'Hidden Figures' wins top SAG award
Now that was an awards show! The whole ceremony for the Screen Actors Guild awards was highly politically charged, as was to be expected, given the muslim ban put in place by the lunatic in chief just hours earlier. Everyone felt the need to speak out, from Julia Louis-Dreyfus to Ashton Kutcher, Sarah Paulson and Stranger Things' David Harbour, who brought the house down with a pretty awesome rant (posted in the TV section). The winners were expected on the film side, except for the one big upset with Denzel Washington in Lead Actor, which kinda throws that race up in the air, after Casey Affleck had won just about everything until now. Whoever wins the SAG almost always wins Best Actor, so this now appears to be a coin toss. But there a couple of caveats- first, there's the fact that Denzel had amazingly never won a SAG award in his long career, so the guild may have been thinking about that. But he does have two Oscars already, and it's pretty rare to win three. Also, Casey Affleck is nominated for a BAFTA award and almost sure to win that, since Denzel isn't nominated there at all. Still, SAG is a big one, so it can't be discounted.
- ENSEMBLE: Hidden Figures
- LEAD ACTOR: Denzel Washington, Fences
- LEAD ACTRESS: Emma Stone, La La Land
- SUPPORTING ACTOR: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
- SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Viola Davis, Fences
In the other categories, it looks like Emma Stone now has the Best Actress Oscar wrapped up, so even though it had been competitive, that would appear to not be the case any longer. And I'd say the same for the supporting races, with Davis and Ali favored and almost certain to win on Oscar night. As for the ensemble win, I do think that Hidden Figures might be the one movie that could give La La Land a run for its money in Best Picture at this point- it's a huge hit, and feels much more relevant in this political climate than a fluffy musical. But it's still a long shot, given La La Land's strength in the nominations. But with that preferential ballot, anything could happen, so if the Academy wants to make a statement, this is their chance. The Oscars are always political anyway- why not go full in?
