Best Ensemble, Casting, Stunts, and More...
Sunday, February 26, 2023 at 2:34PM by Nathaniel R
EEAAO an easy choice for "Best Ensemble" discussions.
With the SAG Awards airing tonight -- we expect to see encore speeches from Blanchett, Fraser, Bassett, and Quan since the acting winners tend to get set in stone once televised ceremonies begin -- let's talk acting categories that Oscar doesn't have. Here are my personal favourites for Casting, Ensemble, Stunts, and Juvenile Performances, a couple of prizes which SAG has and two that they don't...
CASTING / ENSEMBLE
These lineups in my own personal awards are never 5/5 matches. Some films are harder to cast than others and ensemble performances are what happens on set and in that magic transfer from script to screen. All-star casts, for example, are often feats of contract negotiations and creative scheduling solutions but are they great casting? Wouldn't another set of famous faces have worked just as fabulously in, say, Glass Onion (which doesn't quite make the best ensemble list though we respect its SAG nomination)? It's a much different proposition to find the right lesser-knowns or, say, entirely new or child actors that are perfect for their parts. It's also a thrill to see when stars are cast artfully against type or in ways you aren't quite expecting -- which was the case with Everything Everywhere All At Once this year (which is nominated in both categories). In terms of casting there's also thinking outside the box when it comes to mixing and matching actors -- who knew for example that Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy would prove so riveting together in such a conceptually preposterous face-off in The Menu and that placing Hong Chau between them would make it even better? See the nominees in both categories here.
As for SAG's cast choices for Outstanding Cast (Babylon, Banshees of Inisherin, EEAAO, The Fabelmans, Women Talking) they all make exact sense in terms of what always SAG looks for in this category: crowded films with lots of familiar faces! But it's not my lineup.
RRR has such enjoyable "stunt" scenes
STUNTS
SAG's lineup in this category this year (Avatar 2, Batman, Black Panther 2, Top Gun 2, The Woman King), is better than usual so we only have a couple of differences in our final lineup. We especially can't be without the non-SAG action film RRR in this category!
JUVENILE PERFORMANCE
The lineup is foreign-heavy this year with two of Oscar's Best International Feature Film nominees (Close and The Quiet Girl) hogging 60% of the category.
CHECK OUT THE FILM BITCH AWARDS HERE. We're 18 categories in!
Reader Comments (12)
Did you mean to say Butler? Actor is definitely not set in stone and Butler has two televised speeches over Fraser…
Personally I’m hoping for a Yeoh win here or at least if they win ensemble, let her make the speech so she can get some momentum before Oscar night. As great as Cate is.
Gonna have all the categories done by Oscar night? We’re missing your top 10!
Actor seems to be anything but sewn up. It could truly go to either Butler or Fraser, and honestly, Farrel is still in the running for the Oscar I think.
As for Actress, Yeoh still has a fighting chance. Whether or not she gets the Oscar, SAG is her likeliest win of the season outside of the comedy Globe.
Bassett and Quan are locked and loaded at SAG, though.
Supporting Actress could surprise on Oscar night. I'd say Supporting Actor is the only acting category that has close to 100% certainty.
I can live with everything else as long as SAG has some sense about Actor and doesn’t award SNL famous person mimicry (again!).
Really hoping Women Talking wins Cast because in my opinion it is clearly the best. Same with Cate; clearly the best so hopefully her steamroll continues.
Best Casting
Babylon
Tar
The Woman King
The Inspection
The Menu
SAG winners Butler,Blanchett,Quan,Curtis
Frankly tonight is Yeoh's last stand. It would be amazing if she can pull it off, but I've been resigned for awhile now.
Actor is probably the most volatile of the four acting categories which is a nice change of pace! If Farrell (improbably) wins, it truly is a 3-man race. If Fraser wins, it'll be between him and Butler. If Butler wins, I think he also (depressingly) wins the Oscars -- and that's from someone who liked the movie and the performance!
Blanchett isn’t going to win. Yeoh is. Not just at SAG, but the Oscars. It’s set in stone. EEAO is sweeping and anyone who thinks otherwise is just humoring themselves. Come on.
When awarding a casting prize, I prefer to recognize films that seek and nurture new talent. The successful effort required to find a group of novice performers who physically match characters and provide a riveting experience is worthy of note.
Last year that task was best met with the actors in Emergency. Written by a Mexican American woman from Los Angeles, KD Davila, the story follows three college students of color who seek medical attention for the young white girl who has entered their apartment through an unlocked door and passed out in their living room. Every actor present is stellar in an effort to insure that we the audience understand the underlying racial tensions that threaten these young men in their efforts to do the right thing while laughing at the well played situational comedy.
For me, this was one of the best films of the year. I watched it with a group of college students who were enthralled from the opening moments. It is a film that speaks to a generation. Emergency can be seen on Amazon Prime.
Supporting Actress just thrown for a bit of a loop.
I didn't enjoy "RRR" so much because basically is an exaggerated wanna-be straight macho men fantasy but yeah, it has great stunts.
Thrilled for Yeoh and Curtis tonight. Why do I get the feeling Condon is going to slip through and grab the trophy on Oscar night?
On Juvenile performance, I watched Aftersun mainly to check out Mescal's nominated turn and was BLOWN AWAY by Frankie Corio. I feel like she has gone under the radar but she carried that film so naturally. She seems like a real find.
For Best Actress in a Limited Role, I’d include Jessica Chastain in “Armageddon Time” where she plays a Trump sister.
She completely nails it with oblivious, self-absorbed, self-aggrandizing, self-righteous pronouncements that clang as obvious untruth.
Oh Jessica, you are so wonderfully uncompromising. I read that she did this part for free, not asking to be paid.
This will be the one that gets me back into theaters for the first time Since Scream 5. It looks like so much fun!
tunnel rush