Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy Win SAG Awards, Safe Oscar Bets

Authored by Jay Baage on January 28, 2007 - 4:04pm.

Dreamgirls newcomer Jennifer Hudson and old-timer Eddie Murphy each won a SAG award on Sunday night, making it ever more likely they both will take home Oscars in February. Eddie Murphy also took the opportunity to reflect a little on the nature of these Hollywood award shows and which movies and actors they celebrate.
"What a tremendous honor to be recognized by one's peers. I've been acting for some 25 years now and this is a tremendous honor," said Murphy, talking in a British accent. "No, I'm sorry," said Murphy, cracking up in laughter. "I feel goofy up here."

This year's Screen Actors Guild Awards appeared to be a dress rehearsal for the Academy Awards with 19 of the 20 SAG nominees also earning Oscar slots. Nominees in the four film-acting categories for the guild awards were virtually identical to contenders announced at the Oscar nominations last week, including front-runners Mirren, Forest Whitaker, Murphy and Jennifer Hudson. Actors make up about 22 percent of Oscar voters, making them the biggest single voting group for the awards.

One reason why Eddie Murphy felt "goofy" on stage is perhaps because he has not always been recognized for acting in great movies. In fact, the movie reviews site Rotten Tomatoes has Murphy's "Tomatometer" at 45 percent, reflecting that people on the Internet think that a majority of his movies stink. However, Dreamgirls has got great reviews and its tomatometer shows 79 percent. However, it is not as high as any of Eddie Murphy's early movies like 48 hrs (96%), Trading Places (92%) or Beverly Hills Cop (86%). Still, it might indicate that Eddie Murphy is set for a come-back (although I doubt that his upcoming movie Norbit is going to win many Oscars just by the look of it). In any case, the relevance of award shows today and tomorrow will most certainly be a topic of dicussion at Digital Media Wire's upcoming Future of Film Conference.

Joakim Baage

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Related Links:
Helen Mirren, Eddie Murphy win SAG awards (R)
Hudson nabs SAG award for 'Dreamgirls' role (AP)
Julie Andrews Gets Lifetime Award (AP)