My 2012 Emmy Nominations

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

So, for the past few days, I’ve been happily hopping around my section of the Shattered Lens Bunker and do you know why?

Because it’s awards season, that’s why! With the conclusion of the 2011-2012 TV season, Emmy ballots have been mailed and votes are being cast and, come July, we’ll know which shows and performers have been nominated for the 2012 Emmys.

Before that happens, however, I would like to play a little game called “What if Lisa Was Solely Responsible For Picking the Nominees.” Here’s how it works — I looked over and studied the complete list of the shows and performances that have been submitted this year for Emmy consideration. And then, from that list, I picked my personal nominees.

(A complete list of every show and performer that’s been submitted for Emmy consideration can be found here.)

Below are my personal nominations in the major Emmy categories. Again, note that these are not necessarily the shows and performers that I believe will be nominated. Instead, these are the shows and performers that I would nominate if I was solely responsible for picking the nominees.

A complete list of my nominations in every single Emmy category can be found here. (And yes, there’s a lot of Lifetime on the list. There’s also a lot of Community.)

Best Comedy Series

Bored to Death (HBO)

Community (NBC)

Girls (HBO)

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (FX)

Parks and Recreation (NBC)

Raising Hope (Fox)

Veep (HBO)

Best Drama Series

Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

Breaking Bad (AMC)

The Client List (Lifetime)

Downton Abbey (PBS)

Game of Thrones (HBO)

Homeland (Showtime)

Pan Am (ABC)

Ringer (The CW)

True Blood (HBO)

The Walking Dead (AMC)

Outstanding Miniseries or Movie

Blue-Eyed Butcher (Lifetime)

Cyberbully (ABC Family)

Drew Peterson: Untouchable (Lifetime)

Five (Lifetime)

Girl Fight (Lifetime)

Hatfields & McCoys (History Channel)

The Hour (BBC America)

Of Two Minds (Lifetime)

Outstanding Variety Series

Conan (TBS)

Fashion Police (E)

Key and Peele (Comedy Central)

The Soup (E)

Tosh .O (Comedy Central)

Outstanding Variety Special

Betty White’s 90th Birthday Party (NBC)

Celtic Women: Believe (PBS)

The Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen (Comedy Central)

TV Land Awards (TV Land)

Wendy Liebman: Taller on TV (Showtime)

Outstanding Nonfiction Special

Bobby Fischer Against The World (HBO)

Catholicism: Amazed and Afraid (PBS)

Crime After Crime (OWN)

God Is The Bigger Elvis (HBO)

6 Days To Air: The Making of South Park (Comedy Central)

Outstanding Nonfiction Series

America in Primetime (PBS)

American Masters (PBS)

America’s Most Wanted (Lifetime)

Beyond Scared Straight (A&E)

Inside Story (Biography)

Outstanding Reality Program

Antiques Roadshow (PBS)

Dance Moms (Lifetime)

Kitchen Nightmares (Fox)

Scouted (E)

Storage Wars (A&E)

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program

The Amazing Race (CBS)

The Bachelor (ABC)

Big Brother (CBS)

The Celebrity Apprentice (NBC)

Hell’s Kitchen (Fox)

Project Runway (Lifetime)

So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)

Survivor (CBS)

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series

Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)

Johnny Galecki in The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

Danny McBride in Eastbound and Down (HBO)

Joel McHale in Community (NBC)

Lucas Neff in Raising Hope (Fox)

Jason Schwartzman in Bored To Death (HBO)

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama

Steve Buscemi in Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad (AMC)

Jeffrey Donavon in Burn Notice (USA)

Damian Lewis in Homeland (Showtime)

Andrew Lincoln in The Walking Dead (AMC)

Timothy Olyphant in Justified (FX)

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries or Movie

Idris Elba in Luther (BBC America)

Rob Lowe in Drew Peterson: Untouchable (Lifetime)

Steven Weber in Duke (Hallmark Movie Channel)

Dominic West in The Hour (BBC America)

Ben Whishaw in The Hour (BBC America)

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy

Zooey Deschanel in New Girl (Fox)

Lena Dunham in Girls (HBO)

Tina Fey in 30 Rock (NBC)

Julia Louis Dreyfuss in Veep (HBO)

Mary-Louis Parker in Weeds (Showtime)

Martha Plimpton in Raising Hope (Fox)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama

Claire Danes in Homeland (Showtime)

Sarah Michelle Gellar in Ringer (The CW)

Jennifer Love Hewitt in The Client List (Lifetime)

Julianna Margulies in The Good Wife (CBS)

Elizabeth McGovern in Downton Abbey (PBS)

Anna Paquin in True Blood (HBO)

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries or Movie

Kristin Davis in Of Two Minds (Lifetime)

Anne Heche in Girl Fight (Lifetime)

Rose McGowan in The Pastor’s Wife (Lifetime)

Emily Osment in Cyberbully (ABC Family)

Sara Paxton in Blue Eyed Butcher (Lifetime)

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series

Charlie Day in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)

Danny DeVito in It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (FX)

Donald Glover in Community (NBC)

Nick Offerman in Parks and Recreation (NBC)

Danny Pudi in Community (NBC)

Matt Walsh in Veep (HBO)

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama

Bruce Campbell in Burn Notice (USA)

Peter Dinklage in Game of Thrones (HBO)

Giancarlo Espositto in Breaking Bad (AMC)

Michael Pitt in Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

Michael Shannon in Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

Alexander Skarsgard in True Blood (HBO)

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Miniseries or Movie

Powers Boothe in Hatfields and McCoys (History Channel)

Justin Bruening in Blue-Eyed Butcher (Lifetime)

Mark-Paul Gosselaar in Hide (TNT)

Sir Roger Moore in A Princess For Christmas (Hallmark Movie Channel)

Tony Shalhoub in Five (Lifetime)

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy

Alison Brie in Community (NBC)

Kristen Chenoweth in GCB (ABC)

Anna Chlumsky in Veep (HBO)

Gillian Jacobs in Community (NBC)

Cloris Leachman in Raising Hope (Fox)

Aubrey Plaza in Parks and Recreation (NBC)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in Drama

Christine Baranski in The Good Wife (CBS)

Kristen Bauer Von Straten in True Blood (HBO)

Kelly MacDonald in Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

Christina Ricci in Pan Am (ABC)

Sophia Turner in Game of Thrones (HBO)

Deborah Ann Woll in True Blood (HBO)

Supporting Actress In A Miniseries or Movie

Tammy Blanchard in Of Two Minds (Lifetime)

Kaley Cuoco in Drew Peterson: Untouchable (Lifetime)

Lisa Edelstein in Blue-Eyed Butcher (Lifetime)

Jessica Lange in American Horror Story (FX)

Jena Malone in Hatfields and McCoy (History Channel)

Artist Profile: Frank Frazetta

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Arleigh

FRANK FRAZETTA

For the latest “Artist Profile” I have picked one of the icons and giants in the realm of fantasy art. This artist has influenced many artists who looked up to him as a mentor and inspiration. His work has also fired up the imaginations of writers and filmmakers the world over. The artist I speak of was the great Frank Frazetta.

Frank Frazetta is one of those artists whose work has become so recognizable that people know it’s his artwork even without any sign pointing it out. He has been in the forefront of fantasy artwork since he switched from doing comic strips and comic books during the 40’s and 50’s to painting covers for Warren Comics such as Vampirella, Creepy and Eerie. It was during this same time period that he began to create some of his most iconic pieces when he painted the covers for the paperback editions of Edgar Rice Burroughs classic character such as Conan and John Carter of Mars. In fact, one of the Conan paintings he did, Conan the Destroyer, sold for $1.5million dollars at an auction this past Summer of 2010.

He would add to his body of work during the 1970’s by painting album covers for such rock bands as Dust, Nazareth, Molly Hatchert, Wolfmother and Yngwie Malmsteen. One such album cover was an earlier original painting Frank used for the band Molly Hatcher. It would introduce a character who has spawned it’s own industry of comic books, posters, novels, games and collectible statues. This painting is The Death Dealer (the picture above) and it has become the one piece of Frazetta artwork which a majority of his fans around the world consider his best work.

Frank Frazetta passed away on May 10, 2010 in a Florida hospital near his home. Frank’s legacy is not just the hundred or so of paintings he had kept through the decades of his career, but also the uncounted artists he had influenced. Fantasy artists of renown themselves such as Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Joseph Vargo, Ken Kelly and Brom. The pieces of work chosen for this profile are just the tip of the work Frank left behind for future generations to study and admire.

Review: Conan the Barbarian Soundtrack (composed by Basil Poledouris)

Posted on January 4, 2010 by Arleigh

In 1982, maverick director John Milius wrote and directed a sword-and-sorcery epic based on Robert E. Howard’s pulp hero, Conan the Cimmerian. While Milius made several changes to the original character and his adventures to create a more accessible fantasy experience, Conan the Barbarian became a tremendous success and ushered in the Age of Schwarzenegger. With his charismatic leading man and a script filled with action and exotic locales, Milius now needed someone to compose a score worthy of the film’s mythic scale. His ultimate choice—composer Basil Poledouris—proved inspired.

Poledouris took an unconventional approach to scoring Conan the Barbarian. Rather than merely providing musical background to accompany scenes, he treated the score like an opera. Drawing from the influence of Richard Wagner and Carl Orff—particularly Orff’s Carmina Burana, which heavily inspired tracks like “Riddle of Steel/Riders of Doom” and “Battle of the Mounds”—Poledouris crafted a composition that could stand on its own as an operatic masterpiece. His use of leitmotifs to introduce and define characters echoed Wagner’s Ring Cycle. In “Riddle of Steel/Riders of Doom”, the intertwining themes of Conan and his nemesis Thulsa Doom are marked by pounding drums, crashing brass, and triumphant horns—a motif that returns with heightened intensity in “Battle of the Mounds.”

Another brilliant motif appears in the film’s introspective section—a more lyrical, meditative theme where Poledouris trades the martial power of drums and brass for a lighter, more emotional palette. This motif runs through a trio of tracks: “Theology/Civilization”, “The Wifeing”, and “The Leaving/The Search.” The first is a playful and airy piece that transitions seamlessly into the intimate and mournful middle section, culminating in a final movement that fuses both moods, reflecting Conan’s inner struggle and resolution in his quest for vengeance.

Other tracks contribute distinct emotional and narrative textures. “Gift of Fury” begins as a slow dirge following the destruction of Conan’s village, then swells to a dramatic crescendo that marks the end of his innocence and his descent into bondage. “The Kitchen/The Orgy” stands out for its complex duality—starting with Doom’s militaristic motif before morphing into a sensuous, decadent, and subtly discordant theme that embodies his contrasting nature: both disciplined and depraved. This piece showcases Poledouris’ deep understanding of the film’s characters and the psychological layers behind their actions.

Poledouris’ final score perfectly complements the film’s imagery and narrative while enhancing its dramatic weight. Even separated from the visuals, the symphonic and choral elements tell the story vividly—listeners can follow the emotional arc using only the liner notes. As a standalone work, it functions like a grand symphony; merged with Milius’ visuals, it achieves something transcendent.

Conan the Barbarian not only launched Arnold Schwarzenegger’s star power but also proved that sword-and-sorcery epics could be cinematic art. Milius’ decision to entrust Poledouris with the score would influence film composers for decades, demonstrating that a film’s music need not be a mere afterthought. To this day, Poledouris’ score remains his magnum opus and a benchmark for fantasy film music. Its influence can be heard as recently as Howard Shore’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, where Shore applied Poledouris’ Wagnerian leitmotif approach to weave his own operatic storytelling through music. Conan the Barbarian endures as a masterful collaboration between director and composer—a timeless work that will continue resonating long after its creators have passed into legend.

Below are videos of the only live concert conducted by Basil Poledouris of the Conan the Barbarian symphonic score.