(Scroll over film titles for the full Black Sheep review.)
Last week, I was in Montreal on non-movie related business. It was consuming to say the least. Not only did I miss the announcement that James Franco and Anne Hathaway will be hosting the Oscars, but I also missed the nominations for the Film Independent Spirit Awards. This ceremony is always held the evening before the Oscars and honours the best in American independent cinema, including shout-out's to foreign entries and documentaries as well.
The 2010 nominees are a fantastic bunch with a couple of notable exceptions that could cripple Oscar odds right from the start. Leading the pack with seven nominations, is WINTER'S BONE, the "chilling" tale of survival in the Ozarks, with nods for Best Feature, Director (Debra Granik) , Lead Actress (Jennifer Lawrence), Screenplay (Granik and Anne Rosellini), Supporting Actress (Dale Dickey) and Supporting Actor (John Hawkes). The film is considered an underdog at the Oscars and this will certainly assist its Best Picture odds, as well as its actors' chances. Coming in next with 5 nods is the summer indie favorite, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, from director, Lisa Cholodenko. Cholodenko earns nods for writing and directing, while the film nabs a Best Feature nod and stars Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo earn acting kudos in their respective categories. The film has a good shot at the Oscar Top 10 and Cholodenko might nab a screenplay nod as well, but no nomination for Julianne Moore in such a competitive year here, where she should have easily been rewarded, is a very bad start for her.
The Best Feature category is rounded out by 127 HOURS, BLACK SWAN and GREENBERG. Of the five nominees, GREENBERG is the only entry I don't believe in. I doubt the love shown here will translate elsewhere either. RABBIT HOLE would have been a much stronger choice. Still, the John Cameron Mitchell film was honoured with screenplay and direction nods, as well as one for lead actress, Nicole Kidman and lead actor, Aaron Eckhardt. Meanwhile, Oscar front runner, THE KING'S SPEECH earns a slot in the Foreign Film category, the only one it could have hoped for. This will certainly be the first amongst many accolades for the Tom Hooper hopeful. I was also disappointed not to see more love for the Nicole Holofcener gem PLEASE GIVE, which took just one nod for screenplay.
The Independent Spirit Awards will be held on February 26, 2011 and hosted by Joel McHale, the star of television's "Community". Here are the major category nominees:
BEST FEATURE
BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, BLACK SWAN
Danny Boyle, 127 HOURS
Lisa Cholodenko, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
Debra Granik, WINTER'S BONE
John Cameron Mitchell, RABBIT HOLE
BEST SCREENPLAY
Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Bloomberg, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini, WINTER'S BONE
Nicole Holofcener, PLEASE GIVE
David Lindsay-Abair, RABBIT HOLE
David Lindsay-Abair, RABBIT HOLE
Todd Solondz, LIFE DURING WARTIME
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Annete Bening, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
Greta Gerwig, GREENBERG
Nicole Kidman, RABBIT HOLE
Jennifer Lawrence, WINTER'S BONE
Natalie Portman, BLACK SWAN
BEST MALE LEAD
Ronald Bronstein, DADDY LONG LEGS
Aaron Eckhardt, RABBIT HOLE
James Franco, 127 HOURS
John C. Reilly, CYRUS
Ben Stiller, GREENBERG
For a full list of nominees and more information on the Film Independent Spirit Awards, visit their website, Spiritawards.com