Actors shave 'Sweeney Todd'

The Oscar momentum building for "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" has been dealt a major setback. The Screen Actors Guild has announced its nominations for year-end awards and "Sweeney" is nowhere to be found. "Atonement," which is listed by many as a co-favorite with "No Country for Old Men" as the Oscar winner for best picture, also received zero nominations from SAG. The reason this is important is because actors make up the largest Oscar voting bloc.

Interestingly, Sean Penn's "Into the Wild," which was shutout by the Golden Globes, got the biggest boost from SAG with four nominations, more than any another film. SAG calls its best picture category Outstanding Performance by a Motion Picture Cast and there were many surprises in this field. "No Country for Old Men" made the cut, which wasn't a surprise, but the other four nominees were somewhat of a shock to me: "American Gangster," "Hairspray," "Into the Wild" and "3:10 to Yuma." The only one of those I can possibly see with a best picture Oscar nomination is "Gangster."

Actor nominees were George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"; Daniel Day Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"; Ryan Gosling, "Lars and the Real Girl"; Emile Hirsch, "Into the Wild"; and Viggo Mortenson, "Eastern Promises." Of those, only Clooney and Lewis seem sure things for Oscar nominations.

Actress nominees: Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"; Julie Christie, "Away From Her"; Marion Cotillard, "La Vie En Rose"; Angelina Jolie, "A Mighty Heart"; and Ellen Page, "Juno". Except for Blanchett, no real surprises here.

Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"; Javier Bardeem, "No Country for Old Men"; Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"; Tommy Lee Jones, "No Country for Old Men"; Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton". Jones is a minor surprise in this field.

Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"; Ruby Dee, "American Gangster"; Catherine Keener, "Into the Wild; Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"; and Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton." This slate, with the possible exception of Keener, could be the same as the one for the Oscar.

How much stake can these nominations be for an Oscar forecast. Well, SAG nominated neither "The Queen" or "Sands of Iwo Jima" for its top award last year and both were nominated for best picture Oscars. But you can bet the winners here, which will be announced Jan. 27, will be high among the Oscar favorites, which does not bode well for "Sweeney Todd" and "Atonement."