Independent Spirit Awards

[Big Magilla]

I could only make it through the first half of the show before I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and had to go to bed. If I'd thought this would end the way it did, I would have forced myself to stay up. I would love to see Ahmed win the Oscar but I think the sentiment for Boseman is too strong, and his toughest opponent seems to be Hopkins, not Ahmed, who was not a nominee at the Spirits. I never believed anyone other than Mulligan would win this as well as the Oscar, so that one doesn't surprise me, but maybe it will cause some last minute jockeying by the supposed experts who are predicting anyone else.

[Mister Tee]

Winners as they update:

Best Documentary Feature: Crip Camp
Best International Feature: Quo Vadis, Aida?

Apart from everything else, I would massively prefer these to what's supposed to win their categories on Sunday.

[Sabin]

Winners as they update:

Best Feature: Nomadland
Best First Feature: Sound of Metal
John Cassavetes Award: Residue
Best Documentary Feature: Crip Camp
Best International Feature: Quo Vadis, Aida?
Best Director: Chloe Zhao, Nomadland
Best Male Lead: Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Best Female Lead: Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
Best Supporting Male: Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Best Supporting Female: Youn Yuh-jung, Minari
Best Screenplay: Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Best First Screenplay: Andy Siara, Palm Springs
Best Cinematography: Nomadland
Best Editing: Nomadland
Robert Altman Award: One Night in Miami

[Sabin]

Predictions...

Best Feature: Nomadland
Best First Feature: Darius Marder, Sound of Metal
John Cassavetes: Saint Frances
Best Documentary Feature: Time
Best International Feature: Quo Vadis, Aida?
Best Director: Chloe Zhao, Nomadland
Best Male Lead: Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Best Female Lead: Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Best Supporting Male: Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Best Supporting Female: Youn Yuh-jung, Minari
Best Screenplay: Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Best First Screenplay: Andy Siara, Palm Springs
Best Cinematography: Joshua James Richards, Nomadland
Best Editing: Chloe Zhao, Nomadland
Robert Altman Award (I KNOW THIS ONE!): One Night in Miami

[Big Magilla]

The date's been changed but the timing is a bit odd. It says live at 10PM ET/PT - it can't be "live" at that hour on both coasts. It probably starts at 7 in L.A., which is 10 in the East, but won't be broadcast until 10 in each time zone as in the old days.

https://deadline.com/2021/04/film-indep ... 234741360/

[Mister Tee]

These are traditionally broadcast late afternoon (NY time) on the day before the Oscars. But my TV guide is telling me they're on tomorrow night (Thursday) at 10PM NY time. Anyone know what's going on here?

[Mister Tee]

Denzel Washington has clout in Hollywood

He really does and it's a little bit odd to me that he does have such clout because he's never been in a super high-grossing film. I think American Gangster, with $266 million worldwide, is his highest grosser. He has been in several other movies that have grossed in that $100-$200 million range, and he's probably navigated the movie star/serious actor thing as well as anyone.

I realized Denzel was a heavyweight when he opened John Q to over $20 million. The movie got terrible reviews, and wasn't an obvious audience magnet (a drama, not really a thriller), but he drew people anyway. As you say, he doesn't bring in blockbuster numbers, but he can guarantee his movies have an opening weekend, anyway, and when they turn out to have stronger appeal, he can generate solid profits (especially when budgets are held down, which they often, though not always, are for his films).

I'd say Tom Hanks and DicCaprio have done the best at navigating serious-star careers without ever succumbing to franchise mania. But Denzel is certainly one of the best at it.

[Reza]

dws1982 wrote
He really does and it's a little bit odd to me that he does have such clout because he's never been in a super high-grossing film. I think American Gangster, with $266 million worldwide, is his highest grosser. He has been in several other movies that have grossed in that $100-$200 million range, and he's probably navigated the movie star/serious actor thing as well as anyone.

He's one of the only classic movie stars left. His movies may not be blockbusters but they're almost always successful and they always trade on his persona. Very few people can say that anymore. Even Tom Cruise flirted with The Mummy franchise.

Denzel is to Hollywood today what Sidney Poitier was to Hollywood during the 1960s. Both appeal equally to White and African-American demographics.

[Sabin]

dws1982 wrote
He really does and it's a little bit odd to me that he does have such clout because he's never been in a super high-grossing film. I think American Gangster, with $266 million worldwide, is his highest grosser. He has been in several other movies that have grossed in that $100-$200 million range, and he's probably navigated the movie star/serious actor thing as well as anyone.

He's one of the only classic movie stars left. His movies may not be blockbusters but they're almost always successful and they always trade on his persona. Very few people can say that anymore. Even Tom Cruise flirted with The Mummy franchise.

[mlrg]

I'm really starting to hate Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. It's such an inferior movie to so many other films this year, yet it keeps picking up nominations for Best Feature.

Aside from inferior it’s an absolutely dreadful film that doesn’t deserve to come nowhere near any awards. If Chadwick Boseman wins for this it would be among the worst winners ever in this category, at least in my book.

[FilmFan720]

I always prefer it when the Spirit Awards are a little more off the beaten track, but in a year dominated by Independent cinema, this is a good list.

Supporting Actor might be my favorite category here: Paul Raci is my favorite of the year, but Orion Lee is wonderful in First Cow, the two Ma Rainey's guys are excellent journeymen, and Benedict Wong is a lot of fun in Nine Days (a really interesting film coming out later this year).

[dws1982]

Denzel Washington has clout in Hollywood

He really does and it's a little bit odd to me that he does have such clout because he's never been in a super high-grossing film. I think American Gangster, with $266 million worldwide, is his highest grosser. He has been in several other movies that have grossed in that $100-$200 million range, and he's probably navigated the movie star/serious actor thing as well as anyone.

[Reza]

I'm really starting to hate Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. It's such an inferior movie to so many other films this year, yet it keeps picking up nominations for Best Feature.

Denzel Washington has clout in Hollywood

[OscarGuy]

I'm really starting to hate Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. It's such an inferior movie to so many other films this year, yet it keeps picking up nominations for Best Feature.

[Sabin]

“First Cow”
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
“Minari”
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
“Nomadland”

Best Director
Lee Isaac Chung, “Minari”
Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”
Eliza Hittman,” Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
Kelly Reichardt, “First Cow”
Chloe Zhao, “Nomadland”

Best First Feature
“I Carry You With Me”
“The 40 Year Old Version”
“The Sound of Metal”
“Miss Juneteenth”
“Nine Days”

Best Female Lead
Nicole Beharie, “Miss Juneteenth”
Viola Davis, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Sidney Flanigan, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
Julia Garner, “The Assistant”
Frances McDormand, “Nomadland”
Carey Mulligan, “Promising Young Woman”

Best Male Lead
Riz Ahmed, “The Sound of Metal”
Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Rob Morgan, “Bull”
Steven Yeun, “Minari”
Adarsh Gourav, “The White Tiger”

Best Supporting Female
Alexis Chikaeze, “Miss Juneteenth”
Yeri Han, “Minari”
Valerie Mahaffey, French Exit”
Talia Ryder, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
Yuh-jung Youn, “Minari”

Best Supporting Male
Colman Domingo, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Orion Lee, “First Cow”
Paul Raci, “Sound of Metal”
Glynn Turmann, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Benedict Wong, “Nine Days”

Best Screenplay
“Bad Education”
“Minari”
“The Half of It”
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
“Promising Young Woman”

Best First Screenplay
Kitty Green, “The Assistant”
Noah Hutton, “Lapsis”
Channing Godfrey Peoples, “Miss Juneteenth”
Andy Siara, “Palm Springs”
James Sweeney, “Straight Up”


Best Cinematography
Jay Keitel, “She Dies Tomorrow”
Shabier Kirchner, “Bull”
Michael Latham, “The Assistant”
Hélène Louvart, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
Joshua James Richards, “Nomadland”

Best Editing
“I Carry You With Me”
“The Invisible Man”
“Residue”
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
“Nomadland”

Robert Altman Award
“One Night in Miami”

Best Documentary
“Collective”
“Crip Camp”
“Dick Johnson Is Dead”
“Time”
“The Mole Agent”

Best International Film
“Bacurau”
“The Disciple”
“Night of the Kings”
“Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time”
“Quo Vadis, Aida?”

Piaget Producers Award
Kara Durrett
Lucas Joaquin
Gerry Kim

Someone to Watch Award
David Midell, “The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain”
Ekwa Msangi, “Farewell Amor”
Annie Silverstein, “Bull”

Truer Than Fiction Award
Cecilia Aldarondo, “Landfall”
Elegance Bratton, “Pier Kids”
Elizabeth Lo, “Stray”

John Cassavetes Awards
“The Killing of Two Lovers”
“La Leyenda Negra”
“Lingua Franca”
“Residue”
“Saint Frances”

Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series
“Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children”
“City So Real”
“Immigration Nation”
“Love Fraud”
“We’re Here”

Best Scripted Series
“I May Destroy You”
“Little America”
“Small Axe”
“A Teacher”
“Unorthodox”

Best Female Performance in a Scripted Series
Elle Fanning, “The Great”
Shira Haas, “Unorthodox”
Abby McEnany, “Work in Progress
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, “Never Have I Ever”
Jordan Kristine Seamón, “We Are Who We Are”

Best Male Performance in a Scripted Series
Conphidance, “Little America”
Adam Ali, “Little America”
Nicco Annan, “P-Valley”
Amit Rahav, “Unorthodox”
Harold Torres, “Zero, Zero, Zero”

Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series
“I May Destroy You”
Ensemble Cast: Michaela Coel, Paapa Essiedu, Wruche Opia,
Stephen Wight