Spirit Award nominations announced

Spirit Award nominations announced
'Precious', 'Last Station' score the most nods
By DAVE MCNARY

'Precious'
• View the nominees photo gallery


'The Last Station'


'500 Days of Summer'

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A pair of disparate dramas, Lionsgate's "Precious" and Sony Classics' "The Last Station," have dominated Spirit Award nominations with five each.
The duo will face off against Fox Searchlight's "500 Days of Summer," National Geographic's "Amreeka" and Focus Features' "Sin Nombre" in the best feature category.

Matt Dillon and Taraji P. Henson announced the nods Tuesday morning at the Sofitel Hotel and winners be announced March 5, two days before the Oscars. Film Independent has shifted the ceremonies to the LA Live campus in downtown from its traditional beachside site in Santa Monica, and from Saturday afternoon to Friday night.

"Precious," centered on the life of an abused teen mother, also scored nominations for director Lee Daniels, lead actress Gaborey Sidibe, supporting actress Mo'Nique and writer Geoffrey Fletcher for best first screenplay. "The Last Station," focused on Leo Tolstoy's marriage, received nods for lead actress Helen Mirren, supporting actor Christopher Plummer and Michael Hoffman, who took noms in both the director and screenplay categories.

"I think it resonated because it's about the existential problems of love and marriage and how difficult that is -- which is something everyone can relate to," Hoffman told Daily Variety.

Hoffman added that he was taken by surprise by the nominations and found out after a workout in Manhattan. "I got back to my hotel room and there were 50 emails for me," he noted.

Oscilloscope's "The Messenger" took four noms, including best first feature for director Oren Moverman, screenplay for Alessandro Camon and Moverman, supporting actor for Woody Harrelson and supporting actress for Samantha Morton.

Fox Searchlight, Oscilloscope and Sony Classics tied for most distributor nods with seven each.

In addition to Daniels and Hoffman, best director noms went to Joel and Ethan Coen for "A Serious Man," Cary Joji Fukunaga for "Sin Nombre" and James Gray for "Two Lovers."

Besides Mirren and Sidibe, female lead nods went to Maria Bello for "Downloading Nancy," Nisreen Faour for "Amreeka" and Gwyneth Paltrow for "Two Lovers." Male lead noms were received by Jeff Bridges for "Crazy Heart," Colin Firth for "A Single Man," Joseph Gordon-Levitt for "500 Days of Summer," Souleymane Sy Savane for "Goodbye Solo" and Adam Scott for "The Vicious Kind."

"The Last Station" and "The Messenger" will face competition in screenplay from Lee Toland Kirkland for "The Vicious Kind," Greg Mottola for "Adventureland" and Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for "500 Days of Summer."

"We're jumping around with joy right now," Neustadter told Daily Variety. "I think we connected with the voters because our film really did have a singular vision. Everyone wanted to make the same movie."

Sony Classics' "An Education" scored a nom in the best foreign film, the only category in which the British/French production was eligible. It faces competition from France's "A Prophet," Sweden's "Everlasting Moments," South Korea's "Mother" and Chile's "The Maid."

"I think this represents a real endorsement for 'An Education' in all the categories," said Sony Classics chief Tom Bernard.

"A Serious Man" was announced Tuesday as winner of the Robert Altman Award, given to a director, casting director and ensemble cast.

Paramount's surprise hit "Paranormal Activity," which has grossed $107 million domestically from a $15,000 budget, received a nom for best first feature. It will face "A Single Man," "Crazy Heart," "Easier with Practice" and "The Messenger."

"Paranormal Activity" didn't get a nod for the John Cassavetes Award to honor the best feature made for under $500,000. Those noms went to "Big Fan," "Humpday," "The New Year's Parade," "Treeless Mountain" and "Zero Bridge."

Summit's "The Hurt Locker," which dominated Monday night's Gotham Awards, wasn't eligible this year. It earned Spirit nominations last year for actors Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie.

2010 Spirit Award nominations

BEST FEATURE
"(500) Days Of Summer" - Producers: Mason Novick, Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Steven J. Wolfe
"Amreeka" - Producers: Paul Barkin, Christina Piovesan
"Precious" - Producers: Lee Daniels, Gary Magness, Sarah Siegel-Magness
"Sin Nombre" - Producer: Amy Kaufman
"The Last Station" - Producers: Bonnie Arnold, Chris Curling, Jens Meuer

BEST DIRECTOR
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - "A Serious Man"
Lee Daniels - "Precious"
Cary Joji Fukunaga - "Sin Nombre"
James Gray - "Two Lovers"
Michael Hoffman - "The Last Station"

BEST SCREENPLAY
Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman - "The Messenger"
Michael Hoffman - "The Last Station"
Lee Toland Krieger - "The Vicious Kind"
Greg Mottola - "Adventureland"
Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber - "(500) Days Of Summer"

BEST FIRST FEATURE
"A Single Man" - Director: Tom Ford; Producers: Tom Ford, Andrew Miano, Robert Salerno, Chris Weitz
"Crazy Heart" - Director: Scott Cooper; Producers: T Bone Burnett, Judy Cairo, Rob Carliner, Scott Cooper, Robert Duvall
"Easier With Practice" - Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez; Producer: Cookie Carosella
"Paranormal Activity" - Director: Oren Peli; Producer: Jason Blum, Oren Peli
"The Messenger" - Director: Oren Moverman; Producers: Mark Gordon, Lawrence Inglee, Zach Miller

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Sophie Barthes - "Cold Souls"
Scott Cooper - "Crazy Heart"
Cherien Dabis - "Amreeka"
Geoffrey Fletcher - "Precious"
Tom Ford, David Scearce - "A Single Man"

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD - Given to the best feature made for under $500,000.
"Big Fan" - Writer/Director: Robert Siegel; Producers: Elan Bogarin, Jean Kouremetis
"Humpday" - Writer/Director/Producer: Lynn Shelton
"The New Year Parade" - Writer/Director: Tom Quinn; Producers: Steve Beal, Tom Quinn
"Treeless Mountain" - Writer/Director: So Yong Kim; Producers: Bradley Rust Gray, Ben Howe, So Yong Kim, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy
"Zero Bridge" - Writer/Director: Tariq Tapa; Producers: Josee Lajoie, Hilal Ahmed Langoo, Tariq Tapa

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Maria Bello - "Downloading Nancy"
Nisreen Faour - "Amreeka"
Helen Mirren - "The Last Station"
Gwyneth Paltrow - "Two Lovers"
Gabourey Sidibe - "Precious"

BEST MALE LEAD
Jeff Bridges - "Crazy Heart"
Colin Firth - "A Single Man"
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - "(500) Days Of Summer"
Souléymane Sy Savané - "Goodbye Solo"
Adam Scott - "The Vicious Kind"

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Dina Korzun - "Cold Souls"
Mo'Nique - "Precious"
Samantha Morton - "The Messenger"
Natalie Press - "Fifty Dead Men Walking"
Mia Wasikowska - "That Evening Sun"

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Jemaine Clement - "Gentlemen Broncos"
Woody Harrelson - "The Messenger"
Christian McKay - "Me and Orson Welles"
Raymond McKinnon - "That Evening Sun"
Christopher Plummer - "The Last Station"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Roger Deakins - "A Serious Man"
Adriano Goldman - "Sin Nombre"
Anne Misawa - "Treeless Mountain"
Andrij Parekh - "Cold Souls"
Peter Zeitlinger - "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans"

BEST DOCUMENTARY
"Anvil! The Story of Anvil" - Director: Sacha Gervasi
"Food, Inc." - Director: Robert Kenner
"More Than A Game" - Director: Kristopher Belman
"October Country" - Directors: Donal Mosher, Michael Palmieri
"Which Way Home" - Director: Rebecca Cammisa

BEST FOREIGN FILM
"A Prophet" - (France) Director: Jacques Audiard
"An Education" - (UK/France) Director: Lone Scherfig
"Everlasting Moments" - (Sweden) Director: Jan Troell
"Mother" - (South Korea) Director: Bong Joon-Ho
"The Maid" - (Chile) Director: Sebastián Silva

ACURA SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Kyle Patrick Alvarez - "Easier With Practice"
Asiel Norton - "Redland"
Tariq Tapa - "Zero Bridge"

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Natalia Almada - "El General"
Jessica Oreck - "Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo"
Bill Ross, Turner Ross - "45365"

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
Karin Chien - "The Exploding Girl," "Santa Mesa"
Larry Fessenden - "I Sell the Dead," "The House of the Devil"
Dia Sokol - "Beeswax," "Nights & Weekends"

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD - (Given to one film's director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
"A Serious Man"
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Casting Directors: Ellen Chenoweth, Rachel Tenner
Ensemble Cast: Richard Kind, Sari Lennick, Jessica McManus, Fred Melamed, Michael Stuhlbarg, Aaron Wolff