So there you have it- the movie that seemed like the logical SAG ensemble winner has won, but the bigger surprise to me is Eddie Redmayne stealing this award from Michael Keaton. The SAG winner for Best Actor almost always wins the Oscar (the last one who didn't was when Johnny Depp won for Pirates of the Caribbean in 2003), so that Best Actor race is really close. Unfortunately (and even though I think it's a bullshit win), with the Globe, SAG and very likely BAFTA to come, I'm probably going to have to swallow the bad taste in my mouth and predict Redmayne for the Oscar now. Gross (I may have mentioned before how bad Theory of Everything is, and I don't intend to stop dissing it as Redmayne gets closer to the statue that should belong to literally any other nominee in that category. Seriously, go Bradley Cooper, even). The other winners went as expected.
- BEST ENSEMBLE: Birdman
- BEST ACTOR: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
- BEST ACTRESS: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
- BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
- BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
As for what this means for Best Picture, well...I have to admit, SAG + PGA is a pretty powerful combo. With those wins, it's clear that Birdman has the support of the industry, and now it comes down to DGA, historically the strongest Best Picture predictor of the guilds. If Linklater wins, I'd say Boyhood is still in the running, and the votes are very close between that and Birdman. If Inarritu wins, then yeah- I think it's all over and Birdman will definitely win the Oscar as well. All eyes turn to the DGA now (which hasn't even voted yet), and is set to announce Saturday, February 7th.
