IFC Spirit Awards nominees

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And the IFP Best Feature award nominees are (a) American Gun (what?), (b) The Dead Girl (congrats to First Look), (c) Half Nelson (drugs in a school toilet stall), Little Miss Sunshine (my personal fave), and Pan's Labyrinth (the best work ever by the great Guillermo del Toro ). These and other nominees were just posted a few minutes ago. Sunshine and Nelson landed five nominations each.

You might have expected that streaming video of this morning's announcing of the nominees wouldhave been up on ifc.com by now...nope The names and titles were announced 100 minutes ago (Don Cheadle and Felicity Huffman did the mike duties) and the slacker IFC website still doesn't have the feed up. They should've provided a live feed as it's happening, no? I mean, this isn't 1998.

comment #1

cambridge1 says ...

Actually, Jeff, the nominations were shown on live feed on ifc.com at 8:00amPST/11:00amEST. Nice try, though.

comment #2

Colin says ...

Overall, the nominations look pretty solid. I'm pretty surprised, though, to see American Gun up there for a few awards, including Best Picture, as I remember the reviews being pretty savage. Maybe I'll have to check it out. I can't wait to see The Dead Girl, which sounds pretty cool. And it's great to see Ed Norton nominated for the Painted Veil. He was terrific in Down in the Valley and The Illusionist, and it's great to think that he completed the hat trick.

comment #3

Noel Murray says ...

AMERICAN GUN? Yikes!

http://www.avclub.com/content/node/46497

comment #4

BNick says ...

Surprising that Edward Norton got a nod for the Painted Veil but not Naomi Watts.

Does anyone know if votes are counted "per actor" rather than "per role"? Might explain it if Norton got votes for both PV and the Illusionist. Seems like he would have split those.

Also weird to see Forest Whittaker be nominated for American Gun and not Last King of Scotland. Was he not eligible for that?

comment #5

Colin says ...

Haha, yeah I remember your review, Noel. I haven't seen the movie yet, so I can't really comment, but I went to UVA and from what I've read about that section of the film, the Charlottesville presented in the film and the actual Charlottesville are strikingly different.

comment #6

JD says ...

Speaking of Edward Norton, I think Down in the Valley has been criminally overlooked. For my money, it's one of the best, most original movies of the year.

comment #7

T.H. says ...

Nice try cambridge1, you had to go here
http://filmindependent.org/spiritawards/

Least they're not mega wankers cum duh Globes.

comment #8

cjKennedy says ...

There goes Colin again talking up movies I can get behind.

I had a problem with some plot developments at the very end of Down in The Valley, but there was a lot I really liked about that film, not the least of which being Edward Norton.

The Illusionist was also I terrific little surprise of a film.

I haven't seen Painted Veil yet. I'm a little skeptical based on the trailer, but I'm going to see it for Norton and the lovely Ms. Watts. Can we go back in history and give her an Oscar for Mullholland Dr.? No? Bummer.

comment #9

Devin Faraci says ...

JD, agreed. DOWN IN THE VALLEY is a terrific film. Flawed but terrific.

comment #10

thatrader says ...

American Gun was produced by IFC, that's why. It's the equivalent of when MTV Movie Awards gives nods to stuff like "Napoleon Dynamite" beccause they produced it.

comment #11

William Goss says ...

Yeah, same reason why the barely-seen Sorry, Haters, Land of Plenty, and Twelve and Holding are on there: all IFC produced.

In that case, why no Matt Dillon love?

comment #12

Jeff says ...

American Gun has a 37% on rotten tomatoes, sounds like a film that deserved to be nominated for best pic. Also, how the hell did Jason Reitman get nominated for best screenplay and not best first feature?

comment #13

Dixon Steele says ...

Good point, WG, where's Dillon's nod for FACTOTUM?

comment #14

bob giovaneli says ...

Not only am I very jazzed that "FOUR EYES MONSTERS" and "WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY" are getting their moment in the sun....

...but now I feel vindicated as I try to let people not let "SWEET LAND" slip through their fingers as it plays its slow national rollout city by city.

This lovely gem got nominations for "Best First Feature" and "Best Actress" (for the luminous Elizabeth Reaser...she should just add the word "luminous" to her name now and get it over with), and though I wish it also got one for Best Cinematography, as it gives Terence Malick a run for his heartland money...I'm so happy that this could start the ball rolling the next crucial month and a half its booked in theaters, and prove what I've been saying all along:

"SWEET LAND" is the Oscar dark horse. (The very dark horse, though with 93% positive reviews so far on Rottentomatoes.com and 525K in box office as of this weekend, I'm starting to see it breaking out of the pack....)

I don't work for the film...I'm just an audience member who can't believe this gem isn't in more theaters. Maybe now people will wake up.

comment #15

cjKennedy says ...

Holy shit, I didn't read that far down into the article to see Elizabeth Reaser's nomination. Bob Giovaneli kind of sounds like some kind of stalker or miscellaneous crazy person, but he speaks the truth: Sweet Land is some good stuff filmed in glorious 35mm.

comment #16

bob giovaneli says ...

Hey, cjKennedy, do I sound any different than Jeffrey when he waxes rhapsodic about a film and/or performance he wants us to know about?

And I used "luminous" for her from one of the reviews I read, so I thought it would be funny to write what I did, since practically every critic and moviegoer I've talked with feels the same way about her work in this.

Enthusiasm and excitement over the nominations (when the film is in danger of disappearing if no one talks about it) and trying to spread the word does not equal stalking.

However, ya gotta admit, its hard not to get smitten with her character in this movie as her co-star does slowly but surely. But thats a good thing. Huge careers start with performances like this. (Even if she never does another German accent.)

comment #17

tholly says ...

BNick, good question, thanks for making me look. These aren't the guidelines per se, but this is illuminating.

http://filmindependent.org/spiritawards/FAQ.php

What's the nomination process?
It's a rigorous process. All films submitted are distributed to the committee and are discussed at regular meetings throughout the fall. Each committee member will take the nominating guidelines into consideration when determining the nominees. A final two-day meeting is held prior to the nomination announcement where all committee members discuss the films at length and vote on each category.

Who decides what films are nominated?
Experts in the field. Three nominating committees - one each for Domestic Narrative Films, Documentary Films, and Foreign Narrative Films - are made up of 15-20 members of the film community. Committees may include film critics, film programmers, actors, producers, directors, writers, and cinematographers.

And more here, labeled, but not really, the nominating guidelines, including the Netflix connection.
http://www.filmindependent.org/index.php/independent_spirit_awards/nomination_process

comment #18

cjKennedy says ...

Bob, I was just yanking your chain over your rampant enthusiasm! No offense intended, hence my agreement over what a charmer Sweet Land was and how much I liked Elizabeth Reaser and Tim Guinee. I do think you might be a little over-optimistic over the films awards chances and box office prospects, but that's no reflection of how much I liked the movie. Keep spreading the good word my friend.

comment #19

bob giovaneli says ...

Ahh...yet again, nuance is lost with just text to go by. You can understand why I got defensive.
Sorry 'bout that.

Well, I'm not saying that SWEET LAND can creep up into grosses in the multi-millions, though wouldn't that be nice? But through the years, sometimes films came from nowhere without strong studios behind them, and nabbed a few nominations, and even a few have been won through Oscar history.

All i want is this film to hit more people than its hitting, and a nomination or 2, and today was a good start, can give the film life.

Metaphorically...there's a whole wheatfield to thresh in front of us, and like the 2 characters who are stubborn enough to plow ahead, pun intended, (they didn't have a plow, did they?), I say this film can...um...clear the field!

Sorry about that too.....

comment #20

cjKennedy says ...

The frustrating thing is Bob that so many movies that don't need it get all kinds of discussion: Dreamgirls, Pursuit of Happyness, Little Miss Sunshine etc. Nothing against those movies, but they're hardly attention starved and shouldn't (or didn't) have a problem at the box office yet a perfectly lovely film like Sweet Land can't get the time of day.

comment #21

tholly says ...

Who's distributing? What festivals has it played?

comment #22

cjKennedy says ...

Everything I know about it you can find here:
www.sweetlandmovie.com

comment #23

tholly says ...

Congrats to the director and actress and Nancy Seltzer, Jeff Lipsky and Libero distrib. Hamptons, Atlanta, Florida, Phili, Minn-St.Paul fests.

comment #24

lawnorder says ...

Why the fuck wasn't BRICK acknowledged? That was an amazing indie film. The Spirits are a joke. Reminds me of the year THE COOLER didn't receive any noms either - not even Baldwin and he went on to get an Oscar nom.

comment #25

lawnorder says ...

Okay, I guess BRICK got some Spirit love last year.

comment #26

Dublin101 says ...

Why no nomination for Guillermo del Toro as the director of Pan's Labyrinth? He did a fantastic job and he showed a wonderful sense of a real directorial vision. Yes, the film was nominated but not nominating Del Toro himself is a hell of an oversight.

comment #27

tholly says ...

It's christmas for the poor Dublin101; you can't keep on buying more presents. You have a huge list and just a few gifts on hand, so you recruit experts about the gifts and the recipients to work for free to collectively organize who gets what.

comment #28

tholly says ...

There seems to be universal disbelief about American Gun. Anybody here in support of that one?

comment #29

Colin says ...

I knew that the overall critical reception was bad for American Gun, but I at least thought it might have a few critics who really dug it. I guess not.

On metacritic, it gets a 48/100 average, with the best reviews being 75/100, or, basically, 3 star reviews.

http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/americangun?q=american%20gun

On rotten tomatoes, it's 10 fresh, 17 rotten, and in addition to some 3 star reviews, we get one 8/10 review and one 85/100 review.

On imd, the average user rating is 6.2/10

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416471/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_gun/?sortby=rating&critic=columns

comment #30

tholly says ...

Did you review the DVD? Am I not seeing where DiscLand is searchable?

comment #31

Colin says ...

Tholly, I don't think anyone from Discland has reviewed American Gun on DVD. I was just commenting on the general critical reception; I haven't seen it in theaters or on DVD yet.

comment #32

mithollogy says ...

gotcha Colin, thanks for the links. I read a bunch and it remains curious, to me, how/why it made the cut, but I toss it up to taste and someone(s) having strong postitive critical feelings about it and reasons why it should. As for DiscLand having a search feature, is "no" the answer? It's in my Greencine cue now, but sadly, Ellie Parker S!T!I!L!L! is too.

comment #33

Colin says ...

Well, Discland has its archives section, with all the reviews listed alphabetically:

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/discland/archives.php

comment #34

Dixon Steele says ...

And where the hell is Maggie Gylenhaal's nom for SHERRYBABY.

Looks like she got passed over for Catherine O'Hara. I like CO'H, but you've got to be kidding me.

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