The Numbers - Box Office Data, Movie Stars, Idle Speculation
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Saturday, November 21, 2009

Whale of a Start to Award Season

The Independent Spirit Awards announced the nominations today and The Squid and the Whale led the way with six nominations, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and nods in three of the four acting categories.

Other films to grab multiple nominations include Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night and Good Luck, and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, all of which earned four nominations a piece.

Here are a complete list of nominations:

Best Feature:

Best First Feature Best Director Best Female Lead Best Male Lead Best Supporting Male Best Supporting Female Best Screenplay Best First Screenplay Best Cinematography Best Documentary Best Foreign Film
  • The Death of Mr. Lazarescu - Romania
  • Duck Season - Mexico
  • Head-On - Germany / Turkey
  • Paradise Now - Palestine / Netherlands / Germany / France
  • Tony Takitani - Japan
John Cassavettes Award - Best Feature made for under $500,000
  • Brick
  • Conventioneers
  • Jellysmoke
  • The Puffy Chair
  • Room
Reactions:
  • The fact that The Squid and the Whale lead the way with six nominations is a bit of a surprise. That is not to say it is a bad movie, but I didn't think it was that good.
  • I'm more shocked that Heath Ledger earned an acting nomination over Brokeback Mountain co-star Jake Gyllenhaal.
  • Crash picked up two nominations, which might be enough to remind Oscar voters that the movie was released this year giving it a chance at scoring an Oscar nod or two, but I wouldn't bet on it.
  • Out of all of the nominations, I think Philip Seymour Hoffman's acting nod for Capote is the least surprising.
  • Good Night and Good Luck was able to secure several nominations, but it didn't have to compete with George Clooney's other film, Syriana because the latter film's budget puts it out of contention for the Independent Spirit Awards consideration. Vote splitting could still be a problem for both films come Oscar time.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Source: Independent Feature Project
Date posted: 2005-11-30

Movies 
 The Squid and the Whale
 Brokeback Mountain
 Capote
 Good Night and Good Luck
 The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
 Crash
 Me and You and Everyone We Know
 Thumbsucker
 Mysterious Skin
 Nine Lives
 Forty Shades of Blue
 Hustle & Flow
 The War Within
 Broken Flowers
 Junebug
 Happy Endings
 The Beautiful Country
 Keane
 Last Days (2005)
 Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
 Grizzly Man
 Gegen die Wand (Head-On)
 Paradise Now
 Tony Takitani
 Brick