Amy Adams Vanguard Award Win Could Signal Big Things For ‘The Master’

Amy Adams will receive the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Cinema Vanguard Award for her performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, and though the award may not have the name recognition of the Oscars, it could spell big things for the movie and for Adams.

Word of Amy Adams’ award win came on Monday afternoon, with a ceremony planned for January 31 at the Arlington Theatre, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Adams’ performance as the wife of a charismatic spiritual leader played by Philip Seymour Hoffman has also earned the three-time Oscar nominee the best actress award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association on Sunday.

“Amy Adams is one of the gutsiest and most gifted actors working today,” said SBIFF’s executive director, Roger Durling, in a statement. “She embodies what the Cinema Vanguard Award is all about, and after her performance in The Master the time has come to recognize her talent and versatility.”

The honor likely signals that Adams is headed for another Oscar nomination, and spells good things for The Master. The movie dominated that Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards, boosting its own Oscar credential after a strong run in the film festival circuit this summer.

As Entertainment Weekly noted, The Master now stands with Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty as early Oscar favorites.

For Amy Adams, the award win also solidifies her rise to the A-list of actors. Adams hopes that her streak of popular and well-received movies will now add to the buzz for the upcoming Man of Steel, where she will play Superman love interest Lois Lane.