2006 Independent Spirit Awards

This Saturday, the day before the Oscars, the 20th Annual Independent Spirit Awards take place. The nominees...

BEST FEATURE
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Good Night, And Good Luck
The Squid & the Whale
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

BEST DIRECTOR
Gregg Araki, Mysterious Skin
Noah Baumbach, The Squid & the Whale
George Clooney, Good Night, And Good Luck
Rodrigo García, Nine Lives
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain

BEST ACTOR
Jeff Daniels, The Squid & the Whale
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
David Strathairn, Good NIght, And Good Luck

BEST ACTRESS
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica
Laura Linney, The Squid & the Whale
Dina Korzun, Forty Shades of Blue
S. Epatha Merkerson, "Lackawanna Blues"
Cyndi Williams, Room

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Firdous Bamji, The War Within
Matt Dillon, Crash
Jesse Eisenberg, The Squid & the Whale
Barry Pepper, The Thre Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Jeffrey Wright, Broken Flowers

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, Junebug
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Happy Endings
Allison Janney, On Our Very Own
Robin Wright Penn, Nine Lives
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain

BEST SCREENPLAY
Capote, Dan Futterman
Nine Lives, Rodrigo García
The Squid and the Whale, Noah Baumbach
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Guillermo Arriaga
The War Within, Ayad Akhtar, Joseph Castelo & Tom Glynn

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Grizzly Man
Romántico
La Sierra
Sir! No Sir!

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FEATURE
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Romania)
Duck Season (Mexico)
Head-On (Turkey)
Paradise Now (Palestine)
Tony Takitani (Japan)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Capote, Adam Kimmel
Good Night, And Good Luck, Robert Elswit
Keane, John Foster
Last Days, Harris Savides
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Chris Menges

BEST FIRST FEATURE
Crash, Paul Haggis
"Lackawanna Blues", George Wolfe
Me and You and Everyone We Know, Miranda July
Thumbsucker, Mike Mills
Transamerica, Duncan Tucker

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
The Beautiful Country, Sabina Murray
Fixing Frank, Ken Hanes
Junebug, Angus MacLachlan
Me and You and Everyone We Know, Miranda July
Transamerica, Duncan Tucker

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD*
Brick
Conventioneers
Jellysmoke
The Puffy Chair
Room

*Given to the writer, director and producer for the best feature made for under $500,000.00

The Awards show starts at 2:00pm Pacific and is aired live on IFC (The Independent Film Channel). The event is rebroadcast at 9:00pm Pacific. The host of this year's awards is Sarah Silverman.

__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Thanks for posting all of this Holden. The Awards show is also on tonight on AMC at 10:00pm (Est).

Yeah, but they won't have to bleep out the swearing or insert commercials on IFC. It's usually a very fun and funny show.


And though the line has been getting more and more blurred as to what an "independent" movie even means anymore, the Spirit Awards have never mirrored the Oscars down the line in so many categories. There has been lots of work nominated for both in the past to be sure, and some of the Spirit winners have even gone on to win Oscars the next day.

There have been five acting performances that have won Oscas and Spirits, all women: Geraldine Page in The Trip to Bountiful, Dianne Wiest in Bullets Over Broadway, Frances McDormand in Fargo, Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry and Charlize Theron in Monster. Felicity Huffman, Amy Adams and Michelle Wiliams can do it again this year, and Pihilp Seymour Hoffman, Terrence Howard, Heath Ledger, David Strathairn and Matt Dillon all have the opportunity to be the first men to win both.

There have been five winners of Best Screenplay at the Spirits who also won the Oscar: Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects, Fargo, Lost in Translation and Sideways.

The only Director and Picture to have also won the Oscar was Oliver Stone and Platoon back in 1987 (the second year of the Spirits). Will Ang Lee and Brokeback Mountain repeat that feat? Will one or the other or even both voting bodies pick upsets in some kind of Brokeback backlash after it has won so many of the major awards leading up to this weekend? Stay tuned...

The winners at the Independent Spirit Awards...

BEST FEATURE
Brokeback Mountain

BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain

BEST ACTOR
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote

BEST ACTRESS
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Dillon, Crash

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, Junebug

BEST SCREENPLAY
Capote, Dan Futterman

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FEATURE
Paradise Now (Palestine)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Good Night, And Good Luck, Robert Elswit

BEST FIRST FEATURE
Crash, Paul Haggis

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Transamerica, Duncan Tucker

And to follow up here, Philip Seymour Hoffman becomes only the seventh performer (and first man) to win both the Oscar and the Spirit, and Ang Lee only the second person to win both awards for directing.

Speaking of swearing, I really enjoyed Felicity Huffman's story about the grip.

__________________
My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.

Yeah, she definitely had the best acceptance speech at the Spirits ("This fu*king movie better win some fu*king awards...."). And Kevin Smith was by far the funniest of the presenters ("I just want to be able to watch. Preferably from under a glass table..."). I can only imagine how much Smith's story was edited on AMC.

Sarah Silverman was very good, and because of the looser atmosphere much more relaxed and able to be herself than Jon was. Stewart was good, I enjoyed the show and I hope they ask him back, but it wasn't a home run. A solid double stretched into a triple on a throwing error maybe.