“Forgotten Hollywood”- My 2014 SAG Awards Film Ballot…
Manny P. here…
For the fifth straight year, here’s my ballot for this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards. I thought 2013 a solid year of cinema. And, several folks and movies in most of the categories should be considered for the specific awards. Let me explain:
OUTSTANDING MALE: Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
All FIVE nominees are solid. Matthew McConaughey is a very close second choice for a fine job in Dallas Buyer’s Club. And, Tom Hanks and Forest Whitaker provide their best work in years. Plus, who is this Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)… He’ll be a certain nominee again. I’m mildly surprised Christian Bale was overlooked for American Hustle. Bruce Dern is THE man!
OUTSTANDING FEMALE: Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
The weakest category field by far. Judy Dench is my second choice for Philomena, but she has been better in other films. Sandra Bullock wins in essentially a two-person film. Sort of like Sleuth in outer space. The buzz is on Emma Thompson; but, I’m not feeling Saving Mr. Banks. And, the plot of Blue Jasmine has been essentially done by Woody Allen a dozen times, and performed better by Diane Keaton and Dianne Wiest.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING MALE: Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
I never felt throughout Captain Phillips that Barkhad Abdi was acting. He was a real Somali pirate in my mind’s eye. A close second in the field is Michael Fassbender for his ferocious work in 12 Years a Slave. Jared Leto in Dallas Buyer’s Club is exceptional. My peers shouldn’t consider awarding this statuette to James Gandolfini just to honor his untimely passing; a real shame in my estimation… Paul Giamatti was snubbed for tender moments in Saving Mr. Banks.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING FEMALE: Oprah Winfrey (Lee Daniels’ The Butler)
Not a huge fan of Oprah, personally. But, she gives simply a great performance. My second choice is literally a tie between June Squibb, the funniest celluloid moments of the year in Nebraska; and Lupita Nyong’o for her heartbreaking screen time in 12 Years a Slave. Again this year, Jennifer Lawrence is quite good for her work in American Hustle.
OUTSTANDING CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE: 12 Years a Slave
Of the five choices, this pick narrowly finishes ahead of Lee Daniels’ The Butler and Dallas Buyer’s Club. If any of these three win, I’ll be thrilled. Actually, the ensemble in American Hustle is solid, too; though the plot is convoluted. It’s kind of The Sting meets Goodfellas. Below, you can see 12 Years a Slave was only my #3 favorite film and cast of the year. The first two were snubbed in the category. Too much overacting in August: Osage County… meh!
~ My 2013 Top 10 films: 1. The Book Thief (needed more love from the SAG Awards) 2. Nebraska 3. 12 Years a Slave 4. Lee Daniels’ The Butler 5. Captain Phillips 6. Dallas Buyer’s Club 7. Philomena 8. Gravity 9. Saving Mr. Banks 10. Parkland
The SAG Awards will air on January 18th on TNT and TBS. We’ll see how I do this year…
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Saturday, January 4th, 2014 at 12:54 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
