SAG noms 2011- Painfully Predictable

Sag noms 2011, a huge win for The Help, and, as expected, a slew of noms for The Descendents and The Artist. 
SAG is not playing around giving noms to the most popular movies, knowing that it's usually a huge predictor for upset Oscar noms and wins.  More pretentious bull shit, but important nonetheless.
Many may be surprised they left out Michael Fassbinder, who had a remarkable year, and Albert Brooks in Drive, and I personally thought Andy Serkis in Rise of the Planet of the Apes would get more press, especially with the film coming out on DVD/BluRay.
Glenn Close scored a nom for Albert Nobbs, and Leonardo Dicaprio got his for J. Edgar.  Two films that did pretty poorly critically actually making comeback with these nominations, although them winning is far from a reality yet. 

Best Cast Noms went to The Artist, Bridesmaids, The Descendents, The Help and Midnight in Paris.  Bridesmaids is, of course, the upset pick, though look for The Help to take down the main one.

Those crazy actors always predict the correct winners, bar some absurdity (Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow).
Hugo fans may be disappointed that their film was shut out, but that can all change tomorrow with the Globes nominations!!!
See ya then!

NBR gives "Hugo" Best Picture

The National Board of Review claims Martin Scorsese's adaptation Hugo, to be the best film of the year.
Surprised? Don't be.

There have been a number of extremely popular and acclaimed children's films throughout the years, none of which have made an impact on award season other than in animated categories.

However, the National Board of Review has had a feud with the mainstream Oscar-buzzing media dating all the way back to the 1930s.  As the second oldest film awards next to the Oscars, the NBR has ever since tried to award films the Oscars wouldn't.
So to speak, this victory for Hugo in the Oscar race is marginal at best.

What is important is the NBR posts a top-10 list for the year, which we can almost always pick out the future Oscar nominations.  Here's what we got:

The Artist 
The Descendants 
Drive 
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 
Hugo
The Ides of March 
J. Edgar 
The Tree of Life 
War Horse

No surprises except maybe J. Edgar, who had an underwhelming box office performance and sub-par reviews.  If there were 5 Oscar nominees, you can certainly find them here, save a late surge by an independent film (like Take Shelter).

Not Surprisingly however, Best Actor went to George Clooney for The Descendants, and Best Actress went to Tilda Swinton for We Need to Talk About Kevin.

You can find the whole list in the award section.  I'll be back later this week with hopefully more clarity of the race and pray, more witty commentary...