Courtesy of Fox Searchlight
The Independent Spirit Award nominations were announced today, honoring the best of the year in lower-budget films ($20 million is the budget cap). In the past, these awards have been a way of honoring films that likely wouldn't get the Academy's attention (the awards are given out in a parking lot the day before the Oscars). But in recent years, they've become early, semi-effective barometers of where certain films might stand in the bigger awards race.
The main stories we can divine from this year's nominations are about Boyhood and Birdman. Richard Linklater's three-hour, 12-year opus got nominated all over the place, proving that it has awards legs despite being released nearly six months ago. Meanwhile, Birdman shores up support as it heads into a crowded race filled with bigger, noisier films. That Emma Stone nomination could be a harbinger of things to come, while the nod for Boyhood's Patricia Arquette confirms a sure thing. Believe it or not, Arquette is currently the presumptive front-runner to win the whole dang thing come Oscar time, and this nomination is the first definitive milestone on the road to victory.
The assumed leader of the supporting-actor pack, J.K. Simmons, scored a nomination for his blistering work in Whiplash, as we all knew he would. But it's a wonderful surprise to see Alfred Molina up there in the supporting category, too, for Love Is Strange. He, his co-star John Lithgow, and that sublime film have been cruelly shut out of most awards chatter so far, so to see them get so many nominations here feels like the film is finally getting its proper due. On the other side of that coin, Harvey Weinstein figured out how to make Oscar favorite The Imitation Game eligible for Independent Spirit nominations, but it received none.
As is always the case, there are some real curve balls on this year's list. Outkast band member André Benjamin scored an acting nomination for playing Jimi Hendrix in a biopic practically nobody has seen. Jim Jarmusch's cultishly admired but otherwise overlooked vampire drama, Only Lovers Left Alive, pulled in a few nominations, while Marion Cotillard got a nod for her performance in The Immigrant, a hotly anticipated movie that fizzled when it screened at festivals and was then unceremoniously dumped on Netflix. (It's not bad! You should watch it!) The Independent Spirit Awards never forget, is the lesson here, we suppose.
Here is the full list of nominations. The awards will be given out on February 21.
BEST FEATURE
BEST DIRECTOR
BEST FIRST FEATURE
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000.)
BEST FEMALE LEAD Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant Rinko Kikuchi, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter Julianne Moore, Still Alice Tilda Swinton, Only Lovers Left Alive Jenny Slate, Obvious Child
BEST EDITING
BEST DOCUMENTARY
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Given to one film's director, casting director and ensemble cast)
Inherent Vice Director:Paul Thomas Anderson Casting Director:Cassandra Kulukundis Ensemble Cast:Josh Brolin, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio Del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Michael Kenneth Williams, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon
Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
Filed under:birdmanboyhoodselmanightcrawler
Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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