'Sopranos' goes out on high note
In an Emmy broadcast that meandered between comedy, music and simple uncertainty, it was only fitting that there was no clear winner Sunday night at the 59th annual show.
But "The Sopranos," one of the most highly regarded TV series in history, took home the biggest prize, best drama.
The top six categories -- outstanding comedy, outstanding drama, and lead male and female performers in both genres -- were split among six different winners. "30 Rock" picked up the Emmy for best comedy series. Ricky Gervais of "Extras" and America Ferrera of "Ugly Betty" won awards for lead acting in comedy series.
Sally Field added a political statement Sunday night.
"If the mothers ruled the world, there would be no g--damned wars in the first place," said Field, trying to recover her train of thought while accepting her Emmy for best actress in a drama for "Brothers & Sisters."
Her Emmy was a mild upset, as she defeated previous winners Edie Falco and Mariska Hargitay to take the award.
James Spader took home the Emmy for best actor in a drama.
"I feel like I just stole a pile of money from the Mob," said Spader, referring to his "Sopranos" competition.
Another sometime political figure, former vice president and "recovering politician" Al Gore, received an Emmy -- and a standing ovation -- Sunday night at the 59th annual TV awards show.
Gore and Joel Hyatt won their Emmys for creating Current TV, a cable television network whose programs are often created by viewers.
"We are trying to open up the television medium so that viewers can help to make television, and join the conversation of democracy, and reclaim American democracy by talking about the choices we have to make," said Gore.
The TV honor is the latest Hollywood recognition for Gore. The film "An Inconvenient Truth," which starred Gore, earned an Oscar in February.
"Ugly Betty's" America Ferrera won best actress in a comedy series, and "Extras" star Ricky Gervais won best actor in a comedy series.
HBO's "The Sopranos," considered the front-runner for best drama series, won two awards at the Emmys, for directing and writing.
The second award went to the show's creator, David Chase. The show's lead acting performers, James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, lost in their categories.
The AMC miniseries "Broken Trail" was also roundly honored at the show, winning three awards in the early going -- for best actor, best supporting actor and best miniseries or movie.
Helen Mirren continued her remarkable run with another Emmy -- she also won last year -- this time for "Prime Suspect: The Final Act." Mirren has won several awards in the last year, including an Oscar for best actress for "The Queen."
"Come on, music," she laughed, believing that she was going on too long in her speech.
"Prime Suspect: The Final Act" also won for directing and writing.
Tony Bennett was also honored at the Emmy ceremony. His special "Tony Bennett: An American Classic" picked up several awards, including outstanding variety, music or comedy special.
In a mild upset, Ricky Gervais won best actor in a comedy for his performance in "Extras." "The Amazing Race" won best reality/competition program for the fifth time.
Katherine Heigl of "Grey's Anatomy" and Jaime Pressly of "My Name Is Earl" took home Emmys in supporting categories.
"Here's to our little engine that could, that finally did," said a tearful Pressly, accepting her honor.
Heigl maintained she didn't come prepared with a speech because her mother told her she wasn't going to win.
"My own mother told me I didn't have a shot in hell at winning tonight," said Heigl. "This is my dream come true. I've been doing this for 17 years."
Also taking home supporting performer Emmys were Jeremy Piven of "Entourage" and Terry O'Quinn of "Lost." Piven, who emotionally thanked his late father after winning at last year's Emmys, did so again this year.
The show began with an irreverent musical number sung by "Family Guy's" Stewie and Brian, taking aim at everything from "the garbage on the airwaves" to the reputations of the broadcast networks.
"We're definitely on Fox tonight," joked host Ryan Seacrest, noting the characters' jibes.
"The Office's" Rainn Wilson wasn't taking the awards too seriously.
Asked to explain why he was nominated this year but not last, he had a straightforward answer: "I'm a much better actor this year than last year," he told CNN on the red carpet.
He didn't win, which was probably for the best. If he had, he impishly threatened to put the statue on eBay. E-mail to a friend
Emmy Award Winners
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Winner: "The Sopranos" (1999)
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Winner: "30 Rock" (2006)
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Winner: James Spader for "Boston Legal" (2004)
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Winner: America Ferrera for "Ugly Betty" (2006)
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Winner: Sally Field for "Brothers & Sisters" (2006)
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Winner: Ricky Gervais for "Extras" (2005)
OUTSTANDING REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM
Winner: "The Amazing Race" (2001)
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Winner: Helen Mirren for Prime Suspect: The Final Act (2006) (TV)
OUTSTANDING MADE FOR TELEVISION MOVIE
Winner: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007) (TV)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Winner: Judy Davis for "The Starter Wife" (2007) (mini)
OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SPECIAL
Winner: Tony Bennett: An American Classic (2006) (TV)
OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SERIES
Winner: "The Daily Show" (1996)
OUTSTANDING MINISERIES
Winner: Broken Trail (2006) (TV)
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Winner: Robert Duvall for Broken Trail (2006) (TV)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Winner: Katherine Heigl for "Grey's Anatomy" (2005)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Winner: Thomas Haden Church for Broken Trail (2006) (TV)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Winner: Jaime Pressly for "My Name Is Earl" (2005)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Winner: Terry O'Quinn for "Lost" (2004)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Winner: Jeremy Piven for "Entourage" (2004)
OUTSTANDING REALITY PROGRAM (PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED)
Winner: "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List" (2005)
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED PROGRAM (PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED)
Winner: "South Park" (1997)
Cronenberg, Maddin big winners at TIFF awards
Winnipeg director Guy Maddin was the big winner at the Toronto International Film Festival Awards, capturing the prize for best Canadian feature film for My Winnipeg.
The director, known for his quirky films such as Tales from the Gimli Hospital and The Saddest Music in the World, was given the Toronto-City Award for Best Canadian Feature Film at a gala luncheon held in Toronto on the final day of the festival.
Maddin also goes home with $30,000.
The film has been described as a poetic meditation on the filmmaker's hometown and his childhood. It was hailed as a work of "remarkable ingenuity [and] originality."
Meanwhile, another Canadian director scored a major prize. David Cronenberg's Russian mob thriller Eastern Promises, starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts, was handed the Audience Choice Award, which comes with $15,000.
His movie beat out Jason Reitman's Juno, starring Ellen Page and Michael Cera.
Other Canadians at the podium include Stéphane Lafleur for Continental, Un Film Sans Fusil for best Canadian first feature film.
The film follows four people whose lives unexpectedly intersect because of a man's disappearance in the woods.
Chris Chong Chan Fui's Pool, in which the main character is a water reservoir, won best Canadian short.
The international critics' award, known as the FIPRESCI Prize, was given to La Zona by Rodrigo Plá. The film explores the relationship between the rich and the poor in Mexico through the strange friendship that develops between two teenage boys.
Other winners include Cochochi, by Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán, in the Discovery Award category, while the Artistic Innovation Award went to Anahí Berneri's Enacarción.
Enacarción — about a B-list actress who makes a difficult trip back to her hometown and faces her family — was noted for its "economy of vision."
The jury commended Berneri's ability to "render the fetishized female body in a distilled and forceful examination of both the movie star and movie industry and their relationship to everyday life."
The festival, which launched Sept. 6 with Canadian director Jeremy Podeswa's Fugitive Pieces, featured 349 films over a 10-day period.
O.J. faces felony charges in robbery
LAS VEGAS - O.J. Simpson was arrested Sunday and faces multiple felony charges in an alleged armed robbery of collectors involving the former football great's sports memorabilia, authorities said.
Simpson was arrested shortly after 11 a.m., Capt. James Dillon said.
The charges against Simpson will include robbery with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary with a firearm, all felonies, Dillon said. More charges could be brought against him, he said.
Simpson was being held at Las Vegas police offices pending the arrival of his lawyer, who was expected later Sunday, Dillon said.
"He was very cooperative, there were no issues," Dillon said.
At least one other person has been arrested and police said Sunday that as many as six people could be arrested in connection with the alleged armed robbery that occurred in a room inside the Palace Station casino-hotel on Thursday.
Simpson, 60, has said he and other people with him were retrieving items that belonged to him. Simpson has said there were no guns involved and that he went to the room at the casino only to get stolen mementos that included his Hall of Fame certificate and a picture of the running back with J. Edgar Hoover.
Simpson told The Associated Press on Saturday that he did not call the police to help reclaim the items because he has found the police unresponsive to him ever since his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, were killed in 1994.
"The police, since my trouble, have not worked out for me," he said, noting that whenever he has called the police "It just becomes a story about O.J."
The Heisman Trophy winner, ex-NFL star and actor lives near Miami and has been a tabloid staple since his ex-wife and Goldman were killed in 1994. Simpson was acquitted of murder charges, but a jury later held him liable for the killings in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Police said two firearms and other evidence were seized at a private residence early Sunday.
Walter Alexander, 46, of Arizona, was arrested Saturday night on two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary with a deadly weapon.
He was released without bail on Saturday night, Dillon said.
Besides the two firearms, police said they seized other evidence during early morning searches of two residences, Lt. Clint Nichols said.
"It was evidence of a crime that was committed," Nichols said. "And I believe we recovered some clothing that the individual was wearing in the commission of the robbery."
Simpson said auction house owner Tom Riccio called him several weeks ago to say some collectors were selling some of his items. Riccio set up a meeting with collectors under the guise that he had a private collector interested in buying Simpson's items.
Simpson said he was accompanied by several men he met at a wedding cocktail party, and they took the collectibles.
Alfred Beardsley, one of the sports memorabilia collectors involved in the alleged robbery, has said he wants the case dropped and that he's "on O.J.'s side."
'The Brave One' is No. 1 at box office
LOS ANGELES - The Jodie Foster vigilante flick "The Brave One" scared up $14 million at the box office to become the weekend's top film.
The Warner Bros. tale of revenge transcended gender, appealing to older women as well as men who might naturally be expected to enjoy the violent, R-rated film.
"Revenge movies often appeal to men, but the fact that Jodie Foster was in it brought in the women," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "That combination worked."
While the film's box office take was fairly modest, it is about right for this transition time of year between the summer blockbuster season and the fall Oscar push. The Warner Bros. film displaced last week's box-office winner, "3:10 to Yuma," which placed second with $9.2 million in ticket sales.
The post-summer season is also a time when R-rated, adult-themed fare stands a better chance with audiences.
"After the summer, your midweek business drops substantially and you become a weekend business," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros. "You need strong reviews to keep your motor going."
Fellman said the film should stand up well against the more youth-oriented films that will fight for the top spot next weekend — "Good Luck Chuck" and "Resident Evil."
Three smaller films hoping to build Oscar buzz finished out of the top 10 over the weekend, but did well in limited release.
The David Cronenberg crime thriller "Eastern Promises," had an impressive per-screen average of $36,845 playing on 15 screens. The movie, about Russian mobsters in London, stars Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts.
Also opening well was "Across the Universe," the Julie Taymor film inspired by music from The Beatles.
The film, starring Evan Rachel Wood, earned $685,000 for a per-screen average of $29,783.
The Iraq war film "In the Valley of Elah," opened with $138,000 on nine screens for an average take of $15,333. The movie stars Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron.
"We could be talking about all three of these films come Oscar time," Dergarabedian said. "The per-screen average indicates the intensity with which people are interested in these films and deservedly so. This is what the fall is all about."
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "The Brave One," $14 million.
2. "3:10 to Yuma," $9.2 million
3. "Mr. Woodcock," $9.1 million.
4. "Dragon Wars," $5.4 million.
5. "Superbad," $5.2 million.
6. "Halloween," $5 million.
7. "The Bourne Ultimatum," $4.2 million.
8. "Balls of Fury," $3.3 million.
9. "Rush Hour 3," $3.3 million.
10. "Mr. Bean's Holiday," $2.7 million.