"Into the Wild" leads SAG nominees

20/12/2007 23:22

By Bob Tourtellotte

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Wilderness drama "Into the Wild," directed by Sean Penn and starring Emile Hirsch, topped a surprising list of Screen Actors Guild nominees on Thursday with four nods overall, including best ensemble cast.

Absent from the widely watched group of nominations for SAG’s top honour, best film cast, were romance "Atonement" and musical "Sweeney Todd," leaving award watchers scratching their heads as they tried to handicap Hollywood’s Oscar race.

Hirsch was nominated for best film actor for his portrayal of a college graduate on a journey of self-discovery to Alaska, and veteran actors Hal Holbrook and Catherine Keener earned supporting actor and actress nominations for the same film.

Crime thriller "No Country for Old Men" and legal drama "Michael Clayton" pulled down three nominations each. "No Country" was nominated for best film cast, while co-stars Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones were named in the best supporting actor category.

"Clayton" snagged a best actor nod for George Clooney, who played the troubled title character, and nominations for co-stars Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton in the supporting categories. But like "Atonement" and "Todd," highly touted "Clayton" was left off the list for best ensemble cast.

.....continued below

Advertisement starts

Advertisement ends

Joining "Into the Wild" and "No Country" in that category were three other films: western "3:10 to Yuma," musical "Hairspray" and crime drama "American Gangster."

"SAG pulled some major surprises here. This really shakes up the (Oscar) race," said Pete Hammond, a columnist for awards Web site TheEnvelope.com.

OSCAR WATCH

The Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be handed out on January 27 in Los Angeles, often indicate who will be nominated for the film industry’s top honours, the Oscars, because actors make up the largest group of Academy Award voters.

The Oscars are the world’s top film award and are given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in February.

Joining Clooney and Hirsch among SAG’s film actor nominees were Daniel Day-Lewis in oil prospecting drama "There Will Be Blood," Ryan Gosling for comedy "Lars and the Real Girl" and Viggo Mortensen for crime thriller "Eastern Promises."

Experts said they were surprised that Johnny Depp, who plays a barber on a killing spree in "Todd," was left off the best actor list, as he was widely seen as a shoo-in.

Best actress nominations went to four women who figure heavily in award season, including Cate Blanchett in drama "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," Julie Christie in Alzheimer’s tale "Away from Her," French actress Marion Cotillard as singer Edith Piaf in "La Vie En Rose," Angelina Jolie as the wife of slain journalist Daniel Pearl for "A Mighty Heart," and Ellen Page in teen pregnancy comedy, "Juno."

British star Keira Knightley, who won praise for playing a lover whose romance is broken apart in "Atonement," failed to make the list.

Page: 12 next

By Bob Tourtellotte

Joining "Into the Wild" and "No Country" in that category were three other films: western "3:10 to Yuma," musical "Hairspray" and crime drama "American Gangster."

"SAG pulled some major surprises here. This really shakes up the (Oscar) race," said Pete Hammond, a columnist for awards Web site TheEnvelope.com.

OSCAR WATCH

The Oscars are the world’s top film award and are given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in February.

Experts said they were surprised that Johnny Depp, who plays a barber on a killing spree in "Todd," was left off the best actor list, as he was widely seen as a shoo-in.

British star Keira Knightley, who won praise for playing a lover whose romance is broken apart in "Atonement," failed to make the list.

Unlike the Oscars, SAG hands out awards in TV categories. The top award is for best cast in a drama, and those nominees featured familiar shows like "The Sopranos," "Boston Legal," "Grey’s Anatomy," "The Closer" and newcomer "Mad Men."

Nominations for best ensemble cast in a TV comedy also featured a list of programs that have been honoured for past Hollywood awards, including "30 Rock," "Desperate Housewives," "Entourage," "The Office" and "Ugly Betty."

While other award shows have been affected by the Hollywood screenwriter strike, SAG President Alan Rosenberg said his guild’s show will go on as usual.

Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4