Los Angeles, CA

December 01, 2009
2 Spirit Award noms for 'Vicious'

"The Last Station," which looks at Russian author Leo Tolstoy's final days, and "Precious," the portrait of a troubled inner-city teenager, led the 2010 Spirit Award nominations, with five each.

Both movies were nominated Tuesday morning for best feature along with "(500) Days of Summer," "Amreeka" and "Sin Nombre."

The Coen brothers' "A Serious Man" was awarded the group's Robert Altman Award, which goes to the film's cast and its casting director. And the indie horror hit "Paranormal Activity" even made an appearance with a nomination as best first feature.

"The Hurt Locker," one of the higher-profile indie films of the year, did not figure in the nominations, since the Spirit Awards nominated it in two categories last year.

Among distributors, Fox Searchlight and Sony Pictures Classics led the parade with seven nominations each.

Presented by the indie film organization Film Independent, the Spirit Awards, celebrating their 25th anniversary, will be handed out March 5 at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles at ceremonies that will be broadcast live by IFC.

 

The Spirit Awards set aside best male actor nominations for Jeff Bridges ("Crazy Heart"), Colin Firth ("A Single Man"), Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("Summer"), Souleymane Sy Savane ("Goodbye Solo") and Adam Scott ("The Vicious Kind").

Best female actress nominees are Maria Bello ("Downloading Nancy"), Nisreen Faour ("Amreeka"), Helen Mirren ("Station"), Gwyneth Paltrow ("Two Lovers") and Gabourey Sidibe ("Precious").

The best director nominees are Ethan and Joel Coen ("A Serious Man"), Lee Daniels ("Precious"), Cary Joji Fukunaga ("Sin Nombre"), James Gray ("Two Lovers") and Michael Hoffman ("The Last Station").

Supporting male nominees included Jemaine Clement ("Gentlemen Broncos"), Woody Harrelson ("Messenger"), Christian McKay ("Me and Orson Welles"), Raymond McKinnon ("That Evening Sun") and Christopher Plummer ("Station").

Supporting female nominees are Dina Korzun ("Cold Souls"), Mo'Nique ("Precious"), Samantha Morton ("Messenger"), Natalie Press ("Fifty Dead Men Walking") and Mia Wasikowska ("Evening Sun").

The contenders for best first feature are "A Single Man," "Crazy Heart," "Easier with Practice," "Paranormal Activity" and "The Messenger."

The best screenplay nominees are Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman for "The Messenger," Hoffman for "The Last Station," Lee Toland Krieger for "The Vicious Kind," Greg Mottola for "Adventureland" and Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for "(500) Days of Summer."

The nominees for first screenplay are Sophie Barthes for "Cold Souls," Scott Cooper for "Crazy Hearts," Cherien Dabis for "Amreeka," Geoffrey Fletcher for "Precious" and Tom Ford and David Scearce for "A Single Man."

In the category of best cinematography, the nominees are Roger Deakins ("A Serious Man"), Adriano Goldman ("Sin Nombre"), Anne Misawa ("Treeless Mountain"), Andrij Parekh ("Cold Souls") and Peter Zeitlinger ("Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans").

Competing for best documentary are "Anvil! The Story of Anvil," "Food, Inc.," "More than a Game," "October Country" and "Which Way Home."

The best foreign film contenders are France's "A Prophet," UK/France's "An Education," Sweden's "Everlasting Moments," South Korea's "Mother" and Chile's "The Maid."

Nominees for the John Cassavetes Award, given to the best feature made for under $500,000, are "Big Fan," "Humpday," "The New Year Parade," "Treeless Mountain" and "Zero Bridge."

The Acura Someone to Watch Award, given to a filmmaker who has not yet received wide recognition, brought attention to nominees Kyle Patrick Alvarez ("Easier with Practice"), Asiel Norton ("Redland") and Tariq Tapa ("Zero Bridge").

Nominated for the Truer Than Fiction Award, presented to an emerging director of non-fiction films, are Natalie Almada ("El General"), Jessica Oreck ("Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo") and Bill Ross and Turner Ross ("45365").

The nominees for the Piaget Producers Award are Karin Chien ("The Exploding Girl," "Santa Mesa"), Larry Fessenden ("I Sell the Dead," "The House of the Devil") and Dia Sokol ("Beeswax," "Nights & Weekends").