Spirit Award Nominations. Discuss!

Oscar Best Picture hopefuls 12 Years a Slave and Nebraska ruled the Spirit Award nominations this afternoon with seven and six nominations respectively. All is Lost was a distant third place with 4 nominations. A bunch of other critical darlings managed 3 or less in a year that seemed to be about spreading the wealth... as least at the nomination stage. (Nominations for Enough Said but NOT Julia Louis-Dreyfuss in it. Hmmm. Best Feature for Frances Ha but only one other nomination? Curious though at least it was for the very deserving editing.

Complete list of nominees is after the jump... 

BEST FEATURE

• 12 Years a Slave (PRODUCERS: Dede Gardner, Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen, Arnon Milchan, Brad Pitt, Bill Pohlad)
• All Is Lost (PRODUCERS: Neal Dodson, Anna Gerb)
• Frances Ha (PRODUCERS: Noah Baumbach, Scott Rudin, Rodrigo Teixeira, Lila Yacoub)
• Inside Llewyn Davis (PRODUCERS: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Scott Rudin)
• Nebraska (PRODUCERS: Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa)

How cute is it that 40% of your best picture list is in Black and White?

BEST DIRECTOR

• Shane Carruth - Upstream Color
• J.C. Chandor - All Is Lost
• Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave
• Jeff Nichols - Mud
• Alexander Payne - Nebraska

3/5 director screenplay match. One wonders how close Mud & Upstream came to knocking Frances Ha and Llewyn Davis out of the mix in Picture.

BEST SCREENPLAY

• Woody Allen - Blue Jasmine
• Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater - Before Midnight
• Nicole Holofcener - Enough Said
• Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - The Spectacular Now
• John Ridley - 12 Years a Slave

A strong lineup and expect many of these -- probably most of them! -- to be up for Oscars.

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)

• Blue Caprice DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Alexandre Moors PRODUCERS: Kim Jackson, Brian O’Carroll, Isen Robbins, Will Rowbotham, Ron Simons, Aimee Schoof, Stephen Tedeschi
• Concussion DIRECTOR: Stacie Passon PRODUCER: Rose Troche
• Fruitvale Station DIRECTOR: Ryan Coogler PRODUCERS: Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker
• Una Noche DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Lucy Mulloy PRODUCERS: Sandy Pérez Aguila, Maite Artieda, Daniel Mulloy, Yunior Santiago
• Wadjda DIRECTOR: Haifaa Al Mansour PRODUCERS: Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul

One wonders by Una Noche and Wadjda weren't competing (also or instead) in Best International Film if they liked them this much. Still, since the Spirit Awards descend into a public voting the high profilest high profile usually wins everything so Fruitvale will be hard to beat.

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

• Lake Bell - In A World
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Don Jon
• Bob Nelson - Nebraska
• Jill Soloway - Afternoon Delight
• Michael Starrbury - The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
Which is the best feature made with a budget under 1/2 a million.  The award goes to the writer, director and producer. 

• Computer Chess WRITER/DIRECTOR: Andrew Bujalski PRODUCERS: Houston King & Alex Lipschultz
• Crystal Fairy WRITER/DIRECTOR: Sebastiàn Silva PRODUCERS: Juan de Dios Larraín & Pablo Larraín
• Museum Hours WRITER/DIRECTOR: Jem Cohen PRODUCERS: Paolo Calamita & Gabriele Kranzelbinder (reviewed)
• Pit Stop WRITER/DIRECTOR: Yen Tan WRITER: David Lowery PRODUCERS: Jonathan Duffy, James M. Johnston, Eric Steele, Kelly Williams (interview, capsule)
• This is Martin Bonner WRITER/DIRECTOR: Chad Hartigan PRODUCER: Cherie Saulter (capsule)

BEST FEMALE LEAD

 Brie Larson & Keith Stanfield = Spirit nominated duo (SHORT TERM 12)

• Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
• Julie Delpy - Before Midnight
• Gaby Hoffmann - Crystal Fairy
• Brie Larson - Short Term 12 (interview)
• Shailene Woodley -The Spectacular Now

BEST MALE LEAD

• Bruce Dern - Nebraska
• Chiwetel Ejiofor -12 Years a Slave
• Oscar Isaac -Inside Llewyn Davis
• Michael B. Jordan -Fruitvale Station
• Matthew McConaughey -Dallas Buyers Club
• Robert Redford - All Is Lost

This will surely be the category that most resembles the eventual Oscar lineup but it's the Oscar lineup that will look "Spirity" and not the other way around. Oscar can have only 5 so two of these men may well have to step aside for Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

• Melonie Diaz - Fruitvale Station
• Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine
• Lupita Nyong’o - 12 Years a Slave
• Yolonda Ross - Go For Sisters
• June Squibb - Nebraska

Interesting that the Spirit nominating jury felt, as I did in my review, that Melonie Diaz was the MVP from the supporting cast

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

• Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave
• Will Forte - Nebraska
• James Gandolfini - Enough Said
• Jared Leto -Dallas Buyers Club
• Keith Stanfield - Short Term 12

SIGH. Will Forte is not a supporting actor. Awards bodies never ever learn that "supportive character" means something different than "supporting character". A posthumous nomination for Gandolfini but no nomination for Dreyfus who anchors the whole warm and funny and painful movie?

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 

• Sean Bobbitt - 12 Years a Slave
• Benoit Debie - Spring Breakers
• Bruno Delbonnel - Inside Llewyn Davis
• Frank G. DeMarco - All Is Lost
• Matthias Grunsky - Computer Chess

I can't quite love on to Delbonnel's work for the Coen Bros as it looks so suffocatingly cool and very processed but 12 Years and Spring Breakers and All is Lost are strong contenders. (have you seen Computer Chess? Should I?) But mostly it's just aggravating that only cinephiles seem to understand how brilliant Bradford Young is. When can he expect some major awards attention?

BEST EDITING

• Shane Carruth & David Lowery - Upstream Color
• Jem Cohen & Marc Vives - Museum Hours
• Jennifer Lame - Frances Ha 
• Cindy Lee - Una Noche
• Nat Sanders - Short Term 12

 Another interesting category. I hated Upstream Color and as with a lot of non-linear pieces I feel like that approach can confuscate what might otherwise be lacking in structure or rhythm but I realize I'm in the minority where that art film goes. Frances Ha is a brilliant choice and my friends swear by Museum Hours.

BEST DOCUMENTARY 

• 20 Feet From Stardom DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Morgan Neville PRODUCERS: Gil Friesen & Caitrin Rogers
• After Tiller DIRECTORS/PRODUCERS: Martha Shane & Lana Wilson
• Gideon’s Army DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Dawn Porter PRODUCER: Julie Goldman
• The Act of Killing DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Joshua Oppenheimer PRODUCERS: Joram Ten Brink, Christine Cynn, Anne Köhncke, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Michael Uwemedimo
• The Square DIRECTOR: Jehane Noujaim PRODUCER: Karim Amer (reviewed)

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

• A Touch of Sin (China) DIRECTOR: Jia Zhang-Ke (reviewed)
• Blue is the Warmest Color (France) DIRECTOR: Abdellatif Kechiche (reviewed)
• Gloria (Chile) DIRECTOR: Sebastián Lelio
• The Great Beauty (Italy) DIRECTOR: Paolo Sorrentino
• The Hunt (Denmark) DIRECTOR: Thomas Vinterberg

The Chinese and French nominees, however wildly acclaimed/discussed, aren't Oscar eligible but the others are strong future Oscar hopefuls.  I expect that this is Blue is the Warmest Color's Spirit prize to lose.

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
This ensemble prize is given to the film's director, casting director and the cast. They never have nominees. Just a winner.

 Reese, Matthew, Tye, and Jacob and at their Cannes premiere for MUD

• MUD (Director: Jeff Nichols; Casting Director: Francine Maisler; Ensemble Cast:  Joe Don Baker, Jacob Lofland, Matthew McConaughey, Ray McKinnon, Sarah Paulson, Michael Shannon, Sam Shepard, Tye Sheridan, Paul Sparks, Bonnie Sturdivant, and Reese Witherspoon

 I liked this movie but it seems like an awfully odd choice for best ensemble honors. Reese's character is never truly defined, the villains are caricatures, and many of the cast members remain separated in their own little movies.

17th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
This $25,000 unrestricted grant is meant to  honor rising producers who work with limited resources but demonstrate  creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality film. 

• Toby Halbrooks & James M. Johnston
• Jacob Jaffke
• Andrea Roa
• Frederick Thornton

20th ANNUAL SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
This award goes to a film and filmmaker with singular vision that is still waiting to be appropriately recognized. Consider it a "discovery" type deal

• My Sister’s Quinceañera DIRECTOR: Aaron Douglas Johnston
• Newlyweeds DIRECTOR: Shaka King
• The Foxy Merkins DIRECTOR: Madeline Olnek

19th ANNUAL STELLA ARTOIS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Another $25,000 grant but this one is for documentary filmmakers waiting for significant recognition.

• Kalyanee Mam -A River Changes Course
• Jason Osder - Let the Fire Burn
• Stephanie Spray & Pacho Velez - Manakamana (reviewed)

And that's all! The Spirit Awards ceremony will be held the day before the Oscars as usual. 

Comments

[Jake D]

@Patryk Indie Spirits are, in most categories, for American-funded films only, I believe. Everyone else gets dumped in the Foreign Film Category and is ineligible for other stuff. (I guess Wadjda--nominated for best first feature--was technically eligible for all categories, as it was USA-funded. Nothing to do with language.)

[Jason]

Yes, I think you should watch COMPUTER CHESS (especially when you write about it). It is the only really independent movie in the cinematography category. The camerawork there is very, very bold and strong (not just because it is black and white) and should definitely be considered. But it probably doesn't have a big chance to win because most voters who would select it will not even have watched it. It will probably be very similar to the best first screenplay category where most voters only will have seen or even know of NEBRASKA.