When it first started 25 years ago, the Spirit Awards honored the then-blossoming independent film community, but these days, the annual event is starting to feel more like the Academy Awards in a tent. Jeff Bridges picked up the Spirit Award and the Oscar for his role in Crazy Heart, while Mo’Nique also won both awards for Precious. Film Independent says the Spirit Awards recognizes the best films made below $20 million, but that’s still a lot of money. With such an overlap between the indie and mainstream, maybe it’s time to redefine what “independent” means. How about limiting the budget to $10 million next year? Or better yet, just include movies shot with a mini digital HD camcorder — just one of the many luxury items included in this year’s official presenter gift bag.
We peeked. View our “blue” carpet slideshow here>>
Director Lukas Moodysson (Fucking Åmål, Lilya 4-Ever) makes his first stab at an English-language film with Mammoth, an intricate yet flawed portrait of class and globalization.
Michelle Williams and Gael Garcia Bernal portray Ellen and Leo, a bourgeois bohemian couple living in Manhattan with their young daughter, Jackie (Sophie Nyweide), and their live-in Filipino nanny, Gloria (Marife Necesito). When Leo leaves on a business trip to Thailand, the film begins to weave a tangled web of stories that involving family, ultimately showing that every action has a reaction.
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Last night’s Gotham Independent Film Awards saluted the best in American independent cinema, with top honors going to Kathryn Bigelow’s gritty war drama The Hurt Locker. Presented by the Independent Feature Project, the often boozy ceremony heralds the start of the film awards season, and in past years has proven a good indicator of which indies will receive Oscar nods.
The crowd at Cipriani Wall Street — which included Willem Dafoe, Meryl Streep, and Alec Baldwin — was eager to express their support for independent filmmaking. Said presenter Ellen Burstyn, “I love independent film because I think that’s where all the people stories are now. The big studio films have gotten to be so much about explosions and special effects.” Richard Kind, a character actor currently in A Serious Man and previously in every movie, sitcom, and animated film ever, added, “The Coen brothers said that when they got a really big budget it wasn’t as much fun as keeping it small, and I think they’re right. I think you’re more focused.”
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You’ve forgotten to put an obligatory horror movie in your NETFLIX queue and you feel like watching something scary, stat.
At this point in Halloweek, your options are limited to whatever edited STEPHEN KING movie TBS is playing at 11 p.m. or the picked over selection of unrecognizable titles left at the video store.
Just because it’s not THE RING doesn’t mean it’s not good. It’s time to think outside of the mainstream box.
That’s why we’ve asked the independent film experts at New York’s ROOFTOP FILMS — a non-profit, outdoor film festival that has been showing films on rooftops, in parks, and along waterways in New York since 1997 — for their expert recommendations.
Read on for picks from DAN NUXOLL, Rooftop’s Program Director after the jump, and if you live in New York check out their free indoor screening tonight at Chelsea Market: 10 Scary Short Films from Around the World.
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The nominees for this year’s 18th ANNUAL GOTHAM INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS were announced earlier this morning, in a rare case of David winning out over Goliath (or at least much bigger Davids), LANCE HAMMER’s self-distributed debut, BALLAST, received the most nods.
Frankly, I’m surprised. Ballast is not the kind of film I imagine playing well with audiences; there’s no soundtrack, mumbled dialogue, and a plot that is hard to follow and depressing once you figure it out.
Gotham’s picks usually skew more viewer-friendly — like last year’s Breakthrough Actor winner, ELLEN PAGE for JUNO.
And then there’s the fact that WOODY ALLEN’s VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA is mentioned twice. I loved this movie, but I would love to see a comparison of Allen’s budget versus Hammer’s.
Does anyone know what qualifies a film as an independent release for the folks at Gotham?
The full list of nominees after the jump.
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