F

Flavorwire

Silver Linings Playbook

Celebrity

Jumping Off the Jennifer Lawrence Bandwagon

By Tyler Coates on

People don’t ask me often why I’m not on the Jennifer Lawrence bandwagon. Given my hyperbolic instinct to use “hate” carelessly, one friend of mine explained to an acquaintance that I “just like to hate things.” Being someone who writes online, of course, means that nonsensically disliking elements of pop culture is a given — providing a contrarian take on what is deemed “too popular” is, after all, a pretty clever click-baiting tactic. (Go ahead and count how many writers, either in headlines or just on Twitter, have timed their thoughts on how overrated Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is to the release of a sure-to-be-polarizing big-budget adaptation of the classic novel.) So let me assure you that what I’m about to say isn’t a cheap way to troll an audience. But I’m afraid I just don’t care for Jennifer Lawrence. … Read More

Film

How to Classify Movies Now That “Independent Film” Is Dead

By Jason Bailey on

This week, since the big sweep of the Independent Spirit Awards by the sure-doesn’t-feel-like-much-of-an-independent-movie Silver Linings Playbook, several film observers (including us) have raised the perennial question of what “independent film” even is, aside from a useful marketing designation that indicates the film you’re about to see will probably not include robots that transform into cars. This ongoing controversy got us thinking: if “independent film” is just a label to begin with, then why not expand it, and get a little more specific? Every film isn’t either indie or studio — let’s break it down, so we know exactly what we’re getting when we go to the cinema. Our suggestions for new, ultra-descriptive movie classifications, from lowest to highest profile, are after the jump. … Read More

Film

What Is an “Independent Film” in 2013?

By Jason Bailey on

In all the hubbub over the Oscars on Sunday night, we didn’t get a chance to say much about the weekend’s other big movie awards ceremony: the Independent Spirit Awards, held the previous evening. As usual, it was a chance to spotlight little movies that weren’t going to get attention the next night — movies like, um, Silver Linings Playbook, which won four awards for Best Director, Best Feature, Best Screenplay, and Best Female Lead. Coincidentally enough, Silver Linings Playbook was up for the equivalent of those same four awards (and four more) at the Academy Awards. Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress at both. Yay, independence! … Read More

Film

New Oscar Categories We’d Like to See — And Who We’d Nominate to Win Them

By Jason Bailey on

The Academy hasn’t added any new Oscar categories since Best Animated Film was established back in 2001; that was the first in 30 years. Every winter we discuss ways to spice up the ceremony, whether it’s new hosts or new production ideas or streamlining the handing out of the statues — but maybe it’s time to rethink the categories… Read More

Film

This Year’s Independent Spirit Awards Nominations Announced

By Caroline Stanley on

The Spirit Awards are like the Academy Awards of the independent film world — and in recent years, they’ve also served as a pretty good predictor of which titles would be receiving Oscar nominations. Thanks to big budget, yet critic-friendly releases like Argo, Lincoln, Les Miserables, Zero Dark Thirty, and Life of Pi, that might not necessarily be the case this year. That said, we imagine that you’ll be hearing about more than a few of these films in the awards season ahead, specifically David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook and Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, which lead the pack with five nods a piece. Also receiving multiple nominations: Beasts of the Southern Wild, Middle of Nowhere, and Keep the Lights On, which scored four nominations each. Click through to view the full list of nominees, and hit the comments to let us know who you favor to win in each category! … Read More