A Boost for 'Best Exotic Marigold' and Other Surprises The retired residents of "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" may soon be going back to work, on the awards circuit: the film, a sleeper hit for Fox Searchlight - it's grossed $46 million domestically ($134 million worldwide) at the box office, on a production budget of about $10 million -- nabbed a best ensemble nomination from the Screen Actors Guild, displacing other projected favorites like "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Django Unchained." "Django" was finished so late, many guild members may not have had a chance to see it, and the nonunion stars of "Beasts of the Southern Wild" were not eligible for the awards. Maggie Smith also grabbed a best supporting actress spot. "Marigold" may hit the sweet spot for the Academy, whose demographic overlaps with the film's stars. A best picture nomination could be looming, or an honor like best screenplay or a repeat appearance for Ms. Smith. "The Master," meanwhile, got little love from the actors group, who notably overlooked Joaquin Phoenix's performance, nominating only Philip Seymour Hoffman in the supporting category for the title role. The omission was good news for best-actor players Bradley Cooper of "Silver Linings Playbook" and John Hawkes of "The Sessions," two feel-good performances that demanded a lot of nuance. Helen Hunt also scored a best supporting berth for her work as a sex therapist in "The Sessions." Other surprises in the supporting category include Javier Bardem, for his turn as the "Skyfall" villain, and Nicole Kidman for her risky choices in "The Paperboy," a performance that has been gaining some backlash-to-the-backlash groundswell. The best actress race, still shifting, added Naomi Watts, a mother facing down the aftermath of the tsunami in "The Impossible," and Helen Mirren as Alma Reville in "Hitchcock." Both are making headway toward a possible opening in the Oscar category, though they may face Academy competition from Emmanuelle Riva in "Amour." Still, the frontrunners in that category are Jessica Chastain ("Zero Dark Thirty") and Jennifer Lawrence ("Silver Linings Playbook"), who both received nominations from the guild. A best ensemble nod at the SAGs is likely to prefigure a strong showing with the Academy, since the acting branch is the largest voting bloc there; a showing in a performance category is also considered a must for an Oscar win. That's good news for "Argo," "Les Misérables," "Lincoln" and "Silver Linings Playbook," all of which took both. But the SAGs also have an imperfect track record - last year the guild chose "The Help" over the eventual Oscar winner "The Artist" - so it is by no means bad news for "Zero Dark Thirty," which placed with Ms. Chastain's performance only. "Moonrise Kingdom," though, may have to count on support from writers and other factions within the Academy. And with one of its main actors a digital tiger, "Life of Pi" was never bound for love from thespians.