Awards, awards, awards: so many that they constitute a season in themselves. Saturday night was the turn of the Screen Actors Guild Awards, their 30th edition, which will go out from the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall to the world for the first time through Netflix.
This wasn't the streamer's first foray into live entertainment. “Selective Outrage” by Chris Rock, some “Love Is Blind” events, a golf match that brought together professional golfers and Formula One drivers were the first. There's a certain irony in a platform built to let you watch whatever you want whenever you want and get into the game of watching it now. Or maybe it's progress, the move from solipsism to community. Or just business. (That said, you'll be able to watch the show whenever you want for the next 28 days, though there will be interruptions in the ad-supported tier.)
In fact, the SAG Awards have aired for decades on TBS and TNT – basic cable! The least prestigious of the television platforms. I must confess that I have never seen a single such transmission, nor have I been aware of it; My interest in awards shows and prizes, at least as an adult, is limited to what I have been assigned to cover professionally, and this is the first year it has been deemed necessary. Because: Netflix. That's why I can't speak to how this year's SAG Awards compare to any other.
Compared to other awards shows, it wasn't significantly better or worse than the Oscars, Emmys, and others, but it's possibly more to my taste because it honors a particular craft rather than an industry, and it put money (I guess) into it. pockets of a union. (And also because it only lasted a couple of hours).
Although I have little interest in stars or celebrities, I love actors, who are as good as magic to me. There were the familiar jokes written for the presenters, which ranged from mildly funny to clumsily delivered, and sometimes the former because of the latter. But overall, the evening lacked the air of self-congratulation that usually surrounds the Oscars; There are a lot of things you can get away with in a room full of people who know what you know. Even famous actors are happy to get work.
The evening began with what I learned were the traditional humorous “I am an actor” statements, which were passed down from Michael Cera and Colman Domingo to Hannah Waddingham and Idris Elba, the latter who more or less acted as presenter. “Personally, I can't wait to get home and have Netflix recommend this show to me based on all the shows I've watched,” Elba said. As for swearing on a streaming platform, his advice was, “Maybe don't say anything you wouldn't say in front of Oprah.” Cut to Oprah. “Holy shit, that was Oprah.”
Pedro Pascal at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Saturday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Inevitably, there were memorable moments. The ASL speakers in the room reacted as Troy Kotsur finger-spelled the name of Steven Yeun (male actor in a related TV movie or series, for “Beef”) before Greta Lee read it aloud. Billie Eilish autographing Melissa McCarthy's forehead. A surprised Pedro Pascal (male actor in a drama series of “The Last of Us”) in white pirate shirt sleeves admitted: “I'm a little drunk; I thought I could get drunk. …So this is an incredible honor. …I'm going to have a panic attack and I'm going to leave.
Plus: An inspiring speech from Da'Vine Joy Randolph (outstanding performance by an actress in “The Holdovers”), who bothered to write one. An “in memoriam” segment that is not marred by cuts from a famous singer. The room jumped to its feet at the announcement of Lily Gladstone as the winning actress in a motion picture for “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Speeches in honor of the SAG-AFTRA strike, given by President Fran Drescher and others, because unions make us strong. The eternal weirdness of Jeff Goldblum, along with his “The Fly” co-star Geena Davis, to present the final award of the night to the cast of “Oppenheimer.”
Midway through the evening, Barbra Streisand (“proud to have been a member for more than 60 years”) received a lifetime achievement award, presented by Jennifer Aniston (“aside from her magnificent talent, she is also a mensch”), who said who once kissed the honoree. to midnight, and Bradley Cooper, who played Kris Kristofferson in Streisand's remake of “A Star Is Born.” Having enjoyed her recent memoir, “My Name Is Barbra,” and generally being a fan, I may have tuned in just for this, especially considering that Streisand doesn't like attending award shows or public speaking. . “It is a wonderful award because you know in advance that you are going to receive it,” she said; That is to say, it was not necessary for one to appear happy when one lost.
Streisand's favorite subjects — coffee ice cream, Marlon Brando and director William Wyler and cinematographer Harry Stradling's candor about her suggestions on “Funny Girl” — got a mention, as well as a reminder of the business's Jewish roots. film: “They were all fleeing the prejudices they faced in Eastern Europe, simply because of their religion. “I dream of a world where these prejudices are a thing of the past.”
Streisand aside, the evening's lack of publicity was its most notable feature, although there were indeed commercial placeholders, mostly featuring backstage interviews from Tan France that unfortunately rolled out the red carpet halfway through the show proper. saying. So, one step forward, one step back.
