The Screen Actors Guild Awards are pretty much the predictors of the Oscars. Well, they’re as close as you can get to a real reading of who will win the acting Academy Awards. Last year, SAG and the Oscars went hand in hand–Colin Firth, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, Natalie Portman and “The King’s Speech”–all replicated. The year before that, Sandra Bullock’s win at SAG set her up for the Oscar. Jeff Bridges won, too. The big twist: “Inglourious Basterds” took the Best Ensemble Award, while “The Hurt Locker” won the Oscar. These things happen. There was also a now classic sort of mix up with Best Actress the year before. Meryl Streep won Best Actress for “Doubt.” She didn’t win the Oscar. Kate Winslet did, for “The Reader.” For the SAGs, she’d been wrongly put in Supporting Actress. She won that award. But it was clear that for the Oscars, she should be in lead. The voters moved her on their own, and she won. Penelope Cruz took home Supporting for “Vicki Cristina Barcelona.” Streep went home empty handed. That isn’t likely to happen again.
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
