The various awards programs that take place prior to the Oscars surely matter a great deal to the people who vote on and receive the awards. But to armchair analysts, they’re much more useful as weathervanes detecting slight changes in Academy winds. A lot of the same industry types that make up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ voting body hold membership in other entertainment unions that annually mete out awards recognition, so the nominations that the Writers Guild of America, the Directors Guild of America, and the Screen Actors Guild decide on can be reliable predictors for the slate of Oscar contenders.
If that continues to be true this year, then we’re looking down the barrel of a much stranger Oscar race than some had formerly anticipated. The SAG nominations were unveiled this morning, and a few films once thought to be flagging have roared back with some key nominations. In other words, today was a very good day to wake up and be Bryan Cranston.
Dismissed in early reviews as a routine biopic too bland to cause a major blip on Oscar radar, Trumbo has proven itself an awards force capable of hanging with the heavyweights. In addition to personal nods for Cranston as the eponymous blacklisted screenwriter and Helen Mirren as career-breaking gossipmonger Hedda Hopper (one of two nominations for Mirren along with a Leading Actress nod for her turn in Woman in Gold, which, what is going on right now), Trumbo scored the highly coveted Outstanding Performance By A Cast nomination for the whole ensemble. Whether this marks the beginning of an unexpected drive for gold from Trumbo will become clearer after the Golden Globe nominations are unveiled tomorrow morning (make sure to check back in tomorrow for our comprehensive breakdown), but Cranston had all but disappeared from the Best Actor race and Mirren’s wasn’t the hot name on anyone’s lips to begin with. This prestige indie is far from dead, and it just goes to show that you should never underestimate the awards potential of movies that frame people who make movies as the real heroes.
Netflix’s first foray into the major Oscar races, Beasts of No Nation, also made out handsomely in the SAG nominations, and a bit more deservedly so. Cary Fukunaga’s harrowing African war epic also snagged an Outstanding Performance By A Cast nomination for Abraham Attah, Idris Elba, and Kurt Egyiawan in addition to a nod singling out Elba as the ruthless warlord referred to only as Commandant. (Fun fact, depending on your definition of ‘fun’: SAG hasn’t nominated a three-actor ensemble since 2004, when Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, and Morgan Freeman repped Million Dollar Baby.) Besides singlehandedly legitimizing Netflix as a presence in the awards sphere beyond the Documentary categories, Beasts of No Nation has made a convincing argument for Elba as Best Supporting Actor, a hotly contested category with six actors jockeying for five slots. Along with Elba, the other frontrunners include Tom Hardy for The Revenant, Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies, comeback king Sylvester Stallone in Creed, and Spotlight‘s Mark Ruffalo and Michael Keaton. If the brains behind Spotlight decide to submit Keaton as a lead, that would open up the category a little, but today’s nomination has jettisoned Elba to the front of the pack.
Though the Big Short crew could be a potential spoiler in Best Supporting Actor Oscar race. Christian Bale scored a Best Supporting Actor nod from the SAG today for his portrayal of eccentric economist Michael Burry, and as the film approaches a late-in-the-game wide release, it’s generated serious chatter. Audiences and critics have described it as a stirring combination of shameless entertainment with righteously fiery commentary on corporate greed; that combination of crowd-pleasing thrills with timely social import could put it over the top for serious awards consideration, at least in the acting categories. The central quartet of Bale, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, and Steve Carell spearheaded the full-cast nomination, though Bale’s the only one that stands a real shot here. From the look of it, writer-director Adam McKay could stand to reap the biggest gains come Oscar night, with a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination well within the realm of possibility.
Spotlight, the emerging juggernaut of this Oscar cycle, slid a bit backwards with the SAG nominations. The trenchant journalism procedural landed a nomination for the full cast, presaging a Best Picture nod next month, but came up short in the individual categories. Heretofore, Ruffalo and Keaton have been the breakouts from the uniformly strong cast, but neither actor scored a nomination of their own. Instead, Rachel McAdams jumped into the mix with a Supporting Actress designation, potentially shaking up the film’s Oscar bids. If she should make it all the way into the Oscar circle, she’ll most likely face stiff competition from past winners Kate Winslet for Steve Jobs, or possibly Mirren.
McAdams was just one of a sizable pack of dark-horse nominees enjoying some nice exposure from the SAG. Sarah Silverman, for instance, got a nod for her flawlessly executed comedian-goes-serious performance in I Smile Back, and Michael Shannon’s cold-blooded realtor in 99 Homes got a rightful nod, as well. They’re not too likely to shake up their respective Oscar races, but it’s refreshing to see a little attention paid to strong performances without the increased exposure of Oscar buzz.
Read on for the full list of nominees in the film categories below.
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Johnny Depp, Black Mass
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Helen Mirren, Woman in Gold
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Sarah Silverman, I Smile Back
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Idris Elba, Beasts Of No Nation
Mark Rylance, Bridge Of Spies
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Jacob Tremblay, Room
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Helen Mirren, Trumbo
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Beasts of No Nation
The Big Short
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Trumbo
And take a gander at the Screen Actors Guild nominations for the parallel TV programming categories while you’re at it:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Idris Elba, Luther
Ben Kingsley, Tut
Ray Liotta, Texas Rising
Bill Murray, A Very Murray Christmas
Mark Rylance, Wolf Hall
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Nicole Kidman, Grace of Monaco
Queen Latifah, Bessie
Christina Ricci, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles
Susan Sarandon, The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
Kristen Wiig, The Spoils Before Dying
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Claire Danes, Homeland
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Louis C.K., Louie
William H. Macy, Shameless
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Ellie Kemper, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
House of Cards
Mad Men
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
The Big Bang Theory
Key & Peele
Modern Family
Orange Is the New Black
Transparent
Veep
