23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Award Winners

Last night the guild had their awards ceremony and gee, there were a couple of BIG surprises. But will start with the red carpet that didn't enjoyed as much as before or others awards and believe that was due to the terrible coverage with new hosts/interviewers that made the ride bumpy.  Talking about the infamous E! but also about the People, EW and TNT online coverage.  Also got the impression that there was way too-many TV actors and too-little cinema actors (lol) hope Academy Awards ceremony red carpet goes back to more experienced hosts/commentators.

So the largest American cinema industry guild has spoken and well, perhaps we should not be so surprised as in the past there are multiple times when film critics/journalists and industry professionals do not coincide and last night was one of those times as press favorites were not honored with an award and more, with a nomination!  If this guild is the largest then add that among them are the most Academy Awards voters and believe that some "lock" races now are completely open.

Many of us believed Casey Affleck was going to get his first Oscar, but after last night there is no certainty and Oscar's Best Actor race is open and the unexpected could happen.  Film critics awards are equally distributed between Isabelle Huppert and Natalie Portman with a far-away third place to Emma Stone.  As of last night and with La La Land PGA win, there is very-little doubt what industry insiders like as Best Actress, Emma Stone, and yes, she has propelled to be the contender to beat at the Oscars.  Know that Huppert wasn't nominated but after watching Jackie twice, think I understand why Americans don't enjoy Portman performance and the movie, in general; is the not-easy-to-watch story and the outstanding Pablo Larrain cinematic style, which Americans are not familiar with as their domestic cinema doesn't tend to do what it's done in Jackie. Sigh.  Still hope that Oscars give a pleasant positive surprise with Huppert or Portman but it's most unlikely to happen.

Only a major earthquake could make Viola Davis to not win the Oscar and I'm truly pleased with her being honored as she has many honors overdue.  Many were expecting or perhaps more, hoping, Mahershala Ali could win and he did thus increasing his chances for an Oscar win.  I certainly did not notice that much his performance in Moonlight as there were other performances that grabbed my attention a lot more; but perhaps he's honored for his body of work which includes many TV notable performances and then, he was also in Hidden Figures.

I enjoyed Hidden Figures but got the impression that the acting was a lot better than the movie, so winning the top award is alright with me even when everyone was predicting and expecting Moonlight to win.  As someone said and I paraphrase, "Moonlight is too-gay to win a major award" and perhaps is true; Moonlight cast gave superior performances and well, then there is Fences with outstanding cast performances, so can't see why SAG voters decided for one film above others with much better performances, sigh.  Still, believe this award means nothing to Oscars as Best Film favorite was not even nominated in the SAG Awards cast category.

Have to say something about TV categories.  First, was very pleased with Orange is the New Black win as believe last season was one of their best after the outstanding first season.  Believe Sarah Paulson has won every single award where she was nominated and surely he deserves all honors.  I devoured The Crown so I'm pleased the show is honored with actors performances awards as believe Claire Foy performance is outstanding but have to say John Lithgow performance makes me uncomfortable, we all know the character and surely we have our expectations, but Lithgow's Churchill is not the best I have seen nor the best Lithgow performance, sigh.

Last, we all have to recognize that last night red carpet and ceremony was one event crowed with many out (and others not-so out) of the closet lesbians!  Not since 2007 Oscars ceremony hosted by Ellen Degeneres there has been an awards ceremony with that many lesbians being honored with awards, including the extremely well-deserved Career Achievement to Lily Tomlin.  Great!

To check winners in TV categories go official site here.  Winners are in (*) BLUE.

Theatrical Motion Pictures

Outstanding Peformance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Captain Fantastic: Annalise Basso, Shree Crooks, Ann Dowd, Kathryn Hahn, Nicholas Hamilton, Samantha Isler, Frank Langella, George MacKay, Erin Moriarty, Viggo Mortensen, Missi Pyle and Charlie Shotwell
Fences: Jovan Adepo, Viola Davis, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Russell Hornsby, Saniyya Sidney, Denzel Washinton and Mykelti Williamson
(*) Hidden Figures: Mahershala Ali, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Taraji P. Henson, Aldis Hodge, Janelle Monae, Jim Parsons, Glen Powell and Octavia Spencer
Manchester by the Sea: Casey Affleck, Matthew Broderick, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, Gretchen Mol and Michelle Williams
Moonlight: Mahershala Ali, Naomi Harris, Andre Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monae, Trevante Rhodes and Ashton Sanders

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Amy Adams in Arrival
Emily Blunt in The Girl on the Train
Natalie Portman in Jackie
(*) Emma Stone in La La Land
Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
(*) Viola Davis in Fences
Naomie Harris in Moonlight
Nicole Kidman in Lion
Octavia Spencer in Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams in Manchester by the Sea

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Casey Afflec in Manchester by the Sea
Andrew Garfield in Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Goslin in La La Land
Viggo Mortensen in Captain Fantastic
(*) Denzel Washington in Fences

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
(*) Mahershala Ali in Moonlight
Jeff Bridges in Hell or High Water
Hugh Grant in Florence Foster Jenkins
Lucas Hedges in Manchester by the Sea
Dev Patel in Lion

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12/15/16
Yesterday the Screen Actors Guild announced the nominations for outstanding performances in 2016 in five (5) film and eight (8) television categories, as well as the honors for outstanding action performances by film and television stunt ensembles.  This year the announcement was made by Sophia Bush and Common and after major film critics groups announcing their honors, these nominations come from the first group of actual Academy voters, the largest in the film industry indeed.

Somehow surprisingly Manchester by the Sea leads the most nominations with four (4), three in the individual categories and one for ensemble; Moonlight and Fences follows with three (3) each.

Spontaneously was surprised by the absence of Isabelle Huppert in the actress category; but after a while, guessed she probably does NOT belong to the guild so could not get a nomination.  Nevertheless, this is the category with more surprises as honors include Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep but snubbed Annette Bening and Ruth Negga.

Back in August, SAG announced Lily Tomlin as the recipient of the 23rd SAG Lifetime Achievement Award and she achieved a rare double as was also nominated for her performances in Grace & Frankie.  It is the second time this double honor happens; first time was James Garner in 2005.

Unlike the Golden Globes, Orange is the New Black has 2 nominations which clearly shows the relevance of the show; there are more pleasant surprises in TV, like all the nominations for The Crown, so if you wish to check film plus nominations at the official site go here.

The 23rd annual SAG Awards will be handed out on Sunday, Jan. 29. The ceremony airs live on TNT and TBS at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m.

As definitively I've masochist tendencies here is the In Memoriam video as in a few minutes we realize how many great actors left us during last and early this year. Gabrielle Carteris introduced a filmed “In Memoriam” tribute to the SAG-AFTRA members lost during 2016, an honor roll that sadly included three past presidents of our union: Ken Howard, Patty Duke and William Schallert; as well as two beloved Life Achievement Award recipients: Mary Tyler Moore and Debbie Reynolds. R.I.P.