Who Deserves Ensemble Nominations at SAG?

by Nathaniel R

Ballots for the Screen Actors Guild nominations are due tomorrow. Their most crucial category is Outstanding Ensemble. People liken it constantly to Best Picture and while it's not supposed to be that, they do sometimes vote that way. Given the way SAG voting works with a new nominating committee randomly drawn each year from among the many many thousands of SAG members, nothing is ever truly safe. Sometimes their nominations are surprising but cool (remember Hustle & Flow or The Station Agent's ensemble nods?), other times they feel like lazy Best Picture predictions. And then there are the years when they appear to have voted in early Fall before anyone saw movies and any buzz started to solidify. It's tough to know what kind of year we'll have... 

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Globe Predictions? Let's Go Out on a Few Limbs...

This Monday morning very bright and early Don Cheadle, Laura Dern, and Anna Kendrick will announce the 74th annual Golden Globe Predictions. Though the media likes to take easy shots at the Globes each year, if you look through their history of awardage their ratios of great decisions to bad ones is about the same as any organizations. What's more they definitely afford themselves the opportunity to be more daring than Oscar does with their doubled categories. The Comedy/Musical categories are sometimes wasted on star-f***ing it's true (The Tourist anyone?) but more often than not it allows for "lighter" fare which, let's face it, can age better than biopics or message movies to have its day in the sun.

Don Cheadle (Miles Ahead), Laura Dern (The Founder), and Anna Kendrick (Mike & Dave...) will announce. Only Cheadle might show up as a nominee...

What might be nominated this year? We've never claimed to be good at predicting the Globes but let's all ponder the possibilities together after the jump...

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Interview: Oscar-Winner Asghar Farhadi Returns with "The Salesman"

by Nathaniel R

Two award winners: Asghar Farhadi with his star Shahab Hosseni

Asghar Farhadi's fame is finally catching up to his talent. After his international breakthrough with A Separation (2011) which won the Oscar and the Globe Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and became a significant arthouse hit internationally, the Iranian auteur has had three other movies travel to cinemas abroad. The acclaimed About Elly (2009) found renewed life and finally a US release, and his two follow up pictures The Past (2013) and The Salesman (2016) both took home coveted acting prizes from Cannes.

The Salesman, which will begin its US release in January after an Oscar-qualifying week recently in Los Angeles, is Farhadi's fourth consecutive film to be chosen by Iran to represent the country at the Academy Awards. Like A Separation, it's a stunner which begins simply before a fraught incident sends out large ripples complicating the story and the characterizations. We talked to Farhadi about the pressure of representing Iran, his Oscar night journey, and his creative process. The interview is after the jump...

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Beauty Break: Ruth Negga For Vogue

Chris here with some leading lady gorgeousness. We're big fans of Ruth Negga's Loving performance here at The Film Experience, and hopeful for her Oscar chances in a crowded Best Actress year. Regardless of whether or not she is one of the eventual five nominees, you can bet on Ruth continuing to serve a fantastic fashion game all season long.

And wouldn't you know, she's on the January cover of Vogue! In the interview (after a stunning spread with costar Joel Edgerton in the November issue) the actress describes Loving as a "before and after" role for her, still a bit reserved to her newfound attention. But how can we not be in awe of her with a performance like this and her laidback charm - not to mention her fashion prowess! Check out the photoshoot after the jump...

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The Oscar Week in Four Quotes and a Video

by Murtada

In this new weekly feature we will follow the Oscar contenders and examine how their many interviews and appearances impact their chances.

Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone

As Silence continues to screen and Hacksaw Ridge continues to do well with award bodies, Garfield is making the rounds including the Hollywood Reporter Roundtable. When asked which actor he’d have with him if he was stranded on a desert island, he said:

Emma Stone. I love Emma. She's all right. She can come.

This comes after Emma casually mentioned in her Vogue 73 questions video that the best gift she received was a hand-made rocking chair. Guess what Andrew told THR in that roundtable? Yes you guessed it. He learned how to make a rocking chair as part of his preparation for Silence. Oh these two and their amicable breakup.

Meanwhile Emma is everywhere.

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