2014 SAG Predictions: Their Choices and Mine

The Screen Actors Guild will broadcast their annual ceremony in just a few short hours, so naturally my mind is on the acting race, despite last night's big PGA surprise that has miraculously transitioned the wide-open Best Picture field to a two-or-three-film open and shut case. As always, I plan to watch, but not have as much fun as I do with the perpetual intoxication of the Golden Globes. What can I say?

But that doesn't mean I won't take a stab at predictions, especially since tonight could potentially clear up or complicate the acting categories. So:

Female Actor in a Leading Role

Prediction: Julianne Moore.

But: Wouldn't it be hilarious/brilliant if Jennifer Aniston won?

Male Actor in a Leading Role

Prediction: Michael Keaton.

But: People love Eddie Redmayne in his movie.

Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Prediction: Patricia Arquette.

But: ....I've got nothing. Who could beat her? Who wouldn't want to see her give another acceptance speech written on and then torn from a spiral notebook, while still vibrating with more class than anyone this season?

Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Prediction: J.K. Simmons.

But: Maybe one voting body is finally ready to recognize Ethan Hawke??? (Unlikely, but I can dream!)

Ensemble Cast

Prediction: Birdman.

But: Boyhood still exists.

And as a bonus, I'm kicking off my own superlatives with my picks for Best Ensemble Cast, to continue the theme of acting awards. As you can tell by the image to the left, I included Birdman in my lineup like SAG did, and easily think it's the best of their lineup. My only hope is that they don't make the same embarrassing snafu that the BFCA made when it won for its ensemble category. Especially embarrassing since Andrea Riseborough is one of the film's unsung heroes.

The nominees are... (after the jump)

• Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Keaton, Stone, Norton, Watts, Ryan, Galifianakis, Riseborough, Duncan, et al.), because even if every character isn't favored by Iñárritu's dizzyingly roaming canvas, everyone manages to delight and serve its specific vision

• Ilo Ilo (Yann Yann, Chen, Koh, Bayani, et al.), for mining the prickly-yet-delicate tones exquisitely throughout, but largely for showing cubistic intimacies between father, mother, son, nanny.

• Love is Strange (Lithgow, Molina, Tomei, Tahan, Burrows, Tabach, Jackson, et al.), because it gracefully and subtly evolves from simple two-header to include friends, relatives, and background players of varying thermal temps.

• Pride (Schnetzer, MacKay, Marsay, Gilgun, Considine, West, Scott, Staunton, Nighy, Gunning, et al.), because even with a heterogeneous cast of characters whose tally you can't keep track of, the film still cherishes and invests in each of them.

• Unrelated (Worth, Hiddleston, Roscoe, Hadley, Rintoul, Kershaw, et al.), for being a self-enclosed playground of personalities through which Hogg navigates, nailing tricky first impressions of characters and relationships.

Runners-up: Begin Again, Boyhood, Gloria, Obvious Child, We Are the Best!, Young & Beautiful