THB #678:1 Week To Oscar - Dang, SAG It!

Well, thank you SAG. You have made a monkey out of everyone who claimed to know what the results are going to be next Sunday at The Oscars.

This was the same group that insisted The Chiefs were unbeatable in the Super Bowl.

Yes, Kieran Culkin’s journey continues as expected, as does Zoe Saldaña’s.

But some had given up on Demi Moore… and Timothée Chalamet… and decided that Conclave was the Oscar frontrunner because of BAFTA.

Have you got whiplash yet?

It is what it has been from pretty early on… The Season of the Freak™.

Whoever and whatever wins the Oscars will be honored as historic winners no matter what the course of this season. But aside from Culkin and probably Saldaña, it’s all up in the air… not 100%… at least half the nominees in each category are highly unlikely to win. But all kinds of combinations of winners are possible. And to deny that is just silly.

Conclave won SAG Ensemble… but aside from that, the group only nominated Ralph Fiennes and no one else. Was SAG just the case of a cast of well liked long-veteran actors vs 5 casts of relative newcomer groups? (Anora, A Complete Unknown, Emilia Pérez, and Wicked) Maybe. Or maybe it will shock everyone and win Oscar’s Best Picture. Or not.

You can’t say Demi is a lock… and you can’t day that Mikey is a lock. And I still would not be flabbergasted by Cynthia Erivo winning in a surprise.

Brody or Chalamet? Could it actually be Fiennes? For that?

All the way down the line.

Is The Brutalist out of the race? No. Is A Complete Unknown? No. Is Wicked.. well, it is probably the top nominee that is more heavily built on its lead and supporting actress and they haven’t been winning. But, no. Add Conclave and Anora and… who the hell really knows?

Netflix did a nice job with the show. The pre-show was a car wreck because the hosts really didn’t understand their place in all this. But the show itself was well executed. The commercial load was lighter than on TNT. Kristin Bell said in the pre-show that it would be one of the funniest award shows ever… it wasn’t. Gillian Anderson got the last word on that…. “Hillllarious!!!!”

But corny writing for awards show is nothing new. The self-reflective bit on who Kristin’s Bell’s favorite co-star was a complete mess… and probably would have been even if it had been better written and rehearsed.

The highlight of the evening was Jane Fonda giving a heartfelt speech, without getting vitriolic or naming Trump directly, about what it will take to survive the current administration. It all came down to caring about others… and fighting to take care of others. Well done.

Timmy C gave a fascinating speech about wanting to be great. I wouldn’t have been too happy with it a few years ago, but in the midst of the run he is on, huzzah. It wasn’t self aggrandizing. It spoke to a real ambition to be the best he can be.

Kieran Culkin rambled on as he does… and won the day, as he does.

We even got to see Richard Kind on stage when Only Murders In The Building won for Comedy series and there were just a smattering of people there to accept, led by Selena Gomez, who just happened to be the for Emilia Pérez.

Shōgun was the big TV winner, as it has been for the last 6 or 7 months. Plus a little Baby Reindeer. And Colin Farrell, who was really lovely, talking about those he relies on to keep him going.

And The Fall Guy stunt team took home the stunt award. Fair enough. Not sure how you differentiate, really.

So take these SAG Awards for what they are… which is all they are.

One week to go.

Until tomorrow…