SAG Nominations

[Reza]

Her stepfather, Jock Mahoney, had a long career, mostly in westerns, and was also one of the screen's numerous Tarzans. He was very big at the time she got Gidget which probably had more to do with her initial success than her being a cute teenager.

He also caused her much trauma which she writes about in her autobiography.

[flipp525]

The only other intro that I felt worked was the one with Quinta Brunson and Janelle James. It felt natural, like the relationship the pair have on Abbott Elementary. They could be the new Tina Fey/Amy Poehler go to host combo.

They would be great co-hosts together. Very likable and they’re funny but not in an obvious way.

[OscarGuy]

What struck me most (best) about the Garfield presentation was that he had clearly memorized his lines. He didn't spend too much time looking at the TelePrompTer and spoke eloquently from the heart. That's what I feel is most missing from these presenters. They just feel so stilted and unprofessional sometimes. The only other intro that I felt worked was the one with Quinta Brunson and Janelle James. It felt natural, like the relationship the pair have on Abbott Elementary. They could be the new Tina Fey/Amy Poehler go to host combo.

[Big Magilla]

Field is also a second-generation actress. Her mother, Margaret Field, was a minor actress but has a number of films to her credit. Her stepfather, Jock Mahoney, had a long career, mostly in westerns, and was also one of the screen's numerous Tarzans. He was very big at the time she got Gidget which probably had more to do with her initial success than her being a cute teenager.

Like Jamie Lee, she also has a lesser-known sister. TV director Princess O'Mahoney is her half-sister.

And, yes, Andrew Garfield's introduction was first-class all the way, just like Sally.

[danfrank]

Yes, Curtis misspoke about where her parents are from, but I like that both she and Sally Field acknowledged their relative privilege, Curtis as the child of Hollywood royalty, and Field as just a cute (implied but not said directly) white girl.

I thought Field’s speech was terrific and, as Tee mentioned, Andrew Garfield’s introduction was eloquent and lovely. SAG did right to honor Sally Field, who has had an amazing career.

[OscarGuy]

I started wondering about James Hong deserving an honorary right around the time I saw Everything and realized that he wasn't in any conversation for a nomination. He's the kind of journeyman actor who won't ever win on his own (especially not at his age), so would be perfect to honor by the Academy. And I think everything last night put him front and center in the mind of the Academy's Board of Governors.

[Reza]

I hope this wins him an honorary Oscar. If anyone deserves it, it's he.

What a fantastic idea. An honorary Oscar for James Hong.

[Big Magilla]

I thought she meant to say "my father's family was from Hungary" and "my mother's was from Denmark".

I always thought Tony Curtis was from the Bronx. He died in Henderson, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas I know from visiting an uncle and aunt who lived there in the late 1990s and early 2000s. According to Wikipedia, He was born at the Fifth Avenue Hospital on 105th St. which is in Manhattan but close to the Bronx, so indications are that he was indeed brought up in the Bronx. Leigh was discovered in a hotel by Norma Shearer where Leigh's mother worked as a maid so she, like Curtis, was likely from a poor to lower middle class family.

What I was wondering was where was Christopher Guest, her 75-year-old husband of 39 years? He got the short end of the schtick with "and I married an actor."

[Mister Tee]

I saw some clip of Jamie Lee Curtis' speech last night. She claimed that her father is from Hungary and her mother is from Denmark. That's misleading at best. That might be her ancestry but her father is from Nevada and her mother is from three hours north of Los Angeles. Which is another way of say "My Jewish father married a shiksa."

I balked in much the same way at hearing that last night, since it had always been my impression that Bernie Schwartz was born in Brooklyn. I'm pretty sure she misspoke, meaning to say her grandparents.

[Sabin]

I saw some clip of Jamie Lee Curtis' speech last night. She claimed that her father is from Hungary and her mother is from Denmark. That's misleading at best. That might be her ancestry but her father is from Nevada and her mother is from three hours north of Los Angeles. Which is another way of say "My Jewish father married a shiksa."

She needs to seriously leave this nepo baby discourse alone. Nobody cares.

[Sabin]

Mister Tee wrote
There's a headline being missed. All 4 acting categories differed from BAFTA (the other industry-vote group). BAFTA slid itself into the pre-Oscar pack, I believe, in 2001, but didn't become a serious Oscar predictor till around 2006 (prior to that, there were flukes like Charlize Theron nominated a year late, Rachel Weisz showing up in lead, Thandiwe Newton winning at BAFTA without an Oscar nomination). Post-2005, this is the first time the two have diverged on all 4. The only other time they've disagreed on as many as 3 was 2013, when Dallas Buyer's Club was omitted at the nominations stage.

Conclusion: we have some real races this year.

You beat me to it. That was my takeaway. Some real races means some real conversations because both groups (SAG and BAFTA) have some real biases to contend with. With BAFTA there's a clear hometown advantage, and with SAG they tend to skew a bit more populist, diverse, and issues-based. We can look at every winner and say "Oh, they did this because x,y,z." Truly, I wish this was the case every year. Fight for our love, dammit!

I spend the show on an endless HOA meeting with only Twitter to divert my attention but it's worth noting that Twitter was mostly up in arms over the TV winners with Jessica Chastain and Sam Elliott taking it from Amanda Seyfried and Evan Peters respectively. I do think it's worth noting when we look at these film winners that SAG "woke up and chose violence."

Mister tee wrote
But supporting actress...zowie. I saw The Oscar Expert (the stones, to label yourself that) tweeted out tonight something along the lines of "Wow, Angela Bassett was Stallone in Creed all along" -- and I felt like he owed me royalties. This was a deep blow to the Bassett case -- she has now fallen short in both industry awards; she's lost this guild most inclined to go for a sentimental favorite; she's picked up competition from another (even-longer-term) veteran; her we-all-want-her-to-win narrative has been broken into pieces, with the category having had 3 different winners at the TV stage. I'm not remotely ready to make a call in this race, but I'd say the debits many of us saw the Bassett scenario confronting -- no best picture nomination, comic book movie -- will likely now become more open topics.

Except Angela Bassett was nominated for a Golden Globe, a SAG, and a BAFTA whereas Stallone was only nominated for a Golden Globe. That said, does anyone doubt that Stallone wouldn't pick that up today? The world has changed a lot since the milquetoastery (not a word) of 2015, which now looks a bit like the end of the second Weinstein Era.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this one of my longish posts about Angela Bassett but I did posit that her status as the unrewarded, overdue veteran wasn't unchallenged in this category. Jamie Lee Curtis' career is twice as long and far less rewarded. The best thing that Bassett had going for her was the number of people in the industry who knew her and felt she deserved her moment at long last... unless there were enough people in the industry who felt the same about Jamie Lee Curtis. Last night, we got our answer. Both performers have almost identical candidacies. Both give small-ish performances, arguably as memorable for their costumes than the quality of their acting. Both are longstanding industry vets who are largely winning due to personal narrative. Both have significant factors working against them (Bassett is in an MCU film not up for Best Picture, Curtis is up against co-star Stephanie Hsu). And the only indicators that we have can all be dismissed for various reasons: the HFPA has no Academy voters (and perhaps was trying to save face following backlash as evidenced by other wins that night), BAFTA gave Condon hometown advantage, SAG clearly adores JLC's film. I have no idea who is going to win but what I do know is that the case for Angela Bassett is certainly weakened after last night. This was the one award I thought she might win (look at Emily Blunt in A Quiet Place) and she didn't. Someone check my math but I think the last performance to take home an acting award with a Golden Globe but no corresponding win by SAG or BAFTA was Chris Cooper for Adaptation. Both guilds gave it to Christopher Walken. What Cooper had going for him was a stronger showing for Adaptation. than Catch Me If You Can and a much stronger showing with the critics, which is to say People with no skin in the game said he was great (to be fair, Walken won a critic's award of his own). Angela Bassett had zero showing with critics (save for the Critic's Choice) but to be fair neither did Jamie Lee Curtis. But Kerry Condon did.

This Oscar is now a jump ball. I'm glad that Michelle Williams (or her people) decided this award wasn't worth her time.

[Big Magilla]

Was anyone watching the moments leading up to the show, between 7:55ET and 8:00? They showed a bunch of photos of folks posing on the red carpet, but they were against a stark-white background, and the lighting was somehow off -- it made most people look absolutely awful (you could see where the make-up had been applied, and some of what it was supposed to cover up). It reminded me that this Netflix/YouTube collaboration was a new thing, and it lacked some of the professionalism we've come to take for granted at awards show. I had the same feeling every time they came to the end of one of those montages-where-there'd-normally-be-commercials, and it took forever to get people to sit down and shut up. I could see them being blindsided the first time this happened, but somebody should have laid down the law on that quick; instead, it lingered through most of the evening.

That was from a separate feed that began broadcasting 5-10 minutes earlier with two interviewers who seemed to have a hard time getting people to come to them to be interviewed. They stood just to the right of where the photos were being taken. Most of the actors ignored them. Baz Luhrman spoke to them longer than any of them.

[Eenusch]

I didn’t watch the show but heard it was a good one and, incredibly, it snowed in Los Angeles over the weekend. Hollywood hasn’t seen this much white powder since Bob Evans made Chinatown.

[Mister Tee]

There's a headline being missed. All 4 acting categories differed from BAFTA (the other industry-vote group). BAFTA slid itself into the pre-Oscar pack, I believe, in 2001, but didn't become a serious Oscar predictor till around 2006 (prior to that, there were flukes like Charlize Theron nominated a year late, Rachel Weisz showing up in lead, Thandiwe Newton winning at BAFTA without an Oscar nomination). Post-2005, this is the first time the two have diverged on all 4. The only other time they've disagreed on as many as 3 was 2013, when Dallas Buyer's Club was omitted at the nominations stage.

Conclusion: we have some real races this year.

Which we presumably don't in best picture. Everything Everywhere repeats the Birdman coup: being brushed aside at the Globes and BAFTA, but sweeping through the three U.S. guilds. Pretty sure the only film to do the latter and not win best picture was Apollo 13, and that had its directors' branch issue. In years just past, the preferential ballot has often made best picture the least predictable category, but that doesn't appear the case this year.

Should Everything Everywhere win as now expected, I'll be kind of where I was on The Hurt Locker back in 2009 (vaguely echoing what Sonic said about it earlier today): I'm more in favor of this type of film winning than I am in favor of this particular one. I wish I liked it as much as its ardent fans do. But, with a horror like Top Gun till last night looming as credible rival, I can live with something middling.

I'm glad best actor is more a muddle than it appeared -- a Butler sweep would have depressed me deeply. But my favorite isn't included in the group of two seeming finalists, so it's hard to be truly excited. One day, someone outside the SAG/BAFTA axis will win the Oscar. Why not now?

The children at Awards Worthy have been in the tank for Michelle Yeoh all season, and they think it's all over now, which seems ridiculous to me. Yeoh needed this simply to keep alive in the race; winning the most populist guild hardly makes her a sure thing. I think it's now completely up in the air. I may change my mind if this propels Yeoh to the Oscar win, but, when she won, I felt for her like I did for Keoghan at BAFTA: I was glad she got some reward along the way for her breakthrough, and SAG seemed the logical place.

As to that Keoghan thing: Quan seemed the likely Oscar winner to me even before tonight, and this only confirmed it.

But supporting actress...zowie. I saw The Oscar Expert (the stones, to label yourself that) tweeted out tonight something along the lines of "Wow, Angela Bassett was Stallone in Creed all along" -- and I felt like he owed me royalties. This was a deep blow to the Bassett case -- she has now fallen short in both industry awards; she's lost this guild most inclined to go for a sentimental favorite; she's picked up competition from another (even-longer-term) veteran; her we-all-want-her-to-win narrative has been broken into pieces, with the category having had 3 different winners at the TV stage. I'm not remotely ready to make a call in this race, but I'd say the debits many of us saw the Bassett scenario confronting -- no best picture nomination, comic book movie -- will likely now become more open topics.

Was anyone watching the moments leading up to the show, between 7:55ET and 8:00? They showed a bunch of photos of folks posing on the red carpet, but they were against a stark-white background, and the lighting was somehow off -- it made most people look absolutely awful (you could see where the make-up had been applied, and some of what it was supposed to cover up). It reminded me that this Netflix/YouTube collaboration was a new thing, and it lacked some of the professionalism we've come to take for granted at awards show. I had the same feeling every time they came to the end of one of those montages-where-there'd-normally-be-commercials, and it took forever to get people to sit down and shut up. I could see them being blindsided the first time this happened, but somebody should have laid down the law on that quick; instead, it lingered through most of the evening.

Oh, the Sally Field thing was lovely, and Andrew Garfield is a lovely person.

[Big Magilla]

I wouldn't count Colin Farrell out, but it's not going to be easy for him after losing both BAFTA and SAG. However, those losses were to two different actors, so it's still possible for him to win. Same with Kerry Condon.