'Artist,' 'Shelter' lead Spirit noms - Entertainment News, Spirit Awards, Media - Variety

Everyone adores the Oscars.... the Globes... but every year I get so excited when the Spirit Award noms are released. Oh, the gems I have found when shaping my Blockbuster Queue after this list... <3

'Artist,' 'Shelter' lead Spirit noms - Entertainment News, Spirit Awards, Media - Variety

By DAVE MCNARY

'Beginners'

'Take Shelter'

'Martha Marcy May Marlene'

'The Artist'

The Spirit Awards saw a pair of disparate dramas -- Michael Hazanavicius' silent movie "The Artist" and Jeff Nichols' doomsday tale "Take Shelter" -- lead the nominations with five each, including best picture.

Best feature nods also went to cancer comedy "50-50," family dramas "Beginners" and "The Descendants" and actioner "Drive." Film Independent's noms were announced Tuesday morning at The London in West Hollywood by Anthony Mackie and Kate Beckinsale.

Fox Searchlight - with "The Descendants," "Martha Marcy May Marlene," "Cedar Rapids," "Another Earth" and "Win Win" - led all distribs with 14 nominations, followed by Sony Pictures Classics with nine and TWC and Focus with six each. "Beginners," "The Descendants," "Martha Marcy May Marlene" and "Drive" each scored four noms, and "50-50" scored three.

The 27th edition of the Spirit Awards will be presented Feb. 25 - the day before the Oscars - at its usual location in a beachside tent in Santa Monica. To be eligible, a film must be made by a U.S. producer for under $20 million.

Lead actor nominations went to Jean Dujardin of "The Artist," Michael Shannon of "Take Shelter," Ryan Gosling of "Drive," Demian Bichir for "A Better Life" and Woody Harrelson for "Rampart." Lead actress nods went to Lauren Ambrose, "Think of Me"; Rachel Harris, "Natural Selection"; Adepero Oduye, "Pariah"; Elizabeth Olsen, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"; and Michelle Williams, "My Week with Marilyn."

Hazanavicius and Nichols received noms in the directing category along with Mike Mills ("Beginners"), Alexander Payne ("The Descendants") and Nicolas Winding Refn ("Drive"). J.C. Chandor's "Margin Call" took the Robert Altman Award - given to one film for director, casting director and ensemble cast.

The 49-member Film Independent committee screened 270 movies, resulting in 44 films receiving nominations. Notable omissions of candidates receiving awards consideration included the film "Like Crazy," George Clooney and Judy Greer in "The Descendants," Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs" and Christopher Plummer in "Beginners."

The Spirit noms were announced following Monday night's Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York, which saw a tie in the Best Feature category between "Beginners" and Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life," which was not eligible for the spirits.

"Black Swan" won the top award at the Spirits last February.

Four Spirit nominees also picked up kudos Tuesday morning from the New York Film Critics Circle, including "The Artist" as best feature, Jessica Chastain (supporting actress for "Tree of Life," "The Help" and "Take Shelter"), Hazanavicius (director for "The Artist") and Albert Brooks (supporting actor, "Drive").

View the multiple nominations gallery

FEATURE
(Award given to the producer; executive producers are not listed)
"50/50"
Producers: Evan Goldberg, Ben Karlin, Seth Rogen
"Beginners"
Producers: Miranda de Pencier, Lars Knudsen, Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech, Jay Van Hoy
"Drive"
Producers: Michel Litvak, John Palermo, Marc Platt, Gigi Pritzker, Adam Siegel
"Take Shelter"
Producers: Tyler Davidson, Sophia Lin
"The Artist"
Producer: Thomas Langmann
"The Descendants"
Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor

MALE LEAD
Demián Bichir
"A Better Life"
Jean Dujardin
"The Artist"
Ryan Gosling
"Drive"
Woody Harrelson
"Rampart"
Michael Shannon
"Take Shelter"

FEMALE LEAD
Lauren Ambrose
"Think of Me"
Rachael Harris
"Natural Selection"
Adepero Oduye
"Pariah"
Elizabeth Olsen
"Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Michelle Williams
"My Week with Marilyn"

SUPPORTING MALE
Albert Brooks
"Drive"
John Hawkes
"Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Christopher Plummer
"Beginners"
John C. Reilly
"Cedar Rapids"
Corey Stoll
"Midnight in Paris"

SUPPORTING FEMALE
Jessica Chastain
"Take Shelter"
Anjelica Huston
"50/50"
Janet McTeer
"Albert Nobbs"
Harmony Santana
"Gun Hill Road"
Shailene Woodley
"The Descendants"

DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius
"The Artist
Mike Mills
"Beginners
Jeff Nichols
"Take Shelter
Alexander Payne
"The Descendants
Nicolas Winding
"Refn Drive

SCREENPLAY
Joseph Cedar
"Footnote"
Michel Hazanavicius
"The Artist"
Tom McCarthy
"Win Win"
Mike Mills
"Beginners"
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
"The Descendants"

FIRST FEATURE
(Award given to the director and producer)
"Another Earth"
Director: Mike Cahill
Producers: Mike Cahill, Hunter Gray, Brit Marling, Nicholas Shumaker
"In the Family"
Director: Patrick Wang
Producers: Robert Tonino, Andrew van den Houten, Patrick Wang
"Margin Call"
Director: J.C. Chandor
Producers: Robert Ogden Barnum, Michael Benaroya, Neal Dodson, Joe Jenckes, Corey Moosa, Zachary Quinto
"Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Director: Sean Durkin
Producers: Antonio Campos, Patrick Cunningham, Chris Maybach, Josh Mond
"Natural Selection
Director: Robbie Pickering
Producers: Brion Hambel, Paul Jensen

FIRST SCREENPLAY
Mike Cahill, Brit Marling
"Another Earth"
J.C. Chandor
"Margin Call"
Patrick deWitt
"Terri"
Phil Johnston
"Cedar Rapids"
Will Reiser
"50/50"

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive producers are not listed
"Bellflower"
Writer/Director: Evan Glodell
Producers: Evan Glodell, Vincent Grashaw
"Circumstance"
Writer/Director: Maryam Keshavarz
Producers: Karin Chien, Maryam Keshavarz, Melissa M. Lee
"Hello Lonesome"
Writer/Director/Producer: Adam Reid
"Pariah"
Writer/Director: Dee Rees
Producer: Nekisa Cooper
"The Dynamiter"
Writer: Brad Inglesby
Director: Matthew Gordon
Producers: Kevin Abrams, Matthew Gordon, Merilee Holt, Art Jones, Mike Jones, Nate Tuck, Amile Wilson

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Joel Hodge
"Bellflower
Benjamin Kasulke
"The Off Hours
Darius Khondji
"Midnight in Paris
Guillaume Schiffman
"The Artist
Jeffrey Waldron
"The Dynamiter

DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director)
"An African Election"
Director/Producer: Jarreth Merz
"Bill Cunningham New York"
Director: Richard Press; Producer: Philip Gefter
"The Interrupters"
Director/Producer: Steve James; Producer: Alex Kotlowitz
"The Redemption of General Butt Naked"
Director/Producers: Eric Strauss, Daniele Anastasion
"We Were Here"
Director/Producer: David Weissman

FOREIGN FILM (Award given to the director)
"A Separation"(Iran)
Director: Asghar Farhadi
"Melancholia" (Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany)
Director: Lars von Trier
"Shame" (UK)
Director: Steve McQueen
"The Kid With a Bike" (Belgium/France/Italy)
Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
"Tyrannosaur" (UK)
Director: Paddy Considine

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
(The 18th annual Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.)
Simon Arthur
"Silver Tongues"
Mark Jackson
"Without"
Nicholas Ozeki
"Mamitas"

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
(The 15th annual Piaget Producers Award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.)
Chad Burris
"Mosquita y Mari"
Sophia Lin
"Take Shelter"
Josh Mond
"Martha Marcy May Marlene"

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
(The 17th annual Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.)
Heather Courtney
"Where Soldiers Come From"
Danfung Dennis
"Hell and Back Again"
Alma Har'el
"Bombay Beach"

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
(Given to one film's director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
"Margin Call"
Director: J.C. Chandor
Casting Director: Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey
Ensemble Cast: Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci

Super, super delicious Homemade Caramel Apples

Which just so happen to be my specialty... from my latest feel good obsession: The Brown Eyed Baker.

Homemade Caramel Apples

Yield: 10 apples

Prep Time: 45 minutes | Chill Time: 1 hour

2 bags Caramel Bits
10 Granny Smith apples
Assorted chocolates for melting
Assorted candies, chips, etc. for rolling

1. Wash the apples, remove the stems (and any stickers!) and refrigerate them overnight.

2. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and spray with a non-stick cooking spray. Insert wooden or lollipop sticks into the center of each apple.

3. In a small saucepan, melt the caramel according to the package directions. One at a time, dip the apples into the caramel, swirling and using a spoon to get it covered. Place on the baking sheet and repeat with all of the apples. Place the apples in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

4. In a 2-cup measuring cup (this works perfectly for this!), melt whatever chocolate you are using. I used the microwave at 50% power in 30-second increments. Have your candies and chips ready. Dip the caramel apple into the chocolate, covering it as much as possible, and then roll it in the desired toppings.

5. Apples will keep for 1 to 2 days in the refrigerator.

Note: I add 1 tablespoon of vegetable shortening per 1 cup of chocolate chips when melting. It keeps the chocolate thin (no clumping) and it dries nice and smooth.

The Rocky Road Caramel Apple (dark chocolate rolled in mini semisweet chips, chopped walnuts and miniature marshmallows – inspired by a favorite ice cream concoction at Marble Slab)

The Reese’s Caramel Apple (milk chocolate rolled in peanut butter chips)

The Snickers Caramel Apple (milk chocolate rolled in chopped peanuts)

The Apple Pie Caramel Apple (white chocolate rolled in a brown sugar and cinnamon mixture)

Rules & Regulations

Learn well your grammar,
And never stammer,
Write well and neatly,
And sing most sweetly, 
Be enterprising,
Love early rising, 
Go for walks of six miles, 
Have ready quick smiles,
With lightsome laughter, 
Soft, flowing after.


Drink tea, not coffee;
Never eat toffy.
Eat bread with butter. 
Once more, don't stutter.
Don't waste your money, 
Abstain from honey.  

Shut doors behind you,
(Don't slam them, mind you), 
Drink beer, not porter.
Don't enter the water
Till to swim you are able.
Sit close to the table.
Take care of a candle.
Shut a door by the handle, 


Don't push with your shoulder
Until you are older.
Lose not a button. 
Refuse cold mutton.
Starve your canaries.
Believe in fairies.
If you are able, 
Don't have a stable
With any mangers.


Be rude to strangers.


Moral: Behave
-Charles L. Dodgson

Relationship satisfaction and outcome in women who meet their partner while using oral contraception

Abstract:

Hormonal variation over the menstrual cycle alters women’s preferences for phenotypic indicators of

men’s genetic or parental quality. Hormonal contraceptives suppress these shifts, inducing different

mate preference patterns among users and non-users. This raises the possibility that women using oral

contraception (OC) choose different partners than they would do otherwise but, to date, we know neither

whether these laboratory-measured effects are sufficient to exert real-world consequences, nor what these

consequences would be. Here, we test for differences in relationship quality and survival between women

who were using or not using OC when they chose the partner who fathered their first child. Women who

used OC scored lower on measures of sexual satisfaction and partner attraction, experienced increasing

sexual dissatisfaction during the relationship, and were more likely to be the one to initiate an eventual

separation if it occurred. However, the same women were more satisfied with their partner’s paternal provision, and thus had longer relationships and were less likely to separate. These effects are congruent with evolutionary predictions based on cyclical preference shifts. Our results demonstrate that widespread

use of hormonal contraception may contribute to relationship outcome, with implications for human

reproductive behaviour, family cohesion and quality of life.

Keywords: mate choice; contraceptive pill; attractiveness;

Entire PDF

Dig that hole, forget the sun

Breathe, breathe in the air

don't be afraid to care

Leave, but don't leave me

look around

Choose your own ground

for long you live and high you fly

and smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry

and all you touch and all you see

is all your life will ever be

Run, rabbit run

Dig that hole, forget the sun

And when at last the work is done

don't sit down

It's time to dig another one

For long you live and high you fly

But only if you ride the tide

And balanced on the biggest wave

You race towards an early grave

Photos Via

The dirty dozen and clean 15 of produce | Need to Know | PBS

The dirty dozen and clean 15 of produce | Need to Know | PBS

Memories are what warm you up from the inside. But they’re also what tear you apart.

Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house.

Henry Ward Beecher

The answer is never the answer. What’s really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you’ll always be seeking. I’ve never seen anybody really find the answer. They think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer.

Ken Kesey

Google leases office complex in Venice - Page 2 - Los Angeles Times

Google leases office complex in Venice - Page 2 - Los Angeles Times

oh my dear it has been ages, hasn't it?