Where is the love?

The Screen Actor's Guild (SAG is such an unfortunate acronym, no? It's doubly unsuited for actors, for whom sagging is anathema) announced their noms this morning. I had expected them to show some love for Laura Linney's turn in The Savages. She's getting left out in the cold for her portrayal of Wendy Savage and not one of the American critics have nominated her, which is baffling. Linney is an actor's actor, it's an unshowy but memorable perf and she's continuously been excellent in everything she's done. Let's look at the Best Actress SAGs:

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett
Julie Christie
Marion Cotillard
Angelina Jolie
Ellen Page

I thought Christie and Jolie were both excellent in Away From Her and A Mighty Heart respectively. I'm kind of surprised that Jolie is getting recognised, I thought she was lovely and understated as Marianne Pearl but there's so much baggage attached to the role (like, she kind of blacked-up...not exactly pc...I didn't have a huge problem with it but nobody seems to be talking about it). Cotilard got a lot of hatred and muck thrown at her, but I was still moved by her Piaf. The film was muddled, but Cotillard didn't edit the damn thing and in my opinion she deserves her placing. Juno hasn't opened her yet, but I'm enthusiastic about the indie/young actress push. Which leaves Blanchett. Ahem. Some people don't exactly love her and are (perhaps rightly) angered by her place here. I didn't bother seeing The Golden Age but from what I heard it was a godawful mess in which Blanchett yelled a lot. Reviews were universally middling, so why the constant worship? She's not an actual queen, ballot writers. Heads won't actually roll if you don't write her name on the ballot paper! I actually am quite fond of Blanchett (this is residual habit, left over from her Galadriel. We used to have fights in the playground, Galadriel v Arwen and I always backed the Lothlorien Queen) but she doesn't have to be nominated for everything she appears in (even though she didn't get a Best Supporting Oscar for her best role yet, in Coffee and Cigarettes).

The solution, as I see it, would have been to give Blanchett a Supporting nod and leave the fifth space for Linney. But no, look at the Supporting Actress noms:

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett
Ruby Dee
Catherine Keener
Amy Ryan
Tilda Swinton

Oh. Hi Cate. Again. Why a double nod? Why? She is a good actress, but The Golden Age is not a good film and you've already rewarded her in another category. Gah! Stop being such an award hog!

I haven't actually seen The Savages yet (it opens in Ireland late January). But I'm still cross that Linney's being snubbed. Partly because of this. Also, this. But mainly because I'm saddened that Jindabyne is not getting any notice whatsoever, in any category.

Bah. Dispelling any bad vibes I'm transmutting through the web, Hairspray got an Ensemble nod and three of the Michael Clayton team (Clooney, Wilkinson, Swinton) got recognised.