2012 Independent Spirit Awards

They're happening in a short while, but IFC ain't airing them until tonight for some sad, fucked up reason, as I and I'm sure many others would prefer to watch them LIVE in REAL TIME, but whatevah.

Seth Rogen is hosting
 

I guess I'll hold off until later, for posting predictions, etc. 2011 was a year I saw some, but probably not
quite as many movies as I'd like to have. But at least what does happen is in seeing these, and even some of the other awards shows, I end up making a decent "To Watch" list. With movies that do well at Sundance Film Festival, I try and do that as well. And there's already a couple of titles on this list I have "Watch Listed" on imdb.

1 being titled Without about a girl whose living on an Island? and does physical therapy among other things for an older man. The trailer paints a dark, mysterious tone which has me intrigued.

Another being Gun Hill Road, which has Esai Morales who I last saw on Caprica, but also features a young actress named Harmony Santana that plays what appears to be young man facing an uneasy family life, namely due to her sexual identity concerns.

Also a John C Reilly movie titled Terri and a couple of others on this list have me curious. I am hoping to find another movie like Easier with Practice.

The titles I did see, Beginners, The Descendants, Win/Win, Another Earth, Midnight in Paris all were okay. I suppose I'll be rooting for Another Earth given how little mainstream attention it has received. I never did see Margin Call, and meant to. So if it wins, I'll have more motivation to seek it out now. Although, perhaps a few of these will find their way into some larger theaters. Doubtful, but it has happened before.

And of course there's stuff, even this past, watered-down year, that are not here. Namely the interesting and funny documentary Page One; Inside the NY Times,


and others like
-Tambien la Lluvia [Even the Rain] (Gael Garcia-Bernal),
-Happythankyoumoreplease (Josh Radnor)  
-Everything Must Go (Will Ferrell).

that I have on my 2011 Cinema List on rateyourmusic.com

Here's the nominees


Best Film (Best Feature)
50/50
The Artist
Beginners
The Descendants
Drive
Take Shelter

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Mike Mills – Beginners
Jeff Nichols – Take Shelter
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive

Best First Feature
Another Earth
In The Family
Margin Call
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Natural Selection

John Cassavetes Award
Bellflower
Circumstance
Hello Lonesome
Pariah
The Dynamiter

Best Screenplay
Mike Mills – Beginners
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash – The Descendants
Joseph Cedar – Footnote
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Tom McCarthy – Win Win

Best First Screenplay
Mike Cahill & Brit Marling – Another Earth
Patrick deWitt – Terri
Phil Johnston – Cedar Rapids
Will Reiser – 50/50
J.C. Chandor – Margin Call

Best Female Lead
Lauren Ambrose – Think of Me
Rachael Harris – Natural Selection
Adepero Oduye – Pariah
Elizabeth Olsen – Martha Marcy May Marlene
Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn

Best Male Lead
Demián Bichir – A Better Life
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Ryan Gosling – Drive
Woody Harrelson – Rampart
Michael Shannon – Take Shelter

Best Supporting Female
Jessica Chastain – Take Shelter
Anjelica Huston – 50/50
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Harmony Santana – Gun Hill Road
Shailene Woodley – The Descendants

Best Supporting Male
Albert Brooks – Drive
John Hawkes – Martha Marcy May Marlene
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
John C. Reilly – Cedar Rapids
Corey Stoll – Midnight in Paris

Best Cinematography
The Artist
Bellflower
The Dynamiter
Midnight in Paris
The Off Hours

Best Documentary
An African Election
Bill Cunningham New York
The Interrupters
The Redemption of General Butt Naked
We Were Here

Best Foreign Film
The Kid with a Bike (Belgium)
Melancholia (Denmark)
A Separation (Iran)
Shame (United Kingdom)
Tyrannosaur (United Kingdom)

Robert Altman Award
Margin Call

Piaget Producers Award
Chad Burris – Mosquito y Mari
Sophia Lynn – Take Shelter
Josh Bond – Martha Marcy May Marlene

Someone to Watch Award
Simon Arthur – Silver Tongues
Mark Jackson – Without
Nicholas Ozeki – Mamitas

Truer Than Fiction Award
Where Soldiers Come From
Hell and Back Again
Bombay Beach

 more info here: http://www.spiritawards.com/