SAG Nominations: ‘Benjamin Button’ the ‘Slumdog’ ‘Wrestler’ casts ‘Doubt’ over spilt ‘Milk’

'Team America' reminds us why they aren't called the Film Actors Guild...

By Anders Wotzke

Dec 19, 2008

Yes, that’s the best title I could come up with…moving on.

Before the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) go on a predicted Strike next year (can’t let the Writers have all the fun, can we) they kindly decided to release their annual list of SAG nominations.

It’s a fairly predictable bunch, however it’s generally a given that the list of SAG nominees will be similar to that of the Oscar nominees, so it’s certainly a good indication of things to come.

Here are some of my initial observations:

Their is certainly no Doubt that John Patrick Shanley’s film is going to walk away with something, with a total of 5 nominations in all but one category. Milk and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button each take three nominations apiece.
I’m glad to see Micky Rourke nominated for Best Male Lead, after seeing his outstanding performance in Aronofsky’s The Wrestler last night (review on the way).
It doesn’t help my predictions when all the nominees for Best Female Lead are from films that haven’t been release in Australia yet. However, the inaugural Kate Winslet nomination is there – twice in fact for Revolutionary Road and The Reader - so it’s good to see that the world is still in order.
Heath Ledger’s Joker deservingly gets a Best Supporting Actor nomination, going up against stiff competition (or so I hear) with Josh Brolin (Milk) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt). But Robert Downey Jr.? His performance in Tropic Thunder was certainly fun…but I can put on a Mr. T voice too, you know.