SAG and DGA Nominations Add Real Status as Oscar Voting Begins Tomorrow – Analysis

After last night’s Golden Globes thing, we had just under 12 hours to regroup and get ready for the real deal: first the SAG nominations, then the DGA, the first two major guild indicators of where the real mood is could lie before Oscar voting can begin on Thursday. With the Producers Guild, often a very Oscar-predictive list, also out next Thursday, the best barometers of where the industry is thinking right now will be on the table.

What did the Directors Guild tell us? After giving female directors their big prize (Jane Campion, Chloé Zhao) and then giving them their corresponding Oscars two years in a row, it’s time for men to dominate again. Although there were no surprises as to who made the cut – Steven Spielberg (The Fables), Todd Field (tar), Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything, everywhere, all at once), Martin MacDonagh (The Banshees by Inisherin) and Josef Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) – some of the omissions may have been glaring, including James Cameron (whose Avatar: the way of water was also excluded from SAG) and Elis Baz Luhrmann, Globe and Critics Choice nominee for Very Popular Movie.

But even with women making great strides with DGA in recent years, it seems a shame that Sarah Polley didn’t women talk or Gina Prince-Bythewood for her epic work The queen of women couldn’t make it either, let alone like female coxswains To and she said to name just a few in a very good year for women. Is it a sign that the profession – and the jobs – are still predominantly male and a negative that the two female-directed films mentioned were about women? talk and women struggle, with her gender prominent in the title of her film? I hope not.

On the plus side, the list of achievements for a first-time feature director switches roles with just one man (John Patton Ford for the female-centric Emily the Criminal) able to bring down an otherwise admirable list of all the ladies, including Alice Diop (Saint Omer); Audrey Diwan (happen); Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic (Murina), and Charlotte Wells (Nazon). This is a very independent, very international, very female group that DGA recognizes, and maybe it’s to make up for shortcomings at the Big Kids table. Or maybe just a taste of what a future generation of directors will look like very different from the almost entirely white male (Kwan is Asian) list that will get all the attention this year.

If recent history is any indication, at least one of the DGA Directing Film nominees will not make it to directing at the Oscars and will most likely go to a foreign-language film director, and probably not a woman. . My guess would be Edward Berger for Germany No news from the western front or SS Rajamouli for the ingenious RRR.

Kosinski’s presence on the DGA list is his first major award and well deserved Top Gun: Maverick don’t aim for the biggest hit but major acclaim in 2022. This guild’s nomination for the film, and inevitably one from PGA, shows their strength in the Oscar race, even though star Tom Cruise didn’t jog at SAG this morning.

As for these SAG nominees, as well as DGA’s strong track record in 75 years of predicting Oscar winds, you can’t deny that SAG’s award has made an impressive commitment in its much shorter 29 years. Last year, all four of SAG’s acting winners won Oscars in their respective categories, while the eventual Best Picture Oscar winner KODA really made my way to Dolby after collecting SAG’s version of Best Picture for Outstanding Cast (just like parasite benefited from winning the SAG Cast 2020). While it does happen occasionally, it’s very rare for an actor to win an Oscar without first earning at least one SAG nomination. The list of the 2,500-member nominating committee contained few surprises. Austin Butler, Colin Farrell, Brendan Fraser and Bill Nighy were present at every call. However, it was pleasant and somewhat unexpected to hear that Adam Sandler also landed a spot in last spring’s Netflix film. in a hurry Indeed, Sandler was kept busy on the set and heavily supported by the streamer, and it clearly paid off at the expense of Cruise, Hugh Jackman and others hoping to make the cut.

The cast for female actors is so strong this year, stronger than the male ones, that it was inevitable that some deserving performances were left out. There were Cate Blanchett, Viola Davis, Danielle Deadwyler, Michelle Yeoh and Ana de Armas. But outside were Olivia Colman, Margot Robbie and most shocking the wonderful men Michelle Williams, who early championed attentional support, a category she probably could have easily elevated to front-runner status, instead made a point of striving for guidance, so important was she that it was for the upgraded mother roles to be . The gamble didn’t pay off here, but I’m counting on Oscars. It should be noted that both Williams and Robbie received SAG nominations this morning as part of both of their nominated casts mythical creatures and Babylon. And by the way, if you think that the last film’s inclusion in the prestigious cast category was a surprise, I would like to ask you: “Why?” It is a Hollywood and actor centric film.

Speaking of which, has SAG come up with an intriguing scenario that could also play out at the Oscars? Could Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe, who have never been nominated for an Oscar in their own lives, end up in Butler’s care? elvis and in the arms blond, like now with SAG? Do not Which one be interesting?

In the supporting categories, there was not a single shock amid a boatload of events. Paul Dano got the offer mythical creatures 87-plus-year-old Judd Hirsch, who took some heat for his extended cameo. The inclusion of Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan from SAG leads The Banshees by Inisherin appears to be an ongoing scenario, as does forerunner status for Everything, everywhere, all at once Ke Huy Quan, who slayed his Globes acceptance speech last night and looks unstoppable. Eddie Redmayne is also looking hard for an Oscar slot, one of the most visible performers on the circuit this year, and it’s paying off. In the Supporting Ladies, Angela Bassett, fresh off a Globes win, also looks strong here Everything is Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu will likely share the voice. Kerry Condon is great and has the advantage of being on top Banshees Wave (and interestingly, all four nominated stars are first-time SAG nominees in any category), while Hong Chaus’ placement for her brilliant role as Brendan Fraser’s character’s caretaker in The whale was a smart and commendable move by SAG.

Thank goodness SAG has an ensemble category. It was made for movies women talk with its almost all-female cast, and who might be the sleeper for the cast here Babylon, everywhere at once, the Fablemen, and The Banshees of Inisherin, which all have different options for their individual actors than women talk what absolutely Being defined which should be a film ensemble, all for one and one for all. Be careful, SAG voters.

A side note here: for the first time there is no TV deal for this year’s SAG Awards, but it was announced this morning that Netflix will stream it starting in 2024 and it will be available this year and maybe on Netflix’s YouTube channel other digital outlets are operated by the streamer. Maybe it’s all kismet, because Netflix should be pretty lucky to get those nominations in film for Sandler, De Armas and Redmayne, which according to the experts weren’t slam dunks. At this point, I’m sure they’re looking for any ways they can think of, YouTube and otherwise, to make these 2023 SAG Awards as visible as possible.