Sigh… I remember back in the day, when the awards season was spread out over four months. Back in those days, the announcements of these big nominations were spread out, giving each award the significance and weight deserving of a major Oscar race. Not so much anymore – every since the Oscars got pushed up to the end of February, everything gets jammed up and you barely get a chance to catch your breath after each award nomination list comes out one after the other. So it is this week – it was just Tuesday morning when the Golden Globe nominations came out, and today the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) noms were announced.

Let me say this about the SAGs – I consider them a much better indicator of the Oscar nominations than the Globes. There will probably be a few changes, of course, considering the Oscar noms won’t come out for another three or four weeks, but the SAGs are always good for seeing the biggest contenders.

Hot on the heels of this week’s Golden Globe nominations, Hollywood woke up Thursday to more honors – with the announcement of the Screen Actors Guild Award nominees – which brought some obvious choices as well as a few surprises among the names from big screen and small.

While the already honored (by critics’ groups) George Clooney is again off and running as a nominated actor of Up in the Air, and Meryl Streep received yet another nod for her leading role in Julie & Julia, the field of leading men also included Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart; Colin Firth, A Single Man; Morgan Freeman, Invictus; and relative newcomer Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Streep’s competition is made up of Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side; Helen Mirren The Last Station; Carey Mulligan An Education; and Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.

Female supporting actor nominees are Penélope Cruz, Nine; Vera Farmiga, and Anna Kendrick Up in the Air; Diane Kruger, Inglourious Basterds ; and Mo’Nique, Precious.

The male supporting honorees are Matt Damon, Invictus; Woody Harrelson, The Messenger; Christopher Plummer, The Last Station; Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones; and the Oscar favorite, Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds.

Ensemble cast from a motion picture nominees are An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Nine and Precious.

TV Nominees
In the TV categories, the nominated ensemble casts of a comedy series are the stars of 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Glee, Modern Family and The Office. Dramatic series ensembles up for the award are the actors of The Closer, Dexter, The Good Wife, Mad Men and True Blood.

Nominees for outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series are Simon Baker, The Mentalist; Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad; Michael C. Hall, Dexter; Jon Hamm, Mad Men; and Hugh Laurie, House.

Because there was a tie in the category, the six female actor in a drama series nominees are Patricia Arquette, Medium; Glenn Close, Damages; Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; Holly Hunter, Saving Grace; Julianna Marguilies, The Good Wife; and Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer.

In the TV comedy honors, male nominees are Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock; Steve Carell, The Office; Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm; Tony Shalhoub, Monk; and Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men. Female nominees are Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?; Toni Collette, United States of Tara; Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie; Tina Fey, 30 Rock; and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Exclusively devoted to honoring actors – the group’s individual trophies are called The Actor – the SAG awards are also a primary bellwether for the Academy Awards, whose nominations will be announced Feb. 2.

The two-hour 16th annual SAG Awards ceremony will be simulcast on TNT and TBS starting at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 23. At the ceremony, to take place at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, TV’s Golden Girl favorite (and animal-rights advocate), Betty White, will receive the group’s 46th annual lifetime achievement award, “bestowed for outstanding achievement in fostering the finest ideals of the acting profession,” according to the Guild.

[From People]

So what does this say about the Oscar race? I think it looks like Clooney, Colin Firth and Jeff Bridges will be shoo-ins for Best Actor noms. Meryl Streep will definitely walk away with at least one Oscar nomination too, and Sandra Bullock will likely get her first nomination, which is cool. I also like that Jeremy Renner, previously known as a talented character actor by very few people, is pulling some big buzz. The supporting categories are a mess though – and I can totally see the Oscar noms going in a totally different direction. I think the only shoo-ins fro Oscar noms are probably Penelope Cruz, Christoph Waltz and maybe Matt Damon.

So, who got disrespected with these noms? Notice there’s a real lack of Nine cast members. No Daniel Day Lewis, no Judi Dench, no Marion Cottilard, no Kate Hudson, no Fergie. Nine did get the ensemble nom, but how could they not? Also, to my disappointment, Julianne Moore didn’t get nominated for A Single Man. Suck it, SAGs.