The SAG nominations came out today...and boy did they surprise. Several shocking snubs and inclusions. I will rant and rave in a minute, but read them yourself first.
BEST FILM ENSEMBLE
"Birdman"
"Boyhood"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"The Imitation Game"
"The Theory of Everything"
BEST ACTOR
Steve Carell, "Foxcatcher"
Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Imitation Game"
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Nightcrawler"
Michael Keaton, "Birdman"
Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"
BEST ACTRESS
Jennifer Aniston, "Cake"
Felicity Jones, "The Theory of Everything"
Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"
Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl"
Reese Witherspoon, "Wild"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Duvall, "The Judge"
Ethan Hawke, "Boyhood"
Edward Norton, "Birdman"
Mark Ruffalo, "Foxcatcher"
J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"
Kiera Knightley, "The Imitation Game"
Emma Stone, "Birdman"
Meryl Streep, "Into the Woods"
Naomi Watts, "St. Vincent"
So obviously the most notable thing is...Jennifer Aniston has made "Cake" happen with a notable guild nomination. How she gets in over the likes of Marion Cotillard, Emily Blunt, and Hilary Swank is beyond me. But, here we are. Will the Golden Globes be the next to fall in line tomorrow?
And let's take a good look at that Best Ensemble award. Quite surprisingly, "Selma", "Into the Woods", and "Foxcatcher" were all left out in the cold. Despite their celebrated casts that seem tailor made for this award. This shows some real strength for "The Imitation Game" and "Theory of Everything" considering they focus on a handful of performances rather than a large cast.
How did the others fall out of the running? "Selma" and "Into the Woods" both screened very late in the game. It is likely that not all the SAG voters saw these two films in time. Last year, the same fate befell Django Unchained at the SAG nominations. It was completely shut out due to the late arrival of screeners. Then it went on to a Best Picture Oscar nomination and Best Supporting Actor win for Christoph Waltz. Though this is a blow to "Foxcatcher", since they all definitely saw that film.
The probable lack of "Selma" screeners allowed Jake Gyllenhaal to take David Oyelowo's spot in Best Actor. "Nightcrawler" has been showing real muscle lately. It even managed to show up in the AFI's top films of the year (more on that below). He may have just vaulted past Timothy Spall and Bradley Cooper into 6th place. Speaking of Cooper, I think he really needed the support of the actors to cement his place in the race. As it is, "American Sniper" was completely shut out of these nominations.
Also shut out entirely was "Unbroken". Not even Angelina Jolie could help it here with Robert Duvall beating out Miyavi (and more importantly a very deserving Josh Brolin in "Inherent Vice") with his lightweight film "The Judge". Industry respect has taken Duvall a long way in this race.
And finally, the most puzzling category of all is Supporting Actress. Jessica Chastain and Laura Dern sit this one out. Arquette is far out in the lead here, they check off Meryl's name no matter what, and they clearly loved "The Imitation Game". Emma Stone gets a nice boost for "Birdman", but Naomi Watts? For some reason they nominated her for her performance in the comedy "St. Vincent". A movie that has seen zero awards traction. It's odd that she wouldn't get in for her supporting turn in "Birdman" instead. Either way, it doesn't help Laura Dern's Oscar push for her limited screen-time in "Wild", and its a big setback for Chastain who many assumed was a sure thing after the NBR win.
The other big news this week was AFI's top films of the year. For the first time ever, they expanded the number from 10 to 11. And still some big players were left out in the cold.
AFI FILM HONOREES
"American Sniper"
"Birdman"
"Boyhood"
"Foxcatcher"
"The Imitaiton Game"
"Interstellar"
"Into the Woods"
"Nightcrawler"
"Selma"
"Unbroken"
It should be noted that "The Theory of Everything" is not an American made film and therefore was not eligible per the AFI criteria.
One should pay close attention to this list as the AFI list has closely resembled the eventual Oscar nominees in years past. "Nightcrawler" manages to nab a spot over the likes of "Gone Girl" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel", which are both more inline with typical AFI choices.
Last year AFI foresaw 7 out of 9 nominees for Best Picture. They missed "Dallas Buyers Club" and "Philomena". The year before that they got 7 right again, missing "Django Unchained" and the non-American "Amour". How many will be correct this year? With the list upgraded to 11 honorees, it is impossible for all of them to become Oscar nominees. But, these all seem like strong candidates in a wide open field.
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