Thursday, December 10, 2015

Awards Season Begins with SAG and Golden Globes Nominations

The Golden Globe Awards have always been a bit of a lightweight when compared to other movie awards like the Oscars, given that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization that gives them, is quite small (about 90 members) and rather obscure. Their track record isn't great -- Pia Zadora was their "New Star of the Year" in 1982 for a terrible movie called Butterfly, amidst allegations that her fabulously wealthy husband bought the award for her, and as recently as 2011, a movie called The Tourist nabbed a nomination as the Best Motion Picture (Musical Comedy), with, again, rumors that HFPA members had been bought off with a lavish weekend of entertainment. If you don't remember The Tourist, don't worry -- it was panned by critics and pretty much bombed at the box office in the United States.


The Globes had one big saving grace, however. They brought together nominees from film and television, which didn't happen anywhere else. That advantage was lost when the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA has a combined membership over 165,000) entered the awards game, also spotlighting performances in both movies and TV. Since these honors were coming from their peers in SAG, actors tended to pay more attention to who was getting what.

Even if nobody takes the Globes very seriously, they are still a good time, with free-flowing liquor, famous people sitting at tables instead of stuck in an auditorium, and a lot of actors showing up to present and get their awards. The emphasis on funny, irreverent hosts like Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in 2014 and Ricky Gervais last year, doesn't hurt. Gervais will be back in 2016, where he will almost certainly bring out his best pokes, jabs and lampoons. The man is merciless as well as funny.

As for the Screen Actors Guild and their awards... No funny host, no major network, but they'll be there January 30, 2016 on TBS and TNT, and their winners are much more likely to give you a hint of who'll win the Oscars.

SAG announced their nominations first, so let's take a look at who and what is singled out. (I couldn't find the list on SAG's own site, so these are taken from reports in Variety and the Los Angeles Times.) You'll see a lot of similarities between this list and the Golden Globes' nominations, for however much that means. Some quick thoughts: Homeland, Downton Abbey and House of Cards have all seen better days, Fargo and The Leftovers deserve a lot more attention than they're getting, Key and Peele are both great, but they're hardly an ensemble, and it seems SAG is looking for old favorites, nominating some actors in both film and television based on previous performances instead of what happened on our screens this year.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE
Beasts of No Nation
The Big Short
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Trumbo

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 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

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, Shamless
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, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Julia Louis-Dreyfys, Veep
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

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 STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Everest
Furious 7
Jurassic World
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES
The Blacklist
Game of Thrones
Homeland
Marvel's Daredevil
The Walking Dead

SAG LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Carol Burnett

And now for the Golden Globe nominations. Let's take a moment to say thank you to the Hollywood Foreign Press for honoring Rachel Bloom from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend with a nomination in the world of TV.  Note that several people have double nominations for Golden Globes -- Idris Elba, Mark Rylance, Lily Tomlin and Alicia Vikander -- while Elba and Rylance join Helen Mirren with two nominations from SAG.

On the head-scratcher side, I have nothing against the soapy mess that is Empire or the soapy romance epic that is Outlander, but you've nominated them instead of Mad Men? You've got The Martian in the comedy category? Christian Bale is a supporting actor in The Big Short for SAG but a lead for you? And, like the Screen Actors Guild, you've overlooked HBO's absolutely fantastic The Leftovers and its amazing cast? But you had room for American Horror Story: Hotel and Lady Gaga, even though the two are absolutely lame together? What is wrong with you, you 90 special snowflakes in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association?

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Rooney Mara, Carol
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Will Smith, Concussion

BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
The Big Short
Joy
The Martian
Spy
Trainwreck

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Melissa McCarthy, Spy
Amy Schumer, Trainwreck
Maggie Smith, The Lady in the Van
Lily Tomlin, Grandma

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Steve Carell, The Big Short
Matt Damon, The Martian
Al Pacino, Danny Collins
Mark Ruffalo, Infinitely Polar Bear

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Jane Fonda, Youth
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Helen Mirren, Trumbo
Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Sylvester Stallone, Creed

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
Todd Haynes, Carol
Alejandro G. Inarritu,The Revenant
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Ridley Scott, The Martian

BEST MOTION PICTURE – ANIMATED
Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
The Peanuts Movie
Shaun the Sheep Movie

BEST MOTION PICTURE – FOREIGN LANGUAGE
The Brand New Testament (Belgium/France/Luxembourg)
The Club (Chile)
The Fencer (Finland/Germany/Estonia)
Mustang (France)
Son of Saul (Hungary)

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
Empire
Game of Thrones
Mr. Robot
Narcos
Outlander

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
Catriona Bale, Outlander
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Eva Green, Penny Dreadful
Taraji P. Henson, Empire
Robin Wright, House of Cards

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
Wagner Moura, Narcos
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Casual 
Mozart in the Jungle
Orange Is the New Black
Silicon Valley
Transparent
Veep

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Jamie Lee Curtis, Scream Queens
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Gael Garcia Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle
Rob Lowe, The Grinder
Patrick Stewart, Blunt Talk
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

BEST TELEVISION LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
American Crime
American Horror Story: Hotel
Fargo
Flesh & Bone
Wolf Hall

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Kirsten Dunst, Fargo
Lady Gaga, American Horror Story: Hotel
Sarah Hay, Flesh & Bone
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Queen Latifah, Bessie

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Idris Elba, Luther
Oscar Isaac, Show Me a Hero
David Oyelowo, Nightingale
Mark Rylance, Wolf Hall
Patrick Wilson, Fargo

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black
Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
Regina King, American Crime
Judith Light, Transparent
Maura Tierney, The Affair

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Damian Lewis, Wolf Hall
Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline
Tobias Menzies, Outlander
Christian Slater, Mr. Robot

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