The 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards, honoring “outstanding” performances from 2021, took place last night at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, California. It’s the year’s first big televised awards show on the road to Oscar night. As the name applies, the awards are all about the acting, and there were some fascinating nominees duking it out. Here’s a brief wrap-up of last night winners in the six film categories.

1. Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture – “CODA” – The big award of the night went to the sweet, feel-good drama “CODA”. While it may not be the best movie of the year or even the best ensemble, it’s hard not to love this win. The film marked the first time that a deaf cast has been nominated for the award. Now they can also say they’re first-time winners. But this is no sympathy win. “CODA” is a really good movie and the extraordinary cast in a big reason why.

2. Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role – Will Smith (“King Richard”) – Things were starting to slightly trend in Will Smith’s favor as the week progressed, but I have to admit to being a little surprised. That said, it’s hard to argue with his acting in “King Richard”. I’ve always liked Will Smith more than his actual performances. But in “King Richard” he does some of the best work of his career. While my personal choice is Denzel Washington, it was great hearing Smith’s name announced.

3. Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role – Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) – And just like that we have some actual suspense heading into Oscar night. Jessica Chastain won for her portrayal of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker and it sets up quite the showdown. Chastain gives a really good performance in an okay movie so interested in scrubbing clean Tammy Faye’s image that it comes unglued. Yet despite the movie’s struggles, Chastain steadily delivers. I was all-in for Olivia Colman, but Chastain is such a talent and a deserving winner.

4. Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role – Troy Kotsur (“CODA”) – Talk about the win the made my wife and me audibly yell for joy. Troy Kotsur was wonderful as the eccentric yet devoted father in “CODA”. Not only was his work as a deaf actor inspiring, but his embodiment of his character is top-notch. He has such an infectious charm and personality both on screen and throughout awards season. Who couldn’t be excited to see him win?

5. Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Supporting Role – Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”) – What an electric performance! I loved Ariana DeBose in Steven Spielberg’s glorious “West Side Story” and it has been fun watching her rack up the wins. DeBose not only has the dance moves, but she really owns so many of the scenes she’s in. My personal choice is still Caitríona Balfe for “Belfast”, and the Academy’s ridiculous snub still makes no sense whatsoever. But after Balfe, there’s no one else I would rather see win. DeBose is sublime.

6. Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture – “No Time to Die” – The fact that this category exists makes me happy. While a part of me was rooting for “Dune”, in terms of sheer stunt work how can you argue with the latest James Bond adventure? The movie is full of jaw-dropping stunts and more than worthy of this award.

And that wraps it up. One step closer to Oscar night. What did you think of this year’s winners? Let me know below.

Anyone who reads this site regularly knows I’m a huge Christopher Nolan fan. Any Nolan film is an event for me. His next film sounds considerably different than his past work but just as intriguing. It’s “Oppenheimer”, a biographical drama that sees Cillian Murphy playing the “father of the atomic bomb” J. Robert Oppenheimer. Sporting an absolutely star-studded cast, Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” should be phenomenal. And now we have the striking first poster. Check it out.

DIRECTOR – Christopher Nolan

WRITER – Christopher Nolan

STARRING – Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Kenneth Branagh, Robert Downey, Jr, Rami Malek, Josh Hartnett, Benny Safdie, Dane DeHaan, Matthew Modine, Jack Quaid, Alden Ehrenreich

RELEASE – July 21, 2023

Ok, so don’t let the wacky sounding title fool you. “Black Crab” is a Swedish action thriller coming to Netflix next month and the first trailer does a great job selling the film. It’s based on a novel of the same name by Jerker Verdborg and it thrusts its audience into a harsh and dangerous post-apocalyptic world. Noomi Rapace stars and Adam Berg directs this movie that could turn into a surprise hit for the streaming giant.

Rapace plays Caroline, one of six soldiers sent on a daring covert mission across a frozen archipelago. Their mission is to carry a mysterious package to an unknown party waiting on the other side. But for Caroline, it’s about something else entirely – something much more personal. As they make the trek, the team encounters countless threats from both nature and man. The snippets we get from the trailer look incredible, and it seems like Berg is really leaning on his perilous setting. I can’t wait to see where this one goes.

“Black Crab” premieres March 18th on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Those darn creepy kids. I can’t even count how many movies have been made about spooky children. Certainly enough to be a horror sub-genre all their own. The latest is a catchy little chiller called “The Twin”. It comes from director Taneli Mustonen and it seems to have an interesting release model – in theaters, on VOD, and streaming exclusively on Shudder.

The often underrated Australian actress Teresa Palmer stars as the mother of twin boys. When one of the twins is killed in a tragic accident, she and her husband (Steven Cree) relocate with their surviving son to Finland to try and start a new life. But (as you might expect considering this is a horror movie) their retreat to the quiet and tranquil Finnish countryside turns into a nightmare. I’ll let you watch the trailer to see what I mean. I’m intrigued.

“The Twin” is set for release May 6th on the above spots. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Chris Pine leads a new action film called “The Contractor”. The film comes from television producer, graffiti artist, journalist, and film director Tarik Saleh. It was actually shot way back in 2019 where it went by the name “Violence of Action” (changing it was a good move). Now it’s set for an official release via Paramount Pictures and yesterday the first trailer dropped. In addition to Pine several other familiar faces appear including Ben Foster, Kiefer Sutherland, Gillian Jacobs, Nina Hoss, and Eddie Marsan.

Pine plays James Harper, a soldier who (by no choice of his own) is given his honorable discharge from the U.S. Special Forces. Now struggling to support his family, he joins his best friend (Foster) in taking a job with a private contracting firm ran by a fellow military veteran (Sutherland). But once he learns his employer is running crooked jobs for the U.S. government it puts him at odds with his boss. Soon he’s fighting for his life (as action stars tend to do in situations like this). While there are several familiar strokes to the story, it looks entertaining enough.

“The Contractor” opens in theaters on April 1st. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Baz Luhrmann is a filmmaker with a style all his own. Over the years it’s a style that has earned him as much criticism as praise. Personally, Luhrmann’s handful of films have been a struggle for me which is why I wasn’t sure about him doing a movie on Elvis Presley. Yet here we are with the trailer for a film first announced in 2014, officially green-lit in 2019, started shooting in 2020, and wrapped up in 2021. This first detailed look gives us a lot to chew on. And I have to admit, it has me more interested in this movie than I was before.

Austin Butler gets the duty of playing Elvis Presley. And while there are moments of resemblance, there are also times where he looks more like John Travolta, Val Kilmer, or Ray Liotta. We get a glimpse of Presley’s childhood, but the film mostly chronicles his monumental rise from struggling act to a rock-and-roll legend. Tom Hanks gets a meaty role playing Elvis’ manager Colonel Tom Parker and Olivia DeJonge plays Priscilla Presley. The film also features Luke Bracey, Yola Quartey, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Dacre Montgomery, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, among others. I have no idea how this will turn out. But if Luhrmann’s style can be present but in-check, this could be pretty good.

“Elvis” opens in theaters June 24th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.