George Clooney, Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air. (Dale Robinette / Paramount)
UP IN THE AIR Gets Three Nods, No Ensemble, at SAG Awards 2010
The other SAG Awards 2010 nominees are:
Best Actor – Jeff Bridges for his country singer in Crazy Heart, Colin Firth for his bereaved gay college professor in A Single Man, Morgan Freeman for his Nelson Mandela in Invictus, Jeremy Renner for his Iraq War sergeant in The Hurt Locker, and George Clooney for his corporate-downsizing expert in Up in the Air.
Best Actress (or Female Actor) – Helen Mirren for her Sofya Tolstoy, wife of Leo, in The Last Station; Sandra Bullock for her compassionate conservative mom in The Blind Side; Meryl Streep for her Julia Child in Julie & Julia; Gabourey Sidibe for her illiterate, pregnant, abused teen in Precious; and Carey Mulligan for her 1960s' London schoolgirl in An Education.
Best Supporting Actor – Matt Damon for his rugby player in Invictus, Woody Harrelson for his army captain in The Messenger, Christopher Plummer for his Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station, Stanley Tucci for his psycho murderer in The Lovely Bones, and Christoph Waltz for his multilingual Nazi in Inglourious Basterds.
Best Supporting Actress – Mo'Nique for her abusive mom in Precious, Penelope Cruz for her sexy actress in Nine, Anna Kendrick for her working young woman in Up in the Air, Vera Farmiga for her frequent flyer in Up in the Air, and Diane Kruger for her actress/spy in Inglourious Basterds.
Expect the Oscars to look pretty much like the SAG nominations, except for: Diane Kruger (I still believe that either Julianne Moore for A Single Man, or Emma Thompson for An Education, or Samantha Morton for The Messenger, or even Marion Cotillard for Nine will land a best supporting actress nomination) and the best picture category. Remember, the Oscars now have 10 slots. Up in the Air will surely land one of them.
In fact, 2010 may be the second year when the best picture winner — Up in the Air or even something like Avatar — ends up taking home the Oscar despite the absence of a best ensemble SAG nod. The first time that happened? Back in 1995, the first year of the SAG Awards, when Mel Gibson's Braveheart won the Oscar after its ensemble was left out of the SAG nominations.
I'm glad Vera Farmiga was included.