The King's Speech wins at SAG Awards

The King's Speech continues its smooth run in the Best Picture race to the Oscars after its double win last night at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. Colin Firth was named Best Actor, while the film's overall cast took top honors with the Best Ensemble Award, the de facto equivalent to a Best Picture prize.

There's no much to say, really. In the entry I posted yesterday I officially declared this year's Oscar race dead. The King's Speech victory at the SAG confirms it. The film had already won the Directors and Producers Guild Awards. As Guy Lodge points out in his blog, in the 16 years the three Guilds have coexisted only one film (Apollo 13) has won the three awards and not won the Best Picture Oscar.

The frontrunners in the other categories also prevailed. Natalie Portman proved that she has the Best Actress Oscar in the bag and that Hilary Swank is not the only obstacle in Annette Bening's way to Oscar glory. Some pundits had anticipated Bening's surprise win at the SAG. It didn't happen, and it won't at the Oscars either.

Meanwhile, The Fighter costars Christopher Bale and Melissa Leo repeated their Golden Globed and Critics' Choice wins and confirmed their frontrunner status in the supporting acting categories.

The best moment of a painfully predictable night was doubtless Betty White's upset victory in the Best TV Comedy Actress for her role in Hot in Cleveland. It's so good it deserves its own entry in Imitation. I'll post it in the next few hours.

Meanwhile, here's the complete list of winners at the SAG:

Female Actor in a Leading Role: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Male Actor in a Leading Role: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture: The King’s Speech
Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture: Inception

Male Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries: Al Pacino, You Don’t Know Jack
Female Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries: Claire Danes, Temple Grandin
Male Actor in a Drama Series: Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Female Actor in a Drama Series: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Male Actor in a Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Female Actor in a Comedy Series: Betty White, Hot in Cleveland
Ensemble in a Drama Series: Boardwalk Empire
Ensemble in a Comedy Series: Modern Family
Stunt Ensemble in a TV Series: True Blood