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Gold Standard: Oscar Watch: ‘Birdman’ up, ‘Boyhood’ down ... for now

Is this the cast from this year's best picture Oscar winner? Emma Stone, left, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Naomi Watts, Edward Norton and Michael Keaton backstage after their ensemble win at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 25.

Is this the cast from this year’s best picture Oscar winner? Emma Stone, left, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Naomi Watts, Edward Norton and Michael Keaton backstage after their ensemble win at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 25.

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
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Oscar Watch, charting the ups and downs of the award season, comes to you every Monday from now through the end of February. With the Producers Guild and Screen Actors Guild weighing in this weekend, we have a bit more clarity — and craziness — to sift through. Let's get to it ...

Naomi Watts, from left, Emma Stone, Amy Ryan, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Keaton and Edward Norton accept the award for cast in a motion picture for Alejandro G. Inarritu's dark comedy "Birdman." Lead actor Michael Keaton called acting "the ultimate team sport -- so collaborative."

Naomi Watts, from left, Emma Stone, Amy Ryan, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Keaton and Edward Norton accept the award for cast in a motion picture for Alejandro G. Inarritu’s dark comedy “Birdman.” Lead actor Michael Keaton called acting “the ultimate team sport -- so collaborative.”

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
"Boyhood" director Richard Linklater, left, with actors from left, Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke.
“Boyhood” director Richard Linklater, left, with actors from left, Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

"Boyhood"

No, "Boyhood" did not have a good weekend. But its camp isn't going all Chicken Little, either. Linklater could well win Directors Guild of America honors in a couple of weeks, an award that also goes a long way in predicting the best picture race. (If Inarritu wins, forget it. "Birdman" will own the Oscars.) And even if Linklater's name isn't called, "Boyhood" could still win. Just last year, Alfonso Cuaron ("Gravity") took the DGA and the director Oscar, but "12 Years a Slave" still prevailed for best picture.

And "Boyhood" wasn't completely shut out. Patricia Arquette won supporting actress honors at SAG, joining Julianne Moore ("Still Alice") and J.K. Simmons ("Whiplash") as award-season stalwarts who will soon become newly minted Oscar winners. With just four main actors, "Boyhood" was always a long shot to take SAG's ensemble award, but Arquette's win shows some strength. Now its backers will just have to be a bit more aggressive in reminding the academy why they clogged Sunset a few weeks ago.

Male actor in a leading role winner Eddie Redmayne, from the movie "The Theory of Everything," poses with his award.
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Twitter: @glennwhipp

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