Insert “Sagging” Joke Here – Screen Actors Guild Nominations Announced!

In the continuing quest to get as much advance knowledge as possible before next year’s Oscar Blitz begins, we now have the nominees for the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Like the Golden Globes, they’re divided into movies and TV, and we only care about the movie side here. You can find the entire announcement at SAG’s official site.

The film nominees are:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Christian Bale – Vice
Bradley Cooper – A Star is Born
Rami Malek – Bohemian Rhapsody
Viggo Mortensen – Green Book
John David Washington – BlacKkKlansman

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Emily Blunt – Mary Poppins Returns
Glenn Close – The Wife
Olivia Colman – The Favourite
Lady Gaga – A Star is Born
Melissa McCarthy – Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Mahershala Ali – Green Book
Timothée Chalamet – Beautiful Boy
Adam Driver – BlacKkKlansman
Sam Elliott – A Star is Born
Richard E. Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams – Vice
Emily Blunt – A Quiet Place
Margot Robbie – Mary Queen of Scots
Emma Stone – The Favourite
Rachel Weisz – The Favourite

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture*
A Star is Born
Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
Crazy Rich Asians
* This is SAG’s equivalent of Best Picture

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Avengers: Infinity War
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Black Panther
Mission: Impossible – Fallout

My first impression here, sadly, is that the advance awards are trying to make Best Picture into a two-horse race between Vice and A Star is Born. One hasn’t come out yet, but I hope it’s absolutely stupendous, because I can not stomach the idea of a THIRD REMAKE winning the top prize, especially when it’s really not all that good. Lady Gaga’s great, and the songs are pretty decent, but that’s it. Otherwise it’s cheap sentimentality and gross arrogance on the part of Bradley Cooper. Seriously, what the hell, people?

In other observations, when the Golden Globe nominees were announced, I figured the inclusion of Black Panther was a bit of a snide clapback at the Academy for considering the whole “Popular Film” category. But now that SAG’s on board, maybe they’re scrambling to give it awards recognition in order to prevent such a horrible category from making it in. Maybe the Academy members who are also part of these guilds wants to put it in the main running now to stave off the cyclical complaint (every 10 years or so) that the Academy doesn’t pay attention to movies the masses actually watch. Stay tuned on that one.

Also, with these nominations, the acting categories are really taking shape. Mary Poppins Returns isn’t out yet, but Emily Blunt is getting love, same with Amy Adams and Christian Bale in Vice. All three actresses in The Favourite are getting their due, but I’m worried the film will come up empty, as Stone and Weisz are likely to split votes for Supporting Actress while Olivia Colman gets buried under Glenn Close and Lady Gaga. Finally, isn’t it a bit racist to have Viggo Mortensen be the lead in Green Book while Mahershala Ali has to settle for Supporting Actor again? Given the film’s themes, isn’t that a little bit tone deaf?

Keep it locked here for more Awards Season news! The nominees from the Producers Guild and the Writers Guild (for film anyway, TV noms are already out) are due on January 4, while the Directors Guild will announce on January 8. The BAFTA nominations will come on January 9. In the meantime, we await the Academy shortlists for Documentary Feature and Foreign Language, due next week!

Join the conversation in the comments below! What was your favorite performance of the year? Should a remake even be eligible for Best Picture? Can the MCU get some non-techie prestige? Let me know!