The Film Experience

by Nathaniel R

Did you watch the SAG Awards last night? Apart from one surprising win on the television side (an inebriated, honest Pedro Pascal for The Last of Us) it was a night of frontrunners, continuing to run so far front that their competitors are all well out of focus. Honestly at this point, all the suspense of Oscar season has entirely dissipated (but we'll get to that soon). Given the lack of interesting narrative curlicues and detours and the same faces delivering the same kinds of speeches, the highlight for yours truly was in the presenters.

The grandest entertainment came in the form of a fashionable reunion for the stars of The Devil Wears Prada...

The fun was in the spinning of it, not any coasting on nostalgia. Meryl Streep was emphatically Meryl Streep not Miranda Priestley, flanked by her once onscreen assistants Emily Blunt and Anne Hathaway, who shared the Miranda Priestely attitude and duties, memorably delivering Priestley's quips right back at Meryl. Nice touch that the always over-achieving Anne Hathaway wore cerulean, too, don'cha think?

Runner up in presenter heaven was Melissa McCarthy fangirling out over good sport Billie Eilish, who channeling the audience at home, finally succumbed to McCarthy's still impeccable comic timing and began to break character and laugh with us.

The Barbra Streisand tribute was also a special bit. Who can forget Anne Hathaway tearing up watching Barbra or Barbra herself strolling through a speech that was much improved but still related-in-personality to the unforgettably eccentric staring-at-her-reflection-in-a-hubcab insanity of her Golden Globe Lifetime Achievement Award many years ago.

Here were the winners. Who were you cheering for and which had you yawning?

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

“American Fiction” (3 nominations, 0 wins)
“Barbie” (4 nominations, 0 wins)
“The Color Purple” (2 nominations, 0 wins)
“Killers of the Flower Moon” (3 nominations, 1 win)
★ “Oppenheimer” (4 nominations, 3 wins)

A rare treat for us 80s kids to see ex-lovers Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis reunited to present a big award! Anyway, there's just no hope of anyone competing with Oppenheimer this year for the top prizes with its combo of general biopic prestige, thematic importance, box office success, and critical acclaim.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Bradley Cooper – “Maestro”
Colman Domingo – “Rustin”
Paul Giamatti – “The Holdovers”
★ Cillian Murphy – “Oppenheimer”
Jeffrey Wright – “American Fiction”

For a brief while it felt like Paul Giamatti might overtake Cillian Murphy for Best Actor in the Oscar race. But while we were envisioning that happening, we had forgotten that Cillian Murphy has the biopic advantage even if his (great) performance isn't extroverted-showy in the ways that so many Oscar-winning lead roles are. The true drama at the moment is wondering if he'll have a consecutive Best Actor nomination for Small Things Like These for which he won raves at Berlinale.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Annette Bening – “Nyad”
★ Lily Gladstone – “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Carey Mulligan – “Maestro”
Margot Robbie – “Barbie”
Emma Stone – “Poor Things”

Lily & Emma feel like they've been running 50/50 or maybe 60/40 for the Oscar -- it's the only truly suspenseful above-the-line race this season. There's lot of ways to interpret this contest and how it might play out on Oscar night. Last night Emma Stone was truly delighted by Lily's win so she's a good sport and Lily gave great speech which helps. While second acting Oscars are generally won in proximity to first acting Oscars, it does feel like Emma's previous win puts her at a slight disadvantage this year since all else feels equal (performance critiques aside): industry voters clearly like both of these films a lot (given their huge nomination tallies everywhere) and neither of them have a prayer in hell of winning other acting Oscars or the Best Picture prize.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Sterling K. Brown – “American Fiction”
Willem Dafoe – “Poor Things”
Robert De Niro – “Killers of the Flower Moon”
★ Robert Downey Jr. – “Oppenheimer”
Ryan Gosling – “Barbie”

Downey Jr continues to steamroll and he delivered quite a speech too, listing incredible actors he learned from in tandem with a funny touching tribute to his wife.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Emily Blunt – “Oppenheimer”
Danielle Brooks – “The Color Purple”
Penelope Cruz – “Ferrari”
Jodie Foster – “Nyad”
★ Da’Vine Joy Randolph – “The Holdovers”

Da'Vine's speeches are getting better (which... well, she's had a lot of practice now!). We only wish she would go "off-book" since reading speeches is such a bummer, especially when the speech itself is a beauty!

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

“Barbie”
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
“John Wick: Chapter 4”
★ “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”

It continues to be weird and interesting that this Mission Impossible installment (number 7!) is the one that finally got some awards attention, given that it was the one that underwhelmed at the box office. For the record I think it's a marvelous action picture but the awards trajectory is still odd as hell, given the franchise history.

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

“The Crown”
“The Gilded Age”
“The Last of Us”
“The Morning Show”
★ “Succession”

One last hurrah for Succession, but in a surprising change of pace the SAG voting body decided it didn't need the same individual awards it had won everywhere else.

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

“Abbot Elementary”
“Barry”
★ “The Bear”
“Only Murders in the Building”
“Ted Lasso”

The Bear feels like a repeat winner for its second season but that's only because there are so many different awards shows. It's actually its first ensemble win at SAG. Last time the prize went to the first season of Abbott Elementary.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

Brian Cox – “Succession”
Billy Crudup – “The Morning Show”
Kieran Culkin – “Succession”
Matthew Macfadyen – “Succession”
★ Pedro Pascal – “The Last of Us”

Splitting the vote hasn't previously been a problem for Succession but regardless of how it happened we were thrilled for Pedro Pascal.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

Jennifer Aniston – “The Morning Show”
★ Elizabeth Debicki – “The Crown”
Bella Ramsey – “The Last of Us”
Keri Russell – “The Diplomat”
Sarah Snook – “Succession”

This award seemed to surprise everyone in the room but should they have been surprised? She won the Globe and the Critics Choice Award for this performance very recently. The surprise was surely due to the fact that SAG stupidly doesn't have supporting categories for television so she was competing against Lead actress Sarah Snook this time ...and everyone assumed Lead frontrunner would trump Supporting frontrunner. But that was not the case.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Alex Borstein – “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Rachel Brosnahan – “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Quinta Brunson – “Abbott Elementary”
★ Ayo Edebiri – “The Bear”
Hannah Waddingham – “Ted Lasso”

A first win for Ayo Edebiri who wasn't SAG nominated in this category for the first season.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Brett Goldstein – “Ted Lasso”
Bill Hader – “Barry”
Ebon Moss-Bachrach – “The Bear”
Jason Sudeikis – “Ted Lasso”
★ Jeremy Allen White – “The Bear”

A second consecutive win for Jeremy Allen White for this show. Second consecutive wins are very common with SAG and TV shows but they generally mix it up after the second win (in recent history) so White is not necessarily a slam dunk winner again for season 3. That said it wasn't always thus. Alec Baldwin won this prize for an interminable seven years for his work on 30 Rock. He was hilarious on that show but nobody in the history of anything needs to win the same annual prize for that many years.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

Uzo Aduba – “Painkiller”
Kathryn Hahn – Tiny Beautiful Things”
Brie Larson – “Lessons in Chemistry”
Bel Powley – “A Small Light”
★ Ali Wong – “Beef”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

Matt Bomer – “Fellow Travelers”
Jon Hamm – “Fargo”
David Oyelowo – “Lawmen: Bass Reeves”
Tony Shalhoub – “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie”
★ Steven Yeun – “Beef”

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

“Ahsoka”
“Barry”
“Beef”
★ “The Last of Us”
“The Mandalorian”

DID YOU WATCH THE SAG AWARDS? They're streamable on Netflix.