Tis the Season: The Independent Spirit Awards

We are already two days in to awards season and things are already looking up for a couple of standout titles. Now, yes, the Independent Spirit Awards, which are voted for by the members of Film Independent, are not exactly clear indicators for the Oscars. In fact, they're much more like the anti-Oscars. Oddly, they are one of the first to announce their nominations but one of the latest to announce their winners. As always, the ceremony will be held the day before the Oscar telecast, so in this case on February 21, on a beach in Santa Monica under a big tent. I think you can even wear jeans if you feel like it. The horror.

Anyhow, three films tied for the most nominations with six a piece. I'm happy to say that one of the leaders is one of my favorites from this year, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED. The Jonathan Demme pic earned nominations for Best Feature, Director, Actress (Anne Hathaway), Supporting Actress (Rosemarie DeWitt and Debra Winger), as well as Best First Screenplay (Jenny Lumet). Hopefully the love for this film will continue to spread past its actors as, although they are excellent, the film itself deserves recognition. RACHEL GETTING MARRIED will be going head to head in each of those categories with none other than FROZEN RIVER. Now, if you read my post yesterday about the Satellite Awards, you would know that I have never even heard of this movie but yet here it is again. It is still too early to call this film a dark horse for Oscar noms but I am still surprised to see it start so quickly out of the gate. The third film to catch six noms is surprisingly another film I've never heard of, BALLAST. Maybe I am just not doing my job that well. Anyway, the Best Feature category is rounded out by THE WRESTLER and WENDY AND LUCY. These two films each earned their lead actors (Mickey Rourke and Michelle Williams, respectively) nominations in the lead acting categories as well, which gives each of them great street cred going forward. Rourke is considered a lock for an Oscar nomination but Williams needs all the support she can get and this is a great place to start. I must say I was surprised not to see MILK and THE VISITOR in the top category as each film picked up four nominations each but missed on the main prize. The day after his 73rd birthday, Woody Allen saw some awards love for VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, as his critical darling picked up noms for Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Mr. Allen himself earned a screenplay nod. Meanwhile, Charlie Kaufman saw some strong support for his ill-received first feature, SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK. The film will receive the Robert Altman Award, which goes to the best ensemble cast, including the casting director, and Kaufman himself picked up nods for the screenplay and for directing in the First Feature category. It will need a lot more than this to come up come Oscar time though. And finally, Montreal's own, Yung Chang, grabbed a nomination in the Best Documentary category for his beautiful film, UP THE YANGTZE.

Quick side note, voting for the Independent Spirit Awards is onle available online, to make things as green as possible. Here is a partial list of the nominees:

FEATURE
BALLAST
FROZEN RIVER
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
WENDY AND LUCY
THE WRESTLER

DIRECTOR
Ramin Bahrani, "Chop Shop"
Jonathan Demme, "Rachel Getting Married"
Lance Hammer, "Ballast"
Courtney Hunt, "Frozen River"
Thomas McCarthy, "The Visitor"

FIRST FEATURE
AFTERSCHOOL
MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY
SANGRE DE MI SANGRE
SLEEP DEALER
SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK

MALE LEAD
Javier Bardem, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"
Sean Penn, "Milk"
Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"
Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"

FEMALE LEAD
Summer Bishil, "Towelhead"
Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"
Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"
Tarra Riggs, "Ballast"
Michelle Williams, "Wendy and Lucy"

SUPPORTING MALE
James Franco, "Milk"
Anthonie Mackie, "The Hurt Locker"
Charlie McDermott, "Frozen River"
Jim Myron Ross, "Ballast"
Haaz Sleiman, "The Visitor"

SUPPORTING FEMALE
Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Rosemarie DeWirr, "Rachel Getting Married"
Rosie Perez, "The Take"
Misty Upham, "Frozen River"
Debra Winger, "Rachel Getting Married"

SCREENPLAY
Woody Allen, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, "Sugar"
Charlie Kaufmann, "Synecdoche, New York"
Howard A. Rodman, "Savage Grace"
Christopher Zalla, "Sangre de me Sangre"

FIRST SCREENPLAY
Dustin Lance Black, "Milk"
Lance Hammer, "Ballast"
Courtney Hunt, "Frozen River"
Jonathan Levine, "The Wackness"
Jenny Lumet, "Rachel Getting Married"

For a full list of the nominees in all of the categories, please visit the Film Independent website. Next up, the National Board of Review.