After the travesty known as the Golden Globe awards nominations announcement yesterday, my spirits have been lifted by today's 17th Annual SAG awards nominations announcement this morning. Considering the Golden Globes have become somewhat of a joke in recent years, I wouldn't count on them for any early Oscar predictions. I would, however, put my money on some of these SAG nominations. SAG nominations have been pretty consistently on par with Oscar nominations and eventual wins. Last year alone the SAG and Oscar ballots were almost exactly identical in the 4 categories they share with a 19/20 match. The winners of the 4 SAG categories went on to nab the Oscar. The SAGs are easily my favorite awards show, right behind the Oscars because I almost always agree with the nomination choices, and it's not as flashy as the Golden Globes.
However, with all that said, there are some noticeable snubs, but that's just the name of the game. So many great actors, and only 5 nominee slots in each category. Can't win 'em all. I am surprised to see both Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling left out of the best actor and best actress race for Blue Valentine considering they both received Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globe nominations. Mark Wahlberg was also left out from the best actor race for The Fighter, but the rest of the cast received SAG recognition. Not surprising though, considering how tight the best actor race is this season. Colin Firth (The King's Speech) is looking pretty good for the win right now. I'm disappointed to see that Andrew Garfield didn't make the cut for best supporting actor in The Social Network, although he received a GG nomination yesterday. Justin Timberlake has also been left out of SAG and GG ballots, despite his hard push during this awards season.
The one, huge point of contention I have with this year's list of nominees has to do with the television categories. While I pretty much agree with all of the nominations, I would REALLY love to know what the hell happened to Toni Collette's and Laura Linney's nominations for The United States of Tara and The Big C. This is a huge disappointment. I can only be comforted by Glenn Close's nomination for Damages, a show that was left out altogether by the Golden Globes.
Now on with the good. The SAG has recognized the Coen brothers' True Grit and finally put them on the awards map with a best actor nomination for Jeff Bridges and a best supporting actress nomination for Hailee Steinfield. I'm pleasantly surprised by Mark Ruffalo's nomination for The Kids Are All Right, and I'm glad to see that Hillary Swank is being recognized for her work in Convinction, a movie that hasn't been able to gain momentum this awards season. This is good news for all of the above nominees as they have now earned a much needed boost into Oscar territory.
The SAG awards ceremony will take place on January 30. Here's the full list of nominations:
