Independent Spirit Award Nominations

For the films of 2014
Mister Tee
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Re: Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Post by Mister Tee »

Do people still watch the Spirit awards? I used to find them a pleasant diversion when they aired Saturday afternoon -- they were fun to have on while I was doing party prep. But since they started running them at night, on time delay, I haven't bothered with them -- I think the Precious year was my last time.

And I've never really felt they've established an identity -- the standards for what makes an indie and what doesn't seems ever-fluctuating (maybe they're better this year, but it's hard for me to see Selma as an indie while Foxcatcher isn't). And as for all those who-the-fuck nominees, I feel about them the way Uri does about foreign-language acting nominees: they're only there for window dressing; something Oscar-y will win in the end.

So it's hard to go looking for tea-leaf evidence in this set of nominees. Russo or the Boyhood/Birdman screenplays being left out are just the kind of arbitrary things that have always happened here -- Russo could just as easily end up the ONLY Nightcrawler Oscar nominee; that's how little Spirit nominees have lined up with the Oscars.

I will add that, if Boyhood and Birdman were films sure to be ignored by AMPAS, I might be more interested that there was some place for them to have their day (as Far from Heaven, for example, once did). But both those films, like 12 Years last year, seem likely make strong showings at the Oscars, and I'd just as soon wait for that.
flipp525
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Re: Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Post by flipp525 »

The Original BJ wrote:Speaking of Love is Strange, John Lithgow in lead and Alfred Molina in support is category fraud of ridiculous proportions. I mean...come on.
Alfred Molina also has more screen time, if I recall correctly. What would be the reasoning behind Lithgow being nominated as a lead over him then? Because we get Lithgow's character's extended family so he's seen as the more central partner? Very clear category fraud here. (You can't even make a top/bottom Brokeback argument here since we never, um, see that.)
Last edited by flipp525 on Tue Nov 25, 2014 2:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Sabin
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Re: Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Post by Sabin »

I'm thrilled for Riz Ahmed who added so much to a relatively thin character, but Rene Russo's likely omission from Best Supporting Actress lists is bound to be one of the true shames of the season. Here's an actress who wasn't anybody's idea of a critic's darling in the nineties but had a run of successes that in retrospect did nothing for her career. They were either well-received Hollywood hits or she was well-received in poorly-received Hollywood hits, but either way they all made money. Lethal Weapon 3 & 4, In the Line of Fire, Outbreak, Get Shorty, Tin Cup, Ransom, The Thomas Crown Affair. That's almost one a year for the bulk of the decade. She had a bad couple of years most likely due to the shifting blockbuster atmosphere and she's been forgotten for ten years.

Rene Russo coming back with Nightcrawler is a classic Oscar story. One of those actresses who suddenly lost her heat for zero reason whatsoever who's back not just reminding people why she was big in the first place but also letting them know that they never took full advantage of her talent in the first place. I really hope she's not overlooked.
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Re: Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Post by Big Magilla »

Most conspicuous by their absence: the eligible but ignored The Imitation Game and WIld.
The Original BJ
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Re: Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Post by The Original BJ »

Most of the expected candidates showed up, with the usual never-heard-of-that nominee thrown in there in most categories.

One thing that's really nice about this list is that most of the bigger budget entries that seemingly COULD have been included here (like Silver Linings Playbook was a couple years ago) seem to have been ruled ineligible, or limited to special awards. This list seems like a much better representation of true independent film than it probably could have been.

The screenplay category, though, is totally bonkers to me. So far this year, Boyhood and Birdman are my two favorite scripts, and it's just unfathomable to me that people could find something as mediocre-to-lousy as Big Eyes superior to those two hugely ambitious and successful efforts, which voters otherwise liked overall. (Even a more decent effort, like Love is Strange, just seems completely outclassed to me by what Boyhood and Birdman accomplish.)

Speaking of Love is Strange, John Lithgow in lead and Alfred Molina in support is category fraud of ridiculous proportions. I mean...come on.

Strange that with all the nominations for Nightcrawler that Rene Russo couldn't crack the Supporting Actress list.

I haven't seen all of the Foreign Film nominees yet, but man, that category looks pretty exciting.
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Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Post by Sabin »

BEST FEATURE (Award given to the Producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole
Boyhood
Producers: Richard Linklater, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, Cathleen Sutherland
Love is Strange
Producers: Lucas Joaquin, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman, Jay Van Hoy
Selma
Producers: Christian Colson, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Oprah Winfrey
Whiplash
Producers: Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, David Lancaster, Michael Litvak

BEST DIRECTOR

Damien Chazelle
Whiplash
Ava DuVernay
Selma
Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Richard Linklater
Boyhood
David Zellner
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

BEST SCREENPLAY

Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski
Big Eyes
J.C. Chandor
A Most Violent Year
Dan Gilroy
Nightcrawler
Jim Jarmusch
Only Lovers Left Alive
Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias
Love is Strange

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Producers: Justin Begnaud, Sina Sayyah
Dear White People
Director/Producer: Justin Simien
Producers: Effie T. Brown, Ann Le, Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez, Lena Waithe
Nightcrawler
Director: Dan Gilroy
Producers: Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak
Obvious Child
Director: Gillian Robespierre
Producer: Elisabeth Holm
She’s Lost Control
Director/Producer: Anja Marquardt
Producers: Mollye Asher, Kiara C. Jones

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Desiree Akhavan
Appropriate Behavior
Sara Colangelo
Little Accidents
Justin Lader
The One I Love
Anja Marquardt
She’s Lost Control
Justin Simien
Dear White People

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.

Blue Ruin
Writer/Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Producers: Richard Peete, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani
It Felt Like Love
Writer/Director/Producer: Eliza Hittman
Producers: Shrihari Sathe, Laura Wagner
Land Ho!
Writers/Directors: Aaron Katz & Martha Stephens
Producers: Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy
Man From Reno
Writer/Director: Dave Boyle
Writers: Joel Clark, Michael Lerman
Producer: Ko Mori
Test
Writer/Director/Producer: Chris Mason Johnson
Producer: Chris Martin

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Marion Cotillard
The Immigrant
Rinko Kikuchi
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Julianne Moore
Still Alice
Jenny Slate
Obvious Child
Tilda Swinton
Only Lovers Left Alive

BEST MALE LEAD

André Benjamin
Jimi: All Is By My Side
Jake Gyllenhaal
Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
John Lithgow
Love is Strange
David Oyelowo
Selma

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Patricia Arquette
Boyhood
Jessica Chastain
A Most Violent Year
Carmen Ejogo
Selma
Andrea Suarez Paz
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
Emma Stone
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Riz Ahmed
Nightcrawler
Ethan Hawke
Boyhood
Alfred Molina
Love is Strange
Edward Norton
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
J.K. Simmons
Whiplash

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Darius Khondji
The Immigrant
Emmanuel Lubezki
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Sean Porter
It Felt Like Love
Lyle Vincent
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Bradford Young
Selma

BEST EDITING

Sandra Adair
Boyhood
Tom Cross
Whiplash
John Gilroy
Nightcrawler
Ron Patane
A Most Violent Year
Adam Wingard
The Guest

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)

20,000 Days on Earth
Directors: Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard
Producers: Dan Bowen, James Wilson
CITIZENFOUR
Director/Producer: Laura Poitras
Producers: Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky
Stray Dog
Director: Debra Granik
Producer: Anne Rosellini
The Salt of the Earth
Directors: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and Wim Wenders
Producer: David Rosier
Virunga
Director/Producer: Orlando von Einsiedel
Producer: Joanna Natasegara

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)

Force Majeure
(Sweden)
Director: Ruben Östlund
Ida
(Poland)
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Leviathan
(Russia)
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Mommy
(Canada)
Director: Xavier Dolan
Norte, the End of History
(Philippines)
Director: Lav Diaz
Under the Skin
(United Kingdom)
Director: Jonathan Glazer

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – (Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)

Inherent Vice
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis
Ensemble Cast: Josh Brolin, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio Del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Michael Kenneth Williams, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD

Foxcatcher
Director/Producer: Bennett Miller
Producers: Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik
Writers: E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman
Actors: Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum

18th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 18th annual Producers Award, sponsored by Piaget, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.

Chad Burris
Elisabeth Holm
Chris Ohlson

21st ANNUAL KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 21st annual Someone to Watch Award, sponsored by Kiehl’s Since 1851, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
H.
Directors: Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia
The Retrieval
Director: Chris Eska

20th ANNUAL LENSCRAFTERS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 20th annual Truer Than Fiction Award, sponsored by LensCrafters is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by LensCrafters.

Approaching the Elephant
Director: Amanda Rose Wilder
Evolution of a Criminal
Director: Darius Clark Monroe
The Kill Team
Director: Dan Krauss
The Last Season
Director: Sara Dosa
"How's the despair?"
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