The first major industry award has announced their nominees this year. The guild awards are important because the branches of the Academy are made up of people who belong to the various guilds- and so today's SAG nods include and come from many who are members of the acting branch in the Academy. The biggest snub was Robert Redford for All is Lost, while the surprise nominees were Barkhad Abdi for Captain Phillips (yay!), James Gandolfini for Enough Said, and Dallas Buyers Club in Best Ensemble. The acting nominees rarely match up with the Oscar ones perfectly though (the membership in the Academy is a much smaller, more exclusive group), so there's room for other people yet.
Best Ensemble
- 12 Years a Slave
- American Hustle
- August: Osage County
- Dallas Buyers Club
- Lee Daniels' The Butler
Best Actor
- Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
- Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
- Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips)
- Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
- Forest Whitaker (The Butler)
Best Actress
- Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
- Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
- Judi Dench (Philomena)
- Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
- Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
- Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
- Daniel Bruhl (Rush)
- Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
- James Gandolfini (Enough Said)
- Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
- Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
- Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)
- Julia Roberts (August: Osage County)
- June Squibb (Nebraska)
- Oprah Winfrey (The Butler)
Best Stunt Ensemble
- All is Lost
- Fast & Furious 6
- Lone Survivor
- Rush
- Wolverine
Well, as far as my own predictions go, my Best Supporting Actress lineup matched exactly with the SAG nominees here. Everything else is slightly different, and this could help outside contenders like the late James Gandolfini and Barkhad Abdi to get Oscar attention. But as I said, the Academy rarely matches up with SAG exactly, so we'll see who may fall out for Robert Redford (I still think he's a lock to get nominated, but this does hurt him for the win). And the actress race as well, usually holds a spot for a newcomer who wouldn't be as popular with an organization like the Screen Actors Guild, so I really think mainstays like Meryl Streep and/or Judi Dench are vulnerable in that category to someone like Amy Adams (who the Academy loves) or Adele Exarchopoulos, who may have a strong passion vote behind her that will mark her as #1 on the ballot (that always helps to get outsiders in). And lastly, I really had a strong feeling all along that The Butler was going to make a comeback in the guild awards, so this could signal the beginning of that, as the other guilds will announce in the coming weeks.
