The Screen Actors Guild Award nominations are upon us. Now things get serious. Here's my stab at making a fool of myself.
MY PREDICTIONS:
BEST ENSEMBLE
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
August: Osage County
Lee Daniels' The Butler
Prisoners
WHY THEM:
12 Years is the important, can't miss nomination get of the season.
American Hustle,
August: Osage County,
The Butler all have august and large ensembles.
Prisoners because of its bounty of award-caliber stars in a film I didn't particularly care for (usually one or two of them gets SAG acknowledgement.) I vetoed
Wolf of Wall Street on the conceit that it just started screening (
American Hustle had a full week ahead of them),
Gravity because, well, duh...same for
All is Lost.
WATCH OUT FOR:
Blue Jasmine,
Her,
Dallas Buyers Club,
Inside Llewyn Davis,
Fruitvale Station,
Saving Mr. Banks
BEST ACTOR
Bruce Dern,
Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor,
12 Years a Slave
Matthew McConaughey,
Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford,
All is Lost
Forest Whitaker,
Lee Daniels' The Butler
WHY THEM: Dern, Ejiofor, McConaughey and Redford seem unmovable. That fifth slot is vulnerable, but SAG is a place where
The Butler can make its mark.
WATCH OUT FOR: Joaquin Phoenix,
Her; Tom Hanks,
Captain Phillips; Leonardo DiCaprio,
The Wolf of Wall Street; Michael B. Jordan,
Fruitvale Station; Oscar Isaac,
Inside Llewyn Davis
BEST ACTRESS
Amy Adams,
American Hustle
Cate Blanchett,
Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock,
Gravity
Meryl Streep,
August: Osage County
Emma Thompson,
Saving Mr. Banks
WHY THEM: Blanchett, Bullock and Thompson seem no brains. SAG should go for the Streep, one assumes while Adams is a favorite trying something new in a newly buzzed about film.
WATCH OUT FOR: Judi Dench,
Philomena; Brie Larson,
Short Term 12; Greta Gerwig,
Frances Ha (I wish); Julia Louis-Dreyfus,
Enough Said; Adéle Exarchopoulos,
Blue is the Warmest Color
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Barkhad Abdi,
Captain Phillips
Michael Fassbender,
12 Years a Slave
James Gandolfini,
Enough Said
Tom Hanks,
Saving Mr. Banks
Jared Leto,
Dallas Buyers Club
WHY THEM: Like all the acting categories, this one is hard to predict and a bunch of throws to the wall. Abdi and Leto for breakthrough triumps; Hanks because he's an icon playing an icon; Fassbender because this category loves villains and Gandolfini because of industry respect.
WATCH OUT FOR: Jonah Hill,
The Wolf of Wall Street; Jake Gyllenhaal,
Prisoners; Will Forte,
Nebraska; Daniel Bruhl,
Rush; Andrew Dice Clay,
Blue Jasmine; David Oyelowo,
Lee Daniels' The Butler; Matthew McConaughey,
Mud; Geoffrey Rush,
The Book Thief; James Franco,
Spring Breakers
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence,
American Hustle
Margo Martindale,
August: Osage County
Lupita Nyong'o,
12 Years a Slave
June Squibb,
Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey,
Lee Daniels' The Butler
WHY THEM: Just passing through. Lawrence, Nyong'o and Winfrey are the only one I'm confident about.
WATCH OUT FOR: Julia Roberts,
August: Osage County; Sally Hawkins,
Blue Jasmine; Octavia Spencer,
Fruitvale Station; Sarah Paulson,
12 Years a Slave
