Sunday, March 23, 2025

I Told You: “Conclave” Wins SAG Best Ensemble, Heads to the Oscars For Best Picture without a Best Director

Edward Berger’s “Conclave” won Best Ensemble at the SAG Awards and heads to the Oscars in the lead for Best Picture. If it wins, it’s a Best Picture without a Best Director because Berger wasn’t nominated.

Amazing. Berger should have been nominated for Best Director. “Conclave” is a great work, just like his last film, “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Best Picture winners rarely don’t have a nominated Director. Most recent examples were “Wings,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Coda,” Green Book,” and “Argo.”

“Conclave” won Best Drama at the Golden Globes, as well.

I predicted this win last September at the Toronto Film Festival.

Universal’s Focus Features can pat themselves on the back.

This year, the SAG Awards are a tricky predictor for the Oscars. Academy voting already closed, so these award may not be an omen. On the other hand, SAG is the biggest chunk of Academy voters. This means they may have also voted for “Conclave” for the Oscars.

Completely dashed hopes for “The Brutalist.”

Demi Moore won Best Actress for “The Substance” and gave an emotional speech. She and Mikey Madison will face off next Sunday.

Best Actor was a surprise. Timothee Chalamet beat Adrien Brody. Chalamet could be the youngest male Oscar winner next week for playing Bob Dylan. Brody won most of the previous awards this season. But the actors in the Guild obviously appreciated Chalamet’s singing as well as his acting.

Apologies to “Anora,” which was on the fast track and may yet pull it out. All other titles are off the table.

“Conclave” is still playing in theaters. Go see it with an audience!

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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