Some performers wait decades for their first citations, and some hit home runs their first times at bat. The following are examples of the latter: Ten individuals from nine titles released between 1982 to 1996 who all scored Oscar nominations (or, in two cases, wins) for movie debuts made after the performers turned 20. I'm using that age as a starting point because I wrote about Oscar-acknowledged youths Quinn Cummings, Justin Henry, and Tatum O'Neal just last month. And also because if I keep raving about Anna Paquin in The Piano, I'm gonna start looking like a Person of Interest.

The following quintet of 1982 to 1991 releases is composed of four contemporary movies and one period piece – with that “period,” at the time of its filming, all of 19 years old – that personally inspire smiles and tears across the board through memorably satisfying takes on adult romance. One of them, in its first minutes, finds Daniel Day-Lewis whispering to a woman, in unexpectedly romantic fashion, “Take off your clothes” … and he does it while wearing a face mask! Well, okay, not a face mask. He actually says it with a towel wrapped on his face. But still … covered faces on-screen can be sexy, too! So maybe there is hope!

If you've got a few hours to spare, you can do a deep dive into all of the contenders at the Emmy Awards' official Web site. But if you're looking for something shorter, less comprehensive, and certainly less authoritative considering just how much TV I don't see on a yearly basis, here are a dozen personal, arguably meaningless takeaways from yesterday's announcement.

If you've ever found yourself escorting others to, or hosting home viewings of, entertainments that your loved ones found resolutely not entertaining, here are five titles from 1977 to 1995 that, for me and my friends, led to awkward silences, napping, outright hostility, or, in one case, someone storming out of the room.