Kidman, Jackman, Watts get awards nods

Just like a boxer getting off the canvas after a knockdown, Nicole Kidman has resurrected her chances of an Oscar for her sexually-charged performance in The Paperboy with two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) nominations.

Kidman was given little chance of an Oscar nomination by film critics and award pundits, but that changed on Wednesday in Los Angeles when the SAG nominations were announced and

Kidman, along with fellow Australians Hugh Jackman and Naomi Watts, received nods.

The SAG Awards are a bellwether for the Academy Awards.

The news was not so good for Jacki Weaver, Russell Crowe and Toni Collette who were all snubbed for SAGs and face the prospect of being forgotten in the hype leading up to the announcement of the Academy Award nominations on January 10.

Weaver, for her performance in the Silver Linings Playbook, and Collette, for Hitchcock, were considered better chances than Kidman of snaring SAG nominations in the supporting actress category.

Kidman will now mount a serious challenge to Sally Field (Lincoln), Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables), Helen Hunt (The Sessions) and Maggie Smith (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) for the supporting Oscar.

The Australian redhead not only received a SAG nomination for The Paperboy, but also picked up a nomination in the TV movie/mini-series category for the movie Hemingway Gellhorn.

While Hemingway Gellhorn is not eligible for the Academy Award because it debuted on TV, the double nomination will give Kidman plenty of positive publicity heading into the Oscars.

Her husband, Keith Urban, is also a great shot at an Oscar nomination in the original song category for For You.

The song was in the film Act of Valor and is on the Oscar short-list.

Jackman's SAG lead actor nomination for his singing-acting tour de force performance in Les Miserables was expected and he will go toe-to-toe with fellow nominees Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays US president Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln, and Bradley Cooper, in ! the Silver Linings Playbook.

It also was not a surprise SAG voters honoured Watts' performance as a tsunami survivor in The Impossible with a nomination for lead actress.

Watts will compete for the SAG, and likely the best actress Oscar, with Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), Helen Mirren (Hitchcock) and Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone).

The SAG Award nominations were not a total write-off for Crowe and Weaver.

The ceremony recognises ensembles - equivalent to the Academy Awards' best picture Oscar - and the cast of Les Miserables and Silver Linings Playbook both were nominated, giving Crowe and Weaver chances to walk away with a SAG trophy.

The casts from Argo, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Lincoln were also nominated.

The SAGs only celebrate actors, but the nomination ceremony also boosts Aussie director Ben Lewin's chances of scoring a direction Oscar nomination for The Sessions.

The two stars of his film, John Hawkes and Helen Hunt, received best actor and actress SAG nominations, an indicator the small, independent film is on Hollywood's radar.

Kidman, Jackman, Watts, Crowe, Weaver, Collette and Lewin have another chance on Thursday (Friday AEDT) when the Golden Globes nominations are announced - also a major Oscar indicator.

The 19th Annual SAG ceremony will be held in LA on January 27.

The Oscar nominations will be revealed on January 10 while the Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for February 24.