finally, a twist!

Last night's Screen Actors Guild Awards finally inserted the slightest bit of drama into the Oscar race! No, it didn't mix up the acting races at all - Firth (sorry, Franco :( ), Portman, Bale, and Leo pretty much solidified their chances of holding the little golden man with wins across the board. No, the aforementioned twist was thrown right in the pathway of The Social Network's march to Best Picture. It had emerged as the undeniable favorite, winning all the major critics' awards as well as the Golden Globe (you've already heard me rant about this). But last night The King's Speech picked up the big award of the evening- Best Ensemble:



While the cast was hoisting the little (green) men, Tom Hooper was taking the top award at the Directors Guild of America, also decided over the weekend. Many considered the trophy to already have the Social Network's David Fincher's name engraved on it. Only 6 times in history has the DGA winner not gone on to win the Oscar for directing.

Do we now have a horserace? Or is The King's Speech suddenly the legitimate favorite to win? Hard to say for sure. Vanity Fair has a good piece about this, and rightfully points out that not only does The King's Speech's win put the might of the Screen Actors Guild behind it (which is pretty important), but the actors' branch is the largest voting block in the Academy. Throw in the recognition in the DGA and that's a pretty powerful argument. Of course, the crazy voting rules for the expanded field of ten nominations (here's our explanation from last year) could throw a wrench in the whole thing.

Frankly, I'm just excited that there could be some level of suspense come Oscar Day!