Snubs And Surprises Of The 2018 SAG Awards Nominees

SNUBS

Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks and everyone from “The Post”
Honestly, this was a shocker, but it has happened before. In 2014, SAG nom committee snubbed “American Sniper” and “Selma” across the board. A few weeks later both films earned Best Picture nominations and Bradley Cooper earned a Best Actor nod. At the time studios complained about SAG nom committee members not attending screening events. The following year TWC complained about the same problem with the snubbed “The Hateful Eight” which found Jennifer Jason Leigh earning an Oscar nod the next month. 20th Century Fox also complained of empty nominating committee seats for “Joy” which eventually saw Jennifer Lawrence find recognition with an Oscar nod. What do all these films have in common? They arrived late in the game either right before or after the Thanksgiving holiday. “The Post” is curious, however, because 20th Century Fox made the Q&A’s featured legends Streep, Hanks and Steven Spielberg, but they only did them in New York (Update: Streep did do one Q&A in LA). A majority of the nominating committee is in Los Angeles (“Joy” also did its star-filled Q&A’s only in NY). Are you noticing a trend? Whatever the case, this puts Streep’s chances of winning her fourth Oscar severely in, um, doubt. Baring a Donald Trump tweet about her, of course, then you can just hand her the statue.

Daniel Day-Lewis
Again, the world’s greatest living male actor still appears to be on target for an Oscar nomination, but the fact SAG would ignore a three-time winner? Either they sincerely disliked “Phantom Thread” (possible) or, as noted above, the nominating committee didn’t take the films that debuted after Thanksgiving into serious consideration. Oh, and Daniel Day-Lewis did his Q&A’s only in NY, but that really can’t be it can it? (Did I crack the code?)

Jessica Chastain
The “Molly’s Game” star has been working it for the underdog Aaron Sorkin drama, but SAG voters went with Dench and Margot Robbie (“I, Tonya”) instead. Chastain still has an outside shot at earning an Oscar nomination (STX can push that Golden Globe nod), but without the SAG love, it’s gonna be tough.

Armie Hammer and Michael Stuhlbarg
Should SPC be concerned about a Best Picture nomination for “Call Me By Your Name” after both Hammer and Stuhlbarg were snubbed by SAG? Probably not, especially since Timothee Chalamet earned a Lead Actor nomination over both Hanks and Day-Lewis (no small feat). For Stuhlbarg though this has to be a concern. Previously considered a likely Supporting Actor Oscar nominee he now has to hope Academy members ignore either Carell or Harrelson’s performances.

“The Shape of Water”
Michael Shannon, Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Doug Jones and Michael Stuhlbarg. Is that line-up not impressive enough to crack the Best Ensemble field? I moderated a last-minute ‘Shape’ SAG Q&A on Saturday (added by Searchlight due to high demand) and not only was it packed, but they seemingly loved the movie. Maybe it was sixth in voting? Maybe it somehow didn’t feel like a true ensemble? (Trying to wrap my head around that one). In either case, ‘Shape’ is fine. It’s a Best Picture nominee, but its chances of winning have seriously diminished without the ensemble nod. The last time a film won Best Picture without a SAG ensemble nomination? 1996, the first year of the SAG Awards.

“Dunkirk”
Warner Bros. was hoping the film’s massive ensemble could crack the field or that Kenneth Branagh or Mark Rylance could sneak into Supporting Actor, but it wasn’t meant to be. Nolan’s achievement is going to earn a Best Picture nomination and he may still win Best Director, but the top prize may now be out of reach. Maybe.

“The Americans”
Once again one of the best series on television, one of the best series this decade was completely snubbed by SAG. A series which has landed top Emmy nominations the past two years, but somehow just can’t find the love from the guild. It’s almost bizarre at this point.

Ewan McGregor, Carrie Coon and “Fargo”
Speaking of series (or limited series) that has problems with SAG, Noah Hawley’s masterful program came away empty handed again. The show has only one SAG nomination to its credit (Billy Bob Thorton for its inaugural season) and has found Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemmons, Martin Freeman and Alison Tolman all snubbed. Ewan McGregor played two characters and still couldn’t make the cut. Yikes.  Does FX have a SAG problem? Ponder.

What did you think of this year’s SAG nominations? Share your thoughts below.