As you’re probably aware it’s awards season, and while The Oscars is the highlight of the season there’s a number of smaller award ceremonies that take place in the build-up to the Oscars. In Los Angeles on Saturday it was the Screen Actors Guild’s (SAG) turn to honour the outstanding work of their members over the last year...
As you’re probably aware it’s awards season, and while The Oscars is the highlight of the season there are a number of smaller award ceremonies that take place in the build-up to the Oscars.
In Los Angeles on Saturday it was the Screen Actors Guild’s (SAG) turn to honour the outstanding work of their members over the last year. Cate Blanchett is the front-runner to take home the Best Actress’ Oscar for her role in Blue Jasmine, so it’s no surprise she clinched the SAG award in the weekend. And Matthew McConaughey, who’s spent the last five years proving he’s got more to offer than rom-coms like Fool’s Gold, is really starting to look like a serious contender for the Best Actor Oscar.
Here’s a complete list of winners at Saturday's 20th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards:
MOVIES:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: American Hustle
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture: Lone Survivor
And here are a few Rialto Channel highlights for the week:
Starring Alicia Vikander, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Mads Mikkelsen
Directed by Nikolaj Arcel
Premieres Tuesday 21st January, 8.30pm
Remote record here
This is a lengthy but beautifully crafted 18th century drama recounting the illicit affair between the Danish Queen and German doctor Johann Struensee that helped bring the 'Age of Enlightenment' to Denmark. It's an ambitious project co-produced by Lars von Trier and directed by Nikolaj Arcel (who also co-wrote The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and it manages to be a love story and a historical and political tale. Sex, power and politics drive a saga that's both salacious and dignified: this is a very classy costume drama.
Starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates and Rupert Friend
Directed by Stephen Frears
Premieres Sunday 26th January, 8.30pm
The final film screening in Rialto Directors this month, celebrating the work of British director Stephen Frears, is the witty, stylish and light-hearted romantic drama Cheri. This is the first time Frears, writer Christopher Hampton and actress Michelle Pfieffer have worked together since collaborating on Dangerous Liaisons, and for their reunion they've chosen a French period piece, an adaptation of a Colette novel Cheri. Set at the end of the 19th century in the Belle Époque period, Cheri is the story of aging courtesan Lea de Lonval (Pfieffer) who decides to have one last fling before she retires - with the wayward 19-year-old son (Friend) of one of her rivals, Madame Peloux (Bates). The cast is fabulous, and while this melodrama remains emotionally aloof Frears creates a lavish world filled with exquisite costumes and beautiful gardens we can escape into.
Starring Rory Culkin, Billy Zane & Julia Garner
Directed by Rebecca Thomas
Premieres Friday 24th January, 8.30pm
Remote record here
If her mesmerizing debut Electrick Children is anything to go by Rebecca Thomas is a talented up-and-coming young director to watch out for. Her low-fi indie debut is a fascinating tale of teenage rebellion, inspired by her Mormon upbringing in Nevada. It tells the story of 15 year-old Rachael (Garner), who leaves the fundamentalist Morman commune she lives on to find the man responsible for her immaculate conception. Thomas’s uses magical realism to tell this spiritual and dream like story and Julia Garner is positively ethereal as the young Rachel. It is dark and moody (literally, there's plenty of night scenes) and the final act relies too much on coincidences, but Thomas leaves you feeling you've just seen something quite unique and special.