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Will SAG be this year's Oscars?
25/01/2008 09:29 - (SA)
Los Angeles - Hollywood's red carpet will
finally roll out for Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards in
what could end up being the only big party in an awards season
stripped of stars and marred by a bitter industry strike.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) hands out its annual movie
and television awards at a ceremony packed with all the
designer dresses and gushing thank-you speeches that have been
missing so far in Hollywood's traditional three-month-long
celebration of itself, leading to the Oscars on February 24.
Tom Cruise, Kate Hudson, Russell Crowe and John Travolta
headline a list of presenters, while George Clooney, Angelina
Jolie and Cate Blanchett are among the nominees expected to don
bow-ties and ballgowns for SAG's red carpet parade into the
Shrine auditorium in Los Angeles.
"I think there is huge excitement about the Screen Actors
Guild awards because it has the blessing of everyone and
because actors are the most glamorous group," said Tom O'Neil,
columnist for award-watching website TheEnvelope.com.
'Full star participation'
"It may be the closest we get to full star
participation and a fancy awards show this season," he said.
The Golden Globes were reduced to a dull, celebrity-free
news conference, and the People's Choice Awards became a
pre-taped video clip show this month when actors refused to
cross picket lines of striking Hollywood writers in a
three-month dispute with major movie and television studios.
But the Screen Actors Guild has been a firm ally of the
Writers Guild of America during the labour conflict.
In return,
the WGA said it would allow its members to write for the SAG
awards show and would not mount protests outside the event.
No such deal has been reached with organisers of the Oscar
ceremony, casting doubt on whether the movie industry's biggest
showcase will go ahead in its usual form.
Oscar glory
The SAG winners are expected to give a clearer indication
of those bound for Oscar glory because actors make up the
largest group of the roughly 6 000 Academy Award voters.
Britons Daniel Day-Lewis, for the early 20th century oil
drama There Will Be Blood, and Julie Christie, who plays a
woman with Alzheimer's Disease in Away From Her, are
favourites to take the top SAG acting honours.
Both have won
Golden Globes and received Oscar nominations this week.
Experts said Spanish actor Javier Bardem looks unstoppable
in his supporting role as a cool-headed killer in the Coen
brothers movie No Country For Old Men after winning the
Golden Globe, many critics prizes and an Oscar nomination.
The supporting actress category, which includes Blanchett
playing Bob Dylan in I'm Not There, and Tilda Swinton for the
legal thriller Michael Clayton is less predictable.
SAG's most-nominated movie with four nods is the true life
wilderness drama Into The Wild, which was written and
directed by actor Sean Penn and which disappointed with only
two Oscar nominations.
Best ensemble cast
Joining it on the list of nominees for best ensemble cast
in a film - SAG's top award - are No Country for Old Men,
musical Hairspray, crime thriller American Gangster and
western 3:10 to Yuma.
There Will Be Blood - which along with No Country for
Old Men leads the Oscar field with eight nominations - was
shut out of the SAG ensemble cast hopefuls, along with period
romance Atonement.
The Screen Actors Guild also hands out television awards.
The Sopranos, Boston Legal, Grey's Anatomy, The Closer
and Mad Men are competing for best TV drama ensemble cast.
Entourage, Desperate Housewives, 30 Rock, The
Office and Ugly Betty are nominated for best comedy cast.
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