(Apologies for the delay getting these up this morning. I had technical difficulties signing in and had to scoot shortly after the announcement. Here are the belated nominees with commentary.)
The Screen Actors Guild didn’t have much up its sleeve this morning for its heavily anticipated nominations announcement. No left-field zingers, no “3:10 to Yuma” or “Station Agent” surprises, just a slick rundown of the season’s favorites so far.
Looking deeper into the categories, we can point to a number of things. The fact that “Doubt” leads the way is no surprise, since all four principles from the cast were nominated and, therefore, the film landed a nod for Best Ensemble. But praise for the acting, even if that represents the biggest branch of the Academy, isn’t necessarily enough. Will the other branches be on board for this as a “film,” or will they simply see it for what it is: a photographed play with no creative bridge to the screen?
Dev Patel’s nomination for Best Supporting Actor is the boost he needed for Oscar, though it should be noted that the SAG likes to nominate younger actors. Dakota Fanning, Jamie Bell, etc. Also, it’s worth noting that Taraji P. Henson received three nominations this morning, two for her performance in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (supporting actress and ensemble) and one as part of the “Boston Legal” ensemble on the TV side of things. Congratulations to one sweetheart of a girl.
The absence of Sally Hawkins is a bit distressing, however. Especially when you consider the fact that the actress categories tend to go five-for-five with the Academy. That could of course change this year as both fields are more competitive than usual, but seemingly a sure-thing after her critics awards bonanza, it seems the lovely Hawkins is back on the bubble.
“Revolutionary Road” is, sad to say, officially on life-support, if the night nurse hasn’t already tripped on the chord and yanked it from the wall entirely. One nomination for Kate Winslet, nothing for Leonardo DiCaprio, nothing for the brilliant Michael Shannon. The industry doesn’t seem to be responding to this film. So I think the likely five have finally slid into place, and “Doubt” remains the spoiler.
The nominees after the jump.
Best Actor
Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”
Sean Penn, “Milk”
Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
Best Actress
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”
Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
Kate Winslet, “Revolutionary Road”
Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin, “Milk”
Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Dev Patel, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, “Doubt”
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Kate Winslet, “The Reader”
Best Ensemble
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Doubt”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Stunt Ensemble
“The Dark Knight”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
“Iron Man”
“Wanted”
Comments
72 responses to “‘Doubt’ leads with five SAG noms”
Can’t wait for the surprises!!
just checking the time difference.
hoping for blanchett nom.
it’s 9:30 am ET; where the nods at?
Doubt leads with 5!!!
There is justice…no Sally Hawkins!
only 1 for RR and DK
hoping for angelina nomination…
No Sally Hawkins!?!?!?! She was great!!
Amy over Marisa Tomei is surpising. I wonder if Doubt will be like Eastern Promise was last year. Keeps checking off all the boxes and get the 5th spot?
Also is The Dark Knight being hurt by the other usually Best Picture Nominee Contender Wall-e, which has Chicago now to back up it L.A Critic win.
Slumdog Ensemble nod over much more deserving cast (Rev Road, Rachel Getting Married, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, TDK)… I think we finally have our Final 5… snooore.
I think the last Best Picture slot is between Doubt, WALL-E, and The Dark Knight. You can stick a fork in Revolutionary Road.
Doubt could win the SAG, but that would be the most boring Best Picture nomination possible.
The Dark Knight needs the PGA and the DGA, but otherwise it’s just not getting any awards love aside from Heath Ledger.
The Wrestler is starting to get some buzz, so maybe it could sneak in there. But right now, I’d predict WALL-E joins Beauty and the Beast in a very exclusive club on January 22nd.
Wall-E is nominated for best picture??
Happy with Best Actor and Supporting Actor but where is Rosemarie Dewitt, Marisa Tomei and Sally Hawkins?
Why you are so sure that wall-E will be nominated for best picture?
Could the actors alone push “Doubt” to a BP nomination? I doubt it. I sort of start to feel like “Wall-E” will get that fifth spot.
Interesting nominations. Hate to see Blanchett passed over for Jolie. Maybe they thought two nominations for Blanchett last year was enough. Hope Blanchett can get in at Oscar time still.
The Dark Knight snub for ensemble really stings. God knows it deserved it. Hopefully the DGA and PGA will back it up (I don’t see how they can’t).
i hope the nominations for the oscars could be:
Milk
Slumdog millionaire
The curious case of benjamin button
Frost/nixon
Wall-E
Bye blanchett…jeje. Welcome Jolie!
I think “Revolutionary Road” is pretty much dead in the water at this point (although that’s what I thought about “Atonement” this time last year, so you never know…)
It’s looking great for Kate, but not for Cate. Does Blanchett really have a shot anymore?
This guy makes a good point about Doubt and Slumdog, if you are into betting.
oscarbetting.blogspot.com
Okay, this doesn’t bode well for TDK. The Downey Jr. love is something I underestimated. If he got nominated it would certainly be a fun race there. Doubt is strong but won’t make it with the nother guilds. As for the rest, Shatner = God.
Let’s see: SLUMDOG’s Dev Patel and READER’s Kate Winslet were both nominated in the SUPPORTING categories? aren’t these two actors billed FIRST in their respective movies?
In the case of Patel, doesn’t he play the title role? If he’s not the lead actor, who is? Are we meant to believe the game show host is the actual star of the movie?
I’m guessing that the studios still pick the SAG categories for which their stars should be nominated – so they smartly figured Patel and Winslet (for READER) had better chances in these supporting categories…
C´mon!!! ¿Angelina over Sally? That´s just an excuse to invite Brangelina to every party and shoot´em 4 every magazine!! Ya know….keeping Tinseltown sparkling all over the globe. Sorry, but u know it´s so tru.
PLEASE…Meryl Streep’s overacting is worthy of another award nomination. “You will lose”, “I have my certainty”, “You blew out my light”…the performance is so over the top its ridiculous.
Slumdog’s main character is played by three actors. Patel is one of them. There’s no lead.
I hope the Academy won’t buy the Winslet-Reader category fraud… It’s just not fair.
Who was the last actress to win a Supporting Oscar for a Leading role??
Jennifer Hudson, arguably. If not her, certainly Rachel Weisz. Sadly, it’s a very familiar trick.
agreed, there is no one lead actor in SLUMDOG, so its nod for “Best Ensemble Cast” makes sense…but in my mind, a true “supporting actor” nomination should go to scene-stealers like Robert Downey, Jr. in TROPIC THUNDER who “supports” the star…or Bollywood veteran Anil Kapoor, who plays the sickeningly slick quiz show host in SLUMDOG…
no dark knight in ensemble…but Frost/Nixon is? ugh. Also I totally considered the possibility of Hawkins getting skipped over here.
I don’t see Winslet in “The Reader” as category fraud in the slightest. The film is about Kross’s character and Winslet’s character affects him throughout. It’s a no-brainer to me.
Krs, why is everyone bypassing Blanchett’s wonderful performance? It’s sad to think she won’t be nominated.
Maybe it’s the bitter taste from last year’s snub of Angelina at the Oscars, but somehow i’m not convinced quite fully that Downey, Jr. will be nominated. Brad also, probably Clint or Leo will take his spot, and Jolie for that matter seems to me in danger. I haven’t seen Ben Button or Rev road, but Clint surely isn’t that great- so stereotypical and is he imitating Batman’s voice or what? And Angelina was better last year, i really liked Sally Hawkins’ performance but it’s too complex for voters to see it truly (otherwise she’s seen as the perpetual optimist. And it irritates people). Blanchett is a long-shot, in my opinion. And this leaves KST (i bet on her for an upset).
As for Downey- a great actor, great role in Tropic Thunder. But seriously? Nominated for this role? It’s seems to me to loose for the uptight Academy members. Completely forgot about Patel- really don’t seem him nommed. We have Franco, Shannon & Marsan (personal pick) to battle for the spot(s). Hopefully Amy Adams won’t make it and will be replaced by Tomei.
Just some thought to lay out. Feel free to respond or just ignore my post. Happy holidays.
i feel adams will drop out for tomei i can’t see doubt getting 4 acting nods and no best pic/dir slots i think winslet could be the shaky one and loose to hawkins but it is doubtful we knew leo and jenkins would have actor supp esp jenkins he has worked with jack nicholson twice and lots of others pitt,clooney,mcdormand and malkovich this year alone he is totally safe,if pitt fails it will be for dicaprio but something tells me this is the actor line up,i think patel falls for franco as sag lov kids.
Someone mentioned a comparison between Revolutionary Road and Atonement, and i totally agree. Last year it was atonement that started with a tone of buzz and dwindled, but managed a GG win and got into the Oscar nominations in a big way, and the year before that Babel did the exact same thing. It’s a pattern, RR is probably this year’s Atonement/Babel.
Well if its not category fraud, certainly there’s no consensus around her. Some people see her as a lead, some don’t. Considering the voting process for the Oscars she may split her votes…
As much as I love Winslet, I hope Penélope takes the Oscar.
Love that Brad was nominated for Button, I really want him to get a nom at the Oscar’s esp since he was snubbed last year.
No Cate for Button, though there are other omissions as well, lot of great people fitting for few Actress spots.
Glad Hellboy 2 got a mention as well, though I think TDK will take that one.
very safe choices for ensemble. If the academy feels like continuing their “edgy” streak, then they’ll ignore frost/nixon and doubt and nominate TDK and WALL-E
It’s odd. Even though I haven’t seen the film, all of this snubbing of Revolutionary Road makes me want to champion the film even more. I love Mendes, and I recently read The Easter Parade by Richard Yates, which was fantastic, so I’m foaming at the mouth to see this thing already. The bleakness of it seems totally up my alley. And then you got Dicaprio, Deakins, and Winslet. I’m hoping that I won’t be disappointed and all of the awards bodies have their heads up their asses, which wouldn’t surprise me.
Also, I know a lot of people are thinking it would be very odd for Doubt to be given 4 acting nominations, and even a screenplay nomination, and miss out on picturel; but if you see the film, it makes total sense.
Hawkins is out. and “zillions of critics” can be wrong. They tend to be pompous and ultra picky. Hawkins didn’t get land a BFCA nomination either, so she may have impressed a few hundred critics here and there, but I doubt she lands an Oscar nod. Hathaway, Jolie, and Streep are sure bets with Winslet and Leo and Scott Thomas closing it out.
The actors could propel Doubt to Best Picture, no question.
Also, Doubt has had the most nominations in both the Globes and now SAG. That’s gonna look real fucking tasty on their FYCs.
This, more than the Globes, hurts TDK. TDK is very much a big ensemble movie, and to miss out here (esp. to the likes of Frost/Nixon, or even Doubt, where it’s entire ensemble received nominations seperately).
The SAG sucks this year because it’s impossible to gauge how the actors responded to Wall*E, which is probably either in 5th or hovering very close.
Also, totally unrelated – Stanton is eligible to be nominated by the DGA & WGA, correct? I remember Brad Bird had some issues a while back.
Becauase of the Sag Nominations, I just lost faith for the worthy Oscar Nominations for Rosemarie Dewitt & Bill Irwin.
it will be a sad day when angelina jolie beats out blanchett (love of my life) for a best actress slot
i guess right now, it’s:
winslet
hathaway
streep
jolie/blanchett
leo/hawkins/scott thomas
also, i would be really perplexed by a nomination for downey jr in Tropic Thunder. I mean, he was entertaining but, really? over michael shannon/liev schreiber/james franco? or the (ludicrously) forgotten bill irwin?
Really not happy about the lack of Michael Shannon and Michael Sheen love. Someone please tell me why Angelina Jolie received a nomination and Sally Hawkins/Kristin Scott Thomas/Cate Blanchett didn’t? I mean really…She should be accepting a Razzie Award not an SAG/Globe/ or Oscar. No love for Tomei either? What are they smoking out there? She gave the best performance of her career.
So aggrivating.
I think the Dark Knight missing this means more that people just don’t look at this as an Actor’s movie. Still with Benjamin Button getting an ensemble?
Oh god, what if Doubt pulls a crash and actually WINS this thing? That’s almost more terrifying than Clint winning.
i just don’t see the academy leaving DiCaprio out, which is unfortunate, because it will probably be at the expense of Jenkins. RR needs the golden globe win now for any shot at a best picture nomination, but Kate Winslet is anything but out of it for Best Actress, the SAG has opened that race up significantly.
I agree that Angelina Jolie doesn’t deserve this awards attention. I don’t think she gave a bad performance in “Changeling”, but I would never call it among the best of the year. I actually think her role was underwritten and somewhat one-dimensional. Jolie did her best with it, but it’s just not as developed a role as the others in contention this year.
That said, I’m still fairly confident that the Academy will nominate Cate Blanchett. We know they love her and will nominate her even for a very poorly received film. We also know, based on last year’s nominations, that the Academy is not too crazy about Jolie. Don’t forget that the same thing happened to Jolie last year, too: Golden Globe nomination, SAG nomination, then nothing from the Academy.
How does Button not count as an ensemble? It has a lovely sprawling cast.
Does Button’s nomination include the various actors who portrayed Benjamin? Part of me feels they should share Pitt’s nomination as well.
THE NAMES STILL WEIGH IN SAG, IS NOT ENOUGH A GOOD PERFORMANCE.
Angelina Jolie INSTEAD OF SALLY HAWKINS O SCOTT THOMAS, BUT I BELIEVE WAS A ROBBERY A SALLY.
SAD FOR THIS, SHE IS BEST ACTRESS COMPARED TO SOME OF THE NOMINATED REALLY.
Go Angie!