**BLACK SWAN Wins Big at 2011 Independent Spirit Awards, Takes Home Best Film, Director and Actress **2011 Spirit Awards

BLACK SWAN Wins Big at 2011 Independent Spirit Awards, Takes Home Best Film, Director and Actress

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 26th, 2011

The Oscars don’t take place until tomorrow night, but today the Independent Spirit Awards were held, honoring the best in independent film from 2010. Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan walked away with four prizes: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Cinematography. James Franco won Best Actor for his work in 127 Hours and Winter’s Bone swept the Best Supporting categories with Dale Dickey and John Hawkes taking home Best Supporting Actress and Actor, respectively. The Kids Are All Right picked up Best Screenplay, while Exit Through the Gift Shop won Best Documentary (No, Banksy wasn’t there. Mr. Brainwash accepted the award). Hit the jump to check out the complete list of winners. Don’t forget to check back here tomorrow night when Matt live blogs the Oscars.

Here are the winners of the 2011 Independent Spirit Awards:

Best Film

Black Swan

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

Best Actress

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Best Actor

James Franco, 127 Hours

Best Supporting Actress

Dale Dickey, Winter’s Bone

Best Supporting Actor

John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone

Best Screenplay

Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Bloomberg, The Kids are All Right

Best Cinematography

Matthew Libatique, Black Swan

Best Documentary

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Best Foreign Film

The King’s Speech

Best First Feature

Get Low

Best First Screenplay

Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture

Truer Than Fiction Award

Jeff Malmberg, Marwencol

Someone to Watch Award

Mike Ott, Littlerock

Producer’s Award

Anish Savjani, Meek’s Cutoff

Robert Altman Award (Ensemble)

Please Give

source; http://collider.com/2011-independent-spirit-award-winners/78047/

2011 Spirit Awards

Winners announced on Saturday, February 26th.

Best Feature

WINNER

Black Swan (2010)

Other Nominees:

127 Hours (2010)

Greenberg (2010)

The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Winter's Bone (2010)

Best Female Lead

WINNER

Natalie Portman for Black Swan (2010)

Other Nominees:

Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Greta Gerwig for Greenberg (2010)

Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole (2010)

Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone (2010)

Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine (2010)

Best Male Lead

WINNER

James Franco for 127 Hours (2010)

Other Nominees:

Ronald Bronstein for Go Get Some Rosemary (2009)

Aaron Eckhart for Rabbit Hole (2010)

John C. Reilly for Cyrus (2010/I)

Ben Stiller for Greenberg (2010)

Best Supporting Female

WINNER

Dale Dickey for Winter's Bone (2010)

Other Nominees:

Ashley Bell for The Last Exorcism (2010)

Allison Janney for Life During Wartime (2009)

Daphne Rubin-Vega for Jack Goes Boating (2010)

Naomi Watts for Mother and Child (2009)

Best Supporting Male

WINNER

John Hawkes for Winter's Bone (2010)

Other Nominees:

Samuel L. Jackson for Mother and Child (2009)

Bill Murray for Get Low (2009)

John Ortiz for Jack Goes Boating (2010)

Mark Ruffalo for The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Best Director

WINNER

Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan (2010)

Other Nominees:

Danny Boyle for 127 Hours (2010)

Lisa Cholodenko for The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Debra Granik for Winter's Bone (2010)

John Cameron Mitchell for Rabbit Hole (2010)

Best Screenplay

WINNER

The Kids Are All Right (2010): Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko

Other Nominees:

Life During Wartime (2009): Todd Solondz

Please Give (2010): Nicole Holofcener

Rabbit Hole (2010): David Lindsay-Abaire

Winter's Bone (2010): Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini

Best First Screenplay

WINNER

Tiny Furniture (2010): Lena Dunham

Other Nominees:

Jack Goes Boating (2010): Robert Glaudini

Lovely, Still (2008): Nicholas Fackler

Monogamy (2010): Dana Adam Shapiro, Evan M. Wiener

Obselidia (2010): Diane Bell

Best Cinematography

WINNER

Black Swan (2010): Matthew Libatique

Other Nominees:

Greenberg (2010): Harris Savides

Never Let Me Go (2010): Adam Kimmel

Tiny Furniture (2010): Jody Lee Lipes

Winter's Bone (2010): Michael McDonough

Best First Feature

WINNER

Get Low (2009)

Other Nominees:

Everything Strange and New (2009)

The Last Exorcism (2010)

Night Catches Us (2010)

Tiny Furniture (2010)

Best Foreign Film

WINNER

The King's Speech (2010)

Other Nominees:

Des hommes et des dieux (2010)

Kisses (2008)

Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (2010)

Mademoiselle Chambon (2009)

Best Documentary

WINNER

Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)

Other Nominees:

Marwencol (2010)

Restrepo (2010)

Sweetgrass (2009)

Thunder Soul (2010)

John Cassavetes Award

WINNER

Go Get Some Rosemary (2009): Ben Safdie, Joshua Safdie, Casey Neistat, Tom Scott

Other Nominees:

The Exploding Girl (2009): Bradley Rust Gray, Karin Chien, Ben Howe, So Yong Kim

Lbs. (2004): Matthew Bonifacio, Carmine Famiglietti

Lovers of Hate (2010): Bryan Poyser, Megan Gilbride

Obselidia (2010): Diane Bell, Chris Byrne, Matthew Medlin

Truer Than Fiction Award

WINNER

Marwencol (2010): Jeff Malmberg

Other Nominees:

Summer Pasture (2010): Lynn True, Nelson Walker III

Sweetgrass (2009): Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Castaing-Taylor

Someone to Watch Award

WINNER

Mike Ott for Littlerock (2010)

Other Nominees:

Hossein Keshavarz for Dog Sweat (2010)

Laurel Nakadate for The Wolf Knife (2010)

Producers Award

WINNER

Anish Savjani for Meek's Cutoff (2010)

Other Nominees:

In-Ah Lee for Yi ye Taibei (2010)

Adele Romanski for The Myth of the American Sleepover (2010)

Robert Altman Award

WINNER

Please Give (2010)

source; http://www.imdb.com/features/oscars/2011/spirits

***Awesome New Image from THE HANGOVER PART II ***First Images of Dennis Leary as Captain George Stacy in Marc Webb’s SPIDER-MAN ***Cool Posters for THE HAUNTING, WINTER’S BONE, SOURCE CODE and More

Awesome New Image from THE HANGOVER PART II

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 14th, 2011

Even though The Hangover Part II is just five months away from release, we’re still pretty much in the dark on the film. There’s no trailer, a very brief synopsis, and only one official image has been released—until now. The latest issue of EW features a new image of Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms from the film, but it’s a little low-resolution. Not to fear—we’ve landed the high-resolution version of the image which features our first look at Ed Helms’ Mike Tyson-esque face tattoo.  If that alone doesn’t make you want to buy a ticket right now, something’s seriously wrong with you. Hit the jump to check out the full image.

I think this image is great. There are so many different WTF? things happening in just one still, and Galifianakis’ shirt is simply perfect. Does Helms’ tattoo signify that he and Mike Tyson have some serious bonding time in the sequel? Tyson’s name appears in the cast list, so we at least know that he’s showing up in some capacity. However, I’m really trying to stay away from cameo spoilers as it’s so much more fun to discover them when watching the film for the first time.

The Hangover Part II just wrapped shooting in Thailand. For those wondering when we’ll get some footage, a source tells us to expect a teaser trailer next month. The film hits theaters on May 26^th. Here’s the image, click for hi-res:

http://collider.com/the-hangover-2-image/70327/

First Images of Dennis Leary as Captain George Stacy in Marc Webb’s SPIDER-MAN

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: January 14th, 2011

With Spider-Man currently filming on location in Los Angeles, we’re able to get our first look at Dennis Leary as Captain George Stacy.  While not as exciting as the first look at Andrew Garfield in costume as Spider-Man, they’re still cool to see.

While many of you might have wondered why Sony chose yesterday to reveal a first look at the costume, I’m guessing that it has to do with what they’re getting ready to film in the next week or two.  If I was about to shoot on location with Garfield in costume as Spider-Man, I’d want to release the first image beforehand so the first time everyone sees the costume it looks perfect.  If I’m right, expect some on location images of the Spider-Man costume in action very soon… Until then, hit the jump for more looks at Leary as Captain George Stacy.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but everything I’ve seen and read leads me to believe that the reboot of Spider-Man is going to be great.  The only negative thing I can say is that it sucks we have to wait until July 3, 2012 to see the movie.  By the time that date rolls around, they could be filming the sequel!  At least this summer, at Comic-Con, we’ll get to see some footage. What do you all think of the images so far?

via dailyblam

http://collider.com/dennis-leary-spider-man-images/70317/

Cool Posters for THE HAUNTING, WINTER’S BONE, SOURCE CODE and More

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 14th, 2011

I’m a movie poster dork and I always like seeing what various artists do when creating posters for movies they enjoy or are looking forward to.  The folks at Phantom City Creative have done some pretty sweet work by creating three posters dedicated to the film’s of director Robert Wise: The Body Snatcher, The Haunting, and The Andromeda Strain.  Each of their posters is limited to an edition of 113, measures 11×17, and costs $30 (plus shipping) or $75 (plus shipping) if you buy all three posters together.

Moving on, artist Sam Smith designed posters for his ten favorite films of 2010 and came up with some really stunning work.  I particularly love his posters for Winter’s Bone and Toy Story 3.  Finally, Lloyd Stas, whose work we featured last week when he designed posters for the work of Edgar Wright, has taken a stab at Duncan Jones’ upcoming film Source Code.  Hit the jump to check out all of the posters.

Click over to Phantom City Creative’s Etsy shop to buy their posters.

http://collider.com/posters-the-haunting-winters-bone-source-code/70281/

Critics Awards Grid

Best Director Best Actress Best Actor Best Picture
National Board of Review David Fincher
(The Social Network) Lesley Manville
(Another Year) Jesse Eisenberg
(The Social Network) The Social Network
Washington DC Area Film Critics Association
 David Fincher
(The Social Network)
Jennifer Lawrence
(Winter's Bone)
Colin Firth
(The King's Speech)
The Social Network
Los Angeles Film Critics Association David Fincher (The
Social Network);
Olivier Assayas (Carlos) Hye-ja Kim
(Mother) Colin Firth
(The King's Speech) The Social Network
Boston Society of Film Critics David Fincher
(The Social Network) Natalie Portman
(Black Swan) Jesse Eisenberg
(The Social Network) The Social Network
New York Film Critics Online David Fincher
(The Social Network) Natalie Portman
(Black Swan) James Franco
(127 Hours) The Social Network
Southeastern Film Critics Association David Fincher
(The Social Network) Natalie Portman
(Black Swan) Colin Firth
(The King's Speech) The Social Network
Indiana Film Journalists Association Christopher Nolan
(Inception) Natalie Portman
(Black Swan) James Franco
(127 Hours) The Social Network
New York Film Critics Circle David Fincher
(The Social Network) Annette Bening
(The Kids Are All Right) Colin Firth
(The King's Speech) The Social Network


http://www.imdb.com/features/globes/2011/criticsawards

68th Annual Golden Globe Awards -- Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama / Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

Nominees:

Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network (2010)

Colin Firth for The King's Speech (2010)

James Franco for 127 Hours (2010)

Ryan Gosling for Blue Valentine (2010)

Mark Wahlberg for The Fighter (2010)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama

Nominees:

Halle Berry for Frankie and Alice (2010)

Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole (2010)

Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone (2010)

Natalie Portman for Black Swan (2010)

Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine (2010)

http://www.imdb.com/features/globes/2011/nominations

***Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations Announced; Best Director

Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations Announced; WINTER’S BONE Leads with 7 Nominations

by Matt Goldberg    Posted:November 30th, 2010

The nominations for the 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards have been announced.  Here’s a quick breakdown of some interesting facts about the nominees.  After winning the top prize at the Gotham Awards last night, Winter’s Bone leads the pack with seven nominations.  And if you need more proof that the Best Actress race this year is crazy, it was the only category with a six nominees.

It’s also a good year for women filmmakers as Lisa Cholodenok (The Kids Are All Right) and Debra Granik (Winter’s Bone) pick up nominations for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Nicole Holofcener also picked up a Best Screenplay nomination along with the Robert Altman Award for Please Give. Hit the jump for a full list of the nominees.  The Film Independent Spirit Awards will be held on Saturday, February 26, 2011 at 10pm ET/PT on IFC.

Best Film

• 127 Hours
• Black Swan
• Greenberg
• The Kids Are All Right
• Winter’s Bone

Best Director

• Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
• Danny Boyle – 127 Hours
• Lisa Cholodenko – The Kids Are All Right
• Debra Granik – Winter’s Bone
• John Cameron Mitchell – Rabbit Hole

http://www.collider.com/2010/11/30/film-independent-spirit-award-nominations-winters-bone/

***Trailer for FRANKIE & ALICE Starring Halle Berry ***Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations Announced; WINTER’S BONE Leads with 7 Nominations

Trailer for FRANKIE & ALICE Starring Halle Berry

by Ben Garman    Posted: November 30th, 2010

The trailer to Frankie & Alice, Halle Berry’s latest psychological drama is now online. It’s not an unfamiliar genre to the Bond girl having starred in both Gothika and Perfect Stranger. This time she stars as a young woman in the 70s affected by multiple personality disorder, struggling to keep her racist white alter ego at bay. The movie is directed by Geoffrey Sax (Stormbreaker) and also features Stellan Skarsgård, Phylicia Rashad and Chandra Wilson, although no doubt it’ll be Berry hoping for the Oscar nod. Frankie & Alice is screening for Academy members and opens in New York and LA on December 17th.  It opens in limited release on February 4, 2011.  Hit the jump to check out the trailer.




One can’t help but feel that the premise behind Frankie & Alice has been fairly exhausted in past films, and judging by the promo, it doesn’t seem like this is a particularly fresh new take on it despite the creative input of six screenwriters. It’s not the most gripping of trailers, and I was easily distracted the first two times I watched it, but it definitely conveys the plot and tone of the movie: bleak.
Trailer via Movielicious.

http://www.collider.com/2010/11/30/frankie-and-alice-movie-trailer-halle-berry/

Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations Announced; WINTER’S BONE Leads with 7 Nominations

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 30th, 2010

The nominations for the 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards have been announced.  Here’s a quick breakdown of some interesting facts about the nominees.  After winning the top prize at the Gotham Awards last night, Winter’s Bone leads the pack with seven nominations.  And if you need more proof that the Best Actress race this year is crazy, it was the only category with a six nominees.

It’s also a good year for women filmmakers as Lisa Cholodenok (The Kids Are All Right) and Debra Granik (Winter’s Bone) pick up nominations for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Nicole Holofcener also picked up a Best Screenplay nomination along with the Robert Altman Award for Please Give. Hit the jump for a full list of the nominees.  The Film Independent Spirit Awards will be held on Saturday, February 26, 2011 at 10pm ET/PT on IFC.

Best Film

• 127 Hours
• Black Swan
• Greenberg
• The Kids Are All Right
• Winter’s Bone

Best Director

• Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
• Danny Boyle – 127 Hours
• Lisa Cholodenko – The Kids Are All Right
• Debra Granik – Winter’s Bone
• John Cameron Mitchell – Rabbit Hole

Best Actor

• Ronald Bronstein – Daddly Longlegs
• Aaron Eckhart – Rabbit Hole
• James Franco – 127 Hours
• John C. Reilly – Cyrus
• Ben Stiller – Greenberg

Best Actress

• Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole
• Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right
• Greta Gerwig – Greenberg
• Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
• Natalie Portman – Black Swan
• Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine

Best Supporting Actor

• John Hawkes – Winter’s Bone
• Samuel L. Jackson – Mother and Child
• Bill Murray – Get Low
• John Ortiz – Jack Goes Boating
• Mark Ruffalo – The Kids Are All Right

Best Supporting Actress

• Ashley Bell – The Last Exorcism
• Dale Dickey – Winter’s Bone
• Allison Janney – Life During Wartime
• Daphne Rubin-Vega – Jack Goes Boating
• Naomi Watts – Mother and Child

Best Foreign Film

• The King’s Speech
• Kisses
• Mademoiselle Chambon
• Of Gods and Men
• Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Best Documentary

• Exit Through the Gift Shop
• Marwencol
• Restrepo
• Sweetgrass
• Thunder Soul

Best First Feature

• Everything Strange and New
• Get Low
• The Last Exorcism
• Night Catches Us
• Tiny Furniture

John Cassavetes Award (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000;
award given to the writer, director, and producer)

• Daddy Longlegs
• The Exploding Girl
• Lbs.
• Lovers of Hate
• Obselidia

Best Screenplay

• Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg – The Kids Are All Right
• Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini – Winter’s Bone
• Nicole Holofcener – Please Give
• David Lindsay-Abaire – Rabbit Hole
• Todd Solondz – Life During Wartime

Best First Screenplay

• Diane Bell – Obselidia
• Lena Dunham – Tiny Furniture
• Nik Fackler – Lovely, Still
• Robert Glaudini – Jack Goes Boating
• Dana Adam Shapiro, Evan M. Wiener – Monogamy

Best Cinematography

• Adam Kimmel – Never Let Me Go
• Matthew Libatique – Black Swan
• Jody Lee Lipes – Tiny Furniture
• Michael McDonough – Winter’s Bone
• Harris Savides – Greenberg

Robert Altman Award (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its
ensemble cast)

• Please Give

Piaget Producers Award

• In-Ah Lee – Au Revoir Taipei
• Adele Romanski – The Myth of the American Sleepover
• Anish Savjani – Meek’s Cutoff

Acura Someone to Watch Award

• Mike Ott – Littlerock
• Laurel Nakadate – The Wolf Knife
• Hossein Keshavarz – Dog Sweat

AVEENO Truer than Fiction Award

• Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Castaing-Taylor – Sweetgrass
• Jeff Malmberg – Marwencol
• Lynn True, Nelson Walker – Summer Pasture

http://www.collider.com/2010/11/30/film-independent-spirit-award-nominations-winters-bone/

2011 Oscar Preview

by Adam Chitwood    Posted:November 26th, 2010

Best Actress

Frontrunners:
Natalie Portman – Black Swan
Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right
Likely to be nominated:
Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole
Outside contenders:
Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine
Tilda Swinton – I Am Love
The Best Actress race is one of the closest right now. Both Portman and Bening have been garnering nothing but raves for their performances and it’s very much a coin toss at this point. Everyone else in this category should be happy with a nomination, because this is a two-woman race.  Lawrence is an exciting newcomer and Kidman is an Academy favorite.
http://www.collider.com/2010/11/26/2011-oscar-preview/#more-62096

2011 Oscar Preview

by Adam Chitwood    Posted:November 26th, 2010

Best Picture
Frontrunners:
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
127 Hours
Likely to be nominated:
Black Swan
Inception
Toy Story 3
The Kids are All Right
True Grit
The Fighter
Outside contenders:
Blue Valentine
The Town
Winter’s Bone
Never Let Me Go
Shutter Island
The Best Picture race has been a dogfight between The King’s Speech and The Social Network for the past couple of months, but since 127 Hours started screening in the last few weeks, the flick has been moving up the list fast. The King’s Speech is the typical Oscar-bait juggernaut: it’s a period piece, it involves a disabled person overcoming obstacles, and it’s set in England; not to mention, it’s one hell of a film. The Social Network is the film that’s had everyone talking. It invaded the zeitgeist with its generation-defining story, one of the most respected directors in the business, and quite possibly the best script Aaron Sorkin has written (which is really saying something). Before its release, early word on 127 Hours was good, but the film has gained some serious traction since it started screening a couple of weeks ago, particularly in James Franco’s powerhouse performance. Could the Slumdog Millionaire Oscar-winning duo of Director Danny Boyle and Screenwriter Simon Beaufoy have another surprise win on their hands? At this point, it’s a little too early to tell, but if anything was going to spoil King’s Speech or Social Network right now, it would be 127 Hours.  Black Swan is another serious contender, but there’s fear that its intensity may be too much for some of the older voters in the Academy. But there’s no denying that the film has its passionate advocates.  Inception was refreshingly original in a summer full of duds, but it may be seen as too commercial for the big win. Disney-Pixar is aiming for the top prize with Toy Story 3, but it’s also a bit of a long shot to win. It just doesn’t seem to have the muscle to elbow out some of the bigger films, even though it may have garnered the most emotional response out of viewers of any film this year. As for True Grit, nobody has even seen the film yet. But if one thing can be learned from Oscar seasons past, never count out the Coen brothers. So let’s just say we’re cautiously optimistic at the moment.

http://www.collider.com/2010/11/26/2011-oscar-preview/#more-62096