Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesCompared to the booze-fueled, Hollywood's-biggest-party kudosfest that is the Golden Globes, not much seems to happen at the more inside-baseball, celebrate-the-craft Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Until it does, with a vengeance!
Despite a slow start (Jennifer Lawrence tried her best to shake things up, coining the phrase "armpit vagina," but hey, maybe people are out of town for the holiday weekend), the 20th Annual SAG Awards ultimately didn't disappoint in the entertainment department.
And there was definitely at least one surprise that could mean a major shakeup in the race for Oscar glory...
1. 12 Years a Slave Doesn't Win!: The Golden Globes gave both the epic slave drama and the permtastic American Hustle a chance to win a Best Picture prize. But when pitted against each other in a contest decided by the actors' peers, Hustle's cast pulled off what was widely considered an upset, not least of which because three of 12 Years' actors received individual nominations to Hustle's one. And in that one case, it was Lupita Nyong'o who beat out Jennifer Lawrence for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role. Coupled with Matthew McConaughey's second straight win over Chiwetel Ejiofor, we're starting to wonder whether 12 Years a Slave is going to end up being this year's Lincoln—lavished with Oscar nominations but ultimately the winner of only one. However, tonight's Producers Guild of America Awards is the real test, the winner of that having gone on to take the Best Picture Oscar for the last six years.
2. Cuba Libre!: If you turned off your TV before final presenter Ben Affleck bid the audience good night, you missed the most random end to an awards show since...ever? Cuba Gooding Jr., a member of the nominated cast of Lee Daniels' The Butler, rushed the stage right before the camera panned out, shocking Affleck and setting Twitter and Tumblr ablaze with good ideas. "Happy MLK!" the SAG Award winner for Jerry Maguire wished the world, referring to Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. All right. Same to you, buddy!
3. Ty Burrell Unseats King Baldwin: Not so much a shocker as something we saw coming a mile away due to the anger issues Alec Baldwin once again manifested last year, this time to the extent that they lost him a job. And the 30 Rock star, who has won the SAG Award for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy every year since he first donned Jack Donaghy's suit (or tuxedo, after 6 p.m.—what is he, a farmer?), probably knew that his fellow actors would be casting their votes for someone else this time, so he didn't even bother to show up. Still, despite the we-knew-it aspect of Baldwin's loss, it's not as if his performance wasn't any less hilarious during 30 Rock's final season. So, that's sad that he prevented himself from making it a clean sweep. On the bright side, however: Ty Burrell is awesome in Modern Family and it's great to see him get his due!
4. Helen Mirren Topples the Lake: And here we thought that Elisabeth Moss' fellow actors would care for her performance in Top of the Lake as much as the Hollywood Foreign Press did. Instead, SAG went in an entirely different direction than both the Emmys (which crowned Laura Linney for The Big C) and the Golden Globes and picked that damn Helen Mirren for Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Movie or Miniseries, for Phil Spector. We're actually so glad they did—we had started to forget how absolutely wonderful a Helen Mirren acceptance speech can be. Not "saggy at all," indeed.
5. Gambling on Maggie Smith and, Once Again, Losing: We're starting to suspect that bestowing prestigious awards on the Downton Abbey star is just a crafty method that bloated award shows have come up with to save time—give it to Dame Maggie, her speech will only last as long as it takes for the presenter to say she isn't there! Think about it: She won Emmys in 2011 and 2012, wasn't there. Then the Golden Globe in 2013, wasn't there. And then SAG took the bait but, once again—no show! Don't get us wrong, we adore us some Dowager Countess. We can't get enough of her on Downton Abbey. But though we understand why she might not want to schlep across the pond for just a "week end," we'd like a piece of her in real life, too, if the system is going to continue to pick her over the likes of some equally deserving colleagues.