. BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
a. BLACK SWAN
b. THE FIGHTER
c. INCEPTION
d. THE KING’S SPEECH
e. THE SOCIAL NETWORK

2. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
a. HALLE BERRY, FRANKIE AND ALICE
b. NICOLE KIDMAN, RABBIT HOLE
c. JENNIFER LAWRENCE, WINTER’S BONE
d. NATALIE PORTMAN, BLACK SWAN
e. MICHELLE WILLIAMS, BLUE VALENTINE

3. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
a. JESSE EISENBERG, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
b. COLIN FIRTH, THE KING’S SPEECH
c. JAMES FRANCO, 127 HOURS
d. RYAN GOSLING, BLUE VALENTINE
e. MARK WAHLBERG, THE FIGHTER

4. BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. ALICE IN WONDERLAND
b. BURLESQUE
c. THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
d. RED
e. THE TOURIST

5. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. ANNETTE BENING, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
b. ANNE HATHAWAY, LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS
c. ANGELINA JOLIE, THE TOURIST
d. JULIANNE MOORE, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
e. EMMA STONE, EASY A

6. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. JOHNNY DEPP, ALICE IN WONDERLAND
b. JOHNNY DEPP, THE TOURIST
c. PAUL GIAMATTI, BARNEY’S VERSION
d. JAKE GYLLENHAAL, LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS
e. KEVIN SPACEY, CASINO JACK

7. BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
a. DESPICABLE ME
b. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
c. THE ILLUSIONIST
d. TANGLED
e. TOY STORY 3

8. BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
a. BIUTIFUL (MEXICO/SPAIN)
b. THE CONCERT (FRANCE)
c. THE EDGE (RUSSIA)
d. I AM LOVE (ITALY)
(LO SONO L’AMORE)
e. IN A BETTER WORLD (DENMARK)

9. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
a. AMY ADAMS, THE FIGHTER
b. HELENA BONHAM CARTER, THE KING’S SPEECH
c. MILA KUNIS, BLACK SWAN
d. MELISSA LEO, THE FIGHTER
e. JACKI WEAVER, ANIMAL KINGDOM

10. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
a. CHRISTIAN BALE, THE FIGHTER
b. MICHAEL DOUGLAS, WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER
SLEEPS
c. ANDREW GARFIELD, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
d. JEREMY RENNER, THE TOWN
e. GEOFFREY RUSH, THE KING’S SPEECH

11. BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
a. DARREN ARONOFSKY, BLACK SWAN
b. DAVID FINCHER, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
c. TOM HOOPER, THE KING’S SPEECH
d. CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, INCEPTION
e. DAVID O. RUSSELL, THE FIGHTER

12. BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
a. DANNY BOYLE, 127 HOURS
SIMON BEAUFOY
b. LISA CHOLODENKO, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
STUART BLUMBERG
c. CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, INCEPTION
d. DAVID SEIDLER, THE KING’S SPEECH
e. AARON SORKIN, THE SOCIAL NETWORK

13. BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
a. ALEXANDRE DESPLAT, THE KING’S SPEECH
b. DANNY ELFMAN, ALICE IN WONDERLAND
c. A.R. RAHMAN, 127 HOURS
d. TRENT REZNOR, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
ATTICUS ROSS
e. HANS ZIMMER, INCEPTION

14. BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
a. “BOUND TO YOU” — BURLESQUE
Music by: Samuel Dixon
Lyrics by: Christina Aguilera, Sia Furler
b. “COMING HOME” — COUNTRY STRONG
Music & Lyrics by: Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey, Troy Verges
c. “I SEE THE LIGHT” — TANGLED
Music by: Alan Menken
Lyrics by: Glenn Slater
d. “THERE’S A PLACE FOR US” — CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER
Music & Lyrics by: Carrie Underwood, David Hodges, Hillary Lindsey
e. “YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE LAST OF ME” — BURLESQUE
Music & Lyrics by: Diane Warren

15. BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
a. BOARDWALK EMPIRE (HBO)
Leverage, Closest to the Hole Productions, Sikelia Productions and Cold Front Productions, HBO Entertainment
b. DEXTER (SHOWTIME)
Showtime, John Goldwyn Productions, The Colleton Company
c. THE GOOD WIFE (CBS)
CBS Television Studios
d. MAD MEN (AMC)
Lionsgate Television
e. THE WALKING DEAD (AMC)
AMC

16. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
a. JULIANNA MARGULIES, THE GOOD WIFE
b. ELISABETH MOSS, MAD MEN
c. PIPER PERABO, COVERT AFFAIRS
d. KATEY SAGAL, SONS OF ANARCHY
e. KYRA SEDGWICK, THE CLOSER

17. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
a. STEVE BUSCEMI, BOARDWALK EMPIRE
b. BRYAN CRANSTON, BREAKING BAD
c. MICHAEL C. HALL, DEXTER
d. JON HAMM, MAD MEN
e. HUGH LAURIE, HOUSE

18. BEST TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. 30 ROCK
b. THE BIG BANG THEORY
c. THE BIG C
d. GLEE
e. MODERN FAMILY
f. NURSE JACKIE

19. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES –COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. TONI COLLETTE, UNITED STATES OF TARA
b. EDIE FALCO, NURSE JACKIE
c. TINA FEY, 30 ROCK
d. LAURA LINNEY, THE BIG C
e. LEA MICHELE, GLEE

20. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. ALEC BALDWIN, 30 ROCK
b. STEVE CARELL, THE OFFICE
c. THOMAS JANE, HUNG
d. MATTHEW MORRISON, GLEE
e. JIM PARSONS, THE BIG BANG THEORY

21. BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. CARLOS
b. THE PACIFIC
c. PILLARS OF THE EARTH
d. TEMPLE GRANDIN
e. YOU DON’T KNOW JACK

22. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. HAYLEY ATWELL, PILLARS OF THE EARTH
b. CLAIRE DANES, TEMPLE GRANDIN
c. JUDI DENCH, RETURN TO CRANFORD
d. ROMOLA GARAI, EMMA
e. JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT, THE CLIENT LIST

23. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. IDRIS ELBA, LUTHER
b. IAN MCSHANE, PILLARS OF THE EARTH
c. AL PACINO, YOU DON’T KNOW JACK
d. DENNIS QUAID, THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP
e. EDGAR RAMIREZ, CARLOS

24. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. HOPE DAVIS, THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP
b. JANE LYNCH, GLEE
c. KELLY MACDONALD, BOARDWALK EMPIRE
d. JULIA STILES, DEXTER
e. SOFIA VERGARA, MODERN FAMILY

25. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. SCOTT CAAN, HAWAII FIVE-O
b. CHRIS COLFER, GLEE
c. CHRIS NOTH, THE GOOD WIFE
d. ERIC STONESTREET, MODERN FAMILY
e. DAVID STRATHAIRN, TEMPLE GRANDIN

As we discussed on Thursday, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One” would have had to suffer a truly enormous second weekend drop, or its nearest competitor would have had to be a HUGE over-performer, for it to come in at any spot but #1 this weekend. Still, these last five days were a bit more competitive than expected.

Over just this weekend (Friday-Sunday), the latest entry in J.K. Rowling’s enormous fantasy opus dropped by a hefty but not surprising 59.7% from last weekend with an estimate of $50 million and change for studio Warner Brothers, according to Box Office Mojo. Over at Anne Thompson/Indiewire land, Anthony D’Alessandro reports that the fantasy feature earned some $76.3 over the entire Thanksgiving weekend. (Nikki Finke has a slightly higher figure along with the predictable extra snark.)

Coming up a very healthy #2 was Disney’s “Tangled.” Reports of the death of Disney fairy-tale adaptations and princess tales may be taking a very Mark Twain-worthy turn. The 3D animated musical comedy, which is receiving hearty praise from critics and top grades from Cinemascore, earned a stellar $69 million estimate over the five day period and came within a hair’s breadth of the Potter-plex over the weekend with $49.1 million. Close enough that, when the actuals come out, it’s not impossible that “Tangled” could actually win the weekend. Of course, with this much money involved, neither film could possibly be termed a “loser.”

That, however, is not the case for the weekend’s other two new releases. The musical’s new lease on life took a small hit this weekend with a disappointing run for “Burlesque.” The poorly reviewed pic earned an $11.8 million weekend estimate for Screen Gems/Sony in the #4 spot after “Megamind,” and somewhere in the neighborhood of $17 million over the five day period, perhaps $7 million below the expected take. Still, D’Alessandro reports a very good Cinemascore rating, which may indicate strong legs or at least that people who really wanted to see a movie with Cher and Christina Aguilera got what they wanted.

Bringing up the rear after #5 “Unstoppable,” which is holding very nicely indeed in Week 3 with an estimated $11.75 for Fox, was Edward Zwick’s “Love and Other Drugs.” How Nikki Finke could describe Zwick’s first attempt at a romantic comedy/drama, 1986 near-crime against humanity (and David Mamet) “About Last Night,” as “now classic” is a mystery to me. Less of a mystery is the fact that a poorly reviewed attempt at Oscar bait is a movie with no place to call home. So, those $9.85 weekend and $14.5 holiday weekend estimates are absolutely no surprise.

The Dwayne Johnson action fest “Faster” also lost its personal race this weekend, with a rather slower $8.7 and $12.2 million estimate. La Finke notes that the marketing budget on the film was kept modest (so that’s why director George Tillman, Jr. talked to me?) and, at least, CBS Films prexy Les Moonves seems committed to the long haul with his fledgling film company.

Meanwhile, in limited release-land, the big news was the big weekend for “The King’s Speech” which earned by far the weekend’s biggest per-screen average with a king-size $87,500 average on four screens. Considering this film is both reportedly extremely good, stars English actors portraying royalty, and from the Weinsteins, its heavy Oscar presence seems assured alongside “The Social Network” (which I finally saw last night and was absolutely floored by) and “The Black Swan” (which I haven’t seen yet, but seems to floor everyone who sees it).

On the heels of its boffo $125 million opening weekend, Warner Brothers’ “Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows: Part One” would have to drop by what I’d think is an unprecedented percentage in its second weekend to get anywhere even close to the $40 million or so jolly Carl DiOrio expects for this week’s new CGI animated comedy based on the fairly tale “Rapunzel,” “Tangled.” The film, which Disney has seemed slightly nervous about, marks the final bow for the Disney princess brand and fairy tale adaptations for some time, we’re told, and the studio has been trying hard to sell it to males.

Though I might personally prefer my princesses 2D and traditionally animated, the tale has enraptured most critics and our David Medsker is rather sweet on it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it over perform — not because the people listen to critics but because the critics are (mostly) people. Maybe it’s a bit early to retire the whole fairy tale princesses thing.

Also looking strong and with definite female appeal — though plenty of PG-13 level under-clothed attractive women are on offer for ogling males — is the apparently deliberately hoaky musical, “Burlesque.” Though the film is getting some guilty pleasure semi-love from Jason Zingale, it’s not getting the guilt-ridden love of critics over all, not that it will matter for a movie, fans of Cher and Christina Aguilera and glitz will show. Fans of rom-coms, however might not show as  much for Edward Zwick’s attempt at something a bit more biting than the usual in the genre, Fox’s “Love and Other Drugs.” Any Oscar hopes for the Jake Gyllenhaal/Anne Hathaway pairer seem beyond remote in the face of unimpressive reviews. and I suspect this is the kind of movie that actually needs to be good to do terribly well. Still, the considerable charisma of its two stars and the lack of adult-skewing date-type movies might help it achieve its rather modest expectations.

Bringing up the possible rear, or maybe not, is the relatively lowish budget actioner starring Dwayne Johnson, “Faster.” Though I enjoyed interviewing director George Tillman, Jr., the movie has received little critical applause, not that it particularly needs it. It’s possible, however, that considering the lack of action-fare right now, males might want to smell what Tilman, the ex-Rock, and a strong supporting cast are cooking. I’m sure CBS Films would find that delicious.

Via Movieline, when you’re talking “Jackass: 3D” stupid is matter-of-factly the name of the game. I understand this movie fully exploits the gimmicky side of 3-D and I actually enjoy that stuff, though I don’t call it filmmaking. Nevertheless, being Mr. Squeamish, I’m not really up for fecal material and urine and God-knows-what-else they’re semi-literally likely to throw at me. That’s probably why I’ve never even seen the show on TV, much less plunked down money to watch at the local multiplex. On the other hand, I’ve got to admit that this trailer made me laugh and, as far as it goes, this would probably be a blast to watch in 3-D, especially after a beer or two.
Jackass 3D

Trailer Park Movies | MySpace Video

And now for something completely different, except in terms of gray cells. An apparent musical of sorts, “Burlesque” seems to borrow heavily from everything from “42nd Street” to “Flashdance” and with an emphasis on the sheer dumbness that made the latter movie work for millions and the combination of streetwise brass and complete naivete that still makes the Busby Berkeley classic tick along for movie geeks. Anne Thompson says I should never underestimate the savvy of Screen Gems “topper” (I prefer the term “prexy”) Clint Culpepper. When you’ve got Cher and Christina Aguilera being anchored by Stanley Tucci and Kristin Bell, she may be right. This movie looks as dumb as a doorstop to me, but we all know that in show business, dumb can be smart.

Last night’s season finale of “American Idol” had a bit of everything. It even had another somewhat surprising ending, at least from where I sit. Ryan Seacrest promised that there would be a few tributes to outbound Simon Cowell during the night, and there were. But here is how the rest of the show went down, and we’ll sum it up as quickly as we can:

The Season 9 Top 12 sang Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” and once we saw the school kids dressed like Alice Cooper we knew the man himself would make an appearance and he did. But he didn’t sound very good.

Last season’s champ, Kris Allen, sang his single “The Truth”…it was a B-plus performance

Then came the first of the Simon Cowell tributes, followed by Siobhan Magnus and Aaron Kelly doing The Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love,” during which the two living Bee Gees (Barry and Robin Gibb) came out and performed with them. That was cool, but they didn’t sound great either.

Michael Lynche came out and sang The Doobie Brothers’ “Takin’ It To the Streets,” and Michael McDonald joined him on stage. McDonald sounded great in spots, not so great in others.

Dane Cook did a tribute to Simon Cowell and I’ll say it again…this guy is absolutely not funny at all. He never is and I don’t get it!

Lacey Brown and Didi Benami started Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” and were joined by the other women from this season, and then finally by Christina, who wound up finishing with a song by herself. Man, can that girl belt it. The finalists from this season had to be thinking, “holy crap.”

Then Lee and the other guys started a Hall & Oates medley and were joined by Daryl Hall and John Oates. Those guys sounded very good.

Then a quick check in with former contestants Janell Wheeler in Crystal’s hometown of Toledo and Matt Rogers in Lee’s hometown near Chicago.

Crystal came out and sang Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic” and was joined by Alanis herself. That was pretty cool, but the two of them walking around nervously on stage was hard to watch.

Carrie Underwood sang her new single, “Undo It,” co-written by Carrie with judge Kara DioGuardi. I’m happy to report that we forwarded through this entire performance.

Then Kris Allen presented two custom-decorated Fords to both Lee and Crystal, and they could not have looked more unenthusiastic. Pretty funny stuff.

Then came one of the night’s great moments…..Casey James started strumming and singing Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” and I got chills as I knew what was coming….Bret Michaels. He got one of the biggest ovations of the night and rightly so, as the man battled for his life with a brain hemorrhage this past month. And he was just crowned the “Celebrity Apprentice” a few nights ago!

Then Lee Dewyze performed with the band Chicago to symbolize his roots. Yawn.

Another great moment in the show’s history followed, as General Larry Platt returned to sing “Pants on the Ground,” complete with dancers and a band. Even ol’ Larry could dance! He was joined by former contestant William Hung. Just heartwarming, I tell you.

Then Paula Abdul came out and did what looked like a comedy skit to pay tribute to Simon, but it just made me uncomfortable. How about you? I mean, that was beyond weird. After that, Kelly Clarkson and every American Idol champ except David Cook came out to sing together, and they were joined by other former contestants such as Justin Guarini, Diana DeGarmo, and Jason Castro. Then Simon joined them on stage and made a tearful goodbye speech that may have been rehearsed, but probably not.

Then Janet Jackson performed and was half singing, half lip-synching.

Finally it was time to announce the winner, who certainly would be Crystal, right? Well, no! It was Lee Dewyze, ladies and gentlemen. I admit I thought Lee really came on the last few weeks, and was peaking, but Crystal just annihilated him on Tuesday night. But, just like the last two seasons, the person we thought would win did not.

Still, Lee is a humble and worthy champion, and he was overcome by emotion because I’m pretty sure he didn’t think he would win. As Mrs. Mike pointed out, though, Crystal will now get to make an album the way she wants to, and Lee will have to make that co-written 19 Entertainment schlock. Mrs. Mike said this after throwing pillows at the TV!

Thanks for reading everyone, and enjoy your summer!