Who Deserves Ensemble Nominations at SAG?
Saturday, December 10, 2016 at 11:29AM by Nathaniel R
Ballots for the Screen Actors Guild nominations are due tomorrow. Their most crucial category is Outstanding Ensemble. People liken it constantly to Best Picture and while it's not supposed to be that, they do sometimes vote that way. Given the way SAG voting works with a new nominating committee randomly drawn each year from among the many many thousands of SAG members, nothing is ever truly safe. Sometimes their nominations are surprising but cool (remember Hustle & Flow or The Station Agent's ensemble nods?), other times they feel like lazy Best Picture predictions. And then there are the years when they appear to have voted in early Fall before anyone saw movies and any buzz started to solidify. It's tough to know what kind of year we'll have...
Since we can't really hope for miracles and since Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea are just about the only films that feel like locks for Ensemble due to the nature of their structures, current powerhouse buzz, and multiple actors contributing to indelibility, we're throwing all our prayers behind 20th Century Women. The late start might be a problem for this gorgeous communal dramedy but we hope not since its arguably the best work done by any of its cast members and they're all sharing scenes constantly in different permutations.
Predictions... Hmmm, Let's See...
extremely likely
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
strong possibilities
Hidden Figures
Lion
Hacksaw Ridge
Fences
20th Century Women
will they or won't they despite a very small principle cast?
Hell or High Water
PREDICTIONS: I'm going to go with Fences, Hell or High, Hidden Figures, Manchester and Moonlight... but I really hope to be wrong since 20th Century Women should be in a fight for the win in a perfect world.
could surprise if it's one of those years when it feels like SAG voted in September
Sully
Florence Foster Jenkins
juicy ensemble acting but where the hell is the buzz?
Love & Friendship
Miss Sloane
The Handmaiden
The Lobster
The Witch
Little Men
A Bigger Splash
longshots for this particular prize
(but they do have multiple "names" in the cast and that can definitely help with SAG)
Hail Caesar
Jackie
Silence
Captain Fantastic
Live By Night
Rules Don't Apply
Arrival
The Founder
Eye in the Sky
Certain Women
They would be so totally wrong as "ensemble" nominees given that they are duets
La La Land
Loving
THOUGHTS? EXTREME LONGSHOT FYCS? PREDICTIONS?
Have at it in the comments
Reader Comments (29)
I'm betting on an ensemble nomination for La La Land.
I just caught Love and Friendship on a long flight and don't know why it's not more widely discussed. Ensemble for SAG, yes, but how is Tom Bennett not on every shortlist as well?
It's my secret wish to pair Bennett and Colin Firth up as hapless brothers in over their heads. The resemblance aone is fantastic.
Fences
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Manchester By The Sea
Moonlight
Alternates: Silence, Hell Or High Water, 20th Century Women
Having not seen a lot of the probable films yet. Moonlight I can for sure say should be there. I'd love it if The Lobster made it in because they did have a wonderful cast.
Even though I hate when the SAG ensemble category is just a bunch of best picture contenders, most of this years opitions would be solid to great choices. The only weak possibility is La La Land which is more of a two handler if anything.
Moonlight, Fences, Manchester..., Hidden Figures, and Florence Foster... are my predictions. Though I would love to see a fun choice like The Lobster or A Bigger Splash sneak in.
My wish
American Honey
Aquarius (Braga gets a lot of praise, but this cast is uniformly fine and fascinasting)
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
The Witch
Okay...two things to consider, as I say every year:
1) "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture," so not Best Ensemble. (And not Best Picture.) So it doesn't matter if there are only three people (hello, Million Dollar Baby) or if they all have scenes together or what have you.
2) The stupid credits rule: only actors who get a single title card (hello again, Million Dollar Baby) are included in the nominated cast. This year, for example, Tom Everett Scott, who has about the same amount of screen time in La La Land as Finn Wittrock (i.e., very little) and makes more of an impression in my opinion (not to mention his longer career) does not have a single card, probably because he's not hot right now or his agent slept on that. In any case, if he's included in the nomination, that would mean they changed the rule or made an exception, which they don't.
My predictions: Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight (although I don't remember the credit sequence right now), La La Land, Arrival, Fences.
Jordan: The Lobster? What does everyone see in that crap? The basic hook...is great, and could go in a couple different directions and wind up amazing. As for the end result. It doesn't really go for either direction. The characters are...okay, when they're not dropping mediocre to bad profundity bombs. Taking this as "just an absurdist metaphor"...basically impossible due to aesthetic and ESPECIALLY one writing choice. (The absurdist metaphor version of this basic hook would be Lobsters (as in, no one chooses what animal they turn into and EVERYONE becomes a lobster), not The Lobster. The movie itself even lays out exactly WHY everyone needs to turn into a lobster if we're supposed to take this society as just an absurdist metaphor.) The plotting, regardless of how we're supposed to take this society, is...bad (not TERRIBLE, but bad), especially in that moment where Colin Farrell's character, who later says he's an architect, performs what is all but stated to be a complex act of surgery off-screen. (Bwahahaha. Lanthimos, you're a moron. If he's supposed to be able to do that procedure, he's a surgeon.) Visual world-building, if we're supposed to take this society literally...garbage fire. It's TOO NORMAL. Like Fury Road is suffused with exactly the kind of world building that sells the proceedings there, the world of The Lobster should be dripping with mad science. If a world of mad science can't be pulled off on a $4.5 million budget? Give the script/idea to a director that CAN demand the kind of budget it needs and move on to something else. C-.
MANCHESTER will be that movie nominated that screws over some essential ensemble members because of the dumb solo screen credit rule. Like Matthew Broderick will be included in the lineup but not CJ Wilson
yeah, let's hope LA LA Land does not get in.
but it probably will
*shrug*
Paul Outlaw: So, technically, they could have BOTH and have the first be focused on mostly small groups where there's not actually a lot of focus on a bunch of actors bouncing off each other or only one or two pieces of work are really strong, like La La Land, Arrival, The Witch (I just watched it and there's not actually a lot of scenes that aren't oriented almost entirely around one or two of the six) and Hell or High Water and the second be focused on "mid to large sized cast all bouncing off each other" like 20th Century Women, Love & Friendship and Hidden Figures.
@ Paul
I get your point but presuming Stone and Gosling get singular nods if a movie like La La Land is centered on just two actors, isn't it redundant to then give the film a outstanding performance by a cast nod as well? I could understand if this was a movie like Inside Llewyn Davis where its centered on one character but the supporting acts make a big enough impression that it might warrant additional recognition. But something like La La Land getting those three awards (I.e. Stone, Gosling, cast) feels like you're rewarding the same thing twice.
@ Jordan
I personally would not nominate or vote for La La Land exactly for the reasons you stated, but I am predicting it. Because many people will have that inappropriate Best Picture mindset.
@Volvagia
I was only taking about the performances. I thought the cast played off each other well (Oliva Coleman in particular was delightful) and everyone was on their A-game from the big names to those I was unfamiliar with (e.g. the heartless woman).
As for your criticism, there are valid problems with the script but none of it really bothered me from enjoying it. The concept is so absurd that I accepted whatever was thrown my way without giving it any real world logic (does that make sense?). I might feel differently on a second viewing.
Haven't seen 20th Century Women, Silence, Hidden Figures or Jackie so mine would be:
Chevalier
Henry Gamble's Birthday Party
The Lobster
Moonlight
Wiener-Dog
My predictions (alphabetical order):
* 20th Century Women
* Fences
* Hail, Caesar!
* Manchester by the Sea
* Moonlight
3 alternates
* Hacksaw Ridge
* Hidden Figures
* La La Land
I would vote for:
"American Honey"
"The Lobster"
"Hail, Caesar!"
"Sing Street"
"Love & Friendship"
Fences
Jackie
La La Land
Manchester By The Sea
Moonlight
I cannot believe I left off "Everybody Wants Some!!" Tie it for sixth. That should be in the conversation in a big way.
There is no way LaLa Land is not getting nominated for this. This will be the movie that rules the Guilds. We all want some fairness for Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea but La La Land is going to revenant it's way through stuff in 3, 2, 1
From what I've seen so far this year, The Lobster, Moonlight, and The Handmaiden would be at the top of my list.
What about Nocturnal Animals??
Manchester(...) is superb in every possible way & what Michelle Williams does with a handful of scenes, is to create a full flesh character, God she's even heartbreaking over the phone. Give her the Oscar she was stolen for "Brokeback Mountain"!
@Tony T: I love the use of "revenant" as a verb. Lol.
I really wouldn't be surprised to see the very deserving Everybody Wants Some!! make the cut.
Deserving:
Certain Women
Everybody Wants Some!!
The Handmaiden
Little Men
The Lobster
Love & Friendship
Moonlight
I would love to see 'The Handmaiden' or 'The Lobster' get in here (or really anywhere). Love them both so much. I think it's between those two for my favorites of the year!
Such a great year for movies, but the SAG Ensemble nominations should be:
20th Century Women
Fences
Love and Friendship
Manchester By the Sea
Moonlight
I keep forgetting how great the performances in Hail Caesar! were, until somebody reminds me of that movie. I would totally nominate that, along with Love & Friendship, The Lobster, Moonlight, The Handmaiden, and Sing Street.
Honorable mentions to Cafe Society, Manchester By The Sea, The Witch, Eye in the Sky, and A Bigger Splash.
I WOULD nominate Loving, which has a pretty terrific ensemble even though it is mostly focused on the two leads, EXCEPT that it would mean including Nick Kroll, who was flat-out TERRIBLE.
MOONLIGHT
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
FENCES
LION
HIDDEN FIGURES