With the presentation of the Gotham Awards last night and the announcement of Spirit Awards this morning, awards season is officially underway!
Sundance favorite Winter’s Bone continued its dominance of the indie film circuit by receiving seven nominations including Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Actress. Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right received five nominations. Other likely Oscar nominees – 127 Hours, Black Swan, The King’s Speech – also received Spirit Awards nominations.
An unprecedented six actresses were nominated in the Best Actress category. Noticeably absent, however, is Julianne Moore for The Kids Are All Right. Her co-stars Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo were nominated.
On a more personal note, I am ecstatic that The Exploding Girl has been nominated for the John Cassavetes Award. My adoration for writer-directors Bradley Rust Gray and So Yong Kim is well-documented.
Joel McHale will host the Spirit Awards on Saturday, February 26.
Here is the complete list of nominees:
Best Feature
127 Hours
Black Swan
Greenberg
The Kids Are All Right
Winter’s Bone
Best Director
Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
Danny Boyle – 127 Hours
Lisa Cholodenko – The Kids Are All Right
Debra Granik – Winter’s Bone
John Cameron Mitchell – Rabbit Hole
Best First Feature
Everything Strange and New
Get Low
The Last Exorcism
Night Catches Us
Tiny Furniture
Best Male Lead
Ronald Bronstein, Daddy Longlegs
Aaron Eckhart, Rabbit Hole
James Franco, 127 Hours
John C. Reilly, Cyrus
Ben Stiller, Greenberg
Best Female Lead
Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right
Greta Gerwig – Greenberg
Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole
Natalie Portman – Black Swan
Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine
Best Supporting Female
Ashley Bell, The Last Exorcism
Dale Dickey, Winter’s Bone
Allison Janney, Life During Wartime
Daphne Rubin-Vega, Jack Goes Boating
Naomi Watts, Mother and Child
Best Supporting Male
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Samuel L. Jackson, Mother and Child
Bill Murray, Get Low
John Ortiz, Jack Goes Boating
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Best Screenplay
Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right
Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini, Winter’s Bone
Nicole Holofcener, Please Give
David Lindsay-Abaire, Rabbit Hole
Todd Solondz, Life During Wartime
Best First Screenplay
Diane Bell – Obselidia
Lena Dunham – Tiny Furniture
Nik Fackler – Lovely, Still
Bob Glaudini – Jack Goes Boating
Dana Adam Shapiro, Evan M. Wiener – Monogamy
Best Foreign Film
Kisses
Mademoiselle Chambon
Of Gods and Men
The King’s Speech
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Best Documentary
Exit Through The Gift Shop
Marwencol
Restrepo
Sweetgrass
Thunder Soul
Best Cinematography
Adam Kimmel, Never Let Me Go
Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Jody Lee Lipes, Tiny Furniture
Michael McDonough, Winter’s Bone
Harris Savides, Greenberg
The Cassavetes Award
(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)
Daddy Longlegs
The Exploding Girl
Lbs.
Lovers of Hate
Obsedila
The Robert Altman Award
(Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
Please Give
Piaget Producers Award
In-Ah Lee, Au Revoir Taipei
Adele Romanski, The Myth of the American Sleepover
Anish Savjani, Meek’s Cutoff
Someone to Watch Award
Hossein Keshavarz, Dog Sweat
Laurel Nakadate, The Wolf Knife
Mike Ott, Littlerock
@Cinefille 