FLASH/SPECIAL: Indy Spirit/NYFCC/Gotham Awards

The Film Awards season is off and running with three events occurring within the last 24 hours acting as the starting gun for the race.  The Gotham Awards (Independent Feature Project) last night and this morning The New York Film Critics Circle and nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards which, of the three, probably has the most heft.  Consider the impact of both "Black Swan" and "127 Hours"  in the Indy Spirits last year and their subsequent multiple Oscar nominations.

That being said, here are the results of all three announcements (Telluride #38 films are marked with ###):

The 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards will take place on Saturday, February 25, and will be broadcast later that evening on IFC.

The nominees:

BEST FEATURE

"The Artist"###

"Beginners"
"The Descendants"###
"Drive"
"50/50"
"Take Shelter"

BEST DIRECTOR

Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"###

Mike Mills, "Beginners"
Jeff Nichols, "Take Shelter"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"###
Nicolas Winding Refn, "Drive"

BEST SCREENPLAY

Joseph Cedar, "Footnote"###

Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"###
Tom McCarthy, "Win Win"
Mike Mills, "Beginners"
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, "The Descendants"###

BEST FIRST FEATURE

"Another Earth"

"In the Family"
"Margin Call"
"Martha Marcy May Marlene"
"Natural Selection"

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Mike Cahill, Brit Marling, "Another Earth"

J.C. Chandor, "Margin Call"
Patrick deWitt, "Terri"
Phil Johnston, "Cedar Rapids"
Will Reiser, "50/50"

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)

"Bellflower"

"Circumstance"
"Hello Lonesome"
"Pariah"
"The Dynamiter"

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Lauren Ambrose, "Think of Me"

Rachael Harris, "Natural Selection"
Adepero Oduye, "Pariah"
Elizabeth Olsen, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"

BEST MALE LEAD

Demian Bechir, "A Better Life"

Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"###
Ryan Gosling, "Drive"
Woody Harrelson, "Rampart"
Michael Shannon, "Take Shelter"

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Jessica Chastain, "Take Shelter"

Anjelica Huston, "50/50"
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"###
Harmony Santana, "Gun Hill Road"
Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"###

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Albert Brooks, "Drive"

John Hawkes, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
John C. Reilly, "Cedar Rapids"
Corey Stoll, "Midnight in Paris"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Joel Hodge, "Bellflower"

Benjamin Kasulke, "The Off Hours"
Darius Khondji, "Midnight in Paris"
Guillame Schiffma, "The Artist"
Jeffrey Waldron, "The Dynamiter"

BEST DOCUMENTARY

"An African Election"

"Bill Cunningham New York"
"The Interrupters"
"The Redemption of General Butt Naked"
"We Were Here"

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

"A Separation"###

"Melancholia"
"Shame"###
"The Kid With a Bike"###
"Tyrannosaur"

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD

Chad Burris, "Mosquita y Mari"

Sophia Lin, "Take Shelter"
Josh Mond, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

Simon Arthur, "Silver Tongues"

Mark Jackson, "Without"
Nicholas Ozeki, "Mamitas"

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

Heather Courtney, "Where Soldiers Come From"

Danfung Dennis, "Hell and Back Again"
Alma Har'El, "Bombay Beach"

 

The 2011 NYFCC award winners are:

Best Picture: "The Artist"###

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for "The Artist"###

Best Screenplay: Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for "Moneyball"

Best Actress: Meryl Streep for "The Iron Lady"

Best Actor: Brad Pitt for "Moneyball" and "Tree of Life"

Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain for "Tree of Life," "The Help" and "Take Shelter"

Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks for "Drive"

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for "Tree of Life"

Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary): "Cave of Forgotten Dreams"

Best Foreign Language Film: "A Separation"###

Best First Feature: "Margin Call"

Special Award: Late filmmaker Raoul Ruiz

GOTHAM AWARDS

Gothams, which are presented by the Independent Feature Project (IFP),

The winners:

Best Feature: "Beginners" and "The Tree of Life" (tie)

Best Documentary: "Better This World"

Best Ensemble Performance: "Beginners" (Christopher Plummer, Ewan McGregor, Melanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Kai

Lennox, Mary Page Keller, Keegan Boos)

Breakthrough Director: Dee Rees, "Pariah"

Breakthrough Actor: Felicity Jones, "Like Crazy"

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You: "Scenes of a Crime"

Audience Award: "Girlfriend"

First a look at how Telluride films fared: 13 Independent Spirit nominations.

2 NYFCC awards

 

It was a grand day for "The Artist".  NYFCC Best Picture and Director winner and 5 Indy Spirit noms (Feature, Director, Screenplay, Male Lead and Cinematography).  Maybe it IS the front runner for now (I still think "War Horse" and "Extremely Loud" have to be heard from.)

An "OK" day for "The Descendants".  Indy Spirit noms for Feature, Director, Screenplay and Supporting Actress.  No love for George though and no NYFCC or Gotham love either.

A good day for "A Separation" (an #occupyoscar choice for Original Screenplay).  Nommed as Best International film by Indy Spirits and named Best Foreign Language Film by NYFCC.

Albert Nobbs' Janet McTeer (another #occupyoscar choice) nominated by Indy Spirits (Yay!) but no nomination for Glenn Close (Hmmm).

"Footnote" gets an Indy Spirit screenplay nomination.

"Shame" (#occupyoscar choice in numerous categories) nominated for Indy Spirit Best International Film (along with the Dardennes Brothers "The Kid with a Bike")...I was disappointed that NYFCC didn't have "Shame" listed anywhere.


Other interesting notes:

Good day for "The Tree of Life". NYFCC winner for Actor, Supporting Actress and Cinematography. Plus a Gotham nod for Best Feature.

Good day for Albert Brooks...wins Supporting Actor for "Drive" from NYFCC and is also nommed by the Indy Spirits.  Overall, "Drive" had a good day.  Nommed for Indy spirits also for Feature, Director and Male Lead.

"Moneyball" also had a good day.  Pitt's dual win for Best Actor from the NYFCC plus its Screenplay win as well.


And a boost for Mike Mills "Beginners' (an #occupyoscar choice for Screenplay).  It got Indy Spirit noms for Feature, Director, Screenplay and Supporting Actor as well as Best Feature and Best Ensemble from the Gothams.

Also, I was pleased to see a nod for Corey Stoll (#occupyoscar) for Supporting Actor in "Midnight in Paris" from the Indy Spirit peeps and Shailene Woodley for Supporting Actress from "The Descendants"