Saturday, January 30, 2016

Mike Nichols tribute and my SAG predictions

Last night PBS aired a one-hour documentary on the life and work of director Mike Nichols.  Streep of course worked with Nichols in Silkwood, Heartburn, Postcards from the Edge and Angels in America. Their collaboration on Master Class unfortunately never came to fruition, as Nichols passed away two months prior to when filming was set to begin last year. The tribute, while short, was fantastic.  By far my favorite moment was when Nichols began to discuss Meryl's work in Silkwood, became emotional, and had to stop, saying "I don't think I can talk about Meryl." No doubt he saw something very special in her.



In other news, the SAGs are tonight so I thought I better post my predictions.  Winners indicated with an asterisk*:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
1. Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)
2. Johnny Depp (Black Mass)
3. Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)*
4. Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
5. Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
1. Cate Blanchett (Carol)
2. Brie Larson (Room)*
3. Helen Mirren (Woman in Gold)
4. Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
5. Sarah Silverman (I Smile Back)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
1. Christian Bale (The Big Short)
2. Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)*
3. Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
4. Michael Shannon (99 Homes)
5. Jacob Tremblay (Room)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
1. Rooney Mara (Carol)
2. Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)
3. Helen Mirren (Trumbo)
4. Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)*
5. Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

I'm way less confident in the supporting categories than lead.  It's quite possible that Elba will be recognized following his Oscar snub, a la Ben Affleck for Argo at the Producers Guild.  A few surprises would be fun for a change.

10 comments:

  1. Long Winded PessimistJanuary 31, 2016 at 12:33 AM

    Jeff do you by any chance remember the details of Meryl and Mike's falling out years ago over Remains of the Day I believe it was? I just remember Meryl really wanting the part but Mike didn't want to give it to her for some reason and Meryl got really upset or something? How long did that last? Obviously they worked together again and really seemed to love each other deeply but it escapes me now what went down. Do you remember the details?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Check out the last paragraph in this post:
      http://www.wordonthestreep.com/2013/02/shoulda-coulda-wouldas-5-remains-of-day.html

      Delete
    2. Long Winded PessimistFebruary 1, 2016 at 6:19 PM

      Thanks. Yeah I had forgotten all about that but was reminded watching the documentary.

      This awards season has been so painful. I feel left out for Meryl even though she's probably relieved she doesn't have to participate this year. I'd feel better if we had something to look forward to but I just don't understand why she has nothing lined up. And I don't know why but I'm even loosing faith in FFJ... I just don't see it doing that well, especially commercially. The whole concept just seems super boring to me... I mean I'm obsessed with Meryl and I'm not really looking forward to it so I can't imagine how lame it will seem to normal people... Not only does it seem boring but for some reason I'm afraid Meryl will be prone to "overacting" again since she's playing a notorious ham/big personality... It's like the opposite of the type of role Meryl needs nowadays. I don't know I guess we were so spoiled for years that now that Meryl's star is cooling off I'm just not prepared for it and it will only get worse as Meryl gets older.

      Delete
  2. LWP, have some faith in Meryl! I can't tell for sure if FFJ will be a commercial/critical hit but I can be sure Meryl will give her all in that role. The only thing I tend to agree with you is that she needs to tone down the 'overacting' persona a fair bit. After watching Rampling and Blanchett in 45 years and Carol respectively, I can't wait to see Meryl in a more nuanced performance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Long Winded PessimistFebruary 2, 2016 at 12:36 PM

      I love Meryl, but it's hard to have faith when her career has been on the decline basically since Iron Lady 5 years ago. She hasn't won any competitive awards or had any huge commercial hits since then. And with nothing on the horizon, I don't see that changing. I mean she wrapped FFJ last June and we still haven't even heard of anything else even remotely in the pipeline 8 months later? I've just been disappointed with the trends I've been seeing... trend toward overacting and a trend toward picking mediocre projects where her presence is the only thing exciting about it. That doesn't inspire much confidence for me.
      Basically nothing this year panned out...Ricki disappointed, as did Suffragette(plus controversy), Meryl missed out on a GG nom she actually really deserved...
      And it's like all the media wants to do is name a "new/next Meryl Streep." It's so annoying. Like what's wrong with the real one? She's over 65 but she's not dead yet and doesn't need to be replaced. I want Meryl to show and remind everyone why she can't be replaced. This really is an unprecedented opportunity for film to actually put out some more mainstream movies starring complex older characters. It just frustrates me that all these other big movie stars have all these projects lined up and Meryl, who I believe is actually the most talented, has none. Like what is wrong with the world? Meryl's a once in a lifetime talent and she's not getting any younger. We should be taking advantage.

      Delete
  3. LWP, have some faith in Meryl. FFJ may be more comedy than drama,and the character played a little bit exaggerated, but come on, it´s a Streep/Frears project!" There is no way this can fail!
    I believe she will rise, be at all next years awards ceremonies, and after Berlin, she will certainly announce new projects to 2017!

    Hugo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For goodness sake, how can we complain? Meryl has already had THE career almost any actor would crave and despite the CRITICAL opinion Ricki, August and Hope were all very good films and Woods was a hit with good intentions. There is.nothing to regret from this era besides losing Nicholls and Masterclass.

      I'm sorry, Meryl won't rise again as she's already the chief skyscraper, she hasn't been diminished...

      Delete
    2. Long Winded PessimistFebruary 3, 2016 at 9:46 PM

      Well you guys are better people than me... I just have a hard time "having faith" in an industry as fickle as show business... especially in this day in age it's getting harder and harder to be a public figure at all. The media is always probing for opinions and you really can't win with the internet and this outrage culture nowadays... I mean Meryl is as professional as it gets and I'm still worried about what her response will be if she's asked about OscarsSoWhite in Berlin...after that Suffragette/Feminist bad publicity I worry she's not as indestructive PR wise as I'd previously thought.

      Delete
  4. Looks like Goldie Shawn is now in talks for the mother role in the Amy Schumer comedy- Jamie

    ReplyDelete