Live Blog : Independent Spirit Awards

Welcome to the Independent Spirit Awards Live Blog!  Your usual host Nathaniel is otherwise occupied. I’m Murtada hoping to take you through the next couple of hours in good spirits and minimal puns.

Refresh periodically for updates!

The show hosts today are Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon and  Silicon Valley’s Kumail Nanjiani. They gave a fun interview to Vanity Fair where they both admitted to being obsessed with awards shows growing up. Do you think they read The Film Experience?

McKinnon:

 "I have this notebook. I’m about 12 and I’ve got a notebook, and I watch all these shows and write down the winners in all of the categories. In every category at all the Oscars, the Globes, the Emmys. . . . Because I was really so interested in the entertainment industry.”

 Nanijani:

"I loved the Oscars and I had V.H.S. tapes for the Oscars, and I used to watch them over and over. There was probably one year where I watched it like 20 times or something.”

Read it when the commercials are on; it’s fun.

The nominations were led by Carol (6) and Beasts of No Nation (5). But if the last few years are any indication then Spolight, which scored 4 nominations, is the favorite since it's the only Oscar best picture nominee in the running. They really love the Oscars at Indie Spirits. 

However this year there are several categories that have 0 correlation with Oscar. So we are in for an unpredictable show. Hopefully.

Live commentary after the jump:

Let’s start with some blue carpet pics: first up Goddess, movie star and nominee Cate Blanchett.

Nominee Abraham Attah - Beasts of No Nation

Nominees Ben Mendelsohn (Mississippi Grind), Cynthia Nixon (James White) and Tom McCarthy with Rachel McAdams ( both from Spotlight).

This might be the hottest Mendelsohn ever looked. The grey hair suits him. On to the show........

5:00 - Show starts with a video play on the nominated films starring the hosts. Very heavy on the plot of Room. "Beasts of No Nation is too heavy" - first #oscarsowhite joke.

5:06 - Monologue is heavy on child abuse jokes; linking Room to Spotlight to Beasts. Good job from the hosts connecting Carol to O J Simpson. Behold those gloves!

 5:14 - Best Supporting Male

Kevin Corrigan - Results, Paul Dano - Love & Mercy,  Idris Elba - Beasts of No Nation, Richard Jenkins - Bone Tomahawk and Michael Shannon -99 Homes.

Prediction: Elba - he won a few awards recently; will this streak continue?

... and the winner is Elba! He brings up Atta to the podium to share the award with him.

5: 22 Best First Screenplay

Jesse Andrews - Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Jonas Carpignano - Mediterranea, Emma Donoghue - Room, Marielle Heller - The Diary of a Teenage Girl, John Magary - Russell Harbaugh, Myna Joseph- The Mend

Prediction: Room

... and the winner is Room. Jacob Tremblay presents Emma Donoghue with the award. Did you know Donoghue was gay? She thanks her wife from the stage.

5:28 Best Documentary

(T)error, Best of Enemies, Heart of a Dog, The Look of Silence, Meru, The Russian Woodpecker

Prediction: The Look of Silence

... and it is Joshua Oppenheimer for The Look of Silence. The producer thanks the Indonesian crew who have to remain anonymous for their safety.

Rooney Mara looks skeptical. Let's hope Carol wins something so we can see her smile.

5:35 Best First Feature

The Diary of a Teenage Girl, James White, Manos Sucias, Mediterranea, Songs My Brothers Taught Me

Prediction: The Diary of a Teenage Girl

... and we are right again! Diary of a Teenage Girl wins. Marielle Heller accepts the award. Calls Bel Powley "everyone's favorite new actress!".

5:40 Mark Ruffalo is on stage to wax poetic about the ensemble of Spotlight and present them with the Robert Atlman award. The award, announced before the show, goes to the cast, the director and the casting director.

5:50 Best Cinematography

Beasts of No Nation, Carol, It Follows, Meadlowland, Songs My Brothers Taught Me

Prediction: Carol which should win everything but will it win any?

... and the winner is Carol. Ed Lachman gets a standing ovation and pays tribute to Haynes, Nagy, and singles out Blanchett and Mara for "emotional frames with visual details". 

5:45 a very funny Carol spoof with McKinnon as Carol and Nanijani as an oblivious waiter who keeps interupting her seduction of Therese. 

6:09 John Cassavetes Award (Best Feature Under $500,000)

 Advantageous, Christmas, Again, Heaven Knows What, Krisha, Out of My Hand

Prediction: Heaven Knows What - because it’s the most well known of these. Krisha is fantastic and will be released next month don’t miss it.

... and Krisha wins. Very deserved. The director mentions that he made a movie in his mom's house, starring his aunt. How very indie!

6:18 Best Screenplay

Charlie Kaufman -Anomalisa, Donald Margulies - The End of the Tour, Phyllis Nagy - Carol, Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer- Spotlight, S. Craig Zahler - Bone Tomahawk

Prediction:Spotlight

.. it's Spotlight. McCarthy asks the real life reporters to stand up while naming them and they get a standing ovation. Singer singles out the only survivor in attendance Phil Saviano.

6:25 Kate McKinnon does a long unfunny characterization of a clueless indie film investor. Good thing it ends with her kissing Paul Dano; who's totally game.

6:30 Best International Film

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Embrace of the Serpent, Girlhood, Mustang, Son of Saul

Prediction: Son of Saul

... and in an possible Oscar preview Son of Saul wins.

6:40 Best Supporting Female

Robin Bartlett - H., Marin Ireland - Glass Chin, Jennifer Jason Leigh - Anomalisa, Cynthia Nixon - James White, Mya Taylor - Tangerine

Prediction: Taylor

... and the winner is Taylor. Says "I feel fat" and gets a big laugh then proceeds to talk about being skeptical about Tangerine when she heard that it was being shot on iPhones. 

"There's very beautiful transgender talent".

6:54  Best Director

Sean Baker - Tangerine, Cary Joji Fukunaga - Beasts of No Nation, Todd Haynes - Carol, Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson - Anomalisa, Tom McCarthy - Spotlight, David Robert Mitchell - It Follows

Prediction: Todd Haynes

... and the winner is Tom McCarthy. Haynes has won this award before and Spotlight is a fine movie but it still stings. HARD. McCarthy mentions Haynes in his acceptance speech noting that he was always inspired by Haynes' work.

7:02 Best Male Lead

Christopher Abbott - James White, Abraham Attah- Beasts of No Nation, Ben Mendelsohn - Mississippi Grind, Jason Segel - The End of the Tour, Koudous Seihon - Mediterranea

Prediction: Jason Segel

.... and the winner is Attah. Fantastic! He gives the audience a big smile thanking his director and co-star.

7:09 Best Female Lead

Cate Blanchett - Carol, Brie Larson - Room, Rooney Mara - Carol, Bel Powley - The Diary of A Teenage Girl, Kitana Kiki Rodriguez - Tangerine

Prediction: Larson.

... and the winner is Larson. And so the season ends with Blanchett winning almost nothing for her best performance. At least the Online Film Critics chose her! Yep OFCS is the only award Blanchett won for Carol.

7:20 Best Feature

Anomalisa, Beasts of No Nation, Carol, Spotlight, Tangerine

Prediction: Spotlight

.. of course it's Spotlight. In the recent tradition of Silver Linnings Playbook and Birdman it really helps if the movie has Oscar traction to win here.

What do you think of these winners? If you are a bit heartbroken for Carol - like me - let's console each other in the comments.

Update: This moment from the show has since gone viral. Enjoy!

Gifs courtesy of Eden.

Comments

[PHIL]

That picture of Rooney is priceless! On another note, hopefully we'll have some surprises tonight...

[Bruno]

Yay, Carol won something!

[gwynn1984]

What a shame Idris wasn't nominated for the Oscar. We'd have a hell of a race right now.

[adelutza]

That Carol spoof was priceless :-))

[adelutza]

If Todd Haynes can't win here, where is he going to win ?

[adelutza]

Editing was the first award ( off TV ) - Spotlight

[Nick Davis]

Speaking my language on Mendelsohn, Murtada!

[adelutza]

I was warming up towards Spotlight in the light of The Revenant's ascension - but no movie should win this many awards in a single show. It's like everything else was shit.

[Murtada Elfadl]

thanks adelutza for the editing award info.

Nick - I totally had to look again. And again.

[eilis]

I expected more from the Indies. CAROL deserved more awards. Something is amiss.

[Robert G]

I forgot Advantageous was nominated here. Such a wonderful science fiction feature. So tiny it didn't even submit for Academy Awards consideration. A must-see on Netflix and a great double feature with Ex Machina.

[AR]

Literally never heard of Out of My Hand or H. Are they any good?

[Hayden W.]

So happy for Mya Taylor! And for Cynthia Nixon—what a way to lose. It's like everybody wins at the Spirit Awards, right? Even JJL was there repping a whole OTHER 2015 joint than the one she's Oscar-nominated for tomorrow night.

One question, though—what was Tangerine's production budget? If the iPhone filming was really necessary (and not just a hipster creative choice) wouldn't it qualify for the John Cassavettes award? If it qualified, I'm sure it would've made the list.

[Hayden W.]

Like, how do you finance a movie for more than $500,000 and fail to budget for real cameras?

[Steph Bello]

SO sad Carol's only major/televised award this whole season will likely be one Indie Spirit for Cinematography, which is even less than Far From Heaven.

[Ez]

Cate grabbing Rooney's boob gives me life. My life is just all about that moment now.

[Patryk]

I'm genuinely surprised by some of the winners. Some snickered when voting rights were given to paying members...but at least they watched the films. I just wish Blanchett and Haynes won, but they have plenty of hardware.

[Ana]

Just like with almost every other award show my heart broke (again) because Carol didn't win nearly as many awards as it deserved. I loved Ed Lachmanns speech though! I feel like everyone who was involved in making the movie deeply appreciates and respects each other, in a way that all those award shows will never be able to. That, at least, makes up for the missing prices. I mean seriously, Cate grabbing Rooney boob was the highlight of the Spirit Awards! I hope they will keep up their spirit at the Oscars.

[mark]

Isn't a known rule whoever wins Indie in Actress looses the Oscar.

[Murtada Elfadl]

Mark- Moore, Blanchett, Lawrence and Portman won first on Saturday so.....

Ez- ask and you shall recieve.

[Suzanne]

I like Abraham Attah's performance a whole lot, but I really wish Jason Segel had won something for his great performance in The End of the Tour this year. For my money, it was the best lead performance by an actor in 2015.

[Matt St.Clair]

I think Attah is very deserving, but I wish Mendelsohn had won just to see him win an award. It always feels like he's underappreciated and it's like an icy dagger in my soul considering how phenomenally talented he is.

[Jeff]

Forgive my ignorance, but can someone please tell me what is wrong with Edward Lachman? I have been Googling him all day wondering about him slowly making his way to stage and getting a standing ovation? Is he dying or suffering from some kind of disease?

[Carmen Sandiego]

"Like, how do you finance a movie for more than $500,000 and fail to budget for real cameras?"

This was funnier than any of the jokes in the opening act! xD

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