Several snubs in this list of nominations for SAG this year but the worst is that Jennifer Lawrence is not nominated for best actress in “JOY”.  Once again the voting is influenced by previous nominations or wins and not who had the best performance this year.  We can only hope that Lawrence gets nominated for best actress for the Academy Awards. The good news is that Johnny Depp is nominated for best actor in “Black Mass” but he was not nominated for a Golden Globe.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
BRYAN CRANSTON / Dalton Trumbo – “TRUMBO” (Bleecker Street)
JOHNNY DEPP / James “Whitey” Bulger – “BLACK MASS” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
LEONARDO DiCAPRIO / Hugh Glass – “THE REVENANT” (20th Century Fox)
MICHAEL FASSBENDER / Steve Jobs – “STEVE JOBS” (Universal Pictures)
EDDIE REDMAYNE / Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe – “THE DANISH GIRL” (Focus Features)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
CATE BLANCHETT / Carol Aird – “CAROL” (The Weinstein Company)
BRIE LARSON / Ma – “ROOM” (A24)
HELEN MIRREN / Maria Altmann – “WOMAN IN GOLD” (The Weinstein Company)
SAOIRSE RONAN / Eilis – “BROOKLYN” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
SARAH SILVERMAN / Laney Brooks – “I SMILE BACK” (Broad Green Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
CHRISTIAN BALE / Michael Burry – “THE BIG SHORT” (Paramount Pictures)
IDRIS ELBA / Commandant – “BEASTS OF NO NATION” (Netflix)
MARK RYLANCE / Abel Rudolph – “BRIDGE OF SPIES” (DreamWorks)
MICHAEL SHANNON / Rick Carver – “99 HOMES” (Broad Green Pictures)
JACOB TREMBLAY / Jack – “ROOM” (A24)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
ROONEY MARA / Therese Belivet – “CAROL” (The Weinstein Company)
RACHEL McADAMS / Sacha Pfeiffer – “SPOTLIGHT” (Open Road Films)
HELEN MIRREN / Hedda Hopper – “TRUMBO” (Bleecker Street)
ALICIA VIKANDER / Gerda Wegener – “THE DANISH GIRL” (Focus Features)
KATE WINSLET / Joanna Hoffman – “STEVE JOBS” (Universal Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
BEASTS OF NO NATION (Netflix)
ABRAHAM ATTAH / Agu
KURT EGYIAWAN / 2nd I-C
IDRIS ELBA / Commandant

THE BIG SHORT (Paramount Pictures)
CHRISTIAN BALE / Michael Burry
STEVE CARELL / Mark Baum
RYAN GOSLING / Jared Vennett
MELISSA LEO / Georgia Hale
HAMISH LINKLATER / Porter Collins
JOHN MAGARO / Charlie Geller
BRAD PITT / Ben Rickert
RAFE SPALL / Danny Moses
JEREMY STRONG / Vinny Peters
MARISA TOMEI / Cynthia Baum
FINN WITTROCK / Jamie Shipley

SPOTLIGHT (Open Road Films)
BILLY CRUDUP / Eric MacLeish
BRIAN D’ARCY JAMES / Matty Carroll
MICHAEL KEATON / Walter “Robby” Robinson
RACHEL McADAMS / Sacha Pfeiffer
MARK RUFFALO / Michael Rezendes
LIEV SCHREIBER / Marty Baron
JOHN SLATTERY / Ben Bradlee, Jr.
STANLEY TUCCI / Mitchell Garabedian

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON (Universal Pictures)
NEIL BROWN JR. / DJ Yella
PAUL GIAMATTI / Jerry Heller
COREY HAWKINS / Dr. Dre
ALDIS HODGE / MC Ren
O’SHEA JACKSON JR. / Ice Cube
JASON MITCHELL / Eazy-E

TRUMBO (Bleecker Street)
ADEWALE AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE / Virgil Brooks
LOUIS C.K. / Arlen Hird
BRYAN CRANSTON / Dalton Trumbo
DAVID JAMES ELLIOTT / John Wayne
ELLE FANNING / Niki Trumbo
JOHN GOODMAN / Frank King
DIANE LANE / Cleo Trumbo
HELEN MIRREN / Hedda Hopper
MICHAEL STUHLBARG / Edward G. Robinson
ALAN TUDYK / Ian McLellan Hunter

The original “Point Break” came out in 1991 and starred the late Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves . At the time this movie was considered to be about average, almost forgettable and definitely not a movie that anyone would consider remaking some 24 years later. This new version of Point Break is not exactly the same and has less of a story or any kind of a plot than the original but significantly more daring action scenes than the original.

The entire purpose of these two hours was to have some scenes of extreme daredevils risking their lives by surfing huge waves,  jumping off cliffs with wing suits, snowboarding off of mountains and climbing up the face of mountains. Underlying this part of the story is this same group of daredevils trying to accomplish this 8 step challenge proposed by a deceased daredevil who died in his attempt to accomplish the 3rd challenge. Why a group of men would even attempt all 8 of these challenges or combine these daredevil stunts with crimes which were mostly ridiculous was never fully explained or made any sense, but because this movie is all about a few action scenes, as a viewer you might be able  to let this go if the action were worth the mindless and ridiculous story. The question is, were the action scenes good enough to forego any story or plot? In my opinion the actions scenes were very good in this movie and you have to admire the stunt men and the risk that was taken to shoot some of these scenes, but the story and the logic behind what was going on were too ridiculous to recommend this movie.  Somewhere along the line there just has to be some sort of a story somewhere, and a story that is believable and makes sense, and this movie misses the target in a big way for just about the entire two hours.

The main character is once again an FBI agent who is hired to infiltrate a gang of daredevils and he is played by a newcomer Luke Bracey .  The fact that his character is able to become so close to this gang of criminals so easily is another ridiculous plot point in this movie as is the whole concept of combining unrelated crimes with this 8 step daredevil quest.

If you are a big fan of daredevil action  you might want to see Point Break, otherwise avoid it.

Point Break IMDB

For those old enough to remember this movie; it was James L. Brooks best ever. James L. Brooks is one of the best comedy/drama writers and most responsible for the Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977) arguably the best sitcom ever created.

I remember seeing this movie on Christmas Day 1987 at the Princeton Garden Theater and when the movie was over, I remember that I had just seen something unique and great and this movie inspired me to be a screenwriter. Broadcast news was something I had not really seen before; a movie that had great acting, great emotion and great humor all in one. The movie had several messages but the fundamental one was: how unfair the working world is and how insane is the TV world that honors the looks of a person over ability and intelligence. Brooks probably used the character Ted Baxter of the Mary Tyler Moore show as his inspiration for the William Hurt character who had no ability, intelligence or integrity but got the anchor job, very often just how real life works. The ultimate message of this great movie is that life is unfair and this story tried and succeeded to make this reality funny.

Holly Hunter was nominated for the Academy Award for best actress in 1987 and lost to Cher who won for “Moonstruck” which was yet another big mistake the Academy Awards has made. Albert Brooks has never been better or funnier in any other movie. James L Brooks tried to hit as high a note as Broadcast news in 1997 with the movie “As Good as it Gets”, almost as good. These 2 movies were by far his best ever.

If you have never seen Broadcast news from 1987 do yourself a favor and see this great movie.

Broadcast News IMDB