Spirit Award Nominations 2017
Tuesday, November 21, 2017 at 1:10PM by Nathaniel R
The Film Independent Spirit Award nominees hit today. Tessa Thompson and Lily Collins were on hand to announce the awards with the longest stretch of time between nominations and awards. The ceremony, as ever, will be held the day before the Oscars. So that's Saturday, March 3rd 2018 this time.
It was a huge day for Sony Pictures Classics (the company received 13 nominations in total) and for A24, too. Almost every single movie A24 released this year was nominated for at least a little something. As far as underseen pictures the happiest nominee this morning has to be Sony Pictures Classics' The Rider (reviewed here) which was a busy film on the festival circuit but has yet to be released.
The Nominees Are...
FEATURE FILM
Call Me By Your Name (6 nominations)
The Florida Project (2 nominations)
Get Out (5 nominations)
Lady Bird (4 nominations)
The Rider (4 nominations)
Strangely The Florida Project received only two nominations. It'll be interesting to see which film takes the lead here because it seems like Call Me, Lady Bird, and Get Out are the three major threats for the win.
DIRECTOR
Sean Baker, The Florida Project
Jonas Carpignano, A Ciambra
Luca Guadagnino, Call Me By Your Name
Jordan Peele, Get Out
The Safdie Brothers, Good Time
Chloé Zhao, The Rider
You may recall that Jonas Carpignano won a prize at Cannes for a movie called A Ciambra some time ago. But that was a short film of the same name. He's since made the story of a young boy in a small Romani community into a feature. Greta Gerwig is the only major snub here since her film was nominated in Best Feature.
ALTMAN AWARD - BEST ENSEMBLE
Mudbound
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Salma Hayek, Beatriz at Dinner
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards
Margot Robbie, I Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Regina Williams, Life and Nothing More
I'd heard Nick Davis rave about Williams in Life and Nothing more before but have yet to have an opportunity to see the feature.
I thought I heard Shinobu Terajima from Oh Lucy a Japanese film that played at festivals this year mentioned among the nominees and I saw her on at least one published list (on IndieWire I think) but she's not listed on the official site so I'm not sure if this is an oversite or an error in initial announcement or what.
BEST MALE LEAD
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
Harris Dickinson, Beach Rats
James Franco, The Disaster Artist
Daniel Kaaluya, Get Out
Robert Pattinson, Good Time
Just a guess that Oscar isn't going to come up with a list quite this good.
SUPPORTING FEMALE
Holly Hunter, The Big Sick
Allison Janney, I Tonya
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Lois Smith, Marjorie Prime
Taliah Lennice Webster, Good Time
How closely do we think this film lineup will land with Oscar. Current thinking is 3 of these 5 are shoo-ins but the race is competitive. Is Lois Smith really building up enough steam in supporting despite being the only lead of Marjorie Prime.
SUPPORTING MALE
Nnamdi Asomugha, Crown Heights
Armie Hammer, Call Me By Your Name
Barry Keoghan, The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards
Bennie Safdie, Good Time
The big surprise here is no nomination for Willem Dafoe for The Florida Project. In other wonders: Does Hammer's publicity machine for his co-lead role spell trouble for Call Me By Your Name's actual supporting actor Michael Stuhlbarg in the Oscar race? We shall see.
SCREENPLAY
Lady Bird
The Lovers
Three Billboards
Get Out
Beatriz at Dinner
Good list, right?! Happy to see The Lovers listed and its something of a surprise given the low profile since its release.
FIRST SCREENPLAY
Donald Cried
The Big Sick
Women Who Kill
Columbus
Ingrid Goes West
This is a big get for the very low profile films Donald Cried and Women Who Kill but we're unsure as to why they're eligible. The Spirit Awards include festival releases under their eligibility rules but both films debuted at 2016 festivals so we're not sure why they are considered 2017 films for the Spirits. Donald Cries is available to stream on Amazon
CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Columbus
Beach Rats
Call Me By Your Name
The Rider
Beach Rats' scuzzy beauty is a wonderful option here. Glad it got the nomination.
EDITING
Good Time
Call Me By Your Name
The Rider
Get Out
I Tonya
Oscar's editing branch would be insane to pass Get Out up on this category but I don't think they will. Disappointing that Lady Bird isn't here because it actually flows so beautifully and organically and the editing seems particularly skillful / inspired in that way. I don't get the I Tonya nomination at all... was it the mockumentary style crosscutting to and from direct camera addresses?
INTERNATIONAL FILM
BPM (Beats Per Minute) (France)
A Fantastic Woman (Chile)
I Am Not a Witch (UK/France)
Lady Macbeth (UK)
Loveless (Russia)
I Am Not a Witch and Lady MacBeth are not factors in the impending Foreign Language Film Oscar race but the other three are major players unless they're dropped when AMPAS takes the list from 92 titles to 9 in a month or so.
DOCUMENTARY
Faces Places
The Departure
Last Man in Aleppo
Motherland
Quest
Of these titles only The Departure is missing from Oscar's long eligibility list.
JOHN CASSAVETTES AWARD
A Ghost Story
Dayveon
Life and Nothing More
Most Beautiful Island
The Transfiguration
FIRST FEATURE
Columbus
Ingrid Goes West
Menashe
Oh Lucy
Patti Cake$
PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
Giulia Caruso & Ki Jin Kim
Ben LeClair
Summer Shelton
KIEHL'S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Amman Abassi, Dayveon
Justin Chon, Gook
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Shevaun Mizrahi, Distant Constellation
Jonathan Olshefshi, The Quest
Jeff Unay, Cage Fighter
ANNUAL BONNIE AWARD
So Young Kim
Chloe Zhao
Lynn Shelton
Reader Comments (52)
Great news for Lady Bird, Get Out, and James Franco!! Sad to not see The Big Sick in more categories though.
I think the fifth Supporting Actor nominee is Nnamdi Asomugha for Crown Heights?
My favorite nomination is probably Barry Keoghan's for The Killing of a Sacred Deer, but this is, broadly, an excellent set of nominations.
I pay special attention to these because I actually paid the $95 and joined up. I'm very happy to see Beach Rats get some attention. As always I'm baffled by the nominations. No acting nominations for Florida Project, just director and picture? No director nomination for Greta Gerwig? So many nomiinations for Good Time? If you're going to nominate Beatriz at Dinner for anything, it should be John Lithgow for Supporting Male. And any nominations at all for the godawful Big Sick is too many! Oh well, I'll see 3 Billboards and Killing of a Sacred Deer this weekend. I await my screeners for the real obscure stuff.
Regina Williams EARNED that nomination
Shouldn't Lady Bird and Get Out be in "First Feature"?
No Three Billboards in Picture or Director spells major major trouble actually. It's been so long something was eligible for these, didn't get a nomination and went on to win an Oscar I actually couldn't find the last instance it happened.
Not for the nomination. It's still getting nominated but just as it was about to emerge as a frontrunner.
Not good news for Mary J Blige's chances if she cant get in here no?
I'm surprised Gerwig missed Director, Three Billboards missed Picture, and Dafoe missed, period, but I guess there are weird omissions every year at the Indie Spirits. Also, Lois Smith is definitely the lead in Marjorie Prime.
According to Gregory Ellwood, The Shape of Water was eligible for nominations here. It's odd Sally Hawkins missed here and at the Gothams.
Willem Dafoe's snub stands out to me.Stulbarg a little less but I think he gets in over Hammer at the Oscars.
Sean Baker is also nominated for Best Director for The Florida Project. Shinobu Terajima is nominated for Female Lead for Oh Lucy! There are 6 nominees in these categories.
I'm happy PATTI CAKE$ managed a nomination here (Best First Feature), even if I was hoping for more. I hope it wins and manages some Golden Globe noms (perhaps in Actress in a Comedy/Musical, but especially for Best Original Song).
Rami -- well except these are juried nominations so there will always be quirks. and perhaps the Robert Altman award covered them in that way... but no other nominations at all could indicate soft support. we'll see.
Ken -- i mentioned that issue with Shinobu in the text. she's not listed on the spirits official site. strange.
Suzanne -- hmmm. weird that shape of water was produced cheaply enough to be eligible if that's true. It looks *very* expensive and i thought the cutoff here was $25 million
The Holly Hunter tradition of recognizing her when she's eligible in years ending in 7 or 3 looks to solidify when she earns her fifth bid for The Big Sick (2017).
(2017) The Big Sick
(2003) Thirteen
(1993) The Piano
(1993) The Firm
(1987) Broadcast News
The budget eligibility cut off is 20 million. Shape of Water is reportedly 19.5 mil.
I thought it was Dafoe vs Rockwell at Oscars but Rockwell is emerging as the frontrunner - unless Hammer continues to make a major play??
Really happy to see Harris Dickinson in male lead. That's a great category.
Happy for Salma I hope there's GG nod in her future.
Nathaniel, have you seen Good Time yet? I can't recall you ever commenting on the film. Anyway, it makes me very sad to see that the Spirits could nominate that (excellent) film in many categories except in Cinematography for Sean Price Williams' game-changing work
even if The Shape of Water was somehow eligible, I can see it being overlook because it doesn't feel at all like an indie film and it would look very strange among the other nominees. also, how on earth is A Ciambra nominated for Director and not for International Film? lol
Biggest snub is Sean Price Williams, no question.
I think Good Time is going to do better this award season then people realize. It's slowly developing a cult following similar to Drive. Although like Drive I expect the Oscars to completely ignore it outside of maybe screenplay.
@Rami Any actor belonging to the ensemble honored with the Altman award is ineligible. Moonlight won that last year, thus no nominations for Ali or Harris. I'd say that it got that but not anywhere else is a bit more troubling, though its ensemble is clearly its biggest selling point.
I keep seeing conflicting reports about Shape of Water's eligibility. So that's enough to make me think it didn't actually miss. The confusion is enough to hurt its chances here.
Anyways, like I said. Missing here is hardly a major problem for contenders to get in. It just seems to become a biiiig problem if they're intending to win.
Billboards is a terrible film so I am not surprised it was snubbed.
Jono
You should get out more if you think it's a terrible film. It amazes me that people have the gall to call movies like Three Billboards or I, Tonya terrible. It tells me they don't watch many bad movies.
The real question is if this image accurately reflects Tessa Thompson's view of Lily Collins. Because my god that look! This demands a "caption this..."
Ugh Armie Hammer in Call Me By Your Name reeks of Rooney Mara in Carol all over again. LGBTQ film with two obvious co-leads where one is relegated to supporting and pushes out a fantastic, legit supporting player (Sarah Paulson/Michael Stuhlbarg).
@tonytr I watch enough bad movies to recognize one. He's right: Three Billboards is BAD. The least you should be able to recognize is that it's badly shot.
And, there are always strange omissions with the Spirit Awards. Michelle Williams missed supporting last year here but easily sailed to an Oscar nomination with all the requisite precursors. I expect the same for Willem Dafoe.
Yay for Columbus! The cast in it is so good I'm surprised at the snubs.
Also can't comment on the nominations for Beach Rats and BPM because I missed them because I'm a bad gay.
Would someone please explain to me how in the world Lois Smith is "Supporting" in Marjorie Prime?!?!? I mean, she's excellent, and I'm thrilled for her nomination, but... COME ON.
Does this spell trouble for Mudbound? The Spirit Awards were very much supportive of Netflix's other major Oscar hopeful Beasts of No Nation but there is nothing here outside of the Robert Altman Award. I mean - there's no picture, director, editing, screenplay, cinematography, nothing.
I'm thinking Chalamet is the only one getting in at AMPAS, which is a shame because some of his Male Lead co-nominees here will probably be better choices than what the Academy eventually comes up with.
Get it, Barry Keoghan!!! He was terrifying in KILLING OF A SACRED DEER.
Exactly Emma. I expect Keoghan to make a strong showing in the critics' awards.
I feel like this is the first year I haven't just rolled my eyes at the Indie Spirit noms. Actual independent films! And not just the same Oscar-centric ones over and over again! What a novelty.
I haven't seen the movie, but all I want right now is to be in a world where Alison Janney is an Oscar winner.
No Debra Winger :(
I actually got to meet John Olshefski, who made the documentary nominee Quest, for my doc class about a month ago. Guy's really nice, I didn't love his film but it's pretty good and I'd be happy to see it win, even if I'd be even happier to see it go to Last Men in Aleppo.
Smith in Supporting kinda makes sense? Like, if it's anyone's film it's clearly hers but she's also not in more of it than I'd expected from the marketing. Geena Davis has a pretty good claim to co-lead status, if nothing else. That being said, I'd easily trade her for Elisabeth Olsen or Allison Williams. And is there no way Ray Romano can get *any* attention with Holly Hunter for The Big Sick?
Count me as one more voice in favor of Sean Price Williams for Good Time. Get Out and Good Time are easily my favorite fiction films of the year, and Good Time especially deserves every tech nod it can get its hands on. Can they share all the score prizes?
Hammer is definitely having a 'moment' right now so I can totally see him repeating at Oscar. But given the dearth in Lead Actor why can't they campaign him there ?
I'm so pleased about Call Me By Your Name. Such a good film.
I wasn't expecting a nomination for Jonas Carpignano - does this help A Ciambra's Oscar chances in Foreign Language Film?
Fyi Nat. The website is updated. Shinobu is among the nominees for female lead. Tt's 6 o em.
Strange tt Three Billboards din crack in best feature n Dafoe snubbed outta supporting.
Shldnt Lady Bird be under First feature?
While it does suck that Armie Hammer's push for Supporting will probably cost Michael Stuhlbarg any momentum for Call Me By Your Name (I loved everything about Call Me By Your Name, but Stuhlbarg, an actor who has been quietly knocking out excellent performances under terrific directors, is just exquisite), in this case it does make sense, at least more sense than it did with Carol two years ago. While the relationship is the story, the focus is on Elio. We begin and end the film with him, what we see is mostly through his eyes (what we learn about Oliver is mostly through Elio), so while there's definitely a case for Armie Hammer as a lead, I think you can also make a case for him as "supporting". I get that romantic films are usually two-lead films, but if you observe closely, pretty much all of them have one of the two as the protagonist. In the case of this film, that's Elio. Thenagain, I'm also the guy who believes there need to be clear guidelines set up in order for this to be considered "fraud" (which there aren't), so what do I know?...
Disappointed that Aubrey Plaza didn't get a nomination for her great performance in Ingrid Goes West
Hammer is supporting in the film. Chalamet is clearly the lead. There's no category confusion unlike Carol.
Regina Williams is amazing in "Life and Nothing More"! Happiest nomination definitely.
No Gerwig is completely insane.
Surprised that Bridget Everett for Patti Cake$ and Daniela Vega for A Fantastic Woman did not get a nomination. Maybe the lead actress lineup is full of truly supporting ones, but this Spirit nomination honoring indie filmic projects and performances would have been a great platform for them. I would have thought maybe Eili Harboe from Joachim Trier's Thelma might sneak in.
Happy to see Visages Villages in the documentary line-up. Also the recognition for Robert Pattinson in Good Time.
Having seen "Call Me By Your Name", I actually have no problem with Armie Hammer being Supporting. He's more Supporting than say, Rooney Mara in "Carol" and Jake Gyllenhaal in "Brokeback Mountain" because "Call Me By Your Name" is essentially Elio's story and his journey even though Oliver is a major part of that.
Yes, I also think that Hammer can be justified as Supporting. Having seen the film for a second time last night, I was reminded how much the focus is on Elio. It's a love story, sure, but primarily a tale of Elio's sexual/romantic/emotional awakening. I think Hammer could be defended in either category. That said, I too hope that Stuhlbarg gets recognised as well.
So sad they missed the only opportunity to honor A Quiet Passion this season.... It was a true masterpiece and featured Cynthia Nixon in the greatest performance of her career ...
No love for Kidman in Sacred Deer either and i thought she was the real MVP of the movie.
I will just say, I miss "Colossal" everywhere...