Since it was released earlier this year, critics have been talking about The Master’s chances during awards season. But when the Screen Actors Guild Award nominations were released Wednesday morning, it proved those critics might be wrong.
"For a time, he was this year's coveted favourite for best actor, but the Oscar bellwether that is the Screen Actors Guild Awards snubbed Joaquin Phoenix and his critically acclaimed movie, The Master, as its nominations were announced on Wednesday," said The Guardian.
But if Phoenix has been honest in recent interviews, he is not crying over the lack of nomination, for himself or his movie.
"Amid howls of outrage from fans of Phoenix, there was speculation that he had shot himself in the foot with his recent bad-mouthing of the awards season and the Oscars in particular," said the newspaper.
Back in October, the actor spoke out about his distaste for awards season.
"It's totally subjective. Pitting people against each other... It's the stupidest thing in the whole world,” he said, according to the LA Times. "I never want to have that experience again. I don't know how to explain it — and it's not like I'm in this place where I think I'm just above it — but I just don't ever want to get comfortable with that part of things. It's a carrot, but it's the worst-tasting carrot I've ever tasted in my whole life."
Philip Seymour Hoffman earned the only nomination for the film, for Best Supporting Actor. And while many movie experts are saying it could be that Phoenix’s comments hurt the movie, one other snub may dispel that idea.
"It's probably a factor but the fact that they did not nominate Amy Adams suggests that they are not responding to the film," Oliver Lyttelton, a film blogger told The Guardian. "The Master seems to turn off as many people as it turns on."
Another film critic, Kristopher Tapley, an editor with Hitfix.com, said the idea that many didn’t appreciate the film was an important factor for its awards possibilities.
"If anything is holding Phoenix — or Amy Adams, by the way, who also didn't make the cut where many thought she would — it's simply that The Master isn't resonating."
The SAG awards nominations could be a fluke for a movie, but they will find out when the Golden Globe and Oscar nominations are announced in December and January.