Reviewing the Drama: Broadway, Off-Broadway, Ballet, Movies, and TV Reviews

The Golden Globes, which honor both film and television, will be handed out on Sunday, January 12, 2014, and funny ladies Tine Fey and Amy Poehler will, once again, be hosting the ceremony. (The Globes are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, HFPA.) Herein, the nominees and my commentary: Film Best Motion Picture, Drama : 12 Years a Slave Gravity Captain Phillips Rush Philomena With all the buzz around Dallas Buyers Club , I'm surprised, though not upset, that it's not on this list. Throughout, as with the other awards, I'm rooting for 12 Years a Slave . Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama : Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips Robert Redford, All is Lost Idris Elba, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom With the exception of Elba, this category is pretty much what was expected. Throughout award season, look for this race to come down to Ejiofor and McConaughey. Best P...

The 20th annual SAG awards, which honor both film and television, will be handed out on Saturday, January 18, 2014. Here are the nominees, along with my commentary. You can also view the list of nominees on sagawards.org .  Film: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture : 12 Years a Slave American Hustle August: Osage County Dallas Buyers Club The Butler Though I've only seen two of these (though I have seen the stage version of August: Osage County ), I've seen enough previews and clips of all of these to know that they really do feature an ensemble cast. Of the two that I've seen, my vote is for 12 Years a Slave , but I hope to see the other three nominees by January, at which point I might be singing a different tune. (I mean, how do you not root for Meryl Streep-Julia Roberts ( August ) fights, or Amy Adams ( American Hustle ) being amazing, as usual?) Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role : Bruce Dern, Nebraska Chi...

Do people change? Are computers the only things that can learn? These questions and more are explored in Madeleine George’s provocative new play, The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence , being given a wonderful world premiere at Playwrights Horizons. George’s play takes place, simultaneously, at several different points in time—both fiction and non, mostly non—and throughout, there are three characters, Eliza (Amanda Quaid), Merrick (David Costabile) and Watson (John Ellison Conlee).  We begin in 2011, just as the Watson Jeopardy series was wrapping up. (You’ll recall that IBM’s Watson supercomputer competed against Jeopardy ’s two winningest champions.) Eliza is interacting with her own Watson, and she is talking to it as if it were her boyfriend. Elsewhere in the 2011 storyline, we meet Merrick, a guy running for city auditor who enlists the help of a Geek Squad-like tech, (Josh) Watson, to investigate his ex-wife. (Josh) Watson ends up becoming romantically ...

The Piano Man at MSG Forever Billy Joel announced that he will play a residency at New York's Madison Square Garden for as long as there is demand. Joel said he'll play a show each month at the legendary venue, and will continue to do so for an indefinite amount of time. The first show is January 27, 2014, followed by February 3, March 21, April 18 and May 9. Future dates have not yet been announced. Don't you think this one of the raddest things ever?!? Billy Joel was my first concert (I saw the River of Dreams tour in Miami), and he's long been a favorite storyteller. Visit Rolling Stone for additional details. Award Season News Gotham Independent Film Awards —These awards, presented by the IFP (Independent Filmmaker Project), were presented on Monday night. In his analysis of the evening, The Hollywood Reporter 's Scott Feinberg notes that the awards shouldn't be taken as any kind of forecast of what's to come in awards season, since "eac...