Winners of the 40th Independent Spirit Awards

by Nick Taylor

Last night, the 40th Indie Spirit Awards came and went. The SAG Awards could begin at any moment, meaning we'll have a better sense on whether certain wins here might reverberate into the Oscars next week. Even taking the Oscar-adjacency of several winners into consideration, this is a solid pack of winners, with a couple pleasant surprises along with some disappointing rubber-stamping. Here's the list of winners from this year's Indie Spirit Awards, with some delightful commentary from yours truly. If you want to go back and watch the show, Film Independent has uploaded the ceremony in its entirety on YouTube. Click here to watch it!...

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Berlinale 75: "Blue Moon" isn't your traditional biopic

by Elisa Giudici

Watching Blue Moon, I couldn’t help but think of Inside Llewyn Davis, one of the Coen brothers’ most accomplished yet underappreciated films. That movie introduced Oscar Isaac in what remains his most astonishing performance, portraying a talented but ill-fated musician who arrived just a bit too soon to achieve success. A similar fate awaited Blue Moon’s protagonist, though his story unfolds decades earlier, in 1943 New York, amid the turmoil of World War II...

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Oscar Volley: No matter who takes Best Animated Film, we’re all winners!

The Oscar Volleys are back for some post-nomination talks. Today, Cláudio Alves and Nathaniel Rogers discuss Best Animated Film...

FLOW | © Janus Films / Sideshow

CLÁUDIO: Last year, I got to go to the Annecy Animation Film Festival and was lucky enough to watch Gints Zilbalodis' Flow shortly after its Cannes premiere. I loved it on the spot, besotted by complicated camera choreography and the cuteness of its feline lead, but couldn't imagine what was to come. Looking at my original review, I even mentioned hopes that it'd get international distribution, which, at the time, wasn't guaranteed for the small Latvian production. Goodness, how things have changed. It turns out that Flow was the tiny film that could, storming through the awards season like a meowing underdog. Beyond becoming a cause célèbre for its home country, the film overcame Pixar's blockbuster hit Inside Out 2 to become The Wild Robot's biggest competition for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. 

And the best part is that, whichever of the two wins, we'll have a fantastic champion in our hands, something both of us know shouldn't be taken for granted. Isn't it wonderful?

NATHANIEL: It is bliss, yes. Both films are in my top 20 of the year (top ten list coming very soon)…

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Berlinale 75: On the Golden Bear-winning "Dreams"

by Elisa Giudici

First love is by definition all-consuming, reshaping one’s world with overwhelming intensity. In Dreams (Sex Love), a multi-generational reflection on first love from Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugerud, captures this transformative experience, The movie tells the story of Johanne, a high school student who falls deeply for her French teacher. While the premise may seem familiar, the film’s execution is anything but. With remarkable authenticity, Dreams conveys the raw, feverish energy of youthful desire—both in mind and body—while weaving in a broader meditation on love across different stages of life...

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Robert Altman @ 100: “Nashville”

By Juan Carlos Ojano

To continue celebrating Robert Atman’s centennial anniversary, I have decided to finally take care of a longtime cinematic blind spot: his seminal 1975 opus Nashville. Released during the heyday of New Hollywood, the film tracks the lives of twenty-four main characters — singers, dreamers, and others — as they navigate their lives in the titular city within five days as the presidential campaign of a populist candidate is set to mount a political rally cum concert. 

For my first encounter with this film, I decided to watch this film twice within a three-day period. And how powerful the experience is...

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