One of my favorite awards season categories is the one which honors the film with the best group of actors, performing at the highest level. Most call it “Best Ensemble”. The Screen Actors Guild Awards call it “Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.” This year there is a tremendous number of movies vying to be nominated. Here’s my predictions of who the voters (including yours truly) will select this year:
The Top Contenders
“12 Years a Slave” (Best acted film of ’13)
“American Hustle” (Packed with star power: Adams, Bale, Cooper, Lawrence, Renner and De Niro)
“August: Osage County” (Meryl and Julia: Enough said)
“Lee Daniels’ The Butler” (Forest, Oprah, and a ton of cameos)
“Saving Mr. Banks” (Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks lead the best team of ’13)
The Possibilities:
“Blue Jasmine”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“Prisoners”
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”
But there’s often a “wild card” selection in this category. Last year it was “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”. The year before it was “Bridesmaids”. My favorite long-shot pick is “The Way, Way Back”. But SAG voters have also liked musicals in the past (“Hairspray”, “Nine”, Dreamgirls”, and most recently “Les Miserables”). “Inside Llewyn Davis” may have a shot, but a nomination for the Coen Brothers film would be a major surprise.
The SAG Awards nominations will be announced on Dec. 11. Sasha Alexander (TNT’s “Rizzoli & Isles”) and “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD”‘s Clark Gregg have been selected to do the honors.