Comment on 'Birdman' tops SAG Awards, Redmayne upsets Keaton

The backstage farce "Birdman" topped the 21st annual Screen Actors Guild Award, winning best ensemble cast, even though its star, Michael Keaton, was upset by Eddie Redmayne in the most outstanding actor category. Moore, widely considered the best-actress favorite, won most outstanding supporting actress for "Still Alice," in which she plays an academic with early onset Alzheimer's Disease. Accepting the award for most outstanding supporting actor for his performance as a domineering jazz teacher in "Whiplash," Simmons thanked all 49 actors who appear in the drama. Because actors make up the largest portion of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the SAG Awards are also considered one of the most telling Oscar previews. The predictive powers of the SAGs have been more checkered in matching its top award with eventual best-picture Oscar winners. Last year, the actors chose "American Hustle" over eventual Oscar winner "12 Years a Slave"; in 2011, they picked "The Help" over "The Artist"; and in 2009, "Inglourious Basterds" defeated "The Hurt Locker." Sunday's show kicked things off with a pair of wins for the Netflix prison series "Orange Is the New Black," honoring it as best ensemble in a comedy and naming Uza Abuda most outstanding actress in a comedy series.