Queen Latifah

One celebrates movies that people actually watch and the other celebrates movies that critics think people should watch.

“Milk,” the biopic starring Sean Penn about Harvey Milk, California’s first openly gay elected official, perfectly illustrated the divide between “the people” and “the critics.”

Critics loved the movie, as evidenced by a 92 percent favorable rating on the aggregate film review site Rottentomatoes.com and the eight nominations “Milk” received from the Broadcast Film Critics Association. Sean Penn received the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Milk, and the entire cast garnered the Best Acting Ensemble at last night’s Critics Choice Awards ceremony. 

Queen Latifah, host of last night's 35th annual People's Choice Awards ceremony on CBS, kicked things off by telling the audience "This past year we have all seen what the power of the people can do...I have one important question for these good people up front.  And just so you know, the correct answer tonight is yes, we can!  Say it with me now everybody!" 

 It's awards season, when Hollywood pats itself on the back while championing liberal causes under the guise of acceptance speeches, so Latifah's enthusiasm for president-elect Barack Obama's campaign phrase shouldn't come as much of a surprise.  In light of the fact that none of the winners or even the nominees contained overtly political themes, other celebrities, including Ellen DeGeneres who has been outspoken in her opposition to California's Proposition 8, managed to avoid mentioning politics and controversial issues. 

But Latifah and British actor Hugh Laurie just couldn't help themselves. 

It was certainly no surprise that NBC's "Saturday Night Live," in its most recent installment, lampooned Thursday's vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin.

However, despite doing a nice job of mocking Biden and host Gwen Ifill -- masterfully played by guest Queen Latifah -- the butt of most of the jokes was cleary Palin who was once again portrayed by Tina Fey (video embedded below the fold, photo courtesy Huffington Post):