BY GEORGE DICKIE
Women, Freeman take center stage at the 24th Annual SAG Awards
It’s the year of the woman, at least in the view of the folks behind the SAG Awards, and they’re commemorating it by breaking with tradition in several ways for this year’s show. When the curtain goes up on the broadcast of the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday, Jan. 21, on TNT and TBS, viewers will notice that standing on stage as the host is “The Good Place” actress Kristen Bell. “We have never, ever had a host before,” explains executive producer Kathy Connell, “and Kristen Bell is going to be our host this year and I have nothing but accolades to say about Kristen Bell. She is charming,
funny, talented, professional – everything you could possibly want. Just a lovely, lovely talented woman.” “We are saluting women this year,” Connell continues, “and so for the first time I think on any awards show we are going to have all women presenting all the categories ... . We do ‘I Am an Actor’ to start our show. All of the ‘I Am an Actors’ will be women. We’ll have a woman host and then the 13 acting awards will all be presented by women.” Along with the cast, lead and supporting actor nods in the 13 categories, there is the Lifetime Achievement Award, which this year will be presented – by a man,
notes Connell – to Morgan Freeman. The 80-year-old actor’s career certainly speaks for itself: a supporting Oscar for “Million Dollar Baby” (2004) and nominations for “Street Smart” (1987), “Driving Miss Daisy” (1989), “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994) and “Invictus” (2009). He also has four SAG nominations and one win, for “Million Dollar Baby.” In recent years, he’s taken his talents behind the camera as an executive producer, most notably of the two recent National Geographic documentary miniseries “The Story of God” and “The Story of Us.”
“I think what I’ve always wanted to do in film is sort of revisionist history,” Freeman explains. “In film, I just need to belong. I grew up in the movies, watching them, and not seeing enough of me, none of me. So my film career is actually predicated on being able to see me. ... “Now what I’m getting the most joy out of is meeting all of these different people,” he continues, “sitting down and having a one-on-one conversation with them, and realizing that, gee, I just talked with someone from the other side of the world, and they are saying pretty much the same thing. They are just using a different language.”
Net Picks “Dirty Money,” www. netflix.com/title/80189935 Oscar- and Emmy-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney (“Taxi to the Dark Side,” “Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief”) is the creative force behind this documentary series that provides an up-close and personal view into untold stories of scandal and corruption in the world of business. From rigged cars to wildly inflated drug prices, this series tears the lid off shocking stories of corporate greed and misconduct.
David Wain (“Wet Hot American Summer,” “Role Models”) directed this feature-length biopic of brilliant and troubled writer Doug Kenney (Will Forte), who was one of the driving forces behind the rise and fall of National Lampoon magazine in the 1970s and ‘80s. The talented cast also includes Domhnall Gleason, Emmy Rossum, Paul Scheer, Seth Green, Natasha Lyonne and Annette O’Toole.
“One Day at a Time: Season 2,” www.netflix.com/ watch/80118600 This reimagining of the Norman Lear classic begins its 13-episode second season Friday and follows the further adventures of a Cuban-American family and a newly single mother (Justina Machado) raising her radical teenage daughter (Isabella Gomez) and socially adept tween son (Marcel Ruiz). Rita Moreno, Todd Grinnell and Stephen Tobolowsky are among the cast returnees.
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“A Futile and Stupid Gesture,” www.netflix.com/ title/80107084
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