The S.A.G. Awards 2024

 The S.A.G. Awards are for acting merit in various categories. They are a gift to acting union members who haven't worked enough to be admitted to "That Academy." The awards are only for acting and are voted on by the membership.

When I lived in Los Angeles, I saw a movie every week in a theater. Now, I got to a theater once or twice a year. I don't subscribe to streaming services, so I see things when I visit my sister in Maryland. It has been years since I watched television at home. They used to mail out DVDs of the nominated films and television shows to all members, some with elaborate brochures and no end date on when you could watch. Now, everything is on line, and I think we have another week or so to watch things, although the award ceremony was last night (2/24). I voted Thursday.

I saw all the "Male Actor in a Leading Role" movies and I voted for Colman Domingo, an openly gay actor, for his exuberant performance as Bayard Rustin in "Rustin." Cillian Murphy won for "Oppenheimer." All of these actors nominated are great. For me, a lot depends on what the role is, more than making a judgement about the actor.

For "Female Actor in a Leading Role" I went for Emma Stone in "Poor Things" a beautiful but seriously flawed movie. She was fearless. Lily Gladstone won for "Killers of the Flower Moon." I saw all of the nominees in these two categories. 

For "Supporting Actor," I voted for Sterling K. Brown for "American Fiction," a great movie. Again, he's a Black actor playing a flamboyant gay man. Robert Downey, Jr, won for "Oppenheimer. "

For "Supporting Actress", I skipped "The Color Purple." Read the book, saw Spielberg's movie. I voted for Da'Vine Joy Randolph for "The Holdovers." I looked her up and found that she is a classically trained actress playing what could have been a stereotypical role, not at all who she is. She won.

For "Cast Performance" I voted for "Barbie" where everyone was great, especially America Ferrara and Rhea Perlman. "Oppenheimer" won.

On the TV side, I didn't see much. I watched one episode each of "Beef," "A Small Light," "The Last of Us," "The Morning Show," "The Crown," "Ted Lasso," "Barry," "The Bear" and two of "Abbott Elementary." The only "Limited Series" I watched from beginning to end was "Fellow Travelers," about two closeted gay men going from the early 1950s into the 1980s.  I would have voted for Jonathan Bailey for "Best Actor in a Limited Series", but Matt Bomer was nominated, so I voted for him. Good to see an openly gay actor play a gay part, especially making the love scenes look real. On the female side, I voted for Bel Powley as Meep Gies in "A Small Light." I was blasted, emotionally, after one episode, and I didn't think I could deal with more. Ali Wong won for "Beef."

For "Drama Series" I voted for Pedro Pascal in "The Last of Us" and he won. On the female side, I voted for  Elizabeth Debicki, who was absolutely charming as poor Princess Diana. She won, also. 

For "Performance in A Comedy Series" I voted for Jason Sudeikis for "Ted Lasso" on the male side, and Quinta Brunson of "Abbott Elementary" on the female side. The winners were both from "The Bear," Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri. " For Ensemble I voted for "The Gilded Age," basically a lavishly-costumed soap opera in the "Drama" category, and "Abbott Elementary" on the comedy side. "The Last of Us" won on the drama side, and "The Bear" on the comedy side.

There are two awards for "Stunt Ensembles." I don't watch a lot of action movies, so I missed  the "Mission Impossible", "John Wick" and "Indiana Jones" movies that came out last year, and voted for "Barbie." "Mission Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One" was the winner. For television series, I voted for "The Last of Us" which won. 

All of these award shows are a game of sorts. I'm glad I got to watch so much online, especially the television shows without commercials. And I guess it gives me some power in "Hollywood" where I never  felt powerful, to vote for my favorite actors.

The S.A.G. Awards 2018

My card says I've been a member of the Screen Actors Guild since 1987, so thirty years. In that time, I probably worked only five times under AFTRA or SAG (the unions merged a few years ago). I haven't worked at all since we left L.A. eight years ago. Still, I give them a hundred dollars twice a year, and for a few weeks, the studios seem interested in me, sending DVDs, allowing me to stream movies and TV shows, offering special screenings (in Los Angeles and New York) and offering a free month of service on Netflix. They want me to vote for their movie or TV show.This is a cheaper version of the dominant awards shows, lots more people can vote, and it only covers actors.

I never get to see everything, so I'm slightly underinformed. Most actors are at least good, a few are great, and my reaction often deals with whether I liked the movie, more than what I thought of the performance. Sometimes there is a political dimension.

So here we go.

Movies:
For Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role, I saw Daniel Kaluuya in "Get Out" and Timothée Chalamet in "Call Me By Your Name." Both were excellent. I voted for Chalamet, because he is twenty-one, playing a gay seventeen year old. Could you have done that when you were young? I think not.

For Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role, I saw Sally Hawkins in "The Shape of Water," Frances McDormand in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," and Saoirse Ronan in "Lady Bird." Again, they were all great. I voted for Hawkins, because she doesn't get to speak and has to convey a wide range of emotions, and then she dances! I might have voted for Bria Vinaite, had she been nominated for "The Florida Project." She played a different kind of mother, and she was fierce.

For Outstanding Male Actor in A Supporting Role, I saw Willem Dafoe in "The Florida Project," Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell in  "Three Billboards.." and Richard Jenkins in "The Shape of Water." I didn't think Defoe had enough to do in "The Florida Project." I loved Richard Jenkins in "Six Feet Under" and I once saw him pumping gas at the ARCO at La Brea and Olympic. He was good in "The Shape of Water," but I thought the script let him down. I've had a crush on Woody Harrelson since "Cheers," and he was excellent, but I ultimately voted for Sam Rockwell, who was absolutely fearless.

Of the Female Actors in a Supporting Role, I saw Hong Chau in "Downsizing," Holly Hunter in "The Big Sick" and Laurie Metcalf in "Lady Bird." Hunter and Metcalf were terrific as moms in their movies, but I thought Chau made a messy movie interesting. And, no, she was not just "playing herself."

I missed "Mudbound" but I saw the other four nominees for Outstanding Cast: "The Big Sick," "Get Out," "Lady Bird," and "Three Billboards..". I loved all of them, but I voted for "Get Out," mainly because I didn't vote for Daniel Kaluuye for Actor. I also liked Allison Williams, Catherine Keener (who I once met at the optometrist's office in the Farmer's Market), and especially Marcus Henderson, who should have gotten a supporting nomination.

Since Joe and I don't watch television at home, I don't always vote for those awards. This year, I did.
I only watched one episode of "Big Little Lies," but I could see why the center of the country hates the coasts. Very rich people in California, all nasty and overprivileged. I voted for Alexander Skarsgård for Male Actor in A Leading Role in a TV Drama or Miniseries. Laura Dern, Nicole Kidman, and Reese Witherspoon were all nominated for "Big Little Lies." Great cast, too old (sorry) to have kids in elementary school. I voted for Reese, because she seemed more authentic than the others, and wasn't as made up and wigged as Laura and Nicole.

For Male Actor in A Television Drama Series, I only saw Sterling K. Brown in "This Is Us," so I voted for him, and I'm happy with that. I might have voted for Jason Bateman, who is a great underrated actor, but the DVD I was sent for "Ozark" wouldn't play. We watched all of Season 1 of "The Crown" from last year (Netflix sent Season 2, but I haven't watched it yet), so Claire Foy for Female Actor in a Television Drama Series, of course.

I watched an episode of the new "Will and Grace" online, and, I guess I don't like the show, even though one of the producers is a member of the temple I still belong to in Los Angeles.  I  never liked that show. I just don't know people like that. Sean Hayes is a good actor, but, no. Larry David is funny, although I've never been able to sit through an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." I never watched much of "Seinfeld," either. I got a DVD of one episode of "Master of None," and I liked it. I like Aziz Ansari. I had probably not seen him before..The accusations against him don't seem like much, and I laughed and was touched by the show. So, Aziz for Male Actor in a Comedy Series.

Of the Female Actors in a comedy series, I only watched one of the two episodes of "Grace and Frankie" I was sent this week on DVD. I adore Lily Tomlin and love Jane Fonda, but Jane is a better actor. The show was another reason "Middle America" hates us. In the episode I watched, the "girls" are planning to market a special vibrator, and the boys are trying out for a gay community theater production of "1776." Can we talk about casting straight actors as gay? I found the show demeaning to both women and gay men of a certain age. I voted for Jane.

For Outstanding Ensemble,in a Drama, I only saw Season 1 of "The Crown" and four episodes of Season 2 of "This Is Us." Both casts are believable in their roles, but I went with "The Crown." In the Comedy category, I didn't watch any of them, although I have seen some of "Orange Is The New Black," which doesn't seem like it is necessarily a comedy, but the cast is mostly women, multiracial and of different ages and body types. Good enough to get me to vote for them.

I didn't see any of the television series where the stunt ensembles were nominated, but I voted for "The Walking Dead" because I imagine the stunts are cool. For Outstanding Stunt Ensemble in a movie, I only saw "Wonder Woman." I was happy to vote for that because Gal Gadot wasn't nominated for Outstanding Performance, and she should have been. There probably were lots of women stunt people who worked on the movie, at least I hope so.

That's this year's wrap-up, my chance to play film and TV critic for a few weeks. The SAG Awards will be on TBS and TNT Sunday, January 21 at 8 P.M. I think it will also be streamed on Instagram.