Editorial: What The Screen Actors Guild Nominations Mean For The 2014 Oscars

We're in the thick of awards season now, with tons of awards outlets announcing their nominations for various awards designed to give praise to the best in 2014 cinema. This morning, the Screen Actors Guild announced their nominations for various awards in the realm of acting. Let's take a look at those nominations and how they impact this years Academy Awards race, shall we?

Nominees courtesy of ComingSoon.net!

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Steve Carell - Foxcatcher (Sony Pictures Classics)
Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game (The Weinstein Company)
Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler (Open Road)
Michael Keaton - Birdman (Fox Searchlight)
Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything (Focus Features)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Jennifer Aniston – Cake (Cinelou Releasing)
Felicity Jones - The Theory of Everything (Focus Features)
Julianne Moore - Still Alice (Sony Pictures Classics)
Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl (20th Century Fox)
Reese Witherspoon - Wild (Fox Searchlight)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Robert Duvall – The Judge (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Ethan Hawke - Boyhood (IFC Films)
Edward Norton – Birdman (Fox Searchlight)
Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher (Sony Pictures Classics)
J.K. Simmons - Whiplash (Sony Picture Classics)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Patricia Arquette - Boyhood (IFC Films)
Keira Knightley - The Imitation Game (The Weinstein Company)
Emma Stone - Birdman (Fox Searchlight)
Meryl Streep - Into the Woods (Walt Disney Pictures)
Naomi Watts - St. Vincent (The Weinstein Company)

Outstanding Performance by the Cast in a Motion Picture

Birdman (Fox Searchlight)
Boyhood (IFC Films)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Fox Searchlight)
The Imitation Game (The Weinstein Company)
The Theory of Everything (Focus Features)

Alright, now for my thoughts on these nominees.

This years Best Actress and Best Supporting Actors categories at the Oscars this year feel very similar to me, in that they both have four guranteed nominees, while the fifth slot in that category is totally up for grabs. Best Actress (whose guaranteed nominees are Reese Witherspoon, Kiera Knightly, Rosamund Pike and Julianne Moore) could have a new contender now that Jennifer Anistons turn in Cake got a SAG nomination.

I'd heard extremely positive things about Anistons performance, so this kind of resurgence isn't terribly shocking. What is surprising is Robert Duvall getting recognized for his role in The Judge. Duvall was decent I guess but him getting this kind of nomination for the role was unthinkable to me at least. The Hollywood Reporter had him as a Best Supporting Actor candidate last week, a bizarre choice that now at least has some precedent.

Looking in the Lead Actor field, it looks like Steve Carell continues to earn attention for his role in Foxcatcher, while seeing Jake Gyllenhaal get a nomination for his extraordinary performance in Nightcrawler is terrific. Hopefully that's not the last time the movie gets attention this awards season!

Considering Boyhood is my favorite movie of 2014 at this point, the amount of awards attention it's received has left me giddy, and I'm similarly over the moon about The Grand Budapest Hotel getting into the Outstanding Performance By The Cast In A Motion Picture category, a moe than well deserved nomiantion.