Tis the Season: Screen Actors Guild of America

Before you say anything, I am entirely aware that these nominations were announced in 2008. The thing was, I had all this stuff to do. It was really busy at my day job; I had a cold, and I had not even started my Christmas shopping. Needless to say, something had to go. So I decided to cover the Screen Actors Guild nominations the same week as all these other guilds. The SAG is in the news a lot these days. Are they going to strike? Is it really responsible given the current economic climate to put people on the picket line? Despite not having found answers to these questions, they still found time to highlight the best performances of the year.

DOUBT leads the nominations with a total of five nominations. That is one for every major player in the film. The film itself has not been able to maintain universal support but people would be hard pressed to deny the acting calibre. The SAG love for DOUBT will not guarantee it a spot at the Oscars but the SAG is a major force to contend with. Most people attribute their significant voting block to be responsible for CRASH winning over BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN in one of Oscar's most infamous upsets. The SAG equivalent of Best Picture is Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast. The remaining nominees in this category and the remainder of the nominees in all the remaining film categories are:

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
DOUBT
FROST/NIXON
MILK
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins, THE VISITOR
Frank Langella, FROST/NIXON
Sean Penn, MILK
Brad Pitt, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Mickey Rourke, THE WRESTLER

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Angelina Jolie, CHANGELING
Melissa Leo, FROZEN RIVER
Meryl Streep, DOUBT
Kate Winslet, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin, MILK
Robert Downey Jr., TROPIC THUNDER
Philip Seymour Hoffman, DOUBT
Heath Ledger, THE DARK KNIGHT
Dev Patel, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams, DOUBT
Penelope Cruz, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
Viola Davis, DOUBT
Taraji P. Henson, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Kate Winslet, THE READER

By this point in the awards season, there are a lot of familiar names. There are also a few that may have been surprised by seeing their names listed here. That said, if you want to see your name appear somewhere unexpected, this is the place. The most notable of the bunch would have to be Amy Adams and Dev Patel. Personally, I enjoyed both of their performances in their respective films, DOUBT and SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, but their support has been pretty minimal. Notable absences include Marisa Tomei (THE WRESTLER), Leonardo DiCaprio (REVOLUTIONARY ROAD), Sally Hawkins (HAPPY-GO-LUCKY) and Cate Blanchett (THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON). Of the bunch, I would say that Tomei and Hawkins are still very strong contenders for Oscars but Blanchett and DiCaprio might want to just accept their fates.

Next up, everyone's favorite guild, the Writers Guild.