BEST ENSEMBLE... Except You Corey Stoll in "Midnight in Paris"!

It's become something of a tradition here at The Film Experience to take issue with the Screen Actors Guild and their problematic "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Motion Picture" prize. Year after year they don't even seek to address an issue that you'd think would matter to the 90,000+ guild members: the preferencing of "names" over character actors, no matter the size or importance of the role. As you may know acting is one of those fields were you're lucky to just be working and those who make millions are few and far between. Yet the guild, which should be protecting their less-famous members often lets them be crushed by fame and its perks (aka getting your own title card or high billing). If you don't have your own title card you usually don't end up in the "ensemble" list. Our interest in this situation was first stirred by The Aviator (2004) when we were horrified to realize that the very famous Gwen Stefani was included as a nominee for essentially walking and sitting onscreen in Jean Harlow drag while Matt Ross, who was excellent in MANY scenes as Howard Hughes's right hand man was excluded. 

So who is nominated and who is excluded this year? Let's take a looksee.

THE ARTIST
nominees: Bérénice Bejo, James Cromwell, Jean Dujardin, John Goodman, and Penelope Ann Miller
who is excluded? Missy Pyle who has a fun cameo and Beth Grant who appears in the movie briefly in its final act ...and Uggie the dog who some people think is best in show. 

BRIDESMAIDS
nominees: Rose Byrne, Jill Clayburgh, Ellie Kemper, Matt Lucas, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Chris O'Dowd, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig.
who is excluded? This is fairly representative of the film though Ben Falcone, Air Marshall Jon (and Mr Melissa McCarthy in real life), is excluded. Also missing though understandably given that he went "uncredited" is Jon Hamm.

THE DESCENDANTS
nominees: Beau Bridges, George Clooney, Robert Forster, Judy Greer (Interviewed), Matthew Lillard, and Shailene Woodley.
who is excluded? Nick Krause as "Sid" who has been given quite a lot of attention in the movie's trailer and appears in several scenes. An even more important character, the youngest King daughter played by Amara Miller is also absent. We'll forgive them for omitting Patricia Hastie as Elizabeth King. (Not that it's not difficult to appear comatose for scene upon scene upon scene; I could never sit still that long, I don't know about you.)

THE HELP
nominees: Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Chris Lowell, Ahna O'Reilly, Sissy Spacek, Octavia Spencer, Mary Steenburgen, Emma Stone, Cicely Tyson and Mike Vogel.
who is excluded? With the largest amount of nominees, they do fairly well at covering the movie but there is one key player missing: Aunjane Ellis who plays "Yule Mae" and gets a few really good scenes involving her struggle to send her boy to college. Other exclusions: Tony winner LaChanze who plays "Rachel" in one of the most heartbreaking scenes as her mother is fired from a lifelong job, and the diminutive Leslie Jordan who bosses Emma Stone around frequently at work between meatier scenes is also absent.

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
nominees: Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Carla Bruni, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Michael Sheen, and Owen Wilson (who are all listed alphabetically, as is Woody's generous ensemble-friendly way, on the first title card)
who is excluded? Where to even begin? Each year one of the nominees takes the cake for the year's most bizarre exclusions and this is inarguably that film for 2011.

The nomination does not include the three co-stars who were, arguably, the most fun to watch. Corey Stoll who won the lion's share of "stole the show!" plaudits for his breakthrough work as Ernest Hemingway is missing. Perhaps even more baffling, given their higher degree of fame before this film, is the exclusion of Alison Pill and Tom Hiddleston as the Fitzgeralds. I spoke to Corey Stoll this morning (read the interview) and since I was particularly aggravated by his absence from the list, I asked him how he was feeling about it:

That's a nomination for us whether we go there or not. We are undeniably a part of the ensemble and we brought a lot to the table. But it's strange that it's SAG that does that. I could understand something that's more critic or producer-centric but acting? From my union, I think it's a little strange. 

We wholeheartedly agree!

Other key cast members of Midnight in Paris who appear with "Hemingway" & "the Fitzgeralds" on the second title card and were thus excluded from the honor were: Mimi Kennedy and Kurt Fuller (the future in-laws), Léa Seydoux (the vintage shop worker) and Nina Arianda (Michael Sheen's fiancé).

SOLUTION / SUGGESTION
Wouldn't SAG do better by its own union members if productions were expected to choose the nominees themselves (up to a certain number of people), the way Oscar nominated films must choose who gets the credit fo such efforst as producing and visual effects and what not? 

SAG Nominations: Surprising, Silly, Shame-less

Regina King and Judy Greer announced the SAG nominees

Before we begin can I get something off my chest. You've possibly noticed that I always list actresses before actors when I do lists or my own awardage. Beyond my own actressexuality there is another reason for this. It galls me that they're listed second everywhere as if they're just slightly less important than actors. Now, you might say that's just a matter of alphabetics since "Actor" comes before "Actress" in correct alphabetization and that's true enough. But it's not only alphabetics, its our lazily sexist society. Please to note that SAG makes a point of calling all acting professionals "actors" without gender division and yet they do this and then STILL list men first even though "female" comes before "male" in correct alphabetization of category titles.

Grrrrr and also "girl!"

So women first when I list it because that's how we like it! 

MOVIES

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A MOTION PICTURE 

• The Artist
• Bridesmaids
• The Descendants
• The Help
• Midnight In Paris

These are strong nominees this year but as usual they left great actors out, even when their films were nominated.  Some comments on that problem in a separate post.

One theory of SAG ensemble voting is that actors vote for the movies that they wish they'd been in and that theory definitely holds up this year. All five of these sets must have been a blast when you think of the actors involved, the costumes, the color, the comedy (all five have comedic spirit even the two that are dramas).

poll by twiigs.com

It's also worth noting that this list is 80% identical to the BFCA list for ensemble. The only difference is you need to swap out Midnight in Paris for Ides of March. Still... it's clear that voters don't watch the more under the radar movies. I wish A Separation had opened a few months ago and built up to the acclaim it so deserves.

How fun would a win for Bridesmaids be as a ceremony capper? I demand a Wilson Phillips song be played when they take the stage should it occur.

COMPLETE LIST OF NOMINEES & MAJOR SURPRISES AFTER THE JUMP. 

Click to read more ...

Interview: Judy Greer on "The Descendants" & "Archer"

It can't be just that we're both from Michigan. Perhaps it's her voice on the other end of the line, which sounds too much like an old high school friend's? There's something about Judy Greer that seems familiar. No, no, I just see a lot of movies is all. It's merely the cumulative effect of her filmography, I tell myself, which often presents her to us as relatable sideshow: friend, sister, neighbor, co-worker, everywoman. Maybe she strikes casting directors this way, too. I can't imagine I'm alone in this feeling, though to our mutual amusement, this girl next door vibe she gives off turns out to be surprisingly literal. As we begin to talk the small talk stretches out and out as the revelations come. We lived 3 miles from one another as children! We went to the same dance clubs as teenagers! We were scared of the same freeways while driving!

"Anyway, hiiiiiiiiiii" she says laughing, as we reboot out conversation. We'd better get to talking about the movies!

After years and years in showbiz how does this sense of familiarity sit with her, strangers feeling like they know her. How uncomfortable must this 'Where do I know you from again?' sensation be?

"It happens to me all the time but I don't consider it a problem," she says, instantly getting the question. There was a time, she offers, that people would always actually think they knew her. At some point in changed. Now they know she's an actress but they can't quite place from where. 

Mr & Mrs Speer (Judy Greer and Matthew Lillard) in "The Descendants"Eventually that signature role will hit and there'll be no mistaking the "who?" and the "were from?" The Descendants is definitely a forward step in that direction. Though it's another brief supporting role, her Mrs. Speer is a lynchpin character in an acclaimed Oscar buzzing film at that. She can already taste the difference and is "flattered" to be included in all the promotion for the movie for such a small role. The cast has already been nominated for Best Ensemble at the BFCA Critics Choice Awards. Judy herself will announce the SAG nominees on Wednesday where The Descendants is also expected to score.

Without spoiling the film, let's just say that George Clooney's Matt King befriends her character with an agenda; he knows something about her husband that she doesn't and he wants to get closer to her in order to get to him. She only has three scenes but all are opposite Clooney himself and all three are crucial to the emotional journey of the film.

Once we got to the movies, The Descendants was the only place to start.

[Judy on Nice George, Naughty Archer, Descendant Enthusiasm and her best roles after the jump]

Click to read more ...

"you are a part of me that i could never link without. khob-khun-ka khob-khun-ka"

Chicago Reader insightful piece on the troublesome editing of both Bridesmaids and Margaret.
Critical Condition on why Shame is his least favorite movie this year.
Mark Harris does the best job yet of mapping out that crazy weekend just past of awardage that happened to us.
OQ David Kinzer goes down the rabbit hole to bitch about Sasha Stone bitching about David Denby and Shame. Oh, the internetz.  
Fandor "The Spielberg Face" a video essay

How much do you love the dueling speeches in "Bridesmaids". I think it's the best scene." 

List Mania
IndieWire 25 Best Movie Moments of the Year
The AV Club has a communal top 15 of the year.
Scanners on Shame, The Artist, awards season backlash and the effortful compilation of one's own "best of" lists.

West Side Story Contest Winners

Whenever awards season starts coming at us full throttle it's sometimes hard to remember that what's truly important in life is not who got snubbed at the BFCAs or who might be looking at a 6th place finish in Oscar balloting.  

No, no.... What's most important in life is West Side Story and who won The Film Experience's West Side Story Blu-Ray contest. I enjoyed reading your entries so much! Honestly I wish more people had entered so I could keep on reading them. In the end I had to go all eenie meenie minie moe because there's no way I could choose by stories. So many personal memories and so much love for this film.

I wish I had 10 copies to give away. Alas, there can be only two... THE WINNERS ARE...

LEON in Texas who writes:

 My West Side Story fandom began a half a lifetime ago. After watching Titanic tying Ben-Hur's record, I became enamored with the Oscars, and made it my goal to watch all of the Best Picture winners, and decided to start with West Side Story, which was the oldest Best Picture winner my parents owned. I had seen the film once when I was two, but my memory of it was incredibly distorted. (My memory told me that the final stirring speech was delivered by the tomboy Anybodys.) I was initially a little bit hesitant about watching the film, because at the time I was not a fan of musicals at all. I had made up my mind that musicals were a drab, unrealistic experience full of boring song and dance numbers. 

That notion flew out the window when I finally saw the dazzling Prologue sequence. I was drawn into the finger-snapping music of Leonard Bernstein and the dynamic choreography of Jerome Robbins. The film gripped me in those opening scenes, and never let me go until well after the final somber chords in the credits sequence. I was so blown away that I watched the film again...and again...and again. By the end of the calendar year I had seen the movie 10 times. Even today, it remains my absolute favorite American film. 

The other winner is ANDREW in Washington who writes...

In my freshman English course when I was 14, we had spent a few weeks reading and discussing Romeo & Juliet. My English teacher decided to show us West Side Story as a class as a fun way to cap the subject. Many of the kids groaned when they found out it was a musical, but I was ecstatic since I loved musicals and had never seen West Side Story. I only knew the song "I Feel Pretty" was from it.

My best friend and I were in the corner and we absolutely loved it, especially Rita Moreno. Every time she was on screen we were captivated by her, and couldn't breathe during the scene where Anita is nearly raped. We quietly cried together in the corner during the ending and immediately both got the soundtrack when we got home. From then on we spent many times together breaking out into the songs, especially "America" and "Tonight". We still do so to this day!  What I think I remember best, was how quiet the class was when it ended. And numerous kids were whispering "That was actually pretty good!", many of the same ones that were dreading having to actually watch a musical!  It just goes to show you, that people who stay away from things deemed "uncool" can miss out on so many great things.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

The studio tells me your BluRays are in the mail today. Thanks to everyone who entered and who loves West Side Story. Fans of WSS are my kind of people. 

More on the 1961 Oscar Winner will come...