'Basterds' Gets Oscar Boost from SAG Nods

DEC 18, 2009 - Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglourious Basterds' gets a boost from the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations but the critics' favourite, 'Up In The Air', is left up in the air in the Ensemble (cast) category although it has three nominations - for George Clooney as Best Actor and Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick for Best Supporting Actress.

The CGI-heavy 'Avatar', however, is spurned by the guild because of the limited screen time of the real-life performers.

The nods for these awards are decided by 2,100 members of the 100,000-strong guild and they have a track record for predicting the eventual Oscar acting nominees. With 10 Best Picture Oscar nominees this year, it seems almost certain that all of these SAG ensemble contenders will make the cut. While "Up in the Air" earned three individual SAG acting nods, it failed to make the final five for the ensemble award.

The motion picture nominations are:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire

Lead male:

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up In The Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Lead female:

Sandra Bullock (pic), The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: Based On The Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Supporting male:

Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz (pic), Inglourious Basterds

Supporting female:

Penélope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up In The Air
Anna Kendrick, Up In The Air
Diane Kruger, Inglourious Basterds
Mo’nique, Precious: Based On The Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire