Arts & Entertainment
SAG winners shake up Oscar race

While its recent announcement of a decidedly non-diverse slate of major nominees has drawn a firestorm of criticism for the Oscars, Sunday night’s presentation of the Screen Actors Guild Awards for 2019 served as a reminder that lack of inclusion is not just an Academy problem – it’s a Hollywood problem.
While the nominees going into the SAG presentation were more diverse than the roster for the upcoming Academy Awards (due partly to SAG’s recognition of television as well as film work), the balance was still skewed highly in a straight, white direction. Out of 40 total nominees in the individual acting categories, only 7 were for people of color; only one – for “Fleabag” actor Andrew Scott – was for a performer who identifies openly as LGBTQ.
Even so, SAG struck a powerful blow for diversity with its choice of winner for Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (SAG’s equivalent of the Best Picture category), awarding the prize to the all-Korean ensemble of filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite.” One of the year’s most critically-lauded movies, it is one of the few non-English-language films to be nominated in Oscar’s Best Picture category, and its surprise win at the SAGs can be seen as increasing the odds of a potential Academy victory, as well.
Some of the evening’s other choices in the film categories may likewise impact Oscar predictions, though in most cases the winners seemed to be cementing their places as front-runners in their respective categories.
Best Leading Male and Female Actor were Joaquin Phoenix (for “Joker”) and Renée Zellweger (for “Judy”), respectively, with both having already accumulated enough wins this award season to make them clear favorites to take home Oscar gold.
In the Supporting Male Actor category, Brad Pitt took home the prize for his role as a career stunt man in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood,” making him another likely front runner at the Academy Awards.
The win which might throw the biggest wrench into handicapping efforts for Oscar performance categories came with the win by Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”) for Best Supporting Female Actor. While each of the nominees for the Academy’s equivalent category has their supporters, none have been clearly identified as a front-runner, and Dern’s win last night may give her an edge at the Oscars.
In the television categories, Best Drama and Comedy Ensemble awards went to “The Crown” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” respectively, with “Maisel” star Tony Shalhoub winning as Best Male Actor in a Comedy Series, as well.
Best Female Actor in a Comedy Series went to Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”), while Best Male Actor in a Drama was awarded to Peter Dinklage (“Game of Thrones”) and Best Female Actor in a Drama was won by Jennifer Aniston (“The Morning Show”).
Rounding out the television category, “Fosse/Verdon” star Michelle Williams continued her awards sweep for her performance as Broadway legend Gwen Verdon as Best Female Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries, and co-star Sam Rockwell took the prize as Best Male Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries.
The evening’s other moments of note included the presentation by Leonardo DiCaprio of the 56th SAG Life Achievement Award to veteran actor Robert DeNiro, and SAG-AFTRA Foundation president Courtney B. Vance’s announcement of a $250,000 matching donation that Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg had pledged in response to his own call to raise an additional $1.5 million for the foundation.
Katzenberg told reporters backstage at the ceremony, “The bedrock of what we do are actors and actresses — without them, we have nothing. So, my appreciation for them, and the inspirational goal that our chairman has set, seemed like the right time for us to step up.”
You can find the complete list of nominees and winners from last night’s SAG Awards at the SAG website.
The 2026 World Pride March was held on Saturday, Aug. 8 in Amsterdam. Tens of thousands of participants marched from Martin Luther Kingpark to the grounds of the Pride Village at Museumplein.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)








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The weekly drag show “Daddy Issues” was held at Kiki on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Performers included Evry Pleasure, Indiana Bones and Tiara Missou-Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)









Books
Something’s off about Dad. When is it time to step in?
‘When Memory Fades’ can help when families face dementia
‘When Memory Fades’
By Nathaniel Chin, MD
c.2026, St. Martin’s Essentials
$30/422 pages
Mom called you in a panic the other day.
She’d lost her keys and by the time you arrived to help, she’d found them. In the refrigerator.
These kinds of things keep happening, not often but often enough, and you don’t know quite what to worry about. But in the new book “When Memory Fades” by Nathaniel Chin, MD, you’ll learn about the journey ahead, for both of you.
You can’t remember why you walked into a room. You got lost last week, going to the bank. Popular wisdom says that things like that are normal as we age, but Chin says that’s not true – although the answer may not be a worst-case scenario, either. Yes, memory problems could just be signs of stress, dehydration, or lack of sleep – or is it time to see a doctor?
Chin says maybe, yes.
He was working his way through medical residency when his father, a geriatrician in Madison, Wisc., was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Chin, now a geriatrician, was blindsided, but that diagnosis also changed his life.
Here, he writes about the brain, and how Alzheimer’s and dementia are diagnosed, explaining that dementia has many faces and, depending on a doctor’s evaluation, memory problems might be slowed or improved. He shares his father’s illness with readers, but he also writes about his mother, a steadfast, steady caretaker.
Her story reminds reader-guardians to care for themselves, too.
Know how to talk the talk, so that you can have “a more productive” conversation with your doctor. Understand that there’s nothing “normal” about dementia or Alzheimer’s. Know the statistics – African Americans are affected with dementia twice as much as whites – and know how to lower your risks. Learn here what questions to ask, how to break the news to everyone, and any legal matters that will be important soon. And know how to tend to you.
Says Chin, “The best action you can take is to educate yourself… The more you understand, the better equipped you are to make sound judgments.”
Something’s off about Dad, just a lot of little things that don’t add up. When is it time to step in? “When Memory Fades” can help you decide.
Wise, wide-spread, comprehensive, and compassionately helpful, this is a book you can read and then take it to the doctor with your loved one. It’s a book that makes sense when nothing else does, and its biggest feature is that it smoothly transitions from easy-to-grasp science and charts, to gentle coaching for caregivers. Author Nathaniel Chin, MD writes with storytelling, humility, grace, and experience from both sides of the Alzheimer’s/dementia issue, and his words are reassuring but also urgent. Learn, but don’t wait, he says. Know how to safeguard yourself. See your doctor, and don’t fear testing. Watch for signs of depression. And never, ever stop asking for help.
Read those last seven words, and find “When Memory Fades” now. It’s a book to have on your shelf, whether you’re 45 or 95 because, as you’ll see, dementia happens and knowledge is key.
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