Screen Actors Guild Nominees

Ensemble
- The Artist
- Bridesmaids
- The Descendants
- The Help
- Midnight in Paris

Actor
- Demian Bichir; A Better Life
- George Clooney; The Descendants
- Leonardo DiCaprio; J. Edgar
- Jean Dujardin; The Artist
- Brad Pitt; Moneyball

Actress
- Glenn Close; Albert Nobbs
- Viola Davis; The Help
- Meryl Streep; The Iron Lady
- Tilda Swinton; We Need to Talk About Kevin
- Michelle Williams; My Week With Marilyn

Supporting Actor
- Kenneth Branagh; My Week With Marilyn
- Armie Hammer; J. Edgar
- Jonah Hill; Moneyball
- Nick Nolte; Warrior
- Christopher Plummer; Beginners

Supporting Actress
- Berenice Bejo; The Artist
- Jessica Chastin; The Help
- Melissa McCarthy; Bridesmaids
- Janet McTeer; Albert Nobbs
- Octavia Spencer; The Help

Stunt Ensemble
- The Adjustment Bureau
- Cowboys and Aliens
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon
- X-Men: First Class

Lately, the Academy's acting categories have matched at the very least four out of the five nominees. So what does this mean for these nominees? Probably that about 80 to 90% of them (maybe even 100%) will end up with Oscar nominations.

HUGE boost for Bridesmaids here and continued support for Melissa McCarthy. If she can score a Golden Globe nod, then she is in. Maybe the movie itself might be up for Best Original Screenplay. Who knows, it's a weak year for Original Screenplay and honoring an actress who turned in the script for one of the most talked about summer hits wouldn't seem all that crazy.

And you're not alone in asking "Who the hell is Demian Bishir and what the hell is A Better Life". This is something that was not even on the radar of any Oscar predictor and will probably not carry over to a nomination...that is, unless, he can score a Golden Globe nod and momentum for this unheard of film can continue. Very shocking that he scored nominations over Ryan Gosling for both Drive and The Ides of March as well as Michael Fassbender. Either one of those performances will probably take the fifth slot with the Academy, but it's still too early in the game to count anyone out.

Albert Nobbs got the support it needed here, both for Glenn Close AND Janet McTeer. Could they both be on their way to nominations? It seems very likely.

I think the best way to break these down is by category, so here I go:

Best Actor: The weakest of the nominees here is obviously Demian Bishir. As much as I would like to get behind the dark horse candidate, I don't think he'll make it into the other nominations. Honestly, the same goes for Leonardo DiCaprio. J. Edgar had a tremendous head of steam built up for it, but it has all but sputtered out now. If he manages a nomination, he'll probably be in last place. The ones who are more likely to score nominations are Michael Fassbender in Shame or Ryan Gosling in Drive or The Ides of March. Also, don't count out other dark horse candidate Michael Shannon for Take Shelter, an actor who literally came out of left field in 2008 to score his first Oscar nomination.

Best Actress: All five of these ladies seem incredibly likely to earn nominations, so I wouldn't put it past them to all receive Oscar nominations. That is if they can hold off momentum from other candidates Charlize Theron in Young Adult and Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy Mae Marlene. If one of those two actresses have enough momentum, then the shakiest of nominees here would be Glenn Close, but that may not be the case any more.

Best Supporting Actor: Academy Award nominee Jonah Hill...just can't quite get that through. Sure, he may have done phenomenal work in Moneyball, but his current release is The Sitter and we saw how well current releases can help other actors vying for awards (I'm sure Eddie Murphy is wishing Norbit got delayed just another month). That being said, Hill is probably most likely going to lose out his Oscar nomination to Albert Brooks in Drive, but if Hill can earn a Golden Globe nomination, then his chances may be stronger than we thought.

Best Supporting Actress: Wow, this is one shaky category, not that the nominees aren't great, but that there are so many good ones and one of them may have to make way for newcomer Shailene Woodley in The Descendants. Octavia Spencer, Berenice Bejo and Melissa McCarthy seem like sure fire nominees and Jessica Chastin has been gaining a lot of momentum by turning in a LOT of good performances this year. The one who may lose out here is Janet McTeer, unless the Academy wants to shake things up and shut out Chastin...or Woodley, who knows? It's still an early game

Best Ensemble: Why this isn't an Oscar category, I'll never understand. A great ensemble is so important to a great movie, sometimes it's one of the best things about watching a movie. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I think the race is between The Help and Bridesmaids. A win for Bridesmaids would just be oh so delicious. :)