Here we have the 29th edition of the Screen Actors Guild Awards as the title already gives away and these took place only last weekend, so still a recent ceremony and pretty much the last really big precursor before the Oscars that are going to happen soon as well. And surely these SAG Awards changed things up a bit again, but I will get to that a little later. First, let's look at the basics: Next year, there will be a round anniversary, but actually 29 editions is not that much if you compare it to other awards bodies that have been around for longer, but do not have half of the SAG's and their awards' prestige and significance. There was no host this time and the show ran for almost two hours and fifteen minutes, so with commercials it was maybe three hours and as "only" actors (and ensembles of course) are honored here, that is quite a long show I would say. The opening with the cast from "Only Murders in the Building" was fairla decent how they reenacted "The Banshees of Inisherin" there as a little sketch. I liked that. What followed next is what you always see at the SAG Awards, namely that several actors from the crowd are featured and they tell a brief story or a little anecdote and always end this presentation with the words "My name is ... and I am an actor.". Honestly, this is fairly refreshing to see from a different perspective too because also the women there call themselves actors and there is no need at all to make a distinction between actors and actresses what has been taken ad absurdum here in Germany for years now that you are basically the worst person in the world if you do not make a distinction between the female and the male term when you call somebody by their profession. Of course, only that you may have to add additional letters for females there.
But what real quality means you see here at the SAGs in the opening segment. I enjoyed it. Well, not all of it, but here and there it was okay. Bob Odenkirk was great, even if his show will never get close to Breaking Bad in terms of how much I love it. The two Black actors were alright, but not as good as Odenkirk. Jamie Lee Curtis was difficult to stomach I must say, but there certainly some personal bias comes into play because I just can't stand her. She never feels authentic to me. Her appearance on German television at the Oscars' red carpet a while ago was just the worst how she acted so rude towards the interviewer. I am not sure what I liked less here: her mentioning her father or her pseudo drama about her life allegedly being over or her dress, but yeah I wish she would not have been part of this introduction and things got even worse later on when she won the SAG Award in the supporting category and sadly that also increases her chances again at the Oscars. So far, it seemed like a race between Bassett and Condon, but now it is really a trio competing there. Condon would be my first choice, but Bassett would not be undeserving either. Just no JLC please. Another category that got more open through the SAG Awards was Best Lead Actor and that one went to Brendan Fraser, surely partially because of his tumultuous history. There you could say that a win for Austin Butler would have sealed the category, but with Fraser's win here, the former Mummy actor is a force to be reckoned with again too, especially after his speech. Colin Farrell is probably also not completely out of the equation yet. The other male category for the big screen, namely best supporting actor, seems a lock now for the only one I kinda like from "Everything, Everywhere All at Once". Good for him. Ke Huy Quan I am talking about of course. The BAFTA's decision caused minor doubts, but right now I don't see any way he could be losing. As for Lead Actress, Cate Blanchett was the frontrunner for sure and a win with her peers probably would also have sealed the deal, but Michelle Yeoh is back in it now too. There, I am surely cheering for Blanchett.
As you see from my rating, I already thought this was not a good show. I would have given two stars out of five probably, but all the victories for EEAaO make it necessary for me to take away another star, or actually even two if we rate out of ten. Which means the outcome is my lowest-possible rating. I think it is "deserving". In general, this was not a particularly good awards show. I am also always hesitant when certain categories are excluded from the broadcast. Luckily, it is not as bad here as it is with other awards shows, but the lack of respect for the stunt teams is an issue that has been going on with the SAG (Awards) for a long time. Either exclude them completely, do not give out an award, which would be even more disrespectful I guess, or include them during the broadcast, which would be the best solution for everybody involved. But treating them like the black sheep of the family is just not acceptable, especially because it is the most dangerous job of them all. If we take a look at the small screen, we will see at least two winners that not too many predicted. One is Sam Elliott who took home a category that was supposed to be between Hauser and Peters maybe and Elliott called it like the biggest award or best moment of his really long career, which was charming, especially because I think politically correct social justice warriors tried to discredit again Elliott a while ago over allegedly discriminating comments. I think it was him. Good to see his peers take his side here, at least in terms of his craft. There's still hope for Hollywood. The second win I was talking about went to Jessica Chastain. She just keeps riding the wave of success after her Oscar win. Maybe most thought that Amanda Seyfried would continue her awards show domination here as well. One who keeps dominating is Jennifer Coolidge who managed an effortless transition win not for limited series or miniseries anymore, but for drama series. Quite something.
Jason Bateman also got some love and once again it wasn't meant to be for Bob Odenkirk. Perhaps the reason is that many see him inferior to Cranston's Walter White and thus he cannot win, even if he is nominated every time. On the comedy front, Jeremy Allen White is also fairly unstoppable. Jean Smart must never be underestimated as she won her category against Quinta Brunson most of all while Abbott Elementary took home ensemble cast. Here a mention goes out to Christina Applegate, who was so happy that Smart won and I read she had to stop acting because of health reasons which makes me a bit sad because I love Kelly Bundy and her show as well. Always will. Nice to see she got some recognition from her peers here with the nomination. By the way, Smart was not even present here. She maybe did not really expect the win either. One thing I liked about the evening was that there was only one lifetime achievement award winner and that went to Sally Field. Andrew Garfield introduced her because of their Spider-Man connection. Well, I guess they could not get Daniel Day-Lewis, but I like Garfield too. He looked older and manlier this time, maybe also because of the beard. As for Field, I am not sure if I would say she is so epic and deserving and maybe she also has at least one Oscar too many, but she was a stunner back in the day and played some iconic characters. She said it herself there: Spidey's grandmother, Forrest Gump's mother, Lincoln's wife and a few more. I still feel she was a bit too old to play the latter seeing these scenes again, but then again I don't know the actual age difference between Mrs. Lincoln and her man, so it is all good. What else? Oh yes, there were inclusions of snippets from old shows in-between all the time, I guess every time when a commercial break was about to happen or happened already? Those were not good. Poorly edited, felt so random and also very rushed. Whoever greenlit those, should not be allowed back to plan the next editions of the SAG Awards. Those scenes were among the worst from the entire night.
As for the winners, the love was really spread this time as only "The White Lotus" managed more than one win, which means it was also the only Best Ensemble Cast winner that managed to succeed in one individual acting category. Show you again how big of a force Coolidge is these days. I am happy for her and also glad she is succeeding this much and not the older male from American Pie, who was also a part of this show here. He got overtaken by his son in a way you could say, even if I am not big on that one either. As for Coolidge, she is always entertaining and a joy to watch. Adored her on "2 Broke Girls" too. Ah and also nice to see F. Murray Abraham (Oscar winner for "Amadeus" or actually Salieri) as part of her show. I so have to watch this finally. This is almost it then. Fran Drescher I also just have a hard time to appreciate her as the President of the SAG-AFTRA, even if I disliked her more during past showings I think. Sofia Vergara came up with a joke that did not get too much applause and maybe some people understood that if a male had said this, his career would be over instantly. Amy Poehler was fairly funny here. Good little sketch with a former Parks and Rec co-actor (actually her love interest on the show) and it showed us what comedy can do that drama can't. Nicely done. One of the most entertaining category announcements of the evening for sure. Biggest stunner of the night is difficult to pick, but let me just say that John Krasinski is surely one lucky guy as Emily Blunt looks different every awards show, but always looks amazing. Also loved her dress here, so playful and spring-like already. Unusual at the same time and I am somebody who never cares about dresses really, so it means something if I appreciate Blunt from this perspective too. Now I am really done with the review and I just hope that with the big screen categories here the Oscars will definitely not follow suit. We shall see.
But what real quality means you see here at the SAGs in the opening segment. I enjoyed it. Well, not all of it, but here and there it was okay. Bob Odenkirk was great, even if his show will never get close to Breaking Bad in terms of how much I love it. The two Black actors were alright, but not as good as Odenkirk. Jamie Lee Curtis was difficult to stomach I must say, but there certainly some personal bias comes into play because I just can't stand her. She never feels authentic to me. Her appearance on German television at the Oscars' red carpet a while ago was just the worst how she acted so rude towards the interviewer. I am not sure what I liked less here: her mentioning her father or her pseudo drama about her life allegedly being over or her dress, but yeah I wish she would not have been part of this introduction and things got even worse later on when she won the SAG Award in the supporting category and sadly that also increases her chances again at the Oscars. So far, it seemed like a race between Bassett and Condon, but now it is really a trio competing there. Condon would be my first choice, but Bassett would not be undeserving either. Just no JLC please. Another category that got more open through the SAG Awards was Best Lead Actor and that one went to Brendan Fraser, surely partially because of his tumultuous history. There you could say that a win for Austin Butler would have sealed the category, but with Fraser's win here, the former Mummy actor is a force to be reckoned with again too, especially after his speech. Colin Farrell is probably also not completely out of the equation yet. The other male category for the big screen, namely best supporting actor, seems a lock now for the only one I kinda like from "Everything, Everywhere All at Once". Good for him. Ke Huy Quan I am talking about of course. The BAFTA's decision caused minor doubts, but right now I don't see any way he could be losing. As for Lead Actress, Cate Blanchett was the frontrunner for sure and a win with her peers probably would also have sealed the deal, but Michelle Yeoh is back in it now too. There, I am surely cheering for Blanchett.
As you see from my rating, I already thought this was not a good show. I would have given two stars out of five probably, but all the victories for EEAaO make it necessary for me to take away another star, or actually even two if we rate out of ten. Which means the outcome is my lowest-possible rating. I think it is "deserving". In general, this was not a particularly good awards show. I am also always hesitant when certain categories are excluded from the broadcast. Luckily, it is not as bad here as it is with other awards shows, but the lack of respect for the stunt teams is an issue that has been going on with the SAG (Awards) for a long time. Either exclude them completely, do not give out an award, which would be even more disrespectful I guess, or include them during the broadcast, which would be the best solution for everybody involved. But treating them like the black sheep of the family is just not acceptable, especially because it is the most dangerous job of them all. If we take a look at the small screen, we will see at least two winners that not too many predicted. One is Sam Elliott who took home a category that was supposed to be between Hauser and Peters maybe and Elliott called it like the biggest award or best moment of his really long career, which was charming, especially because I think politically correct social justice warriors tried to discredit again Elliott a while ago over allegedly discriminating comments. I think it was him. Good to see his peers take his side here, at least in terms of his craft. There's still hope for Hollywood. The second win I was talking about went to Jessica Chastain. She just keeps riding the wave of success after her Oscar win. Maybe most thought that Amanda Seyfried would continue her awards show domination here as well. One who keeps dominating is Jennifer Coolidge who managed an effortless transition win not for limited series or miniseries anymore, but for drama series. Quite something.
Jason Bateman also got some love and once again it wasn't meant to be for Bob Odenkirk. Perhaps the reason is that many see him inferior to Cranston's Walter White and thus he cannot win, even if he is nominated every time. On the comedy front, Jeremy Allen White is also fairly unstoppable. Jean Smart must never be underestimated as she won her category against Quinta Brunson most of all while Abbott Elementary took home ensemble cast. Here a mention goes out to Christina Applegate, who was so happy that Smart won and I read she had to stop acting because of health reasons which makes me a bit sad because I love Kelly Bundy and her show as well. Always will. Nice to see she got some recognition from her peers here with the nomination. By the way, Smart was not even present here. She maybe did not really expect the win either. One thing I liked about the evening was that there was only one lifetime achievement award winner and that went to Sally Field. Andrew Garfield introduced her because of their Spider-Man connection. Well, I guess they could not get Daniel Day-Lewis, but I like Garfield too. He looked older and manlier this time, maybe also because of the beard. As for Field, I am not sure if I would say she is so epic and deserving and maybe she also has at least one Oscar too many, but she was a stunner back in the day and played some iconic characters. She said it herself there: Spidey's grandmother, Forrest Gump's mother, Lincoln's wife and a few more. I still feel she was a bit too old to play the latter seeing these scenes again, but then again I don't know the actual age difference between Mrs. Lincoln and her man, so it is all good. What else? Oh yes, there were inclusions of snippets from old shows in-between all the time, I guess every time when a commercial break was about to happen or happened already? Those were not good. Poorly edited, felt so random and also very rushed. Whoever greenlit those, should not be allowed back to plan the next editions of the SAG Awards. Those scenes were among the worst from the entire night.
As for the winners, the love was really spread this time as only "The White Lotus" managed more than one win, which means it was also the only Best Ensemble Cast winner that managed to succeed in one individual acting category. Show you again how big of a force Coolidge is these days. I am happy for her and also glad she is succeeding this much and not the older male from American Pie, who was also a part of this show here. He got overtaken by his son in a way you could say, even if I am not big on that one either. As for Coolidge, she is always entertaining and a joy to watch. Adored her on "2 Broke Girls" too. Ah and also nice to see F. Murray Abraham (Oscar winner for "Amadeus" or actually Salieri) as part of her show. I so have to watch this finally. This is almost it then. Fran Drescher I also just have a hard time to appreciate her as the President of the SAG-AFTRA, even if I disliked her more during past showings I think. Sofia Vergara came up with a joke that did not get too much applause and maybe some people understood that if a male had said this, his career would be over instantly. Amy Poehler was fairly funny here. Good little sketch with a former Parks and Rec co-actor (actually her love interest on the show) and it showed us what comedy can do that drama can't. Nicely done. One of the most entertaining category announcements of the evening for sure. Biggest stunner of the night is difficult to pick, but let me just say that John Krasinski is surely one lucky guy as Emily Blunt looks different every awards show, but always looks amazing. Also loved her dress here, so playful and spring-like already. Unusual at the same time and I am somebody who never cares about dresses really, so it means something if I appreciate Blunt from this perspective too. Now I am really done with the review and I just hope that with the big screen categories here the Oscars will definitely not follow suit. We shall see.
