Screen Actors Guild Awards

I'm more behind on my movie reviews than I would like. In addition to The Queen, Children of Men, and Dreamgirls, I've also seen Pan's Labyrinth, Rocky Balboa, Flags of Our Fathers, The Departed, and Babel. I hope to review those soon.

Until then...


The SAG (Screen Actors Guild) Awards were last night. I didn't watch, but I caught up on the nominations & wins from the internet this morning. I still have a few gaps in my movie viewing that I hope to catch up in the next two weeks (Volver, Notes on a Scandal, The Last King of Scotland, Letters form Iwo Jima, Blood Diamond, Little Miss Sunshine, and United 93), but here are the list of SAG nominees and winners with my opinions on what I've seen so far.

Best Motion Picture Cast

• Babel


• Bobby


• The Departed


• Dreamgirls


• Little Miss Sunshine -- Winner

Opinion:
I saw The Departed on Friday and Babel on Sunday. I think both movies, overall, aren't as good as their hype, especially Babel. However, The Departed did have good performances from an all-star cast. I rented Little Miss Sunshine on DVD but haven't watched it yet, and I don't plan on seeing Bobby. To me, Dreamgirls has had the best ensemble cast I've seen so far, this award season. I wish they had won.

[Updated 12:35AM Sat 03 Feb 2007: I just watched Little Miss Sunshine on DVD, and it's official... Dreamgirls got robbed in this category!!! Little Miss Sunshine had some fairly decent performances, but nothing compared to the performances in Dreamgirls. Plus, the cast of Dreamgirls was given far better material to work with too. I was actually pretty disappointed in Little Miss Sunshine.]

Best Motion Picture Lead Actor

• Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond)


• Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson)


• Peter O'Toole (Venus)


• Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness)


• Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) -- Winner

Opinion:
So far, I've only seen The Pursuit of Happyness. Will Smith was good enough to get nominated but not quite good enough to win. I plan on seeing The Last King of Scotland soon, soley on the hype of Whitaker's performance, and I may force myself to go see Blood Diamond even though I'm not thrilled to do so.

Best Motion Picture Lead Actress

• Penelope Cruz (Volver)


• Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal)


• Helen Mirren (The Queen) -- Winner


• Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada)


• Kate Winslet (Little Children)

Opinion:
The Queen is the only one of these five I've seen so far, but I'm really happy Mirren won. She was awesome in her role. I plan on seeing Volver and Notes on a Scandal soon too, but I'm guessing no one can outshine Mirren.

[Updated 11:55PM Sat 03 Feb 2007: I just saw Volver and Notes on a Scandal back-to-back this afternoon. Both Penelope Cruz and Judi Dench were really good, so I'd say they deserved their nominations. In fact, in a normal year, Dench probably would have deserved to win. But, she had the misfortune of going up against Helen Mirren this year, and I still think her performance in The Queen was the best.]

Best Motion Picture Supporting Actor

• Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)


• Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed)


• Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children)


• Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond)


• Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls) -- Winner

Opinion:
I'm really glad Murphy won. From this list, I've only seen Dreamgirls and The Departed so far. I can see how DiCaprio would deserve the nomination, but really, so did Matt Damon.

Best Motion Picture Supporting Actress

• Adriana Barraza (Babel)


• Cate Blanchett (Notes on a Scandal)


• Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine)


• Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) -- Winner


• Rinko Kikuchi (Babel)

Opinion:
Jennifer Hudson was another lock for this award, and I'm happy to see her win. Adriana Barraza was pretty good in Babel, but I think Rinko Kikuchi is a bit over-rated. I think a big part of her nomination was her willingness to appear fully unclothed in several scenes.

[Updated 12:58PM Sat 03 Feb 2007: Now that I've seen Notes on a Scandal at the theater this afternoon and watched Little Miss Sunshine on DVD last night, I can say that Cate Blanchett would have been my 1st choice and Jennifer Hudson my 2nd. After that, it'd would have been Adriana Barraza 3rd, Abigail Breslin 4th, and Rinko Kikuchi last.]

Best TV Drama Ensemble

• 24


• Boston Legal


• Deadwood


• Grey's Anatomy -- Winner


• The Sopranos

Opinion:
I'm happy with Grey's Anatomy's win. The only other show in these five that I watch is Boston Legal. That's got a great cast too. However, the standout material is usually given to James Spader, William Shatner, and Candice Bergen, with everyone else just along for the ride (especially the tragically under-utilized Rene Auberjoinois). So, with Grey's Anatomy being a more balanced cast, they do deserve the win.

Best TV Drama Actor

• James Gandolfini (The Sopranos)


• Michael C. Hall (Dexter)


• Hugh Laurie (House) -- Winner


• James Spader (Boston Legal)


• Kiefer Sutherland (24)

Opinion:
Very happy that Hugh Laurie won and that James Spader was at least nominated. They're two of my favorite TV actors right now.

Best TV Drama Actress

• Patricia Arquette (Medium)


• Edie Falco (The Sopranos)


• Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU)


• Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)


• Chandra Wilson (Grey's Anatomy) -- Winner

Opinion:
The only show I watch from these five is Grey's Anatomy, but I'm happy not only that Chandra Wilson won but that she was the one from her cast nominated in the first place, rather than one of her younger colleagues.

Best TV Comedy Ensemble

• Desperate Housewives


• Entourage


• The Office -- Winner


• Ugly Betty


• Weeds

Opinion:
I'm disappointed that Ugly Betty did not win this one, but I've heard good things about The Office. At least Desperate Housewives didn't win.

Best TV Comedy Actor

• Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) -- Winner


• Steve Carell (The Office)


• Jason Lee (My Name Is Earl)


• Jeremy Piven (Entourage)


• Tony Shalhoub (Monk)

Best TV Comedy Actress

• America Ferrera (Ugly Betty) -- Winner


• Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives)


• Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine)


• Megan Mullally (Will & Grace)


• Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds)


• Jaime Pressly (My Name Is Earl)

Opinion:
Very happy to see America Ferrera win another award (she already got the Golden Globe). Felicity Huffman would have been a good choice too. Even though Desperate Housewives isn't what it used to be, Huffman's performance is still one of the show's few saving graces. Megan Mullaly? Was it in 2006 when Will & Grace was in its final season? Seems like ages ago.

Best TV Movie or Miniseries Actor

• Thomas Haden Church (Broken Trail)


• Robert Duvall (Broken Trail)


• Jeremy Irons (Elizabeth I) -- Winner


• William H. Macy (Nightmares & Dreamscapes)


• Matthew Perry (The Ron Clark Story)

Best TV Movie or Miniseries Actress

• Annette Bening (Mrs. Harris)


• Shirley Jones (Hidden Places)


• Cloris Leachman (Mrs. Harris)


• Helen Mirren (Elizabeth I) -- Winner


• Greta Scacchi (Broken Trail)