SAG Awards Wrap Up

The 16th annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards were presented on Saturday night. The list of nominees, winners and my commentary are below but first, the fashion.

Lea Michele looked great in a beautiful jewel toned green gown, with the column skirt of the dress making the petite star look seven feet tall. (Fun side note: She was escorted by Theo Stockman, who was in Hair, took a break to be in the world premiere of American Idiot out in Berkeley, went back to Hair and will likely be in the Broadway cast of American Idiot). Tina Fey, the worst dressed at the Globes, was one of the best dressed here. She looked lovely in a rich, saturated purple satin cocktail dress that had a tasteful V-neck and faux wrapped around the waist for a wonderfully figure flattering look. Matthew Morrison once again looked dashing in a his tux and while on the red carpet, admitted to his man crush on Justin Timberlake. JTims, for his part, was on hand to present an award. He’s looked better. He’s grown his ’fro back, which is fine, but his tux was black on a dark, almost chambray looking blue. This offered little contrast in his look and yet he clearly wasn’t going for tone on tone. The former Mickey Mouse Club member should call up a stylist if he really wants to bring "Sexy Back". Jeff Bridges looked classic and comfortable in his tux, with his wife of 33 years on his arm. Drew Barrymore wore cobalt blue this time, instead of what has been her norm lately - flesh tones. The color looked great, but the layered skirt chopped her up and made her look stumpy, which she‘s not. She sports a svelt body these days and the skirt of this dress didn‘t do her justice. The bodice, though was fitted and looked very elegant. Marion Cotillard looked great in a fashion forward ensemble - not everyone could wear this, but with her beauty and the fact that this is a red carpet, her ivory draped, feather trimmed mini looked chic. Penelope Cruz looked sleek and chic and shimmering in a body hugging cocktail dress. Meryl Streep, who usually looks like she just threw on some black dress from her closet (but looked great at the Critics Choice Awards in a two-toned, deep-V cocktail number) wore what looked like a dressy patio dress. She’s Meryl Streep so it’s okay, but I hope that for the Oscars she steps it up and puts a little glamour into her look.

I love how they open the SAG Awards: They choose a few actors to talk about how they got their start and their story always ends with, “My name is [insert name here], and I’m an actor.“ I just love the way this puts everyone on the same level - we’re all actors and we’re all here because we love being an actor. On a more personal note, I liked John Krasinski’s story about how he bravely, in the sixth grade, played Daddy Warbucks with a full head of hair. I went through spirit gum and a bald cap and he just went with a full head of hair. Now he’s on TV. I’m not quite sure what to make of that.

This was the first award show this season to include an In Memoriam segment and I hope the others still to come are done as tastefully as this one, unlike last year when the segments were all accompanied by a live singer and awkward and inappropriate camera shots which focused too much on the singer, and not the images of those we were supposed to be remembering. Despite this montage, perhaps the saddest part of the broadcast was seeing a commercial for a T Mobile phone starring none other than Eric Clapton. Why is Slowhand shilling for a phone company? It’s a little disturbing.

And now, here is the list of nominees, with the winners in boldface:

• Actor in Comedy Series - Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock; Steve Carell, The Office; Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm; Tony Shalhoub, Monk; and Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men [Nice that Alec noted the work of the guild and how it supports the actors who aren’t quite as successful and him]
  
  
• Actress in a Comedy Series - Christina Applegate, Samantha Who; Toni Collette, United States of Tara; Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie; Tina Fey, 30 Rock; and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine [Why was presenter Anna Paquin talking with a an Australian accent? Just because your co-presenter is Australian, doesn‘t mean you have to match his accent, silly Canadian.]
  
  
• Comedy Series Ensemble - 30 Rock; Curb Your Enthusiasm; Glee; Modern Family; and The Office [YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was surprising but definitely not undeserving.]
  
  
• Actor in a Supporting Role in a Movie - Matt Damon, Invictus; Woody Harrelson, The Messenger; Christopher Plummer, The Last Station; Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones; and Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds [He’s swept the awards so far, so look for him to not only be nominated for the Oscar come February 2 but to win. In all his acceptance speeches, he‘s been effusive in thanking Quentin Tarantino and here he thanked Quentin as well as the projectionist - he‘s a classy guy.]
  
  
• Actress in Drama Series - Patricia Arquette, Medium; Glenn Close, Damages; Mariska Hargitay, Law and Order, SVU; Holly Hunter, Saving Grace; Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife; and Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer [This was her seventh SAG win, taking home six over the years for ER. She gave a lovely speech in which she thanked her parents for their interest in her life, saying that they called her after each episode of The Good Wife - sweet, right?]
  
  
• Actor in a Drama Series - Simon Baker, The Mentalist; Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad; Michael C. Hall, Dexter; Jon Hamm, Mad Men; and Hugh Laurie, House [I take back what I said about him regarding his skull cap, which he had on at the SAG Awards, too. Apparently, he actually is a cancer patient. He told reporters backstage at the Globes that he was in recovery from Hodgkin’s lymphoma.]
  
  
• Dramatic Series Ensemble - The Closer; Dexter; The Good Wife; Mad Men; and True Blood
  
  
• Lifetime Achievement - Betty White
  
  
• Actress in a TV Movie - Joan Allen, Georgia O’Keeffe; Drew Barrymore, Grey Gardens; Ruby Dee, America; Jessica Lange, Grey Gardens; and Sigourney Weaver, Prayers for Bobby
  
  
• Actor in a TV Movie - Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance; Cube Gooding, Gifted Hand: The Ben Carson Story; Jeremy Irons, Georgia O’Keeffe; Kevin Kline, Cyrano de Bergerac; and Tom Wilkinson, A Number
  
  
• Actress in a Supporting Role in Movie - Penelope Cruz, Nine; Vera Farminga, Up in the Air; Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air; Diane Kruger, Inglorious Basterds; and Mo’nique, Precious
  
  
• Leading Male in a Movie - Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart; George Clooney, Up in the Air; Colin Firth, A Single Man; Morgan Freeman, Invictus; and Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker [As he progressed through his speech, he saw that he was being told to wrap it up. Meryl Streep, who presented the award, told him "Don't worry - keep going." He did and he finished up by saying, "I love playing with you." I love it - the best actors - and musicians, et al - do make it look like playing and that's the best part about watching them.]
  
  
• Leading Female in a Movie - Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side; Helen Mirren, The Last Station; Carey Mulligan, An Education; Gabourey Sidibe, Precious; and Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia [I suppose I'm going to have to see The Blind Side, now that Sandra Bullock has won the awards thus far and will likely win the Oscar, unless the Academy goes for Meryl, their old favorite.]
  
  
• Movie Ensemble - An Education; The Hurt Locker; Inglorious Basterds; Nine; and Precious