The Good, The Bad, & The Confusing (SAG 2008)

The Good

Richard Jenkins and Robert Downey Jr. scored Best Actor and Supporting Actor nods for their great work in "The Visitor" and "Tropic Thunder." "The Dark Knight" gets more then one nomination. Penelope Cruz is riding her way to a locked Oscar win.

The Bad

"The Dark Knight" is snubbed in the Best Ensemble Cast category (though it did get nominated in the Stunt Ensemble category). Rosemary Dewitt gets snubbed for "Rachael Getting Married." "Doubt" leads the nominations (though the acting is great, the movie is not, so hopefully the Academy will take that into consideration when looking at these noms). Sally Hawkins is robbed of a nomination. What? Don't the members of SAG like to laugh?

The Confusing

Basically, I don't get the whole "Slumdog Millionaire" nominations. For starters, that Best Ensemble nomination is very stupid. There are many films beyond "The Dark Knight" that have better ensembles that that movie ("Burn After Reading," "Tropic Thunder," even the virtually unseen "Mrs. Petigrew Lives For A Day"). Then, to add more confusion to the situation, Dev Patel was nominated in the Best Supporting Category, even though he's pretty much the main character. Look, I know people in Hollywood love this film, but even if they want this film to be godfather to their children they shouldn't be nominating it for things just to nominate it. Frankly, I think 'Slumdog,' good as it was, had no place being nominated here (though I wouldn't rule it out for Oscars).