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The cast of the film Inglourious Basterds - Source: Reuters -
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Quentin Tarantino's World War Two movie Inglourious Basterds won
its biggest award so far on Sunday, taking the top prize at the
Screen Actors Guild awards.
Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock were hailed as best movie actor and
actress of 2009 on a night where no single movie dominated but
which lined the two stars up for likely Oscar glory in March.
Inglourious Basterds, a violent and darkly comic revenge fantasy,
won for best ensemble for a multinational cast that included
American Brad Pitt, Germany's Diane Kruger and Austrian Christoph
Waltz, who also added the SAG best supporting actor trophy to his
slew of awards.
The Tarantino movie had already won a string of film critics'
awards but none as prestigious as the award chosen by the 120,000
members of the Screen Actors Guild.
The SAG awards are usually seen as a key indicator of success at
the Oscars, the movie industry's highest honors.
But Avatar, which won a Golden Globe and has earned more than $1.6
billion at global box offices, was not in the running at SAG, whose
members tend to reward acting talent rather than action
adventures.
Bullock, previously best known for romantic comedies, plays a
wealthy white mother who takes a downtrodden black high school
football player into her home in The Blind Side.
"If you look at my career, no-one would have predicted this," the
actress told reporters, referring to the clutch of awards she has
won for her performance.
"I was lucky that I wanted to better my work, and that I was given
the opportunity," she said, saying she has now learned to say "no"
to mediocre parts. She said her money had been on veteran Meryl
Streep for her role as TV chef Julia Child in Julie and
Julia.
Standing ovation
Bridges' performance as a drunken country singer in Crazy Heart has
brought the best accolades of a career that started when he was a
baby.
Bridges, 60, who hails from an acting dynasty that includes his
father Lloyd Bridges and brother Beau, was given a standing ovation
on Sunday.
"I love being an actor, pretending to be in the shoes of other
folks," he said, saying the array of stars at the SAG dinner were
like "a big family."
Basterds beat urban drama Precious: Based on the novel Push by
Sapphire, while critically acclaimed independent Iraq war movie The
Hurt Locker, British film An Education, and star-studded musical
Nine, all came away empty-handed.
Waltz took his first supporting actor SAG award for playing a
manipulative Nazi officer in Basterds. Comedy actress Mo'Nique took
home the supporting actress award for playing against type as an
abusive mother in Precious.
Both Waltz and Mo'Nique came off Golden Globe wins last
weekend.
"I have no lucky charm. I am 100% superstition-free and I take
nothing for granted," Waltz told reporters when asked about his
Oscar chances.
SAG also hands out awards for television, with AMC's stylish 1960s
series Mad Men won for a second year for best ensemble drama cast
and the Fox quirky musical comedy Glee taking the award for best
ensemble comedy cast in its first season.
Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin continued their long streak of wins for
best comedy actress and actor for NBC's 30 Rock. Former ER
star Julianna Margulies won best TV drama actress for The
Good Wife on CBS, while Michael C Hall won for his role as a serial
killer in Showtime drama Dexter.
