Congratulations to all of this year's fantastic SAG Awards winners! (And Lifetime Achievement honoree Lily Tomlin!)
Best Ensemble
Hidden Figures
Best Lead Actor
Denzel Washington, Fences
Best Lead Actress
Emma Stone, La La Land
Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis, Fences
On the heels of Oscar nominations morning - and with about a month to go before that grand ceremony - here's my final hunch on how this weekend's SAG Awards will go down...
Best Ensemble
Nuts as this may sound, I suspect Hidden Figures will pull the upset here, over Moonlight, which appears to be something of a soft front-runner here. Hidden Figures peaked at just the right time in SAG voting, having already amassed nearly $100 million at the box office; is packed with actors who have worked alongside countless other SAG members; and, of course, mustered that all-important Best Picture Oscar nom. Moonlight could still totally win this, though - the Globe win was important in sustaining some momentum for the film, and there's something so special about the casting of both Chiron and Kevin. Not to be entirely counted out is Manchester by the Sea, though it seems buzz on that one is generally, sadly waning a bit. The other two I don't see as having a prayer, even though I have both Davis and this guy emerging triumphant here...
Best Lead Actor
Yup, I'm going the extra distance in awards commentary craziness here. First off, I think Mortensen, Gosling and Garfield can all rather easily be counted out here, even with Mortensen's cast having scored that jaw-dropping Ensemble nod. The way I see it, if enough voters realize Washington has yet to triumph at SAG, he should win, as something of a career nod. Moreover, though, I get the sense critics (and the HFPA) might be much more keen on Affleck than his acting peers. Perhaps it's Brie Larson's wary response to his Globe victory putting me in this mindset but I suspect he may be weaker than some are thinking among the acting branch.
Best Lead Actress
Even with Stone looking more and more like an Oscar shoo-in, I wouldn't entirely discount Portman's chances here. I do see Stone as a decent front-runner at SAG, in part because she's the one way the guild can recognize La La Land, but I'm hesitant to quite yet declare Portman dead. Streep, despite that glorious Globes speech, shouldn't be a real factor here, and non-Oscar nominees Adams and Blunt surely needn't get victory speeches together.
Best Supporting Actor
Now this is a tough one. Ali was steamrolling this awards season until Aaron Taylor-Johnson's random Globe win somewhat placed the breaks on his momentum. I still think Ali triumphs here but Bridges could follow in the footsteps of Robert Duvall, Michael Caine, Christopher Walken and Tommy Lee Jones of veteran actors who have prevailed in SAG Supporting Actor. Patel, who was nominated at SAG for Slumdog Millionaire when the Academy didn't bite, could be a factor too. Grant and Hedges, while both wonderful, are sitting this one out.
Best Supporting Actress
Here is the biggest slam dunk of the evening. It's tough to even decide upon who will be the distant runner-up to Davis. I would think it's Williams, though it doesn't much matter - Davis shall triumph here in a cakewalk.
Congratulations to this year's Directors Guild of America Award honorees!
DAMIEN CHAZELLE
La La Land (Lionsgate)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Michael Beugg
First Assistant Director: Peter Kohn
Second Assistant Director: Paula Case
Assistant Unit Production Manager: Bart Lipton
Second Second Assistant Director: Brett Robinson
Additional Second Assistant Director: Dodi Rubenstein
GARTH DAVIS
Lion (The Weinstein Company)
Directorial Team:
First Assistant Director: Chris Webb
First Assistant Director: Ananya Rane (India Unit)
Second Assistant Directors: Mark Ingram (Australia Unit), Sunny Tiku (India Unit), KP Singh (India Unit), Shaunak Kapur (India Unit)
BARRY JENKINS
Moonlight (A24)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Jennifer Radzikowski
KENNETH LONERGAN
Manchester by the Sea (Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Declan Baldwin
First Assistant Director: Michael J. Moore
Second Assistant Director: David Blazina
Second Second Assistant Directors: Tim LaDue, Scooter Perrotta
DENIS VILLENEUVE
Arrival (Paramount Pictures)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Stan Wlodkowski
First Assistant Director: Donald L. Sparks
Second Assistant Director: Brigitte Goulet
Second Second Assistant Director: Karine P. Labelle
Congratulations to this year's Producers Guild of America (PGA) Awards honorees!
Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures
Arrival
Producers: Dan Levine, Shawn Levy, Aaron Ryder, David Linde
Deadpool
Producers: Simon Kinberg, Ryan Reynolds, Lauren Shuler Donner
Fences
Producers: Scott Rudin, Denzel Washington, Todd Black
Hacksaw Ridge
Producers: Bill Mechanic, David Permut
Hell or High Water
Producers: Carla Hacken, Julie Yorn
Hidden Figures
Producers: Donna Gigliotti, Peter Chernin & Jenno Topping, Pharrell Williams, Theodore Melfi
La La Land
Producers: Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz, Marc Platt
Lion
Producers: Emile Sherman & Iain Canning, Angie Fielder
Manchester By the Sea
Producers: Matt Damon, Kimberly Steward, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck, Kevin Walsh
Moonlight
Producers: Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner & Jeremy Kleiner
Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
Finding Dory
Producer: Lindsey Collins
Kubo and the Two Strings
Producers: Arianne Sutner, Travis Knight
Moana
Producer: Osnat Shurer
The Secret Life of Pets
Producers: Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy
Zootopia
Producer: Clark Spencer
Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Picture
Dancer
Producer: Gabrielle Tana
The Eagle Huntress
Producers: Stacey Reiss, Otto Bell
Life, Animated
Producers: Julie Goldman, Roger Ross Williams
O.J.: Made in America
Producers: Ezra Edelman, Caroline Waterlow
Tower
Producers: Keith Maitland, Susan Thomson, Megan Gilbride
Congratulations to this year's Writers Guild of America honorees!
Best Adapted Screenplay
Eric Heisserer, Arrival
Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, Deadpool
August Wilson, Fences
Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, Hidden Figures
Tom Ford, Nocturnal Animals
Best Original Screenplay
Taylor Sheridan, Hell or High Water
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Jeff Nichols, Loving
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Barry Jenkins and Tarell McCraney, Moonlight