Spirits: “We wants it, we needs it. Must have the Preciousss.”

Matt Dillon and Taraji P. Henson unveiled the nominations for Film Independent’s 25th Annual Spirit Awards this morning. Rather than gloat about the deserved snubs or bitch about the ones who were overlooked or cry about the ones who didn’t deserve to get nominated, I’m just going to celebrate some of the excellent or surprising choices and move on.

Very glad to see Joel and Ethan Coen and James Gray in the directing category for A Serious Man and Two Lovers respectively.

I never ultimately saw Paranormal Activity, but it’s a fun choice for Best First Feature.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Sophie Barthes’ Cold Souls, but her nom for Best First Screenplay I think is a very good one.

I’m thrilled to see Gwyneth Paltrow get a Best Female Lead nomination for Two Lovers.

Souléymane Sy Savané is a terrific Best Actor pick for Goodbye Solo.

Three cheers for Mia Wasikowska and especially Ray McKinnon getting nominated for their Supporting Actress and Actor work in That Evening Sun. I would’ve also liked to see the great Hal Holbrook recognized for his work in the film, but there’s some pretty stiff competition in the Best Male Lead category.

Roger Deakins can do no wrong so of course I’m happy for his Best Cinematography nomination for A Serious Man.

I still haven’t seen A Prophet, but Everlasting Moments, The Maid and Mother are all excellent choices for Best Foreign Film. The Maid is especially interesting in light of Catalina Saavedra’s Breakthrough Actor win at the Gothams last night.

Finally, though there was much excellent competition, The Robert Altman acting ensemble award going to A Serious Man is very good news.

Though the awards are normally broadcast from a giant tent in Santa Monica on the Saturday before the Oscars, this year’s show has been bumped up to Friday (March 5) and it’ll be held downtown.

Check out all the nominees after the jump:

Best Feature

• (500) Days Of Summer – Producers: Mason Novick, Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Steven J. Wolfe
• Amreeka – Producers: Paul Barkin, Christina Piovesan
• Precious – Producers: Lee Daniels, Gary Magness, Sarah Siegel-Magness
• Sin Nombre – Producer: Amy Kaufman
• The Last Station – Producers: Bonnie Arnold, Chris Curling, Jens Meuer

Best Director

• Ethan Coen, Joel Coen – A Serious Man
• Lee Daniels – Precious
• Cary Joji Fukunaga – Sin Nombre
• James Gray – Two Lovers
• Michael Hoffman – The Last Station

Best First Feature

• A Single Man – Director: Tom Ford, Producers: Tom Ford, Andrew Miano, Robert Salerno, Chris Weitz
• Crazy Heart – Director: Scott Cooper, Producers: T Bone Burnett, Judy Cairo, Rob Carliner, Scott Cooper, Robert Duvall
• Easier With Practice – Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Producer: Cookie Carosella
• Paranormal Activity – Director: Oren Peli, Producer: Jason Blum, Oren Peli
• The Messenger – Director: Oren Moverman, Producers: Mark Gordon, Lawrence Inglee, Zach Miller

John Cassavetes Award
(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)

• Big Fan – Writer/Director: Robert Siegel; Producers: Elan Bogarin, Jean Kouremetis
• Humpday – Writer/Director/Producer: Lynn Sheldon
• The New Year Parade – Writer/Director: Tom Quinn; Producers: Steve Beal, Tom Quinn
• Treeless Mountain – Writer/Director: So Yong Kim; Producers: Bradley Rust Gray, Ben Howe, So Yong Kim, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy
• Zero Bridge – Writer/Director: Tariq Tapa; Producers: Josee Lajoie, Hilal Ahmed Langoo, Tariq Tapa

Best Screenplay

• The Messenger – Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman
• The Last Station – Michael Hoffman
• The Vicious Kind – Lee Toland Krieger,
• Adventureland – Greg Mottola,
• (500) Days Of Summer – Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber,

Best First Screenplay

• Cold Souls – Sophie Barthes,
• Crazy Heart – Scott Cooper,
• Amreeka – Cherien Dabis,
• Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire – Geoffrey Fletcher,
• A Single Man – Tom Ford, David Scearce,

Best Female Lead

• Maria Bello – Downloading Nancy
• Helen Mirren – The Last Station
• Gwentyth Paltrow – Two Lovers
• Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
• Nisreen Faour – Amreeka

Best Male Lead

• Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
• Colin Firth – A Single Man
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt – (500) Days Of Summer
• Souléymane Sy Savané – Goodbye Solo
• Adam Scott – The Vicious Kind

Best Supporting Female

• Dina Korzun – Cold Souls
• Mo’Nique – Precious
• Samantha Morton – The Messenger
• Natalie Press – Fifty Dead Men Walking
• Mia Wasikowska – That Evening Sun

Best Supporting Male

• Jemaine Clement – Gentleman Broncos
• Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
• Christian McKay – Me and Orson Welles
• Raymond McKinnon – That Evening Sun
• Christopher Plummer – The Last Station

Best Cinematography

• Roger Deakins – A Serious Man
• Adriano Goldman – Sin Nombre
• Anne Misawa – Treeless Mountain
• Andrij Parekh – Cold Souls
• Peter Zeitlinger – Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Best Documentary

• Anvil! The Story of Anvil – Sacha Gervasi
• Food, Inc. – Robert Kenner
• More Than a Game – Kristopher Belman
• October Country – Donal Mosher, Michael Palmieri
• Which Way Home – Rebecca Cammisa

Best Foreign Film

• A Prophet (France) – Director: Jacques Audiard
• An Education (UK/France) – Director: Lone Scherfig
• Everlasting Moments (Sweden) – Director: Jan Troell
• Mother (South Korea) – Director: Bong Joon-Ho
• The Maid (Chile) – Director: Sebastian Silva

Robert Altman Award
(Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)

• A Serious Man
  Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
  Casting Directors: Ellen Chenoweth, Rachel Tenner
  Cast: Richard Kind, Sari Lennick, Jessica McManus, Michael Stuhlbarg, Aaron Wolff

Piaget Producers Award

• Karin Chien, The Exploding Girl, Santa Mesa
• Larry Fessenden, I Sell the Dead, The House of the Devil
• Dia Sokol, Beeswax, Nights & Weekends

Someone To Watch Award

• Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Easier With Practice
• Asiel Norton, Redland
• Tariq Tapa, Zero Bridge

Truer Than Fiction Award

• NNatalia Almada, El General
• Jessica Oreck, Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo
• Bill Ross, Turner Ross, 45365

Filed under: Awards
Tags: Film Independent, Spirit Awards