WILL THE OSCAR GO TO WHOM THE ACTOR WENT TO?

With a game-changing set of results at the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, the upcoming Oscars become even more unpredictable. TV TALK discusses why…

The Actor

It always makes me feel good to see the first few minutes of the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAGs), where random actors from the audience share with the camera an anecdote from their lives or careers and conclude by saying, “I’m XYZ, and I’m an actor!” The sense of camaraderie and the unity within the acting community that one sees at the SAGs can be seen nowhere else. It’s heartwarming to see even the winners paying some sort of a tribute, big or small, to actors and their community, in their acceptance speeches. They all feel a sense of pride when their names are called at the end of the sentence that starts with “And the Actor goes to…” That’s the magic of the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and this year was no different.

The Help wins Best Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture

The SAGs may not be a strong indicator of which film will win Best Picture at the Oscars, like the Golden Globes are, but they still set the graphs and statistics rolling around for or against individual acting contenders at the Academy Awards. That is because the big award is given to the acting ensemble and not the film; which is why while Inglourious Basterds wasn’t really going to win the Oscar for Best Picture, it still won big at the SAGs. However, this year, The Help, which won Best Ensemble Cast, cannot be completely ruled out from the Oscars race for Best Picture. In fact, with the Oscars going with less obvious choices (like The Hurt Locker as opposed to Avatar in 2010, and The King’s Speech as opposed to The Social Network last year), the Best Picture Oscar becomes even less predictable with the results of the SAGs. Moreover, the last time that the Academy selected a musical or comedy as Best Picture over a drama was way back in 2002-03, when Chicago won. And this year, the Golden Globe Best Picture winners, The Descendants and The Artist have both had enough mileage for both to be equal contenders for the Oscars Best Picture. And now, The Help’s win at the SAGs doesn’t put any of those two forward in the race; in fact, it levels the playing field even further.

Christopher Plummer and Octavia Spencer's chances at the Oscars are solidified

Moreover, the SAG results in the acting categories have put the Best Actor and Best Actress results at the Oscars in a more 50/50 situation, with both George Clooney (The Descendants) and Jean Dujardin (The Artist) having won Best Actor at the Globes and the SAGs, and both Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) and Viola Davis (The Help) having won Best Actress Drama at the Globes and Best Actress at the SAGs, respectively. The race for the Academy’s next Best Actor and Best Actress has not been this unpredictable in the last so many years. On the other hand, the fact that Christopher Plummer (Beginners) and Octavia Spencer (The Help) having won the supporting acting awards at both, the Globes and the SAGs, solidifies their spots as the Academy’s next Best Supporting Actor and Actress, respectively.

MODERN FAMILY wins Best Ensemble in a Television Series Comedy

Moving on to the television awards at the SAGs, to put it plainly, there was nothing worth writing home about. Both BOARDWALK EMPIRE and MODERN FAMILY winning Best Ensemble Cast in a Series, Drama and Comedy, respectively, for the second consecutive time was still understood. Maybe even Actor and Actress Drama going to Steve Buscemi and Jessica Lange was fine, considering that he’s been consistently good on BOARDWALK EMPIRE, and that she won a Globe for her role in AMERICAN HORROR STORY. However, giving Betty White her second consecutive win for HOT IN CLEVELAND and Alec Baldwin his sixth consecutive win for 30 ROCK for Actor and Actress Comedy, respectively, makes one think that the Guild doesn’t think that there have been any worthy performers other than them who are more deserving. For Actor Comedy, at least, while gems like Jim Parsons (THE BIG BANG THEORY), Ty Burrell and Eric Stonestreet (both, MODERN FAMILY) have not been given a chance, even less likely winners, like Jon Cryer (TWO AND A HALF MEN) and Neil Patrick Harris (HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER), have been ignored completely!

However, even as the results in the television
categories at the SAGs have almost been
disappointing, the Screen Actors Guild Awards
have heated up the race for the Oscars even
more, making the entire Award Season 2011-12
even more exciting. And as the Oscars come
closer, we’ll all be waiting with bated breath…  

THE 69TH ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS

An entertaining show, with satisfactory results, the 69thannual Golden Globe Awards had a little bit of everything for everyone

To see the entire list of winners at the Golden Globe Awards 2012, click here

Is it just me, or did others also draw a parallel between the ‘69th’ Golden Globe Awards and the sexual content in the humor that came in frequent and strong doses. There was host Ricky Gervais talking about Madonna being ‘like a virgin’, and Madonna subsequently responding to that by saying, “Ricky, if I’m still a virgin, why don’t you come here and do something about it!” And there was presenter Seth Rogen talking about ‘concealing a huge erection’ while he stood beside fellow-presenter Kate Beckinsale. And when George Clooney accepted his Globe for The Descendants, he spoke of Michael Fassbender’s ability to play golf with his hands behind his back! Despite the fact that some might call bits of the humor inappropriate, the humor at the show was hilarious and entertaining as was expected from Gervais, who’d received some serious flak for going a step too far while hosting last year.

The presenters of the evening were effective, and the ones that instantly come to mind are Dame Helen Mirren, talking about Cecille B DeMille recipient Morgan Freeman as a co-star, and Felicity Huffman and William H Macy, singing together to introduce the category they were presenting. And while some of the acceptance speeches seemed too rehearsed, it was still fun to watch Sofia Vergara and Steven Levitan making their bilingual acceptance speech on winning the Globe for Best Series – Musical or Comedy for MODERN FAMILY. A few acceptance speeches, like those by Michelle Williams, who won Actress in a Musical or Comedy for My Week with Marilyn, and Octavia Spencer, who won Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for The Help, were also moving. Among the surprises of the evening was Martin Scorsese winning Best Director for Hugo, while both Best Pictures—The Descendants and The Artist—not scoring there.

The television awards were not all that surprising though. Seeing critically acclaimed HOMELAND winning Best Series Drama as well as Actress in a Series Drama for Claire Danes didn’t come as a shock. While the comedies nominated hinted that a new show might take it away, it still wasn’t surprising that MODERN FAMILY won its first Globe for Series Comedy. It was however refreshing to see all new winners in the television awards. Matt LeBlanc won his first Globe for EPISODES, Laura Dern took away Actress Comedy for ENLIGHTENED, Kelsey Grammer won Actor Drama for BOSS, while Peter Dinklage (GAME OF THRONES) and Jessica Lange (AMERICAN HORROR STORY) won in the supporting categories for television.

The vibe of the evening was also exciting. The good turnout ensured that there was some celeb eye-candy to see at every camera angle. Barring the absence of winners like Woody Allen and nominees like Ryan Gosling, there were no real disappointments at the Globes this year. There was plenty to write home about, especially since it looked like the Hollywood Foreign Press Association didn’t bother about the controversy that the awards had generated last year, going all out with the humor that made for relaxed and amusing show.