Congrats to all the 2016 Spirit Award nominees, particularly Carol and Beasts of No Nation for having landed six each. Spotlight landed four noms plus a pre-determined Robert Altman award for ensemble acting. Best feature noms were handed to Carol, Spotlight, Beasts of No Nation, Anomalisa and Sean Baker’s Tangerine. And no Best Feature nom for Love & Mercy, which is 15 or 20 times the movie Tangerine is? Fuck is that about? Be honest: If Tangerine had been shot on a bigger budget with an Alexa HD instead of an iPhone 5, would it have even been nominated?
It seems to me that Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara snagging Best Actress noms is a pushback to the Weinstein Co. narrative of Blanchett being lead and Mara supporting.
Here are the 2016 Spirit Awards noms with a few HE favorite and Likeliest To Win distinctions on a per-category, whenever-I’m-into-it basis:
Best Feature: Anomalisa (not a wisp of a chance), Beasts of No Nation, Carol, Spotlight (HE Favorite, Likeliest To Win), Tangerine (double forget it).
Best Director: Sean Baker, Tangerine; Cary Joji Fukunaga, Beasts of No Nation (2nd Most Likely Winner); Todd Haynes, Carol; Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson, Anomalisa; Tom McCarthy, Spotlight (HE favorite, Likeliest To Win); David Robert Mitchell, It Follows.
Best Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa; Donald Margulies, The End of the Tour; Phyllis Nagy, Carol (HE favorite); Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer, Spotlight (Likeliest To Win), S. Craig Zahler, Bone Tomahawk.
Best First Feature: The Diary of a Teenage Girl, James White (hated it), Manos Sucias, Mediterranea, Songs My Brothers Taught Me.
Best First Screenplay: Jesse Andrews, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl; Joseph Carpignano, Mediterranea; Emma Donoghue, Room; Marielle Heller, The Diary of a Teenage Girl; John Magary, Russell Harbaugh, Myna Joseph, The Mend.
Best Male Lead: Christopher Abbott, James White; Abraham Attah, Beasts of No Nation; Ben Mendelsohn, Mississippi Grind; Jason Segel, The End of the Tour (Likeliest To Win); Koudous Seihon, Mediterranea.
Best Female Lead: Cate Blanchett, Carol; Brie Larson, Room (Likeliest To Win); Rooney Mara, Carol; Bel Powley, The Diary of A Teenage Girl; Kitana Kiki Rodriquez, Tangerine.
Best Supporting Male: Kevin Corrigan, Results; Paul Dano, Love & Mercy (HE Favorite, Most Likely To Win); Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation; Richard Jenkins, Bone Tomahawk; Michael Shannon, 99 Homes.
Best Supporting Female: Robin Bartlett, H.; Marin Ireland, Glass Chin; Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anomalisa; Cynthia Nixon, James White; Mya Taylor, Tangerine.
Best Documentary: (T)error, Best of Enemies, Heart of Dog, The Look of Silence, Meru (Most Likely To Win), The Russian Woodpecker.
Best International Film: Embrace the Serpent, Girlhood, Mustang, Son of Saul (Most Likely To Win)
Best Cinematography: Beasts of No Nation (Most Likely To Win), Carol, It Follows, Meadlowland, Songs My Brothers Taught Me.