Spirit Award Winners
Saturday, February 26, 2011 at 5:41PM Since they aren't airing the show live (it comes on at 10 PM EST) we shan't live-blog -- seriously in this day and age no live airing? Epic stupidity -- but we can share winners and talk about highlights after zee fact late tonight or tomorrow as we just skim through the show.
Jennifer Lawrence and Nicole Kidman, both nominated
Best First Screenplay Lena Durhman Tiny Furniture. Though she's already won the true prize: an HBO pilot deal. Tiny Furniture is quite singular and funny so check it out when you can.
Best Cinematography Matthew Libatique Black Swan. Yay! Single best thing about Black Swan if you ask me. He also won our gold medal.
Best Supporting Actress Dale Dicky in Winter's Bone. She puts the hurt on Lawrence so beautifully.
Best First Feature Aaron Schneider for Get Low. (Scott Cooper won this last year for Crazy Heart. Moral of the story: Find an old grizzly acting legend and you're newbie gold!)
Best Actor James Franco in 127 Hours. I'm so glad Colin Firth wasn't eligible. Firth was good in The King's Speech but so were a lot of people this year.
Best Documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop. Mr Brainwash accepts the prize. Apparently goes on and on. Honestly I feel like I'm live blogging blindfolded. I hate tape delay. This is 2011. This is not my childhood with 3 television stations and friends who had something exotic called "cable"
Best Foreign Film The King's Speech. I guess it's too much to ask the masses to vote for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. And the masses can vote on the Spirits if they join. Which is, I think, why it's more like the Oscars than not of late.
Robert Altman Award to Please Give. Yay. It also made our best ensemble nominations. Have you seen it yet?
Cassavettes Awards Daddy Longlegs
Best Supporting Actor John Hawkes for Winter's Bone. It's turning into quite a "Weekend in the Ozarks" here. Is it too much to hope that Jennifer Lawrence wins too? A nice change of pace that'd be. And when there are so many hundreds of awards to win each year, why do they all gotta go to the same things?
Mark Ruffalo tweeted a beautiful congrats to his "opponent" and apparently friend.
John Hawkes is the Man. Congratulations brother. All our days in shitty little theaters back in the day paid off. Blessings!!
And he also snapped a photo of Lisa Cholodenko and her woman Wendy. The Cholodenkos Are All Right. Speaking of...
Best Screenplay Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg for The Kids Are All Right
Best Actress Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Director Darren Aronofksy, Black Swan
Best Feature Black Swan
It started as a Winter's Bone evening and then sported a rash that quickly turned into black swan feathers.
And that's it. Now the show is but an afterthought. What strange programming decisions stations make of late. The things that IFC felt were more important to show during the actula awards were The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005) and Boondock Saints (2000) which they have undoubtedly shown hundreds of times already.
Stranger still it seems my IFC is not working. Dang. I was really not meant to watch this. I shall dutifully wait to see YouTube videos of Dale Dickey and John Hawkes winning their well deserved prizes.
See also: THE NICOLE KIDMAN SPIRIT SHOW
Reader Comments (43)
I'm just going to talk to myself cuz that's what blogging is all about. Nicole Kidman looks a-ma-zing in red, doesn't she?
why yes, nathaniel, she does!
Personally I can't get over how amazing Jennifer Lawrence has looked at every single award event there has been this season. Can't wait to see her walk that red carpet tomorrow!
well it helps that she's ridiculously hot. And so young. and so talented. hopefully she's just warming up.
I wonder if Catherine Keener is there... I might tune in just to see her - or just look out for pictures.
Nathaniel, you're getting awfully excited for how different these acting winners are, but you've neglected to point out that so far, they've been the Oscar nominees from their categories nominated. So the Spirits are still acting as much like the Oscars as they can.
Can you imagine if Bening and Portman split the vote and Lawrence ends up winning Best Actress?! Just to see the reactions - please, movie gods make it happen!
Nicole looks amaaaaaaaazing. I've just seen a picture of her next to... Ewan McGregor!!!
Nicole & Ewan, one of the best (fictional) couples ever. Love them together.
Mark Rufallo loves lesbians!
Kevin well that's the story with the indies always. they haven't been truly indie in years.
BUT that's why it's even cooler that Dickey & Hawkes won.
Well... I'm totally disappointed. I was rooting for Annette. I love that performance so much.
Portman, again? Is that really the only lead female performance this year worthy of awards love?
this is why I end up being so bored by the actual awards season - year in, year out. (except perhaps last year, when I genuinely held a shred of hope that Gabby Sidibe would win...idiot that I am.)
Wow, Natalie Portman won? But Indie Spirit acting awards are usually consolation prizes. Since 1985, only six people won both the Indie Spirit and the Oscar (in lead acting):
Actor
05: Hoffman
09: Bridges
Actress
85: Page
96: McDormand
99: Swank
03: Theron
To be fair, most of these races were pretty locked up, just like Portman's seems to be. Hoffman and Bridges were locks; Page lost the GG to Whoopi Goldberg but won everything else, McDormand lost only the BAFTA to Blethryn, and Swank and Theron weren't nominated for BAFTA that year, but were nominated the next year (eligibility rules). Looks like Portman is going to join this group.
I guess we should just watch the Oscar red carpet. Why watch the whole thing? We already know all the winners. Bor...ing.
"Portman, again? Is that really the only lead female performance this year worthy of awards love?"
YOU GOT ME BABE. I was rooting for Bening or/and Willams.
DALE DICKEY! won Im an HAPPY MEN... FU@# u N.Portman your nothing!
DALE RULES!
chand -- well there films are more "indie" essentially. but i think it's only going to get more like this each year. There's something about people wanting to stamp other people's choices empphatically like "me too!!!!" about awards season that's weird.
janice -- yeah, in 2011 i'm really going to have to do some thinking about how i approach coverage. because there has to be another way to do it that doesn't. I probably need to not five over the blog so fully to oscar stuff each year. I actually seem to enjoy writing the blog more on teh off season when people are weirdly not as apt to show up. There's more variety of feeling. or maybe i'm just tired right now. also possible.
I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO TOMORROW THOUGH. despite not hosting a party and just blogigng due to various things that happened chez moi.
stjeans -- yes that is the happy part.
Of course, my analysis wouldn't be complete without examining if any perceived frontrunner won the Indie and then lost the Oscar. It turns out, that doesn't happen all that often, probably because upsets don't happen often in the first place. The following loosely fit the bill, but none of them were solid frontrunners like Natalie Portman is this year.
Sally Kirkland '87
- won GG, Indie; not nominated for BAFTA; lost Oscar to Cher
Sissy Spacek '01
- won GG, Indie; lost BAFTA to Judi Dench; lost SAG, Oscar to Halle Berry
Bill Murray '03
- won GG, BAFTA, Indie; lost SAG, Oscar to Sean Penn
Felicity Huffman '05
- won GG, Indie; not nominated for BAFTA; lost SAG, Oscar to Reese Witherspoon
Mickey Rourke '08
- won GG, BAFTA, Indie; lost SAG, Oscar to Sean Penn
Looks like the SAG is critical.
So glad to see Dale win for Winter's Bone - definitly great supporting actress performance. Super creepy good.
Wendyyyy!!!!
To quote Teri Garr in Tootsie, "I just want my pain now.". That is how I feel about Bening's inevitable defeat at tomorrow's Oscars ceremony.
Nathaniel - you will NOT be at an Oscar party? That seems sacriligious.
I am very pleased to see Dale Dickey getting an award, finally. Love, love, love her.
When Jeff Bridges announces who the Oscar goes to for Best Actress I’ll do what I’ve always have whenever there’s a frontrunner I’m rooting against: I’ll shout their name first to blunt the impact. I hope when I scream Natalie he says Annette.
When Jeff Bridges announces who the Oscar goes to for Best Actress I’ll do what I’ve always have whenever there’s a frontrunner I’m rooting against: I’ll shout their name first to blunt the impact. I hope when I scream Natalie he says Annette.
Pretty good selection of winners, I thought Winter's Bone was fanatastic, but I thought Black Swan was better, so I'm glad it prevailed. Wouldn't have minded if Lawrence won, just so she could win something, but oh well.
Dale Dickey and John Hawkes winning has made my day.
Yes! Special Catherine Keener shout out from Holofcener! Gotta cherish those precious moments, although Cathy seemed a little embarrassed -- humble as usual.
I hope and pray (as I have all season) that Portman's overrated performance is just another Mickey Rourke (actor seen as frontrunner, in an Aronofsky movie, and won the Indie) and that she goes down in defeat to Annette Bening. Please let this happen. I would be so happy. So happy.
It's good to see John Hawkes win. But the fact that Nicole Kidman didn't win ANYTHING for Rabbit Hole this year is kind of making me want to kill little insects in the woods (or punch a tree, or something).
I love that Natalie used some of her airtime tonight to recognize women directors in her acceptance speech. Clearly, she didn't have to and it was a little out of place, but still a touching acknowledgment.
Nicole Kidman is an ice queen and she played an unlikeable ice queen IMO, Annette's performance simply isn't good enough, and Winter's Bone is overrated, a good but not great film that just isn't BEST PICTURE to me.
So color me happy for Black Swan.
It was nice of Portman to recognize the women directors but she also called herself extraordinary when she noted the six extraordinary women who were nominated in her category. Awkward to say the least.
Why does the Indie awards always give the BP award to the biggest money maker? It's getting annoying. Winter's Bone or The Kids seemed more likely winners.
Michelle Williams so deserved to win the best actress award.
I can't think of any scene in Black Swan in which Portman was exceptional. Most of the time she looks exhausted or panicky or straining to smile.
And to think Ziyi Zhang once got an Indie Spirit Award. Those were the days.
3rtfu11, BRILLIANT strategy! I will do the same and hope for Nicole or Annette and then try really hard not to roll my eyes at Natalie's speech and her inevitable grandiose platitudes. Don't think it will work though.
I thought host Joel McHale did a pretty good job with the jokes but the show was so uncharacteristically lifeless and dull. And the setting seems MUCH too large now, they need to dial it down a la the 2001-2005 years when it mas more intimate and cozy. And the time changes were weird. Doesn't it normally take place around noon in CA time? It seemed like a nighttime event because they were all freezing apparently from all the comments throughout.
Anyways, it pretty boring. And I COMPLETELY miss all those Best Feature sing-a-longs they used to do, it added so much fun to the proceedings.
The winners were mostly good. Great to see Dale Dickey pick something up. Was hoping for Ruffalo to win here but alas Hawkes isn't too shabby. Hate that First Feature went to a safe lackluster film featuring a veteran grizzled actor AGAIN. Love seeing Black Swan creep up and take the big ones at the end. I'd LOVE to see Matthew Libatique repeat his Cinematography win tomorrow night.
And the cunnilingus jokes were amazing! Nate, I thought of you and your pointing out of this that one time. LOL.
The Portman detractors can whine all they want but she's pretty much dominated this awards season.
BM -- hence the whining. Domination is dull. When there are so many exceptional performances in one year it's so lame that nobody gets to pick up any statuettes but one. The thing is I loved Portman in Black Swan btu this is not a Sophie's Choice level performance (one of the very very rare times that a sweep of everything would make sense). Most of the time the variation in the people who were great in one year is slim. i.e. "they were all great!" so why?
anyway. this is why i'll always love the Globes. The separation of categories insures that at least one awrds show you get two best actors and two best actors and someone gets their only award of the season.
I wonder if Kidman or Benning had been winning all the awards this season, if certain people would be complaing about "mixing it up". Face it, Portman killed it in Black Swan. She deserves the recognition. Good for her.
The award season mechanic REALLY has to change!! I mean, why on earth do we need so many awards and voting block if ALL of them seem to have the exact same opinion?? (and how is that possible?!?). Portman is fantantic in RepulsionBlack Swan but her performance is far from being epic or undeniable a la Seymour-Hoffman or Day-Lewis. Benning also killed it, Moore was fantastic, Kidman (my personal favourite) and Williams were totally raw and heartwrenching, Manville, Lawrence, Swinton...all of them virtuoso performances.Why the hell is only Portman in the conversation? And the same applies to Firth and the leading actor category. The only EPIC work i've seen this year came from Bale and Weaver and, ironically, they are not sweeping at all (a Geoffrey Rush upset tonight is absolutely concevable, and Weaver has near to 0 chances to win). I think we all want tension, surprise and excitement, this is just BOOOOOORING. I'm with Chand, i will probably only watch the red carpet tonight LOL
btw, PENELOPE CRUZ (¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡) is apparently attending to support Bardem...i think that will be the highlight of my Oscar night.
One reason Firth is winning so much is because he is so likeable, a teddy bear recently, and a sex symbol to many. And he plays a man who would be king. The love him, they really love him.
I have no explanation why Portman is winning so much except that the voters want to give Black Swan something and they are too lazy to watch all the other incredible female acting performances. Well it doesn't matter, I expect Portman will impress us less in the future while Lawrence, Kidman, Bening, Williams, Swinton, Manville will continue to amaze us.
That's the reason I hate Awards Show. I don't usually puts my heart to it until this year for some odd reason. It's just about the buzz, the biggest buzz you get the more chance of you dominate the awards circuit. I hated how NP's one year tough training speeches/praises got over the entire world.. Gosh, at the end, you still do double body and the whole movie was about that one-two dimensional expression (frighten to the 9th degree). I thought NP only award was the nomination. The other actresses running the same field show multifaceted well layered emotions in real life situations are more deserving than NP. Bening should get the gold for once. She had been subbed many times. She had an incredible long list of great performances throughout her movie career which scream Oscar winner.
To say Nicole Kidman is an ice queen is something I will never understand, never.
After seeing Nicole doing the Q&A after Rabbit Hole in Toronto, I will never think of her as an ice queen. She was so sweet and also gorgeous in person.