Awards Season: SAG Selects Speech as King

January 30, 2011

The SAG awards were handed out tonight, and again there were no real surprises. The King's Speech took home two awards, including Best Cast. The The Fighter also came away with two wins, taking home both Supporting awards. This does seem to take away a lot of the guesswork for Oscar predictions.

The categories and nominations are...

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

• The King's Speech

• Natalie Portman for Black Swan

• Colin Firth for The King's Speech

• Christian Bale for The Fighter

• Melissa Leo for The Fighter

• The King's Speech won two of the four awards it was nominated for and this makes Colin Firth the overwhelming favorite to win his first Oscar.
• Best Cast doesn't technically have an analogous Oscar category, but winning can't hurt its chances for Best Picture.
• Natalie Portman's win put her well out in front of the pack for the Oscar, but Annette Bening still has a chance, even if it is more a Lifetime Achievement situation.
• Best Supporting Actors could be one of the least competitive categories this year, as Christian Bale has been winning practically everything for his performance in The Fighter.
• On the other hand, Best Supporting Actress is a little closer, despite Melissa Leo winning yet again. There's always a chance vote-splitting will cost her and either Helena Bonham Carter or Hailee Steinfeld will win. Hailee Steinfeld is a real wildcard, because her role was definitely a leading role, which could help, or it could hurt as Oscar voters balk at the attempt to put her in a less competitive category. Also, she's very young, and Oscar voters tend to reward experience over youth.
• The Social Network was shut out, which might be a sign that its chances are fading.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: Awards Season, The Fighter, Black Swan, The King’s Speech