SAG Ensemble - Everyone Was Nominated.... Except *You*

by Nathaniel R

Alex R Hibbert's omission from the nominated cast of Moonlight is one of the worst yet from SAG

For several years now we've highlighted a major problem with the Screen Actors Guild Awards that we hope their union will eventually address. The rule is that to be included in the Ensemble nomination you have to have your own title card (or share the first title card if the whole principle cast is listed on the same card as in Woody Allen movies). But the prize is meant to honor the whole cast and sometimes a less famous person can deliver in a big way in which the movie wouldn't be the same without. My fascination/aggravation with this rule and its collateral damage goes all the way back to The Avatior (2004) when I realized that Matt Ross (an actor who is now a director - see Captain Fantastic) was not included though he is terrifc in the movie and in a ton of scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio while Gwen Stefani, a very famous woman with only a cameo, was included. 

So let's look at each ensemble nomination this year and figure out who has fallen victim to this aggravating rule after the jump...

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SAG Nomination Surprises: Emily Blunt, Captain Fantastic, and More

As we've noted several times in the past, SAG nominations are often among the most surprising for two reasons. First, the nominating committee changes each year, drawn randomly from the Screen Actor's Guild enormous body of dues paying members. Second, because the members are randomly selected and (presumably) spread out more geographically than the easier to target Academy and Globe members, their nominations can often feel like they were voted on earlier and that's the case this year with more summer films nominated than other awards bodies went with. 

The nominees with commentary are after the jump...

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Judy by the Numbers: "Smile"

Anne Marie has been chronicling Judy Garland's career chronologically through musical numbers...

On January 22, 1964, CBS announced the inevitable: The Judy Garland Show would be cancelled after just one season. Though the network stated that the cancellation was so that Judy could spend more time with her family, the subpar ratings and tumultuous backstage difficulties had made the show untenable for the studio. In fact, less than a month after the announcement - after Episode 22 was shot - Judy ended the longest artistic partnership she'd had on the show when she fired Mel Torme. Musical director replaced and show revamped for the fifth time, Judy still ended the series looking and singing like a million bucks.

The Show: The Judy Garland Show Episode 22
The Songwriters: Charlie Chaplin (original score), John Turner & Geoffrey Parsons
The Cast: Judy Garland, directed by Dean Whitmore

The Story: The style the show settled on was one with which Judy was familiar, and which had inspired the series to begin with: the concert. Guests were winnowed down to one or two (or none) per episode, sketches were cut, and instead the series focused on producing mini-concerts beamed directly to American living rooms. No longer needing to memorize lines or force interactions, Judy instead used the format to let her talent and the emotion of the songs carry her away, as she did in this bittersweet version of "Smile." Though the show would not go off the air until late March, it left a lasting impression on fans. A fan-led write-in protest was even started to try to resurrect it. The series had an effect on Judy, as well. With her third marriage and her television career over, Judy turned back to tours to spend time on the two things she loved most: her children, and her fans.

We link up again... over and over

So hard to keep up each December! But we get by with a little help from our links...

Variety we hadn't noticed this but it's true - Major studios were nearly entirely shut out of the Best Picture lineups. 
TFE in case you missed it our SAG Ensemble predictions... they announce tomorrow morning
AV Club talks to 80s funny lady Terri Garr of Tootsie and Mr Mom fame
Screencrush forever undervalued Patrick Wilson just got a possibly big deal role. He'll play the villain of sorts Orm in Aquaman

Lots more after the jump including the NAACP Image Award nominations, Madonna, men's tuxes on the red carpet, and The Accused...

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91 Tunes Eligible for Oscar's "Best Original Song" Category

Oscar's music branch has sorted through all the tuneful submissions and made two gigantic lists. They've deemed 145 original film scores eligible for "Best Original Score" and 91 songs eligible in Oscar's most divisive category "Best Original Song". As long as I've been alive people have objected to this category even existing (when far more prevalents crafts like "casting" and "stunts" don't have Oscar categories) but without it we wouldn't get all those memorable musical performances on the show. Please note the word "memorable" comes with no connotations as to quality. You can be memorable for all sorts of reasons from brilliance to embarrassing yourself!

This year has the usual array of films you've never heard of, plentiful documentary and cartoon theme songs, songs from movies you saw but didn't realize they had a song (Sully anyone?!), and a whole lot of Sia from multiple movies though her best shots are probably the theme song from The Eagle Huntress or Zootopia's "Try Everything" (people think of it as a Shakira song but Sia wrote it so she'd get the nomination). Since single movies are only allowed two nominees in this category (the rule was changed after the 2007 Oscar race with 3 nominations from Enchanted), you'll find that most movies don't submit more than that, now. Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping only went with one, Sing Street narrowed their plentiful options down to two and La La Land submitted three. Sadly Hail Caesar either didn't submit or they deemed "No Dames" ineligible, we're guessing the former.  The 91 songs are listed after the jump with their videos so you can hear them where we could find them... 

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