To see the full list of SAG Award Nominees: click here
1) Joaquin Phoenix doesn't get nominated for his brilliant performance in The Master. Neither does Amy Adams. Philip Seymour Hoffman does. As boring and long as The Master is, it features the best acting performances of the year. If I had to choose the best performance of the year I would choose Phoenix's performance from The Master. He better get a Golden Globe AND an Oscar nod.
2a) I was worried Bradley Cooper wouldn't get a Best Actor Oscar nomination. Silver Linings' Playbook was released at the perfect time to steamroll and snowball it's away through award season. Cooper's SAG nod is a great stepping stone towards getting an Oscar nomination.
2b) SLP also earned a nomination for Best Actress (Jennifer Lawrence), Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro), and Best Cast in a Movie. I don't know how Argo will do at the Golden Globes or with other the other Guilds, but SLP might be the new front runner for Best Picture. However, this may be putting the cart in front of the horse because with the all strengths Argo has (mainly with how well directed it is, how well written it is, and how good of a movie it is as a whole), acting is not per se one of them. Plus, Argo also earned a nomination for Best Cast In A Movie.
3) Javier Bardem earns a nomination for his great performance in Skyfall. Bardem won an Oscar for playing an amazing villain in No Country For Old Men and I think he deserves another one for playing one of (if not THE) best Bond villain ever. With little to no award buzz surrounding the Skyfall actors, I'm glad to see Bardem gets recognized here.
4) No nominations for anyone from Django Unchained. I'm confident this had more to do with the film's Christmas release date than anything else. I hope the late release date for the film doesn't hurt its Oscar chances (although I am also assuming it will be an amazing film. I mean, how can it not be?!)
5a) Surprising nominations for The Best Exoctic Marigold Hotel. Maggie Smith earns a nomination for her performance in the film (although that came as no surprise as 1) She's Maggie freaking Smith and 2) As always, this is a weak year for female nominations). However, what was surprising was that the film also earned a nomination for Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Major Motion Picture. Can this be the fuel the movie needs to get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture?
5b) Maggie Smith earned another SAG nomination for her role on Downton Abbey. While that was not surprising, what was surprising was that it was in the Best Actress category and not in the Best Supporting Actress category.
6) The choices of women to choose from for female side of the acting categories always seems to be weak. That leaves the door open for Nicole Kidman to possibly get an Oscar nomination as she earns a SAG nomination for her work in Lee Daniels' (Precious) flick The Paperboy.
7) Crap, I need to see The Sessions. John Hawkes and Helen Hunt earn nominations for their performance in the film. Both seem very likely to earn Golden Globe and Oscar nominations as well.
8) Les Mis rolls. It earned four including nominations Best Actor (Hugh Jackman), Best Supporting Actress (Anne Hathaway), and Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Major Motion Picture.
9) Jeff Daniels earned a nomination for Best Actor for his work in The Newsroom. Beat out Emmy nominees Timothy Olyphant (Justified), Michael C Hall (Dexter), and anyone from Downton Abbey. I just think that's interesting and probably well deserved. I wouldn't be surprised if Daniels + The Newsrooms earns Golden Globe nominations and we see The Newsroom run up big for the 2013 Emmys.
10) Game of Thrones has a huge cast full of amazing actors and its second season was great. That being said, it missed the cut for Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Television Drama Series. Although with a group like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Homeland, and Downton Abbey its a tough group to crack.
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