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11.28.06
Independent Spirit Awards nominees.
Fresh and crispy.
Best Feature:
"American Gun"
"The Dead Girl"
"Half Nelson"
"Little Miss Sunshine"
"Pan's Labyrinth"
Best Director:
Robert Altman, "A Prairie Home Companion"
Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Ryan Fleck, "Half Nelson"
Karen Moncrieff, "The Dead Girl"
Steven Soderbergh, "Bubble"
Best First Feature:
"Day Night Day Night"
"Man Push Cart"
"The Motel"
"Sweet Land"
"Wristcutters: A Love Story"
Best Documentary:
"A Lion in the House"
"My Country, My Country"
"The Road to Guantanamo"
"The Trials of Darryl Hunt"
"You're Gonna Miss Me"
Best Foreign Film:
"12:08 East of Bucharest"
"The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros"
"Chronicle of an Escape"
"Days of Glory"
"The Lives of Others"
Shareeka Epps, "Half Nelson"
Catherine O'Hara, "For Your Consideration"
Elizabeth Reaser, "Sweet Land"
Michelle Williams, "Land of Plenty"
Robin Wright Penn, "Sorry, Haters"
Best Male Lead:
Aaron Eckhart, "Thank You For Smoking"
Ryan Gosling, "Half Nelson"
Edward Norton, "The Painted Veil"
Ahmad Razvi, "Man Push Cart"
Forest Whitaker, "American Gun"
Best Supporting Female:
Melonie Diaz, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints"
Marcia Gay Harden, "American Gun"
Mary Beth Hurt, "The Dead Girl"
Frances McDormand, "Friends With Money"
Amber Tamblyn, "Stephanie Daley"
Best Supporting Male:
Alan Arkin, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Raymond J. Barry, "Steel City"
Daniel Craig, "Infamous"
Paul Dano, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Channing Tatum, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints"
Best Screenplay:
Neil Burger, "The Illusionist"
Nicole Holofcener, "Friends with Money"
Ron Nyswaner, "The Painted Veil"
Jason Reitman, "Thank You For Smoking"
Jeff Stanzler, "Sorry, Haters"
Best First Screenplay:
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, "Half Nelson"
Michael Arndt, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Goran Dukic, "Wristcutters: A Love Story"
Dito Montiel, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints"
Gabrielle Zevin, "Conversations with Other Women"
Best Cinematography:
Arin Crumley, "Four Eyed Monsters"
Anthony Dod Mantle, "Brothers of the Head"
Guillermo Navarro, "Pan's Labyrinth"
Aaron Platt, "Wild Tigers I Have Known"
Michael Simmonds, "Man Push Cart"
Someone to Watch Award:
So Yong Kim, "In Between Days"
Julia Loktev, "Day Night Day Night"
Richard Wong, "Colma: The Musical"
John Cassavetes Award:
"Chalk"
"Four Eyed Monsters"
"Old Joy"
"Quinceañera"
"Twelve and Holding"
AJ Schnack, "Kurt Cobain: About a Son"
Adele Horne, "The Tailenders"
Eric Daniel Metzgar, "The Chances of the World Changing"
Producers Award:
Julie Lynn, "Nine Lives," "10 Items or Less"
Alex Orlovsky and Jamie Patricof, "Half Nelson," "Point&Shoot"
Howard Gertler and Tim Perell, "Shortbus," "Pizza"
Special Distinction:
Comments
Allison, thanks for the heads-up!! Replicated your list on my site with quips and quotes and look forward to hearing what others predict.
Posted by: Maya | Nov 28, 2006 11:43:05 PM
Enjoyed your commentary, Michael! I'm still a bit bemused by the nominations myself. I agree that (as much as I love it) "Pan's Labyrinth" is a strange fit, though according to IMDb it was made for just $5 million, which I find almost unbelievable. I wish the film well, though — there are few titles I enjoyed more this year.
And does anyone else has quibbles about "The Road to Guantanamo"'s documentary status?
Posted by: Alison | Nov 29, 2006 11:48:35 AM
Little Miss Sunshine was overrated!
Posted by: Eric | Nov 30, 2006 3:04:35 AM
Alison: You are not alone in "quibbling" about GUANTANAMO's documentary status!
According to his interview with the Guardian, Del Toro stated that PAN'S LABYRINTH came in under $5 million at least in part because he forfeited his salary. My question to you would be if there is an economic parameter that divides independents from their bigger brethren? Do you offhand know? Is it $5 million? $10 million. Or is an independent determined by its not being produced under the aegis of one of the major studios and that's it?
Posted by: maya | Nov 30, 2006 6:42:01 PM
For the purpose of the Spirit Awards, "independent" means a budget of below $20 million — I think at least in part to avoid the Gotham Awards' "The importance of filmmaking is the author's voice, which drives people to make independent films" approach as a runaround to nominating big films like "The Departed."
For me, defining indie film has become a kind of Associate Justice Potter Stewart-style "I know it when I see it" endeavor. Going by distributor means nothing these days — plenty of specialty distibution arms release films I wouldn't consider "indie" ("The Quiet"?). Meanwhile "The Fountain," love it or hate it, was released by Warner Brothers yet is in spirit one of the most independent films I've seen this year. Space snowglobe!
Posted by: Alison | Dec 1, 2006 11:39:09 AM
I wonder- is there any place where i can download these films from?
Posted by: Economic and Culture Observer (Lenno Cornish) | Nov 6, 2007 6:54:34 AM
