Only a handful of surprises in SAG nominations

The SAG awards always present something of an enigma to awards watchers. Their nominating committee is significantly smaller than the full membership who votes on the winners, which often results in one or two out-of-left-field contenders. They also decide their nominees so early, that a few late-breaking juggernauts always miss the cut.

Evidence of both these intriguing qualities were present in this morning's nomination announcement, which otherwise stuck to the script most prognosticators imagine will be unfolding this season.

The biggest surprises came from the ladies' acting categories, which saw Jennifer Aniston break into the Best Actress race for her acclaimed work in the micro-indie Cake. Screeners for that one obviously landed in the right hands at the right time. An even more curious nomination is the one Naomi Watts garnered for St. Vincent, which played well at TIFF (on the inaugural 'Bill Murray Day') but has since been all but forgotten.

One Category at a Time: Actress

After the SAG Awards, the Best Actress race appears to have a frontrunner, but there's more nuance to it than that. A couple of the nominees weren't even in competition for the SAG or the Golden Globes, and even though I find myself predicting the obvious choice, it's a category that feels ripe for an upset.

Quick Review - The Impossible

Inspired by a true story, J.A. Bayon's The Impossible dramatizes the harrowing ordeal of the Bennett family, who were separated by the catastrophic tsunami that rocked southeast Asia on Boxing Day 2004. It's a fairly “Hollywoodized” version of the truth (although the production is predominantly Mexican), but there's no reason for that to be a dismissive description. Bayona heightens the visceral experience of this real life horror story by leaning on, naturally, horror movie tropes. The gripping sound design, cringe-inducing makeup, and waivering string music all contribute to Bayona's innovative real-life-as-horror approach.

Stars Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, and Tom Holland also do excellent work at embodying the fear that Bayona is going for. While one can be justified in criticizing the film for narrowing its dramatic eye on the wealthy tourists while brushing the devastated Thai people under the rug, I wonder if rectifying that would really have benefited the focused script all that much.

*** out of ****