SAG and Golden Globe Nominations

The Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes announced their nominations yesterday and today.  A lot of the usual suspects, with some surprises. 

SAG Nominations

Movies
- No Zero Dark Thirty for Best Cast in the Motion Picture, but the cast of the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was nominated.  Zero Dark Thirty has been one of the buzzed about movies this award season, and no one had talked about the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel at all, so this was definitely a surprise.  According to one Awards Daily blogger Sasha Stone, the screeners for Zero Dark Thirty and Django Unchained didn't arrive in time for the SAG nominations, but Jessica Chastain did get nominated for her role in Zero Dark Thirty. 

- Javier Bardem got nominated for Skyfall over a slew of other candidates, such as Russell Crowe and Eddie Redmayne for Les Miserables, Leonardo DiCaprio for Django Unchained, Matthew McConaughey for Magic Mike, and Ewan McGregor for The Impossible.

- Joaquin Phoenix was not nominated for his role in The Master, when he was considered a lock a couple of months ago.  Maybe Phoenix's comments about how the Oscars are "bulls**t" hurt his chances. 

- Nicole Kidman's nomination for the Paperboy was also a surprise.  The movie did not get good reviews, and was not widely seen.  According to Anthony Breznican at EW.com, "when awards screeners went out only her name was suggested on the package for consideration."

- Beasts of the Southern Wild was not eligible for SAG consideration because it was not a union production, including the lead actress, Quvenzhane Wallis.  Her exclusion from the SAG awards probably helped Helen Mirren land a SAG nomination for Hitchcock. 

Television

- The television categories did not have as many obvious snubs or surprises as the movie categories.  A lot of the usual suspects are there, such as Modern Family, Homeland, and Breaking Bad.  In the drama categories, cable series tend to dominate, while networks still dominate the comedy categories. 

- Jessica Lange from American Horror Story: Asylum was nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series.  Her nomination isn't the surprise - it's the inclusion in the drama series category.  American Horror Story's creators and FX have insisted that the show is a miniseries, not a drama series, and last year it was entered in the Emmy race under this category.  But the SAG apparently disagreed. 

- It is a bit of a surprise that The Office as nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, especially over buzzed-about series such as Girls and Veep.

- Homeland was ignored last year by the SAGs, but the cast and the two leads, Claire Danes and Damian Lewis, were nominated this year.

- No nomination for Game of Thrones, which will disappoint Mr. Y. 

Golden Globes Nominations

Movies

- Three nominations for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen: Best Musical/Comedy, Best Lead Actor for Ewan McGregor, and Best Lead Actress for Emily Blunt.  This is a surprise because the movie didn't really make an impact when it was out, and no one had talked about it being in the running for any awards.  At least we will get to see the fabulous Ms. Blunt in the red carpet, hopefully along with her handsome hubby John Krasinski. 

- Despite having the best shot because of the separation between Drama and Comedy/Musical, The Master was not nominated for Best Drama.  Same with The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and Beasts of the Southern Wild.

- Quvenzhane Wallis of Beasts of the Southern Wild was not nominated for Best Lead Actress, despite great buzz about her performance.  This might hurt her Oscar chances. 

- Robert de Niro was nominated for a SAG award for Silver Linings Playbook, but not a Golden Globe.  Same with Javier Bardem and Skyfall, although de Niro is probably a more serious Oscar contender.  Russell Crowe and Eddie Redmayne were again not nominated.

- No Best Director nomination for Tom Hooper for Les Miserables or David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook, despite their movies getting a lot of attention. 

Television

- Surprise about Smash's nomination in the Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical category, and yet Glee was not nominated.

- Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy, and Game of Thrones were not nominated for Best Television Series - Drama, but Aaron Sorkin's polarizing The Newsroom was included?

- Sherlock was not nominated for Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television, but at least Benedict Cumberbatch got a nod.

- Yay for Max Greenfield being nominated for New Girl, and for Connie Britton from Nashville.  I don't watch Nashville, but I love Connie Britton, so anything that shines a spotlight on her is OK with me.