NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� In nominations to its 29th annual awards, heaped honors on the casts of the anarchic indie hit 鈥淓verything Everywhere All at Once" and the Irish tragicomedy 鈥淭he Banshees of Inisherin,鈥� while throwing some curve balls into the .
The , voted on by the Hollywood actors' guild SAG-AFTRA, were announced Wednesday on Instagram Live by Haley Lu Richardson ("The White Lotus") and Ashley Park ("Emily in Paris"). The nominees for the guild's top award, best ensemble, are: 鈥淏abylon,鈥� 鈥淭he Banshees of Inisherin,鈥� 鈥淓verything Everywhere All at Once," 鈥淭he Fabelmans鈥� and 鈥淲omen Talking."
The SAG Awards are considered one of the most reliable Oscar bellwethers. Seldom does a movie or performance not nominated by the screen actors end up winning at the Academy Awards. Actors make up the biggest percentage of the film academy, so their choices have the largest sway.
Missing out on a SAG ensemble nomination usually means a film's best-picture hopes are over. Last year, all the top SAG winners 鈥� 鈥� all repeated their wins .
That means the road ahead for either of the year's top box-office hits 鈥� 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick鈥� and 鈥淎vatar: The Way of Water" 鈥� just got a lot harder. After striking out with the actors guild, neither is likely to win best picture. Each film picked a nod from SAG for its stunt ensemble.
Coming off their on Tuesday night, Steven Spielberg's 鈥淭he Fabelmans" and Martin McDonagh's 鈥淭he Banshees of Inisherin鈥� (a co-leading five SAG nods) increasingly look like this year's frontrunners, along with Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's 鈥淓verything Everywhere All at Once鈥� (also five SAG nominations).
The directors to those three films all landed nominations from on Wednesday, along with "T谩r") and ("Top Gun: Maverick"). A DGA nod usually corresponds with an Oscar directing nomination. It also suggests those five films are safely in as best-picture nominees. Since the best-picture category expanded in 2009, only one DGA-nominated film hasn't also landed a best-picture nod.
After back-to-back DGA wins for Chloe Zhao ("Nomadland") and Jane Campion ("The Power of the Dog"), no female filmmakers were nominated. And, in a surprise, James Cameron ("Avatar: The Way of Water") went unnominated.
Gaining the most from the SAG Award nominations, perhaps, was Damien Chazelle's extravagant silent film era ode 鈥淏abylon" and Before landing best ensembled nominations (albeit no individual nods), both films had struggled to find traction this awards season.
Up for best performance by an female actor in a leading role are: Cate Blanchett (鈥淭谩r鈥�), (鈥淭he Woman King鈥�), Ana de Armas (鈥淏londe鈥�), (鈥淭ill鈥�) and Michelle Yeoh (鈥淓verything Everywhere All at Once鈥�).
In a crowded field, notably overlooked was Williams, a four-time nominee, has never won an Oscar. Instead, the fifth spot may have gone to de Armas, who had fallen off most lists after the was poorly received.
Nominated for best performance by a male actor in leading role are: Austin Butler (鈥淓lvis鈥�), Colin Farrell (鈥淭he Banshees of Inisherin鈥�), (鈥淭he Whale鈥�), Bill Nighy (鈥淟iving鈥�) and Adam Sandler (鈥淗ustle鈥�).
Sandler's nomination for the Netflix basketball drama 鈥淗ustle" was less expected 鈥� though he gave in November. Tom Cruise was shut out.
Nominated for male actor in a supporting role are: Paul Dano ("The Fabelmans"), Brendan Gleeson ("The Banshees of Inisherin"), Barry Keoghan ("The Banshees of Inisherin"), Eddie Redmayne ("The Good Nurse") and the category's likely favorite, for 鈥淓verything Everywhere All at Once.鈥�
鈥淚've loved performing ever since I was a child and that hasn't changed,鈥� 鈥淚ndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom鈥� child star, said in a statement Wednesday, the morning after he won best supporting actor at the Globes. 鈥淚 feel lucky just to still be here doing this."
Up for female actor in a supporting role are: Angela Bassett ("Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"), Hong Chau ("The Whale"), Kerry Condon ("The Banshees of Inisherin"), Jamie Lee Curtis ("Everything Everywhere All at Once") and ("Everything Everywhere All at Once").
On the TV side, nominated for best ensemble in a drama series are: 鈥淏etter Call Saul,鈥� 鈥淭he Crown,鈥� 鈥淥zark,鈥� 鈥淪everance" and 鈥淭he White Lotus.鈥� Up for best comedy series ensemble are the casts of 鈥淎bbott Elementary,鈥� 鈥淏arry,鈥� 鈥淭he Bear,鈥� 鈥淗acks鈥� and 鈥淥nly Murders in the Building.鈥� Julia Garner came away a double nominee, for 鈥淥zark鈥� and 鈥淚nventing Anna.鈥� Zendaya scored her first SAG nomination for her leading performance in 鈥淓uphoria.鈥�
After losing their longtime broadcast home on TNT and TBS, the SAG Awards on Wednesday announced a new multiyear partnership with Netflix to stream the ceremony. This year's show, to take place Feb. 26, will livestream on Netflix's YouTube page. Next year's SAG Awards will be streamed directly on Netflix.
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
