Post-mortem to the 2012 SAG Awards.

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2012/01/tired_blood.php

After last night, I'm prognosticating THE HELP as winner of the Best Picture Academy Award for a simple reason: it's an uplifting (haven't seen it, but taking its fans' viewpoint into consideration) commercial hit, which will be seen by more people than THE ARTIST (which I did see, and it will probably be too strange/esoteric and "why aren't they talking" for non-big-city audiences).

Was also sad for Steve Carell to lose yet another award opportunity for playing Michael Scott on the US version of THE OFFICE.  Guessing that the uneven quality of Season 7 (which has persisted into the current episodes of the show) might have been a big factor.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/labor-law-expert-criticizes-sag-aftra-as-the-merger-that-solves-nothing/
And, as for the SAG/AFTRA merger (a fait accompli partially accomplished by AFTRA underbidding SAG on certain TV projects), it's a bad idea that was a long-ago bad idea when I was more active in SAG in the 90s (working as background actor/stand-in) and the membership-at-large frequently voted it down despite the tireless efforts of people like ex-SAG President Richard Masur to force it into reality.

But a recession economy is doing the unfortunate trick of making SAG actors sign onto the merger of an actors' union with a union that represents a lot of radio/television employees (anchorpeople, etc.) who are not actors.

All I can say is good luck trying to make all the merged actors generally happy with what could result (remembering all too well SAG's acquiring of jurisdiction over background actors in 1992, leading to the demise of the Screen Extras Guild and, temporarily, causing lower per-day rates because SAG wanted to "get the jurisdiction.").

Random thoughts after seeing THE HELP's Octavia Spencer on THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO.

1. Octavia Spencer seems like a smart person doing a lot of eye-rolling, face-pulling schtick to make nice with "Middle America."
2. If Octavia Spencer wins a supporting actress Academy Award next year for THE HELP, then she'll use it for higher-salary leverage towards co-starring with Janet Jackson in Tyler Perry's WHY DID I GET MARRIED THREE.
3. Safe to guess what Eddie Murphy as Academy Awards host won't say next year if Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis both win Academy Awards....for playing maids (the time-honored role going back to the more overtly racist Hollywood days when even Billie Holiday in a rare acting appearance in the 1940s was cast as a domestic servant).
4. Safe to guess what Chris Rock might have said if he had been allowed to host the 2012 Academy Awards.
5. I'm sorry, but I can't bring myself to see THE HELP.  It looked like a big cartoon mess from the trailer--and the clip with Ms. Spencer, Ms. Davis and Emma Stone on last night's TONIGHT SHOW didn't alter my opinion at all.
6. I'm really sorry, but it's hard for me to wrap my mind around what's so allegedly uplifting about a film climaxing with a sequence involving a pie made from excrement.  Guessing, though, that the aforementioned scene gets PORKY's-sized laughs and cheers from most audience members.