The Screen Actors Guild has just released its 2007 awards nominees, and the big news is that Into the Wild, which hadn't been getting a whole lot of love this awards season, leads all movies, with four nominations. Sasha Stone of awardsdaily.com, who reads the tea leaves as obsessively as anyone, offers the following analysis:
No Country is even stronger and is becoming too big to ignore…. Beware of Into the Wild. Am I crazy in thinking the movie could actually win Best Picture when all is said and done? Remember that the SAGs also picked Crash over Brokeback Mountain the year Crash won. The actors are the largest group in the Academy and what they like matters great deal…
In one week Oscar ballots are sent out to members. They will watch movies and vote during the Christmas holiday. Think about theme of films, how they play at home, and whether or not they will be something an average industry person might want to watch during their long break. They will be watching the movies with their children and grandchildren. There will be shared reactions. There will be heated discussions. There will be persuasion.
Yes, it'll be interesting to see which way the crucial grandkid vote breaks...
--Christopher Orr