THE 2012 SCREEN ACTORS GUILD NOMINATIONS WERE ANNOUNCED WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12.
Many of my comments regarding films and performances can be found in the Golden Globes post, but I do want to make a few notes about the Screen Actors Guild film nominations, particularly because the Academy Award nominations (and eventual winners) are often foreshadowed by this organization since it began handing out awards almost 2o years ago. Given that actors make up the largest single group of Academy voters, their choices here are closely watched by Oscar buffs interested in the acting categories and the big prize, Best Picture.
As far as recognizing a film in its totality — which is what we review here at Film Pulse — we always look to the Outstanding Ensemble category as a bellweather for what actors consider the year’s best picture. There are no surprises here though some mainstream entertainment media and bloggers have commented on the absence of Zero Dark Thirty. But Internet chatter about Marigold Hotel knocking Zero Dark Thirty out of the running is unreasonable; Marigold Hotel is the definition of expert ensemble acting while Kathryn Bigelow’s thriller about killing Osama Bin Laden is more than a masterclass in ensemble performance. My hunch is that the Guild is torn between the larger-than-life Lincoln and the just-as-intimate but smaller-scale storytelling of David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook. What may be surprising to some is the absence of The Master which so many people thought would be a major awards contender and, like other Paul Thomas Anderson films, an experiential event. Certainly one would consider The Master to be an example of high-powered ensemble acting. But things are not coming together for the film as one might have expected; Joaquin Phoenix is very noticeably absent from the actors’ nominations of leading performances (and awards darling Amy Adams is missing-in-action in the supporting actress group). There could still be a shakeup before the Oscars as Hugh Jackman may not be a lock (though he’s supposedly excellent in Les Misérables) or perhaps Phoenix sneaks in instead of Denzel Washington. For the women, it may be Helen Mirren who disappears, replaced by Rachel Weisz’s all-or-nothing portrayal of the desperate, adulterous Hester Collyer in The Deep Blue Sea or, if there was any justice in the world, Emmanuelle Riva’s brilliant turn as stroke victim Anne Laurent in Amour. In the supporting actor category, I’m happy to see Javier Bardem who gave us a great Bond villain in Skyfall, but I miss Matthew McConaughey (Magic Mike, Bernie). Finally, we here at Film Pulse loved Beasts of the Southern Wild and non-professional actors Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry were extraordinary, but they were non-union and thus ineligible for consideration by the Guild.
Outstanding Actor: Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook; Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln; John Hawkes, The Sessions; Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables; Denzel Washington, Flight
Outstanding Actress: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty; Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone; Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook; Helen Mirren, Hitchcock; Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Outstanding Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin, Argo; Javier Bardem, Skyfall; Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook; Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master; Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Outstanding Supporting Actress: Sally Field, Lincoln; Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables; Helen Hunt, The Sessions; Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy; Maggie Smith, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Outstanding Performance by a Cast: Argo, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Les Misérables, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook
