Awards Watch: Smells Like Indie Spirit
Filed under: Awards, For Your Consideration, Hold the 'Fone
Hey movie fans, it's Sandie here to bring you the first of many awards-related posts. The nominees for the Spirit Awards -- formerly known as the Independent Spirit Awards -- were announced today, and the dysfunctional-family dramedy 'Little Miss Sunshine' and gritty relationship-drama 'Half Nelson' lead with five nominations a piece. This is particularly amusing to our team, because four of us here at Hold the 'Fone have been debating (OK, arguing really) which movie is better since we saw them both at Sundance in January. Two of us are firmly in the 'Sunshine' camp and two in the 'Nelson,' but we haven't gone so far as designing "Team ______" shirts ... yet. Alas, the Spirit Award nominations have done absolutely nothing to settle the score.
As it stands, the nominees for Best Feature are: 'Half Nelson'; 'Little Miss Sunshine'; 'American Gun'; the tale of three communities touched by gun violence; 'The Dead Girl,' a crime drama about the female victims of a serial killer; and 'Pan's Labyrinth,' which truth be told, all of us agree is one of the best movies of the year, so perhaps we should forget the Sundance-flick rivalry and root for Guillermo del Toro's Spanish-language fantasy masterpiece instead.
Not only was Gosling recognized, but so was his young co-star, Shareeka Epps, who is a Best Female Lead nominee for her heart-wrenching portrayal of a middle-schooler who gets emotionally attached to her crack-addicted teacher. Her fellow nominees are Catherine O'Hara as an Oscar-obsessed C-lister in 'For Your Consideration'; Elizabeth Reaser as a 1920s immigrant in 'Sweet Land'; Michelle Williams in the Wim Wenders drama 'Land of Plenty' and Robin Wright Penn for her bitter TV exec in 'Sorry, Haters.' Have to admit that I'm a bit dumbstruck that Maggie didn't score a nod for 'Sherrybaby': a. She's the indie "It Girl" b. The film debuted at Sundance and c. It stars Gyllenhaal as a hedonistic ex-convict mama trying to reconnect with her young daughter. If that doesn't merit a Spirit Award, what is the indie world coming to?
The Spirit Awards did manage to acknowledge two of the breakout performances we're thankful for this year in the Best Supporting Male category: Paul Dano, who we loved as the Nietzche-loving brother Dwayne in 'Sunshine' and Channing Tatum as Shia LaBeouf's hot-headed best friend in 'A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints.' Both up-and-comers face 72-year-old Alan Arkin for his role as the foul-mouthed grandpa in 'Sunshine'; Daniel Craig for his very non-Bond role as vulnerable killer Perry Smith in the (other) Capote biopic 'Infamous'; and veteran "That Guy" Raymond J. Barry as an exacting military man in 'Steel City.'
Want to see who else was nominated? Get the complete list of Spirit Award nominees.
And if you're now in the mood for a fix of good indie films, check out our Independent Film Guide, where you'll find reviews of nearly all the nominated actors and films.
Tags: Spirit Awards, Little Miss Sunshine, Half Nelson, American Gun, Ryan Gosling, Paul Dano, Channing Tatum, indie movies, movie awards










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-07-2007 @ 9:31PM
Jim said...
Any reviwer who would put Borat on a top 10, or top 100 needs to find new work.....unless of course they're an idiot.
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1-16-2007 @ 12:52AM
PARIS ANNE said...
WHO DO I WANT TO SEE GET THEIR DAMN DUE, CONSIDERING THEY MADE A FORTUNE FOR HOLLYWOOD THIS YEAR 7 WORDS-- PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN "DEAD MAN'S CHEST!! HOW DARE THE SO-CALLED UPPER HOLLYWOOD "SUITS" DISRESPECT WHAT SAVED THEIR ASS THIS YEAR! THE TEARS WILL START FALLING THIS MONTH, TRUST ME!
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1-16-2007 @ 1:04AM
PARIS ANNE said...
HOW DARE HOLLYWOOD DISREPECT THE BOX-OFFICE SMASH OF THE YEAR? WHO DO I WANT TO SEE GET HIS AND THEIR DUE-- 7 WORDS PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN "DEAD MAN'S CHEST"! IT SAVED HOLLYWOOD "BLACK SUITS" BY QUITE THE LONG SHOT! GAVE IT A HUGE "HAIL MARY"! THEN THEY SHOVE "BABEL", DOWN OUR THROATS! I WILL NEVER SPEND A CENT ON THIS MOVIE OR "DREAM GIRLS"! NOT AT THE THEATER OR DVD RENTAL! I BOYCOTED THE SAME SLOP LAST YEAR! TRUST ME, HOLLYWOOD'S TEARS WILL BE FALLING UNTIL THE NEXT JOHNNY DEPP MOVIE COMES OUT! YEY "LEIUTANT VICTOR" SHOW UP AT THE AWARD SHOWS, PLEASE? IF YOU STILL WANT TO KEEP YOUR STELLAR CARREER!
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1-16-2007 @ 8:33AM
Tina said...
I have one thing to say about last night. I sure hope someone pulled the stick out of Angelina Jollie's ass because it was making her an ignorant bitch who couldn't speak.
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1-16-2007 @ 1:20PM
rugbymom said...
I can honestly say, I saw none of the movies and did not watch the Globes and I won't be watching the Oscars. The only award show in my book is my son's football banquet and that is all I care about it. I can not fathom why anybody is interested in these people. They are not demi gods or fallen angels. They are actors. Why are we subject to their long boring love feast on tv every year? People need to get a life and stop worrying about these people.
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1-16-2007 @ 1:12PM
Johnny said...
there ain't a movie in the whole dadgum midst that'll be remembered other than the remembrance of Iwo Jima..
"Call him drunken Ira Hayes, he won't answer any more. Not that whiskey drinkin' Indian nor the marine that went to war"..
This Marine outclasses any 'hollywoodland' figure out there.for all you tech geeks and history bluffs, Ira Hayes was one of the boys who planted that flag on Iwo Jima..and that was a helluva battle. I'm glad Mr. Eastwood had an eye to catch some truth in the matter. This generation just wants their eyes to be pleased with some visual esoteric nebulism. Not I, says Rowdy, not I says me..and by the way?..screw the black suits...
(This comment has been toned down in the colloquial aspects of the common language usage as to communicate within the broadest spectrum of the 'social connivance'. In other words,please take no offense..if ya get my drift). I really ain't seen one of these movies. If couldn't see them with my 5 year old, I don't go.). Don't even get it when it comes out on video. Babel..hmm..was it accurate. I don't really care who macts in it, I would hope that as an artist Mr. Pitt takes his acting as a true craft). Now the scenery in the trailers is beautiful..that I like in so called 'sprawling epics'....BOTTOM LINE: I watched Wife Swap and Super Nanny last night.
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1-16-2007 @ 2:54PM
suzieb911 said...
When you put on a pair of shoes that cost more than the average wage a middle class person makes in 1 month you would expect people in the public eye to at least stand with their legs together and in a proper stance. My advise is some of our every day faces we see in movies and on tv should learn to walk in shoes. What kind of example do they show our young children at the awards programs when they stand with everything hanging out due to the were never properly trained or ever taken a ballet class get some proper instruction.
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1-16-2007 @ 4:57PM
Bev Mendenhall said...
Is there no decency left in Hollywood? Tom Hanks talking about Warren Beatty's balls and Borat talking about smelling someones asshole. That is when I turned off the Golden Globes. Evidently "they just ain't got no class anymore"
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1-16-2007 @ 4:58PM
PARIS ANNE said...
TINA
WHO CARES IF SHE EVEN SHOWED UP, LET ALONE SPEAK! THOSE TWO FREAKS THAT "THE PRESS" DON'T SHUT UP ABOUT, AS USUAL, ARE EVERYWHERE! THE ONLY CONSOLATION I GET OUT OF THIS SHAM OF A TWO-SOME (WE'LL SEE HOW LONG IT LASTS), IS THAT BRAD PITT THE OVER-RATED SHIT-- DIDN'T WIN IN THE CATAGORY HE WAS NOMINATED FOR. JOHNNY DEPP COULD ACT CIRCLES AROUND EVERYONE PRESENT LAST NIGHT!!! EXCEPT MAYBE MIRREN! THAT WOULD BE FUN TO SEE, WHO COULD OUT ACT ONE ANOTHER! BUT TRUST ME, I WON'T GO TO THE THEATER TO WATCH "THE QUEEEN"! I'LL RENT IT ON DVD! BUT I DID GO TO DEAD MAN'S CHEST 5 TIMES THIS SUMMER!POTC2 REALLY GENERATED THE REVENUE FOR HOLLYWOOD AND THE BOX-OFFICE FOR A CHANGE, (AND WE WEREN'T SNAGGED INTO SEEING IT BECAUSE OF THE ACTORS LOVE LIVES)! I SWEAR THE MEDIA, MAKES ME SICK! NONE OF THIS IS ABOUT TALENT, IT'S ABOUT WHAT KIND OF SICK PANTYLESS CLUB-HOPPING YOU DO OR WHO YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER IS!! I THOUGHT THESE SHOWS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT TALENT? TRUST ME FROM THE LAST TWO I'VE SEEN IS NOTHING BUT HYPE AND HOLLYWOOD POLITICS. THERE IS QUITE A BIT OF THAT GOIN ON FROM THE OUTCOME OF THESE AWARD SHOWS! I KNOW I GOT OFF YOUR STATEMENT, BUT JOLIE IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! SHE IS A BITCH, SCRAWNY AND HAGGERED! WHAT THE HECK DING-DONG PITT GAVE HIS BEAUTIFUL WIFE UP FOR-- THAT SKANK, IS BEYOND ME? BUT, MEN GENERALLY DUE THIS QUITE FREQENTLY! WE ALL KNOW WHAT PART OF THE BODY THEY "THINK" W/!
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1-16-2007 @ 5:12PM
PARIS ANNE said...
BEV M.
I SECOND THAT MOTION!
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