SAG Awards Snub Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson

SAG Awards | Pellicano to Sing Solo? | Jury Findings; Sudan Screening; Still Here

That’s it. Between this morning’s announcement of the Screen Actors Guild Award nominees and yesterday’s Producers Guild nominees, Clint Eastwood has been snubbed.

The venerable Oscar-winning director-actor was ignored by SAG for both his masterful “Letters From Iwo Jima” and his ambitious “Flags of Our Fathers.” Neither film got an acting nomination from SAG, and neither was selected by the PGA either.

That’s too bad. Most industry insiders considered “Letters,” a critics’ favorite, to be on the fast track toward some awards action. It should have been, too.

But the spoiler in this round seems to be Fox Searchlight’s “Little Miss Sunshine.” Two of its supporting actors, Alan Arkin and Abigail Breslin, were nominated, and the comedy also made it into Best Ensemble Acting.

The other four nominees for that latter award are interesting, too. "Babel," "Bobby," "The Departed" and "Dreamgirls" rounded out the top five.

“Bobby,” directed by Emilio Estevez, is the sleeper film of the season. With an awkward launch it went nowhere and has struggled at the box office. Yet I’ve said from the beginning that it was a Best Picture candidate.

What makes SAG’s “Bobby” nomination so interesting is that this, unlike the Golden Globes, is an award that cannot be bought. SAG has hundreds of voters, most of them working actors who could see what good work Estevez got from his all-star cast.

But left out of the Ensemble Acting, strangely, was Stephen Frears’ “The Queen.” Is it now susceptible to losing a Best Picture nomination from the Academy? Frears’ cast — Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen and James Cromwell, among others, would have seemed like an excellent choice to reward as an ensemble. But SAG voters apparently disagreed, giving away the cherished spot.

And one more glaring omission: Jack Nicholson, from “The Departed.” A shoo-in for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars, Nicholson was supplanted here by Leonard DiCaprio, who was also nominated for Best Lead Actor in “Blood Diamond.”

At the Oscars, Leo’s performance in “The Departed” will be in the lead category, however. But I’m sure Nicholson is surprised. The Golden Globes were happy to include him, and to make his 16-year-old daughter Lorraine their Miss Golden Globes of the year.

Pellicano to Sing Solo?

Anthony Pellicano, the jailed private investigator linked to everyone important in Hollywood, may be going solo.

I'm told that Pellicano may fire his lawyer Steven Gruel as early as tomorrow morning. Sources tell me he may appear in federal court in Los Angeles and ask to represent himself in the ongoing case.

Pellicano was indicted almost one year ago on charges of illegal wiretapping after spending 27 months in prison for possession of explosives. If his case ever comes to trial, it could wind up revealing the secrets of many Hollywood power players.

Jury Findings; Sudan Screening; Still Here

I am engrossed right now in a new book by People magazine’s Frank Swertlow. “We, the Jury” by Swertlow and Lyndon Stambler, is an oral history of the Scott Peterson trial as told by seven of the jurors.

If you’re a fan of "Law & Order" or "CSI," this riveting book is for you. I can’t put it down. In his introduction, Swertlow says that the reporters covering the case guessed that Peterson —because he acted so coldly in his early press conferences after pregnant wife Laci disappeared — was guilty early on. ...

There won’t be a real premiere for the great documentary “God Grew Tired of Us,” which won double awards at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. It’s too small, and it was stupidly not nominated for any awards. But this amazing and poignant film screens again on Monday night for the media. I hope my colleagues won’t miss the chance to see “God Grew Tired of Us” and to direct people to it when it opens Jan. 12 in New York and Los Angeles. Media savvies should contact PR House 42 West for info. …

Listening to and watching Audra MacDonald on the PBS New Year’s Eve show (I caught the rerun) was really startling. MacDonald is a talented beauty who should be a bigger superstar than she already is. What’s really sad is that she outshines in every department so many tabloid flavor-of-the-month types who are getting all the attention. Someone put that woman in a movie musical (hello, Tim Burton!). …

Yesterday was the first weekday that this column hasn’t appeared in several years. This, of course, prompted an Internet hypothesis that we’d left the building. So we’re back. But because of some family stuff, there may be a little static on this line for the next couple of weeks. Don’t fret, however. The FOX 411 and yours truly are still on the case. ...