Spirit Awards Nominations

I could probably lament the poor state of my severely neglected blog, but instead I will just dive into a new entry talking about the Spirit Awards nominations which were announced earlier today. That announcement along with yesterday's Gotham Awards winners (Moonrise Kingdom won Best Feature), awards season is officially underway!

BEST FEATURE
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Bernie
Keep the Lights On
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook

Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom and David O'Russell's Silver Linings Playbook led the pack with 5 nominations each including one for Best Feature. One of those will probably win, but it's heartening to see Sundance and Cannes sensation Beasts of the Southern Wild make it in as well as Music Box's Keep the Lights On.

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom
Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

I haven't seen either Silver Linings Playbook or The Loneliest Planet, but I have seen the other films and at least for those three, I thought this nomination was very well-deserved. Again, it's looking like an Anderson-Russell battle, but I would not underestimate Zeitlin.

BEST FIRST FEATURE
Fill the Void
Gimme the Loot
Safety Not Guaranteed
Sound of My Voice
The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I've only seen Safety Not Guaranteed (weird, fun, but original) and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (should be more celebrated) from this group. The latter I'm hoping gets more notices this awards season somewhere.

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Linda Cardellini, Return
Emayatzy Corinealdi, Middle of Nowhere
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Smashed

Like everyone who hasn't yet seen it yet, I realized that I need to see Middle of Nowhere which picked up a solid 4 nominations including one for its leading lady. I'm very curious to see how far Quvenzhané Wallis will go this awards season. Finally, it's just awesome to see a list that includes Katniss Everdeen, Lindsay Weir, and Ramona Flowers. Winstead's nomination makes me smile.

BEST MALE LEAD
Jack Black, Bernie
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Thure Lindhardt, Keep the Lights On
Matthew McConaughey, Killer Joe
Wendell Pierce, Four

Unfortunately, I've only seen one performance here and that is Lindhart's star turn in Keep the Lights On. I'm very much looking forward to seeing Cooper though as he's apparently very good in the film. Finally, what a great year for McConaughey, huh? Along with his scene-stealing supporting turn in Magic Mike, he's doubly nominated.

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Rosemarie DeWitt, Your Sister’s Sister
Ann Dowd, Compliance
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Brit Marling, Sound of My Voice
Lorraine Toussaint, Middle of Nowhere

Looks like a diverse and deserving crowd. Well actually since I haven't seen any of these performances, I can't exactly say if they are deserving, but it's always nice to see someone like DeWitt get praised as well as Hunt's re-emergence.

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike
David Oyelowo, Middle of Nowhere
Michael Péna, End of Watch
Sam Rockwell, Seven Psychopaths
Bruce Willis, Moonrise Kingdom

McConaughey, with his critically-loved roles this year and name recognition, might be on the short list for Oscar, but how about David Oyelowo? He's like the Jessica Chastain circa last year with five films to his credit. I haven't seen his nominated performance, but he was more than fine in Lincoln and The Paperboy. Also where is Ezra Miller for his great work in Perks of Being a Wallflower?

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Amour
Once Upon A Time in Anatolia
Rust And Bone
Sister
War Witch

It's pretty bad that I not only have I not seen any of these films, but I also don't even know what most of them are about. I do know Amour (the frontrunner?) and Rust And Bone are on my shortlist to see ASAP, but that's about it. Also apparently Holy Motors was snubbed? I also probably should see that when I can.

BEST DOCUMENTARY
How to Survive a Plague
Marina Abramoviæ: The Artist is Present
The Central Park Five
The Invisible War
The Waiting Room

How to Survive a Plague recently won at the Gothams so it's probably being seen as the front runner, but how do you count out a legendary documentarian like Ken Burns who directed The Central Park Five? You don't.

BEST SCREENPLAY
Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom
Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks
Martin McDonagh, Seven Psychopaths
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Rama Burshtein, Fill the Void
Derek Connolly, Safety Not Guaranteed
Christopher Ford, Robot & Frank
Rashida Jones & Will McCormack, Celeste and Jesse Forever
Jonathan Lisecki, Gayby

The cool thing about these screenplay nominations is that even if I haven't seen the films, I actually KNOW about them. Lots of interesting names here as well like Kazan, Sachs, Lisecki, and Jones. The latter's nomination made me yell "ANN PERKINS!"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Yoni Brook, Valley of Saints
Lol Crawley, Here
Ben Richardson, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Roman Vasyanov, End of Watch
Robert Yeoman, Moonrise Kingdom

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Low Budget Films)
Breakfast with Curtis
Middle of Nowhere
Mosquita y Mari
Starlet
The Color Wheel

No other comments, but I'm realizing there's just way too many films I still need to see and this just encompasses the "independent" films. And so far, I'm not sick of awards season yet! But I'm sure that will change as people divide via their rooting interests, etc. See you all on the other side.