First Precursor Nominations Announced

[Big Magilla]

12:04 PM, October 20, 2011ι Lou Lumenick
In the very first film award nominations of the season, "The Descendants'' leads the Gotham Awards with three nods, including best feature. "Martha May May Marlene'' also had three nomination, but not in the top category, where "The Descendants,'' one of the Oscar frontrunners, is joined by another possible nominee, "The Tree of Life'' (like "The Descendants'' and "Martha,'' distributed by Fox Searchlight) as well as three lower-profile films: "Beginners,'' "Take Shelter'' and "Meek's Cutoff.''

The rest of the nominees are listed below. The Independent Film Project-sponsored Gotham awards are the East Coast version of the Independent Spirit Awards given by Film Independent, which split with the IFP several years ago. The Gotham awards will be presented on the evening of Nov. 28, two days before the Indie Spirit nominations are announced.

Both of these groups -- as well as the hobbyists at the National Board of Review, which will announced their awards on Dec. 1, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association on Dec. 10 or 11 -- have been effectively upstaged by the New York Film Critics Circle, which yesterday moved its awards vote (NYFCC doesn't do nominations) up two weeks to the morning of Nov. 28. Ironically, four members of the Gothams' nominating committees also belong to the NYFCC.

BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE: "Beginners," "The Descendants,'' "Margin Call,'' "Martha Marcy May Marlene,' "Take Shelter"

BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR: Mike Cahill, "Another Earth," Sean Durkin, "Martha Marcy May Marlene," Vera Farmiga, "Higher Ground,'' Evan Glodell, "Bellflower,'' Dee Rees, "Pariah.''

BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR: Felicity Jones, "Like Crazy,'' Elizabeth Olsen, "Martha Marcy May Marlene,'' Harmony Santana, "Gun Hill Road,'' Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants,'' Jacob Wysocki, "Terri.''

BEST DOCUMENTARY: "Better This World,'' "Bill Cunningham New York,'' "Hell and Back Again,'' "The Interrupters,'' "The Woodmans.''

BEST FILM NOT PLAYING AT A THEATER NEAR YOU: "Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same,'' "Green,'' "The Redemption of General Butt Naked,'' "Scenes of a Crime,'' "Without.''


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