The 13th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced this morning by previous SAG Award winners Sandra Oh and Elijah Wood. There were a few surprises that snuck in as well as some major snubs.

The Brad Pitt/Cate Blanchett film Babel garnered the most nominations out of all the motion pictures, with three nods–one being for Best Ensemble.

HBO drama The Sopranos dominated the television categories with three nominations, more than any other series–including a Best Ensemble nod, as well as nods for both lead actors, Edie Falco and James Gandolfini.

There was a tie in the Female Actor In A Comedy Series category, so there are 6 nominees there instead of the normal five.

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Leonardo DiCaprio / BLOOD DIAMOND – Archer - Warner Bros. Pictures
Ryan Gosling / HALF NELSON – Dan Dunne - THINKFilm
Peter O’Toole / VENUS – Maurice - Miramax Films
Will Smith / THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS – Chris Gardner - Sony Pictures
Forest Whitaker / THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND – Idi Amin - Fox Searchlight Pictures

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Penelope Cruz / VOLVER – Raimunda - Sony Pictures Classics
Judi Dench / NOTES ON A SCANDAL – Barbara Covett - Fox Searchlight Pictures
Helen Mirren / THE QUEEN – The Queen - Miramax Films.
Meryl Streep / THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA – Miranda Priestly - 20th Century Fox
Kate Winslet / LITTLE CHILDREN – Sarah Pierce - New Line Cinema

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin / LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE – Grandpa Fox Searchlight Pictures
Leonardo DiCaprio / THE DEPARTED – Billy Warner Bros. Pictures
Jackie Earle Haley / LITTLE CHILDREN – Ronnie J. McGorvey New Line Cinema
Djimon Hounsou / BLOOD DIAMOND – Solomon Warner Bros. Pictures
Eddie Murphy / DREAMGIRLS – James “Thunder” Early Paramount Pictures

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Adriana Barraza / BABEL – Amelia - Paramount Vantage
Cate Blanchett / NOTES ON A SCANDAL – Sheba Hart - Fox Searchlight Pictures
Abigail Breslin / LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE – Olive - Fox Searchlight Pictures
Jennifer Hudson / DREAMGIRLS – Effie White - Paramount Pictures
Rinko Kikuchi / BABEL – Chieko - Paramount Vantage

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
BABEL - Paramount Vantage
Adriana Barraza - Amelia
Cate Blanchett - Susan
Gael García Bernal - Santiago
Rinko Kikuchi - Chieko
Brad Pitt - Richard
Kôji Yakusho - Yasujiro

BOBBY - The Weinstein Company
Harry Belafonte - Nelson
Joy Bryant - Patricia
Nick Cannon - Dwayne
Emilio Estevez - Tim Fallon
Laurence Fishburne - Edward Robinson
Brian Geraghty - Cooper
Heather Graham - Angela
Anthony Hopkins - John Casey
Helen Hunt - Samantha
Joshua Jackson - Wade
David Krumholtz - Phil
Ashton Kutcher - Fisher
Shia LaBoeuf - Jimmy
Lindsay Lohan - Diane
William H. Macy - Paul
Svetlana Metkina - Lenka Janacek
Demi Moore - Virginia Fallon
Freddy Rodriguez - José
Martin Sheen - Jack
Christian Slater - Timmons
Sharon Stone - Miriam
Jacob Vargas - Miguel
Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Susan Taylor
Elijah Wood - William

THE DEPARTED - Warner Bros. Pictures
Anthony Anderson - Brown
Alec Baldwin - Ellerby
Matt Damon - Colin
Leonardo DiCaprio - Billy
Vera Farmiga - Madolyn
Jack Nicholson - Costello
Martin Sheen - Queenan
Mark Wahlberg - Dignam
Ray Winstone - Mr. French

DREAMGIRLS - Paramount Pictures
Jamie Foxx - Curtis Taylor, Jr.
Danny Glover - Marty Madison
Jennifer Hudson - Effie White
Beyoncé Knowles - Deena Jones
Eddie Murphy - James “Thunder” Early
Keith Robinson - C.C. White
Anika Noni Rose - Lorrell Robinson

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE - Fox Searchlight Pictures
Alan Arkin - Grandpa
Abigail Breslin - Olive
Steve Carell - Frank
Toni Collette - Sheryl
Paul Dano - Dwayne
Greg Kinnear - Richard

PRIMETIME TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Thomas Haden Church / BROKEN TRAIL – Tom Harte - AMC
Robert Duvall / BROKEN TRAIL – Print Ritter - AMC
Jeremy Irons / ELIZABETH I – Earl of Leicester - HBO
William H. Macy / NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES – Clyde Umney - TNT
Matthew Perry / THE RON CLARK STORY – Ron Clark - TNT

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Annette Bening / MRS. HARRIS – Jean Harris - HBO
Shirley Jones / HIDDEN PLACES – Aunt Batty - Hallmark Channel
Cloris Leachman / MRS. HARRIS – Tarnower’s Sister - HBO
Helen Mirren / ELIZABETH I – Elizabeth I - HBO
Greta Scacchi / BROKEN TRAIL – Nola Johns - AMC

O utstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
James Gandolfini / THE SOPRANOS – Tony Soprano - HBO
Michael C. Hall / DEXTER – Dexter Morgan - Showtime
Hugh Laurie / HOUSE – Dr. Gregory House - FOX
James Spader / BOSTON LEGAL – Alan Shore - ABC
Kiefer Sutherland / 24 – Jack Bauer - FOX

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Patricia Arquette / MEDIUM – Allison Dubois - NBC
Edie Falco / THE SOPRANOS – Carmela Soprano - HBO
Mariska Hargitay / LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT – Det. Olivia Benson - NBC
Kyra Sedgwick / THE CLOSER – Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson - TNT
Chandra Wilson / GREY’S ANATOMY – Dr. Miranda Bailey - ABC

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin / 30 ROCK – Jack Donaghy - NBC
Steve Carell / THE OFFICE – Michael Scott - NBC
Jason Lee / MY NAME IS EARL – Earl Hicke - NBC
Jeremy Piven / ENTOURAGE – Ari Gold - HBO
Tony Shalhoub / MONK – Adrian Monk - USA

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
America Ferrera / UGLY BETTY – Betty Suarez - ABC
Felicity Huffman / DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES – Lynette - ABC
Julia Louis-Dreyfus / THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE – Christine Campbell - CBS
Megan Mullally / WILL & GRACE – Karen Walker - NBC
Mary-Louise Parker / WEEDS – Nancy Botwin - Showtime
Jaime Pressly / MY NAME IS EARL – Joy - NBC

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
24 - FOX
Jayne Atkinson - Karen Hayes
Jude Ciccolella - Mike Novic
Roger Cross - Curtis Manning
Gregory Itzin - Charles Logan
Louis Lombardi - Edgar Stiles
James Morrison - Bill Buchanan
Glenn Morshower - Aaron Pierce
Mary Lynn Rajskub - Chloe O’Brian
Kim Raver - Audrey Raines
Jean Smart - Martha Logan
Kiefer Sutherland - Jack Bauer

BOSTON LEGAL - ABC
Rene Auberjonois - Paul Lewiston
Candice Bergen - Shirley Schmidt
Craig Bierko - Jeffrey Coho
Julie Bowen - Denise Bauer
William Shatner - Denny Crane
James Spader - Alan Shore
Mark Valley - Brad Chase

DEADWOOD - HBO
Jim Beaver - Ellsworth
Powers Boothe - Cy Tolliver
Sean Bridgers - Johnny Burns
W. Earl Brown - Dan Dority
Dayton Callie - Charlie Utter
Brian Cox - Jack Langrishe
Kim Dickens - Joanie Stubbs
Brad Dourif - Doc Cochran
Anna Gunn - Martha Bullock
John Hawkes - Sol Starr
Jeffrey Jones - A.W. Merrick
Paula Malcomson - Trixie
Gerald McRaney - George Hearst
Ian McShane - Al Swearengen
Timothy Olyphant - Seth Bullock
Molly Parker - Alma Garret
Leon Rippy - Tom Nuttall
William Sanderson - E.B. Farnum
Brent Sexton - Harry Young
Bree Seanna - WallSofia Metz
Robin Weigert - Calamity Jane
Titus Welliver - Silas Adam

GREY’S ANATOMY - ABC
Justin Chambers - Alex Karev
Eric Dane - Mark Sloan
Patrick Dempsey - Derek Shepherd
Katherine Heigl - Isobel “Izzie” Stevens
T.R. Knight - George O’Malley
Sandra Oh - Cristina Yang
James Pickens, Jr. - Richard Webber
Ellen Pompeo - Meredith Grey
Sara Ramirez - Callie Torres
Kate Walsh - Addison Montgomery Shepherd
Isaiah Washington - Preston Burke
Chandra Wilson - Miranda Bailey

THE SOPRANOS - HBO
Sharon Angela - Rosalie Aprile
Lorraine Bracco - Dr. Jennifer Melfi
Max Casella - Benny Fazio
Dominic Chianese - Corrado “Junior” Soprano
Edie Falco Carmela - Soprano
James Gandolfini - Tony Soprano
Joseph R. Gannascoli - Vito Spatafore
Dan Grimaldi - Patsy Parisi
Robert Iler - Anthony Soprano, Jr.
Michael Imperioli - Christopher Moltisanti
Steven R. Schirripa - Bobby “Bacala” Baccalieri
Jamie Lynn Sigler - Meadow Soprano
Tony Sirico - Paulie “Walnuts” Gaultieri
Aida Turturro - Janice Soprano-Baccalieri
Steven Van Zandt - Silvio Dante
Frank Vincent - Phil Leotardo

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES - ABC
Andrea Bowen - Julie Mayer
Mehcad Brooks - Matthew Applewhite
Ricardo Antonio Chavira - Carlos Solis
Marcia Cross - Bree Hodge
James Denton - Mike Delfino
Teri Hatcher - Susan Mayer
Josh Henderson - Austin McCann
Zane Huett - Parker Scavo
Felicity Huffman - Lynette Scavo
Kathryn Joosten - Mrs. McCluskey
Nashawn Kearse - Caleb Applewhite
Brent Kinsman - Preston Scavo
Shane Kinsman - Porter Scavo
Joy Lauren - Danielle Van De Kamp
Eva Longoria - Gabrielle Solis
Kyle MacLachlan - Orson Hodge
Laurie Metcalf - Carolyn Bigsby
Shawn Pyfrom - Andrew Van De Kamp
Doug Savant - Tom Scavo
Dougray Scott - Ian Hainsworth
Nicollette Sheridan - Edie Britt
Brenda Strong - Mary Alice Young
Kiersten Warren - Nora
Alfre Woodard - Betty Applewhite

ENTOURAGE - HBO
Kevin Connolly - Eric Murphy
Kevin Dillon - Drama
Jerry Ferrara - Turtle
Adrian Grenier - Vincent Chase
Rex Lee - Lloyd
Debi Mazar - Shauna
Jeremy Piven- Ari Gold
Perrey Reeves - Mrs. Ari

THE OFFICE - NBC
Leslie David Baker - Stanley Hudson
Brian Baumgartner - Kevin Malone
Steve Carell - Michael Scott
David Denman - Roy Anderson
Jenna Fischer - Pam Beesly
Kate Flannery - Meredith Palmer
Melora Hardin - Jan Levinson
Mindy Kaling - Kelly Kapoor
Angela Kinsey - Angela Martin
John Krasinski - Jim Malpert
Paul Lieberstein - Toby Flenderson
B.J. Novak - Ryan Howard
Oscar Nunez - Oscar Martinez
Phyllis Smith - Phyllis Lapin
Rainn Wilson - Dwight Schrute

UGLY BETTY - ABC
Alan Dale - Bradford Meade
America Ferrera - Betty Suarez
Mark Indelicato - Justin
Ashley Jensen - Christina
Eric Mabius - Daniel Meade
Becki Newton - Amanda
Ana Ortiz - Hilda
Tony Plana - Ignacio
Kevin Sussman - Walter
Michael Urie - Marc
Vanessa Williams - Wilhelmina Slater

WEEDS - SHOWTIME
Martin Donovan - Peter Scottson
Alexander Gould - Shane Botwin
Justin Kirk - Andy Botwin
Romany Malco - Conrad Shepard
Kevin Nealon - Doug Wilson
Mary-Louise Parker - Nancy Botwin
Hunter Parrish - Silas Botwin
Tonye Patano - Heylia Jones
Elizabeth Perkins- Celia Hodes

Screen Actors Guild Awards 43rd Annual Life Achievement Award
Julie Andrews

I’m extremely disappointed that yet again, Marcia Cross has been snubbed, but at the same time–the series has not really focused on her character this year, and seeing as how there was a tie in that category, it seems it was particularly competitive.

Also snubbed this year, is Golden Globe nominee Sacha Baron Cohen, who was hilarious in Borat. It may be that because the voting pool here is nothing but actors, that they simply just didn’t take him seriously enough. I mean, just look at the Male Actor In A Leading Role category. There are NO comedic performances.

I currently find myself thoroughly disappointed at the state of movies today. I was on the phone with a friend of mine, and a commercial came on for some big budget flick that looked horrible, and I said “Wow. Because that’s not going to suck.” She responded, “Well, what movies don’t nowadays?” And that seems to be how most people feel about movies at the current time, which could explain the recent decline in movie theater attendance and box office receipts.

But when I thought about it, I realized that there actually were decent movies out. I loved Capote, Brokeback Mountain, Transamerica, Shopgirl, Good Night, and Good Luck, In Her Shoes, The Squid and the Whale, Match Point, North Country, and many others that may not have been box office phenomena, but were very well received small films that many people (including my friend) don’t have access to (or didn’t at the time of their theatrical release).

I tried to explain to her that the good movie still existed — just no longer in the big budget, special effects, A-List actor, big-shot director, car chases and gun shooting, murder and violence, sex and drugs kind of film. The good movies existed in simple but brilliant screenplays that at heart were just about people.

This is where I get to Crash. Since I didn’t have access to the film in the theaters when it was first released, I saw it for the first time on a small screen. I found out that the movie really does live up to all the buzz surrounding it. Even on my cheap, blurred, small computer monitor, Crash grabbed me and shook me. It shook me hard.

Yes, all of the characters may not have been completely fleshed out and three-dimensional, yes, much of the film may have been manipulative and slightly contrived, and yes, the portrayals of the events and how they pan out in the film are not all necessarily realistic — but my question is “Who cares?” It was such a brilliantly done film from the first frame to the very last. The completely original, risky, and thought provoking Oscar winning screenplay (which I was shocked white, male writers - Paul Haggis and and Robert Moresco - captured so truthfully), the riveting, emotional, touching and even at times funny acting from an excellent ensemble, the pitch perfect choice of music, the inspired directing by newcomer Paul Haggis (screenwriter of Million Dollar Baby), and even the beautiful Academy Award winning editing all came together to make what was, in my opinion, one of the best movies of all time.

Now I know many people disagree with me about the quality of this movie, which may lead me to think twice about how much I loved it, but frankly, I don’t care. And personally, a few people that I know that have criticized the movie and called it overrated are people who I have observed to be prejudiced themselves, therefore concluding that the movie probably made them uncomfortable (which, by the way, was kind of the point). But before everyone jumps all over me and burns me at the stake, I want to make sure everyone understands that I am in no way saying that if you didn’t like this movie, it is because you are a racist. I’m simply saying for many people that didn’t, I’m sure the fact that it hit too close to home might have been partly to blame.

But the great thing about it is that Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco knew that this movie would make people uncomfortable (not just people who are clearly racist, but everyone — as the movie’s point is that no one can fully escape prejudice, even against their own) and that’s partly what their screenplay sets out to do.

I am reminded of D.W. Griffith when I think of Crash. D.W. Griffith was a pioneer filmmaker who made an early film called The Birth of a Nation in 1915. The Birth of a Nation was extremely popular. The film glorified slavery and provided historical justification for segregation and disfranchisement of African American people. There’s a scene where the Ku Klux Klan gallops in to save the heroine, and a scene where a white woman is forced to consider jumping off the edge of a cliff to escape a black man who is “trying to rape her.”

The film’s controversy lies in its premise that the Ku Klux Klan arose to restore order to the post-war South, as it was “endangered” by “uncontrollable” African American denizens and their allies, abolitionists, mulattos and carpetbagging Republican politicians from the North. Though popular and lucrative, the film drew significant protest upon its release. Premieres of the film were widely protested by the newly founded NAACP. Griffith was surprised by the harsh criticism. He didn’t know that there were people that felt so differently from the socio-political climate of his own environment.

He later made another film that was released that next year called Intolerance. One of the unusual characteristics of the film is that none of the characters have names. Griffith wished them to be emblematic of human types. Thus, the central female character in the modern story is called The Dear One. Her young husband is called The Boy, and the leader of the local mafia is called The Musketeer of the Slums.

All of the stories, spanning several hundreds of years and cultures, are held together by themes of intolerance, man’s inhumanity to man, hypocrisy, bigotry, religious hatred, persecution, discrimination and injustice achieved in all eras by entrenched political, social and religious systems. The film, at the time, was the most expensive film made ever made. And it completely and utterly bombed at the box-office, as its target audience (middle class Americans) hated it. It made them completely uncomfortable and hit entirely too close to home. Yet now, we realize how incredibly great the film was, and many consider it to be one of the best films in history and the greatest film of the silent era.

This is all to say what, exactly? Well two things: one, Crash, like Intolerance, is yet another example of people simply disliking a film because of controversial themes that people don’t want to deal with and thereby disregarding the quality of the film itself; and two, as Paul Haggis tried to explain in his Oscar acceptance speech, art isn’t necessarily a Shakespearian mirror held up to nature, but also a Brechtian hammer to reshape society. And if these so-called “cliche” characters and lines that Haggis and Moresco used as puppets to create this incredible interweaving story of love, corruption, indifference, regret, pain, prejudice, and hypocrisy are not entirely realistic, that’s okay. Art is not something you can truly define. It is not something you can wrap up and put into a box. True art is created when thinking outside of the box. And that’s what makes this screenplay and this film so unforgettable for me.

Terrence Howard, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon (who, by the way, should’ve beaten George Clooney), Don Cheadle, Ryan Phillippe, Larenz Tate, Michael Pena (who should’ve been nominated for an Oscar but probably wasn’t because of how little screen time he had, plus he’s a new face), Thandie Newton, Loretta Devine, Brendan Fraser, Jennifer Esposito, and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges all gave wonderful performances and all deliver what I call “un-winning” acting. They’re not trying to be right. They’re just trying to be real. And that is what I love about the way these characters were created. There is a point in time for every major character in this movie when you like them and a point in time where you dislike them, even if only for the shortest amount of time. There is no clear protagonist or antagonist — they’re all just people. Flawed, real people. And that is what allows Crash to make you feel. Whatever it makes each individual person feel — it just makes you feel.

And it does all of this on a budget of 6.5 million dollars. Wow. Maybe the major Hollywood studios can take a lesson from a movie like Crash, that is bark and bang, heart and soul, simply by just having a damn good story to tell.

I will say, that this movie is one of the most personal movies I’ve ever seen, and due to the truthful nature of the writing and the acting, creates some of the most intense moments I have ever seen on the screen (namely one with Michael Pena and his character’s daughter near the end of the movie, which had my heart racing and my eyes wet — I won’t give it away).

The power of Crash is that it can make you think differently about perception and assumptions. And whether you’re black, white, Asian, Spanish, gay, straight, male, or female, this movie can make you realize how making those assumptions about people can cloud your vision as to what is really there in front of you. But of course, that is only if you want to see it.

Many people were extremely pissed when Crash caused possibly the biggest Best Picture upset in Oscar history a few weeks ago. I, personally, was completely shocked–but was in no way upset, as I had always thought that Crash deserved it more than Brokeback Mountain (which was also a very good film–just not as good as Crash). The thing that I don’t understand, is that people are arguing that the Academy is not as liberal as they claim to be–voting for Crash instead of the gay-themed Brokeback, but Crash is just as socially relevant–in fact probably more so considering that Brokeback is simply a love story that doesn’t try in any way to be preachy or change people’s thinking, whereas Crash embraces is socio-political nature, grabbing the issue of racism and prejudice by its horns.

All I have to say, to anyone who took part in this film is simply, “Bravo.” Bravo for making a movie that makes me want to go to the movies again, thank you for making a movie that makes me re-evaluate who I am and what I believe and what perceptions I have of the world and the people in it. And bravo for being socially and culturally relevant without being biased or unfair, but most imporantly, bravo for making me believe in the power of film all over again.

In one word Transamerica is hilarious. In two words Transamerica is hilarious and moving. It’s interesting to see how the media takes certain movies and pigeonholes them, because if you have seen Transamerica and note the category that Felicity Huffman’s performance was put in the for the Golden Globes by the HFPA, you know Transamerica is not a drama. At most a dramedy, but this movie is too funny and lighthearted to be considered a straight drama. But of course, because it’s about a pre-op transsexual it’s gotta be one of those down and dirty gritty dramas, right? Wrong. But hey, at least it got Huffman a Golden Globe she other wise wouldn’t have won up against Reese Witherspoon in the Comedy & Musical category.

What Duncan Tucker does right in Transamerica is where many movies like this go wrong. It doesn’t try to preach or be socially aware. It simply just is. And that is the best kind of social commentary in film.

Transamerica is the story of a transgendered woman named Bree that has yet to have her operation. She is a middle-class conservative woman who is intelligent and intellectual, and seemingly her only friend is her therapist Margaret. Bree needs a doctor and Margaret to sign the consent form to allow her to have her operation. She gets the doctor and now all she needs is Margaret’s signature. But before Bree goes to visit Margaret, she gets a phone call from a New York police station asking for a Stanley Osbourne (Bree’s old name), saying they have his son. Bree goes to Margaret to tell her about it, laughing it off as she thinks it’s ludicrous she could have a son (or at least wants to think so seeing as how operation is very soon). But to Bree’s dismay, Margaret refuses to sign the consent form. She says Bree needs to acknowledge that Stanley is a part of her, and needs to tie up all loose ends with Stanley’s life before she can move on with Bree’s.

Bree must now drive to New York to bail out her “son” who she still thinks is lying and rush back to L.A. so that she can have her surgery. Seems pretty simple and not too funny either, right? When Bree gets to New York and bails out Toby (her son played by the very effective Kevin Zegers), he shows her a picture of his mom and dad. His dad being Stanley and his mom being Stanley’s one night stand.

Bree now knows that Toby really is her son, but poses as a Christian caseworker specializing in converting sex workers to Jesus. Toby agrees to drive back with Bree to L.A. because he wants to go there to pursue a career in film. Bree doesn’t yet know he means the pornographic kind.

This is where the bulk of the movie begins as it becomes an on-the-road film, and the dynamics of Toby’s crack-snorting New York hustler personality fizzes with Bree’s sophisticated conservatism.

Felicity Huffman’s performance in this movie is absolutely phenomenal. For a woman to play a man who is becoming a woman in itself is incredible. She has to completely strip herself of her own mannerisms and even her own voice, to completely re-learn femininity. But beyond showmanship, every line delivery, every quip, every joke, every emotion, every reaction, every facial expression is truly wonderful. She carries this splendid film like Goliath making us laugh and cry all at once.

I went to see this film twice, first at the IFC theatre in Chelsea and then at AMC Empire 25 in Times Square, and both times the entire theater was erupting in laughter from beginning to end. The interesting thing was…the second time I went with a few friends of mine…afterwards my friend asked us on the Subway “Okay…was it just me..or did that actor really look like Lynette? (Huffman’s character on Desperate Housewives)” She didn’t even know Felicity Huffman was playing the lead! How incredible is that?

This is the kind of movie that makes you remember why art is sacred and beautiful. Once this story gets rolling you completely forget that you’re watching a movie about a transgendered person or even that you’re even really watching a movie. The story is so human and so natural that it just transcends the cinematic fourth wall.

Transamerica is a beautiful film with some wonderful comic writing and performances that touches you without being manipulative or contrived. Even if simple road movies aren’t your thing, this movie is worth seeing if for nothing else to see Felicity Huffman’s brilliant Oscar-nominated performance.

Oscar gold became real gold for best-picture winner “Crash” - its DVD sales spiked after Sunday’s Academy Awards. On Monday, Lionsgate, the film’s distributor, sold 17,500 copies of “Crash,” more than half the previous week’s entire total of 33,000.

The DVD was No. 19 on Amazon.com’s top-sellers list on Wednesday, up more than 80 places from last week.

“Crash,” which was released on DVD on Sept. 6, 2005, has sold about 4 million copies to date, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. Sales also spiked after the Oscar nominations were announced on Jan. 31.

A two-disc “director’s cut” edition of the film will be released on April 4.

“Crash” opened in theaters in May 2005

For more than 100 years, mainstream Hollywood movies largely shunned gay subjects, which were either disregarded, closeted or dealt with by independent filmmakers.

But in 2005, “Brokeback Mountain,” the story of two cowboys in love, broke big at box offices and earned eight Oscar nominations, including best film. It was a hit and Hollywood loves a hit.

“Gay people are now living more honest and open lives and that leads to others wanting to know more about our lives,” said Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. “People want this product and we can provide it in a compelling and powerful way that can be profitable.”

Historians and experts divide Hollywood’s portrayal of gay life into three periods: years before the early 1930s “production code;” self-censorship under the code until the late 1960s; and the years since then as gays and lesbians have been slowly accepted into mainstream culture.

The production code, also known as the Hays Code, was devised by a forerunner of today’s Motion Picture Association of America and was strictly enforced by Hollywood’s major studios starting around 1934.

It set out general guidelines specifying that no film would lower moral standards of an audience member and included warnings against nudity and positive portrayals of crime and illicit sex.

Before the code, historians said movies showed no depictions of gays or lesbians because they largely kept to themselves and were ignored by mainstream society. As a result, the movies also set them aside, reflecting the culture of the day.

“It was not so much keeping a secret. It was more like, ‘How could you write about something that wasn’t being written about?”‘ said William Mann, author of “Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood 1910-1969.”

TO GAY, OR NOT TO GAY

Although the production code did not allow portrayals of gay life, some male roles were often built around effeminate personality traits. By association, the characters were deemed homosexual, although such a distinction was never talked about, said Jonathan Kuntz of the film and television school at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Some actors such as Franklin Pangborn enjoyed careers playing effeminate men and closeted homosexuals like Rock Hudson could live in privacy and still take heterosexual roles.

“Sexuality is overtly talked about now but wasn’t really in those days,” said Robert Osborne, author of “75 Years of Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards.”

The sexual revolution of late 1960s brought an end to the production code, and in 1969 “Midnight Cowboy” the relationship between Joe Buck (Jon Voight) and Enrico “Ratso” Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman) was widely considered a love affair, although the two never had sex on screen, as do the cowhands of “Brokeback.”

“Midnight Cowboy” became a box-office hit and won the best film Oscar, but what followed were film flops such as 1982’s “Making Love,” which made “gay film” sound like “money loser” to mainstream Hollywood. As a result, homosexual stories were fodder for independent filmmakers and art-house cinemas.

In 1993, “Philadelphia” starred Tom Hanks as a gay man, won Oscars and earned $206 million worldwide, but it was largely seen as an AIDS movie, not a gay film.

In the late 1990s, gay television shows such as “Will & Grace” and TV stars like Ellen DeGeneres helped mainstream Hollywood get to a point where it could promote a film such as “Brokeback,” the experts said. Now, they expect the major studios to be more accepting of gay stories and screenplays.

“I don’t know if we’re going to see any $200 million movies built around a gay character but certainly this will spark other films,” Kuntz said.

“Crash,” a racial drama that hinges on unexpected turns of events, scored a major upset on Sunday over Oscar favorite “Brokeback Mountain” when it won the ensemble cast award from the Screen Actors Guild.

For weeks, “Brokeback” had been collecting one film award after another, draining any suspense out of the race for the March 5 Academy Awards.

Its latest award came on Saturday night when its director Ang Lee won best director’s award from the Directors Guild of America, often an Oscar barometer.

But “Brokeback” may have hit a bump in the road with the unexpected victory for the cast of “Crash,” an ensemble drama of 36 hours in Los Angeles when a minor traffic accident triggers a series of racial confrontations that ends in murder.

The film has more than 70 actors, including many A-listers who worked for scale, including Sandra Bullock and Don Cheadle.

One reason for its success at SAG may be that its distributor, Lionsgate, sent members of the Screen Actors Guild DVDs of the film, which had been released in May and pretty well forgotten as the awards season started.

Its director and co-writer, Paul Haggis, said on Saturday that he thought he was just a lucky man to be nominated for anything and said making the film was a touch-and-go effort in which the producers frequently ran out of money and had to use Haggis’ own home for rehearsals.

Philip Seymour Hoffman was named best actor for his role as writer Truman Capote in “Capote” and Reese Witherspoon best actress for her role as June Carter Cash in the Johnny Cash biography “Walk the Line.”

“Sometimes I just really can’t shake the feeling that I am really just a little girl from Tennessee,” Witherspoon said.

The prizes bolster both Hoffman’s and Witherspoon’s chances of winning an Oscar when the Academy Awards are presented in March.

Paul Giamatti, an often ignored character actor, won the best supporting actor award for his role as the manager in “Cinderella Man,” about the life of Depression-era boxer James J. Braddock.

British actress Rachel Weisz won best supporting actress for her role as the doomed activist wife of a British diplomat in “The Constant Gardener,” a film based on a thriller by spy novelist John Le Carre.

ABC’s hit series “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives” won top acting honors for television.

The “Lost” cast won the best ensemble performance award for a dramatic television series while “Desperate Housewives” received the ensemble award for best comedy series.

It was the first nomination and win for “Lost,” a castaway thriller that has helped reinvigorate ABC’s prime-time schedule.

S. Epatha Merkerson won the award for best actress in a television movie for her performance in “Lackawanna Blues,” and had the audience erupting in laughter and applause when she thanked her divorce lawyer.

Felicity Huffman was named best actress in a comedy series for her work as one of the “Desperate Housewives.”

Sandra Oh was named best actress in a television drama for her work as a fledgling doctor in “Grey’s Anatomy” on ABC while Kiefer Sutherland was named best actor in a dramatic series for his work as a U.S. agent out to foil terrorist plots in “24″ on Fox.

Breathless and in tears, Oh, who also won a Golden Globe for her role, thanked her fellow Asian American actors. She said: “I share this with you … be encouraged and keep shining.”

Sean Hayes, named best actor for his role in the gay-themed NBC comedy “Will & Grace,” joked about the publicity around Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain” as he accepted his award.

“First of all, I would like to thank Ang Lee for taking a chance on me,” he said. “I know everyone in Hollywood knows it’s such a risk to play a gay character.”

“Brokeback” has won major craft guild awards from Hollywood producers and directors and a victory at SAG for best ensemble cast — the top award given by actors — would have made it virtually unbeatable at the Academy Awards.

Not everyone is comfortable with the film, whose theme is a forbidden romance between two cowboys.

President George W. Bush ducked a question last week on whether he planned to see the film, and no movie whose theme is a gay romance has won a best-picture Oscar, the symbol of mainstream success.

Oscar nominations will be announced on Tuesday.

Yesterday, Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, and the divine Anne Hathaway appeared on the Oprah show to promote the 50 million dollar indie hit Brokeback Mountain. They talked about the kiss, Heath and Michelle’s baby, the groundbreaking movie and its Oscar possibilities. Heath also made some dirty jokes, and Anne kind of insulted Oprah, but it was all in good fun. Here is their appearance on the Oprah show. Enjoy.

I have to write an introduction to this post, because right now I am livid.

Now on to the actual article.

Several commentators on television and radio have either hosted debates or openly questioned what they have claimed are the insidiously progressive goals of director Ang Lee’s award-winning film Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features, 2005). But how many of them have actual seen the film? Some media personalities and conservative guests feel free to opine on the film’s purported “agenda” to “mainstream homosexuality,” while openly admitting they have not seen it.

More than one panel discussing both the merits and cultural implications of the film has featured conservative guests whose knowledge of the film extended merely to what they had read or seen about it. While it is not clear whether MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough has seen the film, he has twice featured debates on his show, Scarborough Country, about whether the film advanced Hollywood’s “radical agenda.” On the December 15 edition of his program, for example, he hosted Catholic League president William A. Donohue, who admitted he had not seen it, opposite US Weekly senior editor Bradley Jacobs, who said he had. On the show, Donohue said he planned to see King Kong (Universal Studios, 2005) instead, asserting,

“I suspect the people who make these kind of movies, though — like gay cowboy — would go to see a movie called ‘The Gay Gorilla,’ ” explaining: “[T]hat’s the difference between Hollywood and mainstream.”

Other networks have displayed a similar pattern. CNN’s Larry King Live dedicated the entire January 17 edition of its show to “the debate over gay love and gay marriage” thanks to “Brokeback Mountain’s big night at the Golden Globes.” Of the four guests, the two social conservatives — radio host Janet Parshall and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president R. Albert Mohler Jr. — admitted to not having seen the film. Mohler said that he had read the screenplay and “know[s]” the original short story. Parshall imputed the “chatter” surrounding the film to “the homosexualizing of America.”

Fox News constitutes no exception to the trend. On a December 17 Fox News Watch panel that included Fox News host Eric Burns, media writer Neal Gabler, Fox News contributor Jane Hall, Fox News political analyst Jim Pinkerton, and nationally syndicated columnist and Fox News host Cal Thomas, only Pinkerton had seen the film — still in limited release at the time — because he “was ordered to see it by Fox News.” Yet, Burns felt qualified to ask, “[S]houldn’t this movie be more controversial than it is?” and Thomas called it “a wet kiss … to the gay community.” In an appearance on the January 2 edition of Special Report with Brit Hume, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer apparently felt the film — along with Cuban President Fidel Castro and Iran — merited one of his three 2006 predictions, prognosticating: “Brokeback Mountain will have been seen in the theaters by 18 people — but the right 18 — and will win the Academy Award.” He did not specify who the “right 18″ were, nor did he clarify which Academy Award the film would receive.

Some news hosts have also voiced concerns over the film’s message and purpose while acknowledging that they haven’t actually seen it. Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly has discussed the film at least eight times on his nationally syndicated radio show, The Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly, and his cable news show, The O’Reilly Factor. He repeatedly insists that has no plans to see it — “I want to watch the highlights of the game, not the pup tent” — but remains adamant that the film wins critical praise because the media “want[s] to mainstream homosexual conduct.” John Gibson has joined in on the act, asking a guest on the December 9 edition of his Fox News show, The Big Story with John Gibson, “Which is harder to watch, the pulling out the fingernails of Syriana (Warner Bros, 2005) or [actors] Heath [Ledger] and Jake [Gyllenhaal] enamorada in this?” After he said he received criticism for the remark, Gibson defended his comparison between same-sex relations and torture, stating:

GIBSON: Hollywood may, in fact, want to give every Oscar it can find to the first gay cowboy movie. But I think most people do not want to go into a darkened room with a tub of popcorn and munch away watching two guys get it on. I just don’t.

[...]

I had one prominent writer say he wouldn’t come on my radio show because I made hate-encouraging speech when I said I couldn’t figure out which was going to be harder to watch, the guys smooching in Brokeback or [former CIA operative] Bob Bear getting his fingernails ripped out in Syriana.

I said, hey, I know people who are gay. I have nothing against them, but I don’t want to see this movie.

Finally, MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson, who hadn’t seen the movie but “heard it’s good,” argued on the January 17 edition of The Situation with Tucker Carlson: “[A]t some point, Hollywood should give up its mission as a kind of, you know, evangelist for a political persuasion and just shut up and make the movie.”

From the December 15 edition of MSNBC’s Scarborough County:

DONOHUE: Well, I heard that from other people that it is, artistically, a good movie.

So, I haven’t — going to see it. Gay cowboy doesn’t interest me. I am going to go see King Kong. I suspect the people who make these kind of movies, though — like gay cowboy — would go to see a movie called ‘The Gay Gorilla’. But that’s the difference between Hollywood and mainstream.

From the January 17 edition of CNN’s Larry King Live:

PARSHALL: No, I didn’t see the film and I’m not at all surprised that out of seven [Golden Globe] nominations Brokeback walked away with four — and some might say that’s an indication of what the Oscar ceremonies might look like later on this year.

KING: Why would you comment on it if you haven’t seen it?

PARSHALL: Well, I’m interested in all of the buzz around the film. I’m not the least bit surprised that we’re hearing so much chatter. After all, I think what we’re witnessing, Larry, is the homosexualizing of America.

[...]

MOHLER: I’ve not seen the movie, Larry, and that’s a matter of decision, not just a matter of chance. Like others, I don’t feel any need to see the movie. I have read the screenplay. I know the short story and, of course, I know what the movie is about because it’s out there so much in the media.

That’s the main issue. I am not a movie critic. I really can’t speak to the cinematography. I can just speak to what the cultural meaning of this film is and why I see it as a great challenge.

KING: Didn’t the short story move you at all?

MOHLER: Well, no, actually –

KING: For example, you’re a reverend. Didn’t you have some compassion for what happened to the younger one of the two?

MOHLER: Well, absolutely. You have to feel compassion when anyone feels pain and when anyone goes through that kind of struggle. But, you know, I really am horrified to think about where that story ended.

You know, my main concern, Larry, is not with the gospel of heterosexuality — even though I think that’s very important — it’s with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and what I find lacking in the movie, the screenplay, and in the short story is any resolution that really brings these persons to know why they were created and how God really intends them to live, and how they would find their greatest satisfaction in living just as God had intended them for his glory.

From the December 17 edition of Fox News Watch:

GABLER: Well, on the one side, Hollywood is going to say, “It’s a litmus test for tolerance toward - toward homosexuals.” And on the right-wing side, if indeed they take the bait, they’re going to attack the movie and say, “This is another way of — of advancing the so-called homosexual agenda.”

THOMAS: Well, let me take the bait. But I won’t go in the direction you’re thinking of.

I’ve been reading the reviews on this, and they’re really interesting. You compare this movie with, for example, [The Chronicles of Narnia:] The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, [Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media, 2005] which just premiered two weeks ago, took in $67 million in its first weekend. Now, we were treated prior to the release of the Narnia movie to all kinds of columns, including by Peter Steinfeld’s in The New York Times and other mainstream venues, that this had a subliminal religious message. Lock up your children! They might see Jesus! Oh my goodness, it’s terrible what’s going on out there. And that’s the kind of coverage and reviews that they got.

This thing — breaking new ground, a love story — you should go see it. So the difference has an agenda attached to it.

[...]

With the way Hollywood covers religion, it is stereotypical and outrageous. The movie Saved! [MGM/United Artists Studios, 2004] was about a hypocritical, oversexed, (inaudible) kids in high school; an unbelievable bigoted thing. This thing is a — is a wet kiss, you should pardon the expression, to the gay community.

From the January 2 edition of Fox News’ Special Report with Brit Hume:

JIM ANGLE (Fox News chief Washington correspondent): I’m joined by our all-star panel, with or without crystal balls, to find out what they expect to see in this coming year. Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard, Mort Kondracke, executive editor of Roll Call, and the syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer, Fox News contributors all.

OK. 2006, Charles, what do you see?

KRAUTHAMMER: I see, number one, Fidel Castro dies. I say this not with any inside medical information as a doctor but he’s actuarially due. Cuba becomes a free country and a decent one and a favorite American resort.

Number two, Iran reaches the point of no return in uranium enrichment, declares openly it’s going to seek and acquire nuclear weapons. [United Nations] Security Council will do absolutely nothing.

To balance the bad news, number three, the [President Bashar Al-] Assad dictatorship in Syria will be overthrown.

And last but not least, Brokeback Mountain will have been seen in the theaters by 18 people, but the right 18, and will win the Academy Award.

ANGLE: Brokeback Mountain, the movie about gay cowboys.

KRAUTHAMMER: Exactly.

From the December 14 broadcast of Westwood One’s The Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly:

O’REILLY: Okay. You know, it’s interesting because the polls show that Americans are going back to church in greater numbers than they were 10 years ago. But I believe that there’s a segment of Americans that have — are rebelling against the no boundaries deal, and they’re so fed up that they said, “You know, maybe there’s another way,” and that’s why that’s happening.

But in popular culture, things are getting worse. You know, I can give you — I could sit here and give you examples all day. Let me just give you this example, and this is a controversial example. This gay cowboy movie — and it’s going to win, you know, a lot of awards all over — and their — the media is pushing this like crazy. And I couldn’t care less about it, to tell you the truth.

I probably will not go to see it, you know, just because I don’t care about gay cowboys. I mean, it’s — to be quite frank. If it were straight cowboys, I probably wouldn’t go to see it. I saw a lot of cowboys when I was a little kid, I loved the cowboys then. Right now, cowboys don’t really mean much to me. So, probably not going to go and see it.

But you’re going to see, over the next month, this movie being pushed and pushed and pushed by every media you can imagine. Why? Because they want to mainstream homosexual conduct. That’s the goal.

And from the January 17 broadcast of The Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly:

O’REILLY: And I get a kick out of Brokeback Mountain. I get a kick — I’m not going to go see it, because people have seen it. [Legal analyst] Lis Wiehl said it was boring. But if it were — you know — if I had gotten good reviews from the people I know who have seen it, I’d go. But, you know, I’m not really interested in sheep herders. They got two sheep herders and two guys, and they’re in Montana. I like Montana. Or Wyoming. Maybe, they cross the border here and there. I don’t know.

But they’re in the tent together rolling around. It’s not — you know, to me — I want to watch ESPN. OK. I’m not — the pup tent rolling around — I want to watch the highlights of the game, not the pup tent. Just me. You want to go? Go. All right.

From the December 9 edition of Fox News’ The Big Story with John Gibson:

GIBSON: Do you have a sense that this is a — you know — an agenda film, that somebody decides we got to make a movie about gay cowboys?

[...]

Which is harder to watch, the pulling out the fingernails of Syriana or Heath and Jake enamorada in this?

And the January 2 edition of The Big Story with John Gibson:

GIBSON: My Word. I’ve been getting no small amount of grief about the fact that I’ve been making fun of Brokeback Mountain, the gay cowboy movie. I’ve been making fun of it because it seems to me to be a movie in defiance of its audience.

I don’t think it’s going to be a box office hit. It will make no money, at least in Hollywood terms. I’m sure it will be a critical hit. Hollywood may, in fact, want to give every Oscar it can find to the first gay cowboy movie.

But I think most people do not want to go into a darkened room with a tub of popcorn and munch away watching two guys get it on. I just don’t.

I had one prominent writer say he wouldn’t come on my radio show because I made hate-encouraging speech when I said I couldn’t figure out which was going to be harder to watch, the guys smooching in Brokeback or Bob Bear getting his fingernails ripped out in Syriana.

I said, hey, I know people who are gay. I have nothing against them, but I don’t want to see this movie.

From the January 17 edition of MSNBC’s The Situation with Tucker Carlson, which featured radio host Rachel Maddow:

CARLSON: I’m not attacking any of these pictures or shows on artistic merit. I haven’t seen Brokeback Mountain, but I’ve heard it’s good. But the point is: Isn’t it about time that art was made for art’s sake? A; B: Is it not true that Hollywood does have completely different values than most of the rest of America and seeks to use its art to shove those values down the throats of the rest of America? That’s just true, whether you agree with the values or not.

MADDOW: How is Brokeback Mountain not art for art’s sake? You’re saying that it was driven by a political agenda and it’s — therefore, that overwhelms its artistic achievements?

CARLSON: No, I’m actually not saying that. I haven’t seen it, and I’ve heard its artistic achievements are impressive

MADDOW: Right.

CARLSON: And so, you can — I think you can enjoy it for its own sake. I am merely saying it is used by people with a political agenda — in this case, its own director — to make a political point. And it just seems to me, at some point, Hollywood should give up its mission as a kind of, you know, evangelist for a political persuasion and just shut up and make the movie.

This article, from Media Matters for America, can be viewed again here.

It seems Desperate Housewives fans had better hope ABC has signed Emmy WinnerFelicity Huffman to an iron-clad contract: the Lynette Scavo actress revealed today she’s planning to follow up on her successful role in Transamerica with another movie project.

Speaking to the Houston Chronicle, Huffman said she’s currently reading scripts to see if there’s a project she could take up in Marc, when Housewives goes on hiatus. “Before, I never got auditions, or if I did, I had three lines here or four days there,” Huffman admitted. But things are different for her now that she’s being named as a possible Oscar candidate.

“It’s completely out of my control,” she said. “The fact that more people than my mom and 10 of my friends are even watching it — that’s a win to me. [An Oscar nomination] would be great for the movie, but you don’t want to set it up so it’s a failure, so I really don’t think about it.”

Even though the film is only now taking off, Huffman completed work on Transamerica close to two years ago, in between the Housewives pilot and the start of production for the rest of the first season. This led to some confusion for Huffman, as her character in Transamerica is called Bree, just like Marcia Cross‘ character in Housewives”When we started Season 1 five days after I finished, they’d call Marcia to the set by saying, ‘Bree to the set!’ and I’d come flying out of my trailer!,” Huffman said.

Before Housewives fans get worried about Huffman’s continued presence on the show, she at least sounded very positive about the way the show is turning out. “For me, the scripts have been fantastic,” the actress said, then went on to praise Housewives creator Marc Cherry. “They never let him out of his little writing house. That guy works 24-7 — maybe 36-7.”

For the full interview with Huffman, in which she discusses the similarities between her own life and that of her character, please head over to the Houston Chronicle.