At SAG Awards, stars offer messages of support for Taal Volcano victims

Amidst the glamour and celebrations at the 26th Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards in Los Angeles, California, some Hollywood celebrities’ and politicians’ voices took a somber note as they sent messages of support and solidarity to Filipinos affected by the Taal volcano eruption.

source: news.s-cbn.com

'Hidden Figures' takes top prize at SAG Awards

LOS ANGELES -- Fox's biographical comedy-drama "Hidden Figures" landed the top prize Sunday at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, seen as a major bellwether for the Oscars.

Starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae, it took the trophy for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture, the SAG equivalent of a best film Academy Award.
Theodore Melfi's movie, which recounts the story of African-American mathematicians who helped NASA put the first men in space, was a surprise winner, with Kenneth Lonergan's "Manchester by the Sea" widely tipped for the top prize.

It also beat coming-of-age drama "Moonlight," comedy "Captain Fantastic" and race relations story "Fences."

"Manchester" star Casey Affleck -- the frontrunner for the best actor Oscar -- was also shut out, with the equivalent SAG award going instead to Denzel Washington for "Fences."

Washington, 62, who has two Oscars, also beat competition from Andrew Garfield ("Hacksaw Ridge"), Viggo Mortensen ("Captain Fantastic") and Ryan Gosling ("La La Land").

In the best actress category, Emma Stone won for "La La Land," Damien Chazelle's whimsical tribute to the musicals of Hollywood's golden age.

The support acting awards went to Mahershala Ali for "Moonlight" and Viola Davis for "Fences."

On the television side, five series were tied going into the show with three nominations each -- Netflix's "The Crown" and "Stranger Things," HBO's "Game of Thrones" and "Westworld," and FX's "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story."

It was "The Crown," which follows the lives and loves of Britain's post-war Royal Family, which came out on top, picking up best actor awards for John Lithgow and Claire Foy while "Stranger Things" won the award for best cast in a drama series.

The SAG nominations are the second major announcement in Tinseltown's glittering awards season, which climaxes with the Academy Awards on February 26.

The evening was marked by speeches denouncing President Donald Trump's immigration ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus followed suit as she picked up her second SAG award for comedy acting in "Veep" -- her eighth statuette overall.

In a speech aimed solely at Trump, Dreyfus -- whose father fled Nazi-occupied France -- said she loved the US but hated its blemishes, adding "this immigration ban is a blemish."

She also poked fun at Trump's focus on attendance at his inauguration and allegations of voter fraud.

"Whether the Russians did or did not hack the SAG awards, I look out across the million, maybe 1.5 million people in this room and say this award is legitimate and I won it," she said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Actors of color win big at SAG Awards amid diversity furor

LOS ANGELES -- "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to diverse TV," Idris Elba joked on stage after winning twice at Saturday's Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, where actors of color claimed a slew of wins amid a furor in Hollywood over the lack of on-screen diversity.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Brie Larson and the cast of "Spotlight" -- all white actors -- won the top three film awards of the night, but the rest mainly honored diverse cast and roles. That is in stark contrast to the Oscars, where no actors of color are nominated this year for the industry's highest honors.

"Spotlight," about the Boston Globe's probe of child abuse in the Catholic Church, beat out hip-hop biopic "Straight Outta Compton" for best film ensemble. The movie starred Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams.

"This is not only for survivors of this horrific situation, this is really for the disenfranchised," Keaton said. "This is for the Flint, Michigans in the world, for the powerless."

DiCaprio was named best actor for playing a fur-trapper in pioneer-era retribution drama "The Revenant."

"We all stand on shoulders of giants, so thank all those actors from past who have inspired me and all the actors in this room," DiCaprio said.

Larson, who played a woman held hostage with a young son in "Room," was named best actress, while Sweden's Alicia Vikander won best supporting actress for playing the wife of transgender artist Lili Elbe in "The Danish Girl."

"Spotlight," DiCaprio, Larson and Vikander are all nominated for Oscars, and with their Saturday wins, are cemented as front-runners in their respective categories.

Elba, a black British actor, won two SAG awards: best supporting actor for playing a mercenary commander in Netflix's West African war drama "Beasts of No Nation," and best actor in a limited series for BBC's crime drama "Luther."

"We made a film about real people and real lives, and to be awarded for that is very special," Elba said of his "Beasts" win.

In the television categories, which featured far more diverse actors and roles, Netflix's women's prison show "Orange Is the New Black," won the best comedy series ensemble award for the second consecutive year.

"Look at this stage," cast member Laura Prepon said while accepting the award. "This is what we talk about when we talk about diversity. Different race, color, creed, sexual orientation."

"Orange" star Uzo Aduba won best comedy series actress for playing kooky inmate Crazy Eyes, Queen Latifah won best actress in a TV miniseries for playing blues singer Bessie Smith in HBO's "Bessie," and Viola Davis won best drama actress for ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder." All three actresses are black.

Jeffrey Tambor won best comedy series actor for playing Maura Pfefferman, an aging wealthy transgender woman in Amazon's "Transparent."

"I'd like to dedicate this award to the non-Maura Pfeffermans who don't have a lot of cash for their operations, for their medicine, for their freedom," Tambor said.

Kevin Spacey was named best drama actor for political thriller "House of Cards," and British period drama "Downton Abbey" was named best drama ensemble.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'The Help' wins best film at SAG awards

LOS ANGELES - The Screen Actors Guild on Sunday picked the actors in drama "The Help" as the top ensemble cast of 2011 and gave it two other awards for best lead actress and supporting actress, in a surprise over heavily favored silent movie romance "The Artist."

"The Help" earned three awards overall and "The Artist" only one for French actor Jean Dujardin as best actor in a drama for his role as a fading actor at the end of the talkies.

Dujardin seemed genuinely surprised as he held his statue, thanking the audience of A-list actors including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams.

He noted that as a kid he was always a dreamer and that his teachers called him "Jean of the moon."

"I was always dreaming," he said. "I realize now that I never stopped dreaming. Thank you very much. Thank you for this dream."

Viola Davis was named best actress in a movie for civil rights-era drama "The Help," and she too talked of dreaming big as a kid and encouraged others to do so.

"Dream big and dream fierce," she said.

Others winning SAG film honors included Christopher Plummer with the first film honor for supporting actor. Plummer, 82, who plays an elderly man who reveals his homosexuality, much to the chagrin of his family, thanked his fellow actors from the stage, calling them a wacky but wonderful bunch of artists.

"I just can't tell you what fun I've had being a member of the world's second oldest profession," Plummer joked on stage. "When they honor you, it's like being lit by the holy grail. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Octavia Spencer won supporting actress in a movie with her role as a poor maid "The Help." It proved to be a surprise over Berenice Bejo of silent film romance, "The Artist."

SAG's film awards are closely watched for their impact on Oscars because actors make up the biggest voting group at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences which picks winners. The Academy Awards take place in Los Angeles on Feb. 26.

But unlike academy voters focused on film, SAG members also pick winners in TV awards, and in that arena, "Boardwalk Empire" was named best drama series for the second straight year and "Modern Family was picked top comedy, also for the second year. –Reuters

source:gmanetwork.com