When contemplating the Screen Actors Guild Award nominations that were announced on Thursday morning, several top Oscar contenders can cling to one heartening thought:
Remember last year!
That’s because a year ago, “The Shape of Water” wasn’t nominated in the SAG Awards’ ensemble category – but less than three months after it was bypassed in that crucial category, it won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
For the filmmakers and cast of “The Favourite,” “Green Book,” “Vice” and “Roma,” that’s a statistic to hold near and dear in this exceptionally competitive year without a strong Best Picture frontrunner. Even if the only other film to win Best Picture after not receiving a SAG ensemble nomination was “Braveheart” way back in 1995, “The Shape of Water” showed that it can be done, and that it has been done recently.