Independent Spirit Awards

[Sabin]

Mister Tee wrote
I'm in sync with okri's thought below: the world hardly needs an awards body that's basically-Oscars-only-under-$20-million,

I agree. It should be under $10 or $5 million.

[Big Magilla]

I'm happy for Ruth Negga and Fran Kranz and fine with the other winners, but this was the worst awards show I've ever seen. No wonder people are sick of them. If the Oscars are anything like this, I may stop watching them myself.

The hosts were unfunny, laborious, rude, and insulting to the audience in the tent and those watching at home. The banter with audience members was a waste of precious time that forced several awards including cinematography and international film awards outside of the show.

Why they had to add TV awards I don't know. TV shows are not films. One time mini-series are not "new series". Nice that there's a show produced by and starring indigenous people that doesn't treat the characters they play like clichés, but has anyone seen it or most of the others nominated?

The film awards were also of little seen films. There's always a mix of unknown films and Oscar contenders at the Spirit awards but what was the ratio this year? And what did they do to entice audiences to seek out the nominees? None of the clips shown made me want to seek out any of them. Well, maybe Red Rocket and Zola, which I heard of but haven't seen. I have seen The Lost Daughter, CODA, Drive My Car, Passing, Pig, and Mass as well as C'mon, C'mon and have been looking forward to seeing Jockey but that's about it.

[Mister Tee]

I'm in sync with okri's thought below: the world hardly needs an awards body that's basically-Oscars-only-under-$20-million, so I'm fine with a set of nominees I mostly haven't seen and in many cases haven't even heard of. The problem is, once the voters take over, they steer their final choices to closest-to-the-Oscars (even Simon Rex vaguely fits that category). I guess the closest to a surprise was Ruth Negga (happily) winning over actual Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley.

I was in and out on the ceremony (got really tired of the hosts telling dick jokes), but was around when Summer of Soul won best documentary. I'd been thinking Flee might be more up this group's alley, but, not only did Soul win, it got thunderous applause merely at its nomination being read out. If the Spirit crowd is behind the movie, I don't see how it can miss with a more mainstream group like the Oscars.

[Sabin]

Best Feature: The Lost Daughter
Best First Feature: 7 Days
John Cassavetes Award: Shiva Baby
Best International Feature: Drive My Car
Best Documentary Feature: Summer of Soul
Best Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter
Best Male Lead: Simon Rex, Red Rocket
Best Female Lead: Taylour Paige, Zola
Best Supporting Male: Troy Kotsur, CODA
Best Supporting Female: Ruth Negga, Passing
Best Screenplay: Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter
Best First Screenplay: Michael Sarnoski and Vanessa Block, Pig
Best Cinematography: Passing
Best Editing: Zola
Robert Altman Award: Mass
Producer's Award: Lizzie Shapiro
Truer Than Fiction: Jessy Beshir, Faya Dayi
Someone to Watch Award: Alex Camilleri, Luzzu

[criddic3]

I do find it amusing two different films, called "Swan Song," are being cited for best actor awards.
Udo Kier being mentioned here, and Mahershala Ali being nominated by the Golden Globes.

[OscarGuy]

All members vote for the Spirit Awards, a small committee selects the nominees. So, I wouldn't say this list reflects the broader membership, just the opinions of the handful of members who made the selections.

[Okri]

I'll just say that recent Tony nominated playwright Jeremy O. Harris was the co-writer of Zola.

To Sabin's larger point, this line-up really does harken back to the days where these voters would specifically single out those that weren't going to get much play elsewhere. The only acting nomination for Being John Malkovich was John Cusack. The Lost Daughter for a bunch of nominations? Sure, but Colman doesn't need the recognition anyway. Nice to see major nominations go to films I hadn't heard of (*not sarcastic, it's genuinely cool).

[Sabin]

Winner predictions:

Best Feature: The Lost Daughter
Best First Feature: Test Pattern
John Cassavetes Award: Shiva Baby
Best Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter
Best Female Lead: Taylour Paige, Zola
Best Male Lead: Simon Rex, Red Rocket
Best Supporting Female: Ruth Negga, Passing
Best Supporting Male: Troy Kotsur, CODA
Best Screenplay: The Lost Daughter
Best First Screenplay: Pig
Best Cinematography: Passing
Best Editing: Zola
Best Documentary: Flee
Best International Film: Parallel Mothers
Someone to Watch Award: Pig Director
Truer Than Fiction Award: idk

[Big Magilla]

What’s a Girls Trip movie?

The kind of movie where a bunch of girls get together and go crazy wild like the boys did in 1980s films. There have been a bunch of them made for theatrical release and TV streaming.

The 2017 film called Girls Trip was one of the first. It actually won a number of awards including a NYFC award for Best Supporting Actress for Tiffany Hadish.

[Greg]

After years of complaining that this group just mirrors Academy choices and cosigns consensus, here we go. I would have bet anything that CODA, PASSING, PIG, and RED ROCKET would do very well with this group. All four of those films got fewer nominations together than ZOLA.

I still think the big surprise come Oscar nominations could be a Best Actor nod for Simon Rex.

Also, I Googled it and confirmed to me that C'mon C'mon's Mike Mills is not R.E.M.'s Mike Mills. This reminds me that Michael Stipe's Single Cell Pictures production company once requested a screenplay from me, although I doubt Stipe himself actually read it.

[Sabin]

Big Magilla wrote
This Zola thing, though, I haven't heard or read anything about other than that it's winning awards. It sounds like one of those "Girls Trip" movies.

I almost wrote "What’s a Girls Trip movie?" but I think it's better to be a more direct. I haven't seen Zola yet. I plan on doing so asap because it sounds fascinating and like it has a lot to do and say about the world we currently live in.

NOTE: too late, so….
“what’s a girls trip movie?”

[flipp525]

Lots of misdirection comes out of Sundance. If I laughed, as you say, it must have been because of that, not the source material.

Yeah, umm, no. It was never about the “source material” (that’s not what I said in this thread). You weren’t laughing at the idea of something from Sundance having buzz. You laughed specifically because it was “Mo’Nique” and you found the prediction absurd, sight unseen.

Moving on…

[Big Magilla]

That sounds more like it.

Lots of misdirection comes out of Sundance. If I laughed, as you say, it must have been because of that, not the source material.

This Zola thing, though, I haven't heard or read anything about other than that it's winning awards. It sounds like one of those "Girls Trip" movies.

[flipp525]

I just texted Eric and he backed me up on all of this. He remembers saying that based on Mo’Nique’s raves out of Sundance and the part itself that she would be formidable a year later at the Oscars.

Big Magilla, you disagreed and needed to be slowly led to the well as the season progressed and her place in the line-up solidified.

[flipp525]

Wow, okay. That is revisionist of you, Big Magilla. I’m not sifting through threads to find your comments. You definitely made them and all but laughed at the very idea she would even be nominated, let alone win.

Eric, I know you remember when this happened. And it was after the movie had been building buzz following its Sundance opening. Eventually, you were like “well, I guess I have to see this thing now” once Mo’Nique’s performance became undeniable.