The Watchers

The Watchers

Friday 6 December 2013

Awards Season 2014: Independent Spirit Award Nominations



It's that time of year again, folks. 

Some of you will like this, most of you won't, but it's time for me to dust off the spreadsheet (yes, I am sad enough to have a spreadsheet) and start talking about the awards season.

I sometimes wonder if there aren't corners of Hollywood much like The Nightmare Before Christmas. After a successful Halloween, the mayor fretfully announces 'There's only 365 days left until next Halloween!'. Is it the same in Tinseltown? The day after the Oscars, when engravers' tools are barely cold and the hangovers are kicking in, are there shadowy offices planning the next year's potential award winners? Perhaps that's just me being a bit cynical- OK, very cynical- but it does seem, like Christmas, the awards season starts earlier each year.

Aside from the film festivals, usually the first of the major film awards to be announced are the Film Independent Spirit Awards. Their nominations were announced on Tuesday 26th November 2013, even though the awards won't be handed out until Saturday 1st March 2014- the day before the Academy Awards (this is a week later than usual, due to the Winter Olympics in Sochi).

The Film Independent Spirit Awards, as the name suggests, honours films made outside the major Hollywood studio system. Here are a selection of this year's nominees:

Best Film
12 Years A Slave
All Is Lost
Frances Ha
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska

Best Director
Shane Carruth (Upstream Color)
J.C. Chandor (All Is Lost)
Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave)
Jeff Nichols (Mud)
Alexander Payne (Nebraska)

Best Actor
Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave)
Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station)
Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
Robert Redford (All Is Lost)

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Julie Delpy (Before Midnight)
Gaby Hoffman (Crystal Fairy)
Brie Larson (Short Term 12)
Shailene Woodley (The Spectacular Now)

Best Supporting Actor
Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave)
Will Forte (Nebraska)
James Gandolfini (Enough Said)
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Keith Stanfield (Short Term 12)

Best Supporting Actress
Melonie Diaz (Fruitvale Station)
Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)
Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years A Slave)
Yolonda Ross (Go For Sisters)
June Squibb (Nebraska)

Whilst these awards do focus more on the lower-budget, what could be described as niche, movies, there's still a fair bit of overlap between these and the other more mainstream awards. For instance, last year's big Independent Spirit award winner was Silver Linings Playbook which took Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars. The year before, it was The Artist.

If I were a betting man, I would say you are virtually guaranteed to see 12 Years A Slave, Blue Jasmine and Nebraska mentioned in the mainstream awards, with a strong likelihood of Dallas Buyers Club and All Is Lost also joining them.


The timetable for the other major awards are as follows:


Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award 
Nominations Announced: 11 December 2013
Awards Ceremony: 18 January 2014

Golden Globes
Nominations announced: 12 December 2013  
Awards Ceremony: 12 January 2014 (hosted by Tina Fey & Amy Poehler)

Writers' Guild Of America (WGA) Award 
Nominations Announced: 3 January 2014
Awards Ceremony: 1 February 2013

Directors' Guild Of America (DGA) Award
Nominations Announced: 7 January 2014
Awards Ceremony: 25 January 2014

BAFTA Film Awards 
Nominations announced: 8 January 2014
Awards Ceremony: 16 February 2014

Golden Raspberry Awards
Nominations announced: 15 January 2014
Awards Ceremony: 1 March 2014

Academy Awards (Oscars) 
Nominations announced: 16 January 2014
Awards Ceremony: 2 March 2014 (hosted by Ellen DeGeneres)

There'll be more on awards season as it progresses.

Tez


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