"Silver Linings" & "Moonrise" Lead Spirit Nominations

Continuing with the trend of star-laden "indies" of reasonable means dominating the once far more independent Spirit Awards, expectant future Best Picture nominee Silver Linings Playbook and Wes Anderson's adorable Oscar longshot Moonrise Kingdom led the pack of nominees with five citations each. In the shoe-stringier side of the equation films like Beasts of the Southern Wild, Middle of Nowhere, and Keep the Lights On also made strong showings. Since three mainstream / big studio efforts are expected to dominate the Oscars (that's Les Miz, Argo, & Lincoln if you've been sleeping for a month) this year, no film need worry about the Spirit curse ...wherein you score big here the day before the Oscars only to collapse at the big Hollywood event that you had hopes of also ruling.

Can "Beasts" win the Spirit Award?

Full list of nominees and commentary on each category after the jump

Click to read more ...

Liz & Link

Film.com Our friend Joe Reid debuts his Oscar column and explains why Oscars are good for us
Winnipeg Free Press interviews Kim Morgan on her Marilyn Monroe essay for Playboy
Huffington Post will Les Misérables virgins enjoy the film? Mike Ryan did.
Actors & Crew the best iPhone apps for filmmaking 
Natasha VC Feel all your feelings about James Spader (now appearing in Lincoln)
NY Times extensive audio & text piece on the sound design of Killing Me Softly. I love educational web goodies

The Atlantic worries that the conversion to digital will cost us deeply when it comes to the classics. Some of them may never look or sound the way they were intended to again. (With commentary from the brilliant editor Thelma Schoonmaker)
In Contention Can Beasts of the Southern Wild return to the Oscar fray? 
In Contention The "Oscar Bait" got good
Coming Soon photos from the set of R.I.P.D. with Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds. They don't look much like zombie police officers to me?
Movieline Did you know that Steven Spielberg was once turned down when he asked to direct James Bond!?
The Carpet Bagger is back and looking at how the new Oscar schedule may change release dates and campaign strategies 

Linds & Tricks
Gawker the wordless acting of Lindsay Lohan in Liz & Dick
TFE Mean Girls predicted the future! 
PopWatch the best lines from Liz & Dick 
Huffington Post 100 Twitter Reactions... their layout is really messy/annoying but if you scroll down the post title can be found in a slide show that looks like an ad... but it's actually the content of the post after a long intro. 

And no... I haven't yet watched Liz & Dick. I know. I didn't have the energy, wasn't in the right mood to see Liz defiled (easily among the top five best celebrities who ever lived -- in multiple senses of "best") and maybe you had to be there at the online viewing internet party anyway!

Curio: Big on Bigelow

Alexa here. Kathryn Bigelow turns 61 today (really?), and she is just all kinds of awesome, no? Determined and intelligent while blowing past all considerations of gender, she makes films with meticulous pace and atmosphere that always rise above the mass. Zero Dark Thirty, her latest, opens on December 19th but is already enjoying rave reviews.  I'm simultaneously glad she was the first woman to win a directing Oscar and appalled that it took that long for a woman to win one. 

To wish this most formidable lady a happy birthday I dredged up some celebrations of her two best-known films.

Posters by voagar, Felix Schlater, and bd designs.

Curio objects (not posters) celebrating Point Break (1991) are after the jump

Click to read more ...

Box Office Bounty For Thanksgiving

Buoyed by Twilight & 007 fanaticism, an abundance of newish Oscar contenders, and even a dusty remake for the crowd that doesn't care about Twilight or the Oscars or, you know, quality, there was something for everyone this Thanksgiving weekend! Moviegoers came out in droves for the biggest Thanksgiving at the movies ever.

So it's an extra long box office list today.

Box Office Top Twenty - Actuals
01 THE TWILIGHT SAGA FINALLY ENDS $43.6 (cum $227.3)
02 SKYFALL  $35.5 (cum. $221.1) Review & Deborah's Review
03 LINCOLN  $25.6 (cum. $62.8) Podcast Discussion
04 RISE OF THE GUARDIANS  $23.7 *NEW* (cum $32.3) Capsule Review
05 THE LIFE OF PI $22.4 *NEW* (cum. $30.5)
06 WRECK-IT RALPH  $16.5  (cum. $149.2)
07 RED DAWN $14.2 *NEW*  (cum. $21.6)
08 FLIGHT $8.4 (cum $74.7) Review
09 SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK $4.3  (cum $6.2) Beau's Review
10 ARGO $3.8 (cum $98)

11 TAKEN 2  $.9 (cum. $136.4)
12 ANNA KARENINA  $.8 (cum. $1.5) Capsule Review
13 PITCH PERFECT  $.7 (cum. $62.5) Capsule Review
14 THE SESSIONS $.7  (cum $3.9) Review
15 JAB TAK HAI JAAN  $.5  (cum. $3)
16 HERE COMES THE BOOM $.5 (cum. $42)
17 CLOUD ATLAS $.4 (cum $25.7)
18 THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER $.3  (cum $16.3) Capsule Review
19 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA $.3 (cum $143.5)
20 LOOPER $.3  (cum. $65.5) Review

So many decisions this Thanksgiving. Alexei or Vronsky? Pumpkin or Pecan?

What did you see this weekend? If it's Here Comes The Boom, Red Dawn or Taken 2 eight weeks into its run please spend some time in the corner thinking about your life choices. If it was Hitchcock (just outside this list) my review is here but really I have to confess that I'm so deeply ashamed of it because JA wrote the most brilliant possible review anyone could have ever written about it. For real - read it! 

Gotham Awards Winners

You inspire him"
-Amy Adams to Joaquin Phoenix in The Master

Did The Gotham Awards inspire more faith in the possibly fadingg Oscar prospects of The Master? They did not. The following films competed for Best Picture in NYC's sort-of answer to The Spirit Awards: 

• Bernie
• The Loneliest Planet
• The Master
• Moonrise Kingdom
• Middle of Nowhere

(Yes, The Beasts of The Southern Wild was already famously snubbed here when the nominations were announced last month though it had other nominations and the team was in town for the ceremony and to beat their Oscar drum.) 

THE WINNERS

Jared, Benh, and Ematatzy

Audience Award ARTIFACT. Jared Leto accepted the documentary about his band and a lawsuit.

Don't hate me because I beat that other film."

Breakthrough Director BENH ZEITLIN for Beasts of the Southern Wild

It's no time to sit around crying like a bunch of pussies. Make more movies."

Breakthrough Actor EMAYATZY CORINEALDI in Middle of Nowhere

(Beasts of the Southern Wild seemed to be having as rough a night as Gotham's Live Feed which sorely disappointed. But things turned around for it. The movie, not the live feed.)

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
(Incidentally my favorite idea for an award category ever)
AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY by Terence Nance 

Bingham Ray Prize
BENH ZEITLIN for Beasts of the Southern Wild 

Best Ensemble
YOUR SISTERS SISTER

Best Documentary
HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE 

Best Film
MOONRISE KINGDOM 

Michael made a For Your Consideration plea for Moonrise Kingdom in Best Picture a short time ago right here at The Film Experience. I've not been confident on its Oscar prospects mostly because the film skews so young in its narrative (Oscar isn't that enamored of childhood tales outside of the Foreign Film category) and because excessively stylized pictures tend to be a tough sell for many voters. But the Gotham win is heartening.

Are you happy with the outcomes this year? Do they inspire you?