‘Power of the Dog,’ ‘House of Gucci’ top SAG nominations

AFP
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The Power of the Dog
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Los Angeles (AFP) โ€“ Jane Campionโ€™s gothic Western โ€œThe Power of the Dogโ€ and campy true-crime drama โ€œHouse of Gucciโ€ on Wednesday jointly topped the film nominations from Hollywoodโ€™s Screen Actors Guild โ€” usually a key indicator in the race to the Oscars.

Days after โ€œThe Power of the Dogโ€ won the Golden Globe for best drama, the filmโ€™s stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Kodi Smith-McPhee each received nods from the actorsโ€™ union, tying the film with Ridley Scottโ€™s โ€œHouse of Gucciโ€ on three.

But offering hope to its rivals, Campionโ€™s presumed frontrunner failed to land a nomination for best cast โ€” the top prize at the SAG ceremony on February 27.

โ€œThe Power of the Dog,โ€ a tale of two feuding brothers in 1920s Montana, first screened at Septemberโ€™s prestigious Venice film festival, where Campion won the best director award.

It has since drawn rave reviews, and was released by Netflix with a limited theatrical run.

SAG overlooked widespread mockery of Jared Letoโ€™s exuberant Italian accent to nominate him for best supporting actor in โ€œHouse of Gucci,โ€ alongside Lady Gaga and the ensemble cast, which also includes Adam Driver and Al Pacino.

Also nominated for best cast โ€” the SAG equivalent of the best picture Oscar โ€” were โ€œBelfast,โ€ โ€œCODA,โ€ โ€œDonโ€™t Look Upโ€ and โ€œKing Richard.โ€

But Kenneth Branaghโ€™s โ€œBelfastโ€ โ€” which depicts the violence of late-1960s Northern Ireland from a childโ€™s view and had been seen by pundits as a strong awards contender โ€” landed only one individual nod, for Caitriona Balfe.

Other surprising snubs included Kristen Stewartโ€™s much-touted portrayal of Princess Diana in โ€œSpencer,โ€ and โ€œWest Side Storyโ€ Golden Globe-winning star Rachel Zegler.

Voted for by actors, the SAG awards are seen as a strong indicator of Oscars glory, since actors represent the largest branch of the roughly 10,000 Oscar voters in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.ย 

The SAG awards will be unveiled in Santa Monica, California exactly one month before the Oscars.

โ€˜Successionโ€™ and โ€˜Ted Lassoโ€™ top TV noms

On the television side, SAG handed five nominations apiece to โ€œSuccessionโ€ย andย โ€œTed Lasso.โ€

Netflixโ€™s South Korean smash hit โ€œSquid Gameโ€ became the first non-English-language series nominated by SAG for best cast in a TV drama.

Stars Jung Ho-Yeon and Lee Jung-Jae also earned individual nominations.ย 

It comes two years after โ€œParasiteโ€ โ€” also from South Korea โ€” became the first non-English-language winner of SAGโ€™s best cast film prize, a key step on its way to Oscars success.

โ€œYellowstone,โ€ the hugely popular cable series about a wealthy ranch-owning family in Montana which has been largely overlooked by tastemakers on the US coasts, finally earned its first SAG nomination for best cast.

Starring Kevin Costner, its fourth season finale was watched by more than 11 million people earlier this month โ€” numbers comparable to โ€œGame of Thronesโ€ in its heyday.

And Cynthia Erivo was nominated for her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in the limited TV series โ€œGenius: Arethaโ€ โ€” on the same day that SAG recognized Jennifer Hudson for playing the Queen of Soul in the film โ€œRespect.โ€


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