Tag: Awards

2012 Independent Spirit Award Nominees

2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards

Although the Spirit Award nominees were announced some time ago, we haven’t covered them until now. And, since the Academy Awards air the day after the Spirit Awards, I always think of the two in tandem. If the Golden Globes (and the Oscar buzz) are any indication, however, it looks like there might be quite a bit of overlap this year.

What bothers me more than the overlap–in the major categories, at least–is that Seth Rogen will host the show. Especially after his Globes appearance last weekend, I have absolutely zero interest in watching him host the Spirit Awards. How disappointing.

Here are some of the nominees. Visit the Spirit Awards website for the full list of nominees and to watch trailers. The ceremony airs Saturday, February 25th at 10 PM on IFC.

Best Feature:
The Descendants
The Artist
Take Shelter
Drive
Beginners
50/50

Best First Feature:
In the Family
Margin Call
Natural Selection
Another Earth
Martha Marcy May Marlene

Best Documentary:
We Were Here
The Redemption of General Butt Naked
The Interrupters
Bill Cunningham New York
An African Election

Best International Film:
A Separation
Melancholia
Shame
The Kid with a Bike
Tyrannosaur

Best Director:
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Jeff Nichols for Take Shelter
Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Mike Mills for Beginners

Best Screenplay:
Tom McCarthy for Win Win
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash for The Descendants
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Joseph Cedar for Footnote
Mike Mills for Beginners

Best First Screenplay:
Patrick deWitt for Terri
Phil Johnston for Cedar Rapids
Mike Cahill & Brit Marling for Another Earth
Will Reiser for 50/50
J.C. Chandor for Margin Call

Best Female Lead:
Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene
Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Lauren Ambrose in Think of Me
Rachael Harris in Natural Selection
Adepero Oduye in Pariah

Best Supporting Female:
Shailene Woodley in The Descendents
Jessica Chastain in Take Shelter
Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs
Harmony Santana in Gun Hill Road
Anjelica Huston in 50/50

Will you watch the Film Independent Spirit Awards? Any favorite picks?



2012 Golden Globe Analysis

Since yesterday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a federal holiday, I thought it was more important to post something specific about race in the United States than an analysis of the Golden Globes. However, it turns out there’s still a lot to say about race with regards to the awards. More about that–and my picks for highlights and lowlights of the cerermony–after a quick rundown of the night’s winners.

Motion Picture
Best Picture – Drama: The Descendents
Best Performance by an Actress – Drama: Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady
Best Performance by an Actor – Drama: George Clooney for The Descendents
Best Picture – Comedy or Musical: The Artist
Best Performance by an Actress – Comedy or Musical: Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn
Best Performance by an Actor – Comedy or Musical: Jean Dujardin for The Artist
Best Animated Feature Film: The Adventures of Tintin
Best Foreign Language Film: Asghar Farhadi for A Separation
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Best Screenplay: Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Octavia Spencer for The Help
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Christopher Plummer for Beginners
Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource for The Artist
Best Original Song: “Masterpiece” by Madonna, Julie Frost & Jimmy Harry for W.E.

Television
Best Series – Drama: Homeland
Best Performance by an Actress – Drama Series: Claire Danes for Homeland
Best Performance by an Actor  – Drama Series : Kelsey Grammer for Boss
Best Series – Comedy or Musical: Modern Family
Best Performance by an Actress – Comedy or Musical Series: Laura Dern for Enlightened
Best Performance by an Actor – Comedy or Musical Series: Matt LeBlanc for Episodes
Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture: Downton Abbey
Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture: Kate Winslet for Mildred Pierce
Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture: Idris Elba for Luther
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Jessica Lange for American Horror Story
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Peter Dinklage for Game of Thrones

Cecil B. DeMille Award: Morgan Freeman

A few brief thoughts about the nominees and winners:

  • No women were nominated in the score, screenplay, best picture, or directing categories.
  • The only woman to win an award outside of acting was Madonna, for best original song.
  • Two people of color won acting awards–Octavia Spencer & Idris Elba–which seems better than previous years, though perhaps still not good enough. 
  • Modern Family won yet another award, this time in a category that did not include Parks and Recreation, which I would argue is the best comedy on television.
  • Matt LeBlanc & Kelsey Grammer?! I didn’t realize the 1990s were experiencing such a resurgence, and these were some of the biggest surprises of the night for me.
Highlights:

Meryl “I can’t believe I said shit on TV” Streep
Meryl Streep
Her acceptance speech was exuberant and funny. She forgot her glasses, was possibly drunk, swore, and was censored. She then proceeded to deliver the best speech of the night. She mentioned not only the other women nominated in her category, but gave a shout-out to Pariah star Adepero Oduye and Jane Eyre star Mia Wasikowska. She is lovely, classy, funny (with two references to host Gervais), intelligent, and willing to step out of her comfort zone to take on challenging roles (like this one). 
Here’s a clip of the speech from YouTube, which will probably be taken down soon:

Tina Fey & Jane Lynch
Tina Fey and Jane Lynch
Two very funny women presented an award and proceeded to joke about how little they resemble the characters they play on television. But the best moment came at the end, when they not only got in that penis joke,* but highlighted the “triumph” with an in-unison “penis joke!”
Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy sing
Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy
Another favorite moment involved the presentation of an award, rather than an acceptance speech or anything the host said. The duo sang their teleprompter speech, giving us all a pleasant surprise. In a show that can be–and often is–boring and too serious (which is why a host like Gervais is brought in at all), their moment was fun, light-hearted, and playful. If only there were more moments like this in the 3-hour ceremony…
Lowlights:
Ricky Gervais being…funny?
Ricky Gervais
Gervais tells sexist, homophobic jokes and thinks (?) it’s funny to say he “can’t fucking understand” native Spanish speakers (who also speak perfectly clear English) Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas. However, he also skewers  celebrities during the very awards ceremonies that laud them and treat them like royalty. I like this dynamic very much, and think it captures the way many of us feel about movie stars: we simultaneously adore them and find them utterly ridiculous. The Golden Globes needs a host who is funny and irreverent if the show is to be of any interest to average viewers. I’m convinced this person exists, and I’m also convinced that Gervais is not this person.


Meltem Cumbul on the red carpet

Meltem Cumbul

Ordinarily I’d be pleased to see an international film star who isn’t from the United States appear at the Golden Globes. However, I was puzzled by the appearance of Meltem Cumbul, who made a brief statement and then left the stage. She didn’t present an award, and she didn’t introduce a presenter. While it was wonderful for the Globes to acknowledge that films are made outside of Hollywood, it struck me as a cynical move–to have us believe that the organization is more progressive and inclusive than it actually is. Perhaps I’d be more convinced if she’d have served a purpose on stage, or if the HFPA had more than one category recognizing filmmaking around the world.
Queen Latifah introduces Best Picture nominee The Help
Queen Latifah introduces The Help
Queen Latifah is a talented, confident, and beautiful Black woman, and it was good to see her on stage. That the Globes brought her on stage to introduce the only Best Picture nominee that remotely deals with the experience of Black people…well, that looks like the same kind of cynical move I saw with Cumbul’s appearance. I also can’t help but think that this was the HFPA’s way to avoid or sidestep the real backlash against this movie. Octavia Spencer won for her performance in The Help–and, as I tweeted during the ceremony, I’m glad she won–but it would be nice to see a Black woman win an award for playing something other than a maid, and it would also be nice to see a Black woman introduce a Best Picture nominee that isn’t an extremely problematic story mainly about a White Savior.
Dishonorable Mentions
Penis Jokes*
As seems more and more the norm on television today, we can’t seem to get through a program without implicit or explicit penis jokes. I actually liked Fey and Lynch’s ironic joke, as I mentioned above, but because it was done in the spirit of acknowledging and ironically commenting on the comic trend. Whether you’re watching The Daily Show or the Golden Globes, you’re going to hear about penises. Sunday night, Seth Rogen sexually harassed his co-presenter Kate Beckinsale with a “joke” about having a “massive erection.” Later, George Clooney “joked” (though this seems timid compared to Rogen’s offense) that Michael Fassbender could play golf with his hands tied behind his back. All I can say about this is ENOUGH ALREADY.
Miss Golden Globe
Why oh why oh why oh why do we STILL have to have a lovely young woman stand on stage to occasionally usher off a confused star? Why? WHY?
That’s it from me. What are some of your favorite and least favorite moments from the 2012 Golden Globes?

2012 Golden Globe Nominations

Here they are! I don’t have much to say about these (yet), but if we’ve reviewed them or commented on them, I’ll link you up.

Best Motion Picture — Drama

“The Descendants”
“The Help”
“Hugo”
“The Ides of March”
“Moneyball”
“War Horse”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama

Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis, “The Help”
Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Tilda Swinton, “We Need to Talk About Kevin”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama

George Clooney, “The Descendants”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “J. Edgar”
Michael Fassbender, “Shame”
Ryan Gosling, “The Ides of March”
Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”

Best Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical

“50/50″
“The Artist”
“Bridesmaids”
“Midnight in Paris”
“My Week With Marilyn”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical

Jodie Foster, “Carnage”
Charlize Theron, “Young Adult”
Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”
Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”
Kate Winslet, “Carnage”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical

Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
Brendan Gleeson, “The Guard”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “50/50”
Ryan Gosling, “Crazy, Stupid, Love”
Owen Wilson, “Midnight in Paris”

Best Animated Feature Film

“The Adventures of Tintin”
“Arthur Christmas”
“Cars 2”
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”

Best Foreign Language Film

“The Flowers of War” (China)
“In the Land of Blood and Honey” (USA)
“The Kid With a Bike” (Belgium)
“A Separation” (Iran)
“The Skin I Live In” (Spain)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain, “The Help”
Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer, “The Help”
Shailene Woodley, “The Descendants”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Kenneth Branagh, “My Week With Marilyn”
Albert Brooks, “Drive”
Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”
Viggo Mortensen, “A Dangerous Method”
Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”

Best Director — Motion Picture

Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
George Clooney, “The Ides of March”
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”

Best Screenplay — Motion Picture

Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon – “The Ides of March”
Michel Hazanavicius – “The Artist”
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash – “The Descendants”
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin – “Moneyball”

Best Television Series — Drama

“American Horror Story”
“Boardwalk Empire”
“Boss”
“Game of Thrones”
“Homeland”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Drama

Claire Danes, “Homeland”
Mireille Enos, “The Killing”
Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”
Madeleine Stowe, “Revenge”
Callie Thorne, “Necessary Roughness”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Drama

Steve Buscemi, “Boardwalk Empire”
Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad”
Kelsey Grammer, “Boss”
Jeremy Irons, “The Borgias”
Damian Lewis, “Homeland”

Best Television Series — Comedy or Musical

“Enlightened”
“Episodes”
“Glee”
“Modern Family”
“New Girl”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Comedy or Musical

Laura Dern, “Enlightened”
Zooey Deschanel, “New Girl”
Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
Laura Linney, “The Big C”
Amy Poehler, “Parks and Recreation”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Comedy or Musical

Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”
David Duchovny, “Californication”
Johnny Galecki, “The Big Bang Theory”
Thomas Jane, “Hung”
Matt LeBlanc, “Episodes”

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

“Cinema Verite”
“Downton Abbey”
“The Hour”
“Mildred Pierce”
“Too Big to Fail”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Romola Garai, “The Hour”
Diane Lane, “Cinema Verite”
Elizabeth McGovern, “Downton Abbey” (Masterpiece)
Emily Watson, “Appropriate Adult”
Kate Winslet, “Mildred Pierce”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Hugh Bonneville, “Downtown Abbey” (Masterpiece)
Idris Elba, “Luther”
William Hurt, “Too Big to Fail”
Bill Nighy, “Page Eight” (Masterpiece)
Dominic West, “The Hour”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story”
Kelly MacDonald, “Boardwalk Empire”
Maggie Smith, “Downtown Abbey” (Masterpiece)
Sofia Vergara, “Modern Family”
Evan Rachel Wood, “Mildred Pierce”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones”
Paul Giamatti, “Too Big to Fail”
Guy Pearce, “Mildred Pierce”
Tim Robbins, “Cinema Verite”
Eric Stonestreet, “Modern Family”

2011 Emmy Analysis

More than a week has passed since the 2011 Emmy Awards, but there are a few moments I can’t stop thinking about. I live-tweeted the show this year, which is both a fun and exhausting experience, and enjoyed the interactions with other people watching and reacting on Twitter. (What?! You don’t follow us on Twitter? Go! Now!) Jane Lynch did a wonderful job hosting, and threw out some memorable zingers (The cast of Entourage!).

If your approach to awards shows is Who gives an eff? I can’t blame you, but respectfully disagree. We’ve written before about the kind of cultural work awards shows do. In short, the Emmys this year (every year?) exhibited the continued dominance of whiteness and maleness in our culture, made the implicit argument that those are the people who tell and create the important stories, and created the (false) impression that those are the kinds of stories we (should) want to see. (Check out the breakdown of people of color who were nominated this year at Racialicious. Out of 25 awards, not a single one went to a person of color.)

Here are my thoughts:

1. Only five* women gave solo acceptance speeches. These women were nominated in acting categories specifically designated for women.

Sometimes I wonder if any women at all would be recognized in film/television if the acting awards were gender neutral (and I asked earlier this year if we need a Best Female Director category at the Oscars).

Here are the winners:

  • Melissa McCarthy won Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Mike & Molly 
  • Julie Bowen won Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Modern Family
  • Julianna Marguiles won Lead Actress in a Drama Series for The Good Wife
  • Margo Martindale won Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Justified
  • Kate Winslet won Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for Mildred Pierce
  • Maggie Smith won Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for Downton Abbey (*she wasn’t there to accept the award)
2. The satirical beauty pageant staged by the women nominated for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series was both my favorite and least-favorite moment.
Here it is, in case you missed the show:

I won’t say much about this, because it’s been written about in very smart ways already (check out Opinioness of the World‘s take, for starters), but it’s interesting that this setup, planned by Amy Poehler, was one of the few moments that deviated from awards show standards. I loathed Rob Lowe’s “girls” comment, even if it was part of the plan (I don’t know if it was), and feel ambivalent about the rest. Yes, the beauty pageant spoof emphasizes the fact that these shows are often most watched and discussed for What The Women Are Wearing. For many viewers, I suspect, fashion overshadows the actual awards. Women’s bodies and apparel choices are criticized and critiqued in every imaginable way, as if they are public property. But I question how effectively that message was delivered. The moment I think worked much better was Poehler and McCarthy joking about men finally getting substantial roles this year. However, it was great to see this group of talented women up on the stage together, supporting one another, and bringing a feminist sense of humor to the show.

3. Does Modern Family teach tolerance?
In accepting Modern Family‘s Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, Steve Levitan relayed the anecdote of a gay couple telling him “you’re not just making people laugh, you’re making them more tolerant.” The most radical element of Modern Family, to me, is the depiction of a gay couple as loving parents. The word “tolerant,” however, is a tricky one. A person can be “tolerant” while still holding deeply seated racist/sexist/homophobic views. What Modern Family doesn’t do is challenge stereotypes or force anyone to really examine their prejudice. We still have the effeminate gay men, the feisty Latina, and the rich man with a much younger (and beautiful) woman. We have a cast of entirely upper-middle class white people, with the exception of Gloria and her son, Manny. Don’t get me wrong: I think Modern Family is a very funny show, but let’s not go off the deep end congratulating them for depicting a very narrow kind of “tolerance.”

Also, someone should tell Oustanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series winner Ty Burrell that repeated jokes about wearing makeup to work and being a “very masculine lady” (even in the context of imagining what his father would say about his job) doesn’t really jibe with that whole “making people more tolerant” idea.

If you haven’t already, check out our reviews of the 2011 Emmy Nominees.

2011 Emmy Nominees

Something to break up the long, hot summer: the 2011 Primetime Emmy nominations are out. Here is a selection of the women nominated for acting. Stay tuned for an analysis of female nominees behind the camera. For the entire list of nominees, visit the official Academy of Television Arts & Sciences website.

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Laura Linney for The Big C
Edie Falco for Nurse Jackie
Amy Poehler for Parks & Recreation
Melissa McCarthy for Mike & Molly
Martha Plimpton for Raising Hope
Tina Fey for 30 Rock

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Jane Lynch for Glee
Betty White for Hot in Cleveland
Julie Bowen for Modern Family
Kristen Wiig for Saturday Night Live
Jane Krakowski for 30 Rock
Sofia Vergara for Modern Family

Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Elizabeth Moss for Mad Men
Connie Britton for Friday Night Lights
Mariska Hargitay for Law & Order: Special Victims’ Unit
Mireille Enos for The Killing
Julianna Margulies for The Good Wife
Kathy Bates for Harry’s Law

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Kelly Macdonald for Boardwalk Empire
Christina Hendricks for Mad Men
Michelle Forbes for The Killing
Archie Panjabi for The Good Wife
Margo Martindale for Justified
Christine Baranski for The Good Wife

Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Kate Winslet for Mildred Pierce
Elizabeth McGovern for Downton Abbey
Diane Lane for Cinema Verite
Taraji P. Henson for Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story
Jean Marsh for Upstairs Downstairs

Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Evan Rachel Wood for Mildred Pierce
Melissa Leo for Mildred Pierce
Mare Winningham for Mildred Pierce
Maggie Smith for Downton Abbey
Eileen Atkins for Upstairs Downstairs

Any thoughts about the kinds of roles being highlighted this year? I don’t watch a lot of current television, so I can’t speak with much authority on the nominees. I’m thrilled to see Kristen Wiig nominated for SNL, as I think she’s one of the few bright spots on that show, and Amy Poehler is great in Parks & Rec. Share your comments!

2011 MTV Movie Awards

The 2011 MTV Movie Awards aired last night (Sunday, June 5), and something interesting happened: a lot of young women won awards.
I didn’t watch the ceremony. I’m too old for MTV, and didn’t even realize the show had happened until I came across a mean-spirited article, published last year, unironically lamenting “Why Twilight Ruined the MTV Movie Awards.” Because no other movie with a lousy script ever won an MTV Movie Award? No one would argue that MTV awards are based on high art and excellent filmmaking, but, like most major awards, they’re worth looking at for their cultural significance. And, for some reason, this year’s winners give me something to feel good about.

Here are a selection of the winners (you can see the full list here).

Best Comedic Performance: Emma Stone for Easy A

Best Female Performance: Kristen Stewart for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Best Scared-As-S**t Performance: Ellen Page for Inception

Best Line from a Movie: Alexys Nycole Sanchez for Grown Ups

MTV Generation Award: Reese Witherspoon

Best Breakout Star: Chloë Grace Moretz for Kick-Ass

Biggest Badass Star: Chloë Grace Moretz for Kick-Ass

Only one of the above categories is gender specific, and though we could endlessly debate The Twilight Problem (Stephanie did just that in her review of New Moon), it’s worth noting that Stewart won the Best Female Performance award for a film geared toward a female audience. If you have nothing at all positive to say about The Twilight Saga, you still have to admit that this film series is wildly popular with and unabashedly made for young (and some not so young) women. This shouldn’t be remarkable, but it is.
Young women are highlighted in these awards for being funny, for being iconic, for breaking out, and for being badass. What other awards are recognizing women–particularly young women–in this way?
I’ll admit that many of the films these actresses won for (the ones I’ve seen, at least) are problematic. I’m not really celebrating that Easy A (which I found virtually unwatchable) won an award, but I am celebrating that a film with a female lead is being recognized as containing a great comedic performance. There was a lot of controversy surrounding Kick-Ass and the way the character Hit Girl was portrayed, but I am thrilled that a teenage girl (who was 12 when she made the film) is being recognized and rewarded as “badass.” 
Even if MTV continues to make us shudder with their programming, they are highlighting young women in film. Hollywood and other awards shows: take notice!

2011 NAACP Image Awards

The 42nd annual NAACP Image Awards
The NAACP Image Awards, honoring people of color in television, recording, literature, motion picture, and writing & directing, took place last weekend. We (and so many others) have decried the consistent whiteness and maleness in Hollywood, both of which were displayed in this year’s Academy Awards. 
The Image Awards, on the other hand, are a “multi-cultural awards show from an African-American perspective.” An explanation of the award’s history and necessity emphasizes the importance of images we see and ideas that are reinforced by the media:
Ideas and images create the belief systems that control our individual and societal actions. When it comes to forming ideas, reinforcing stereotypes, establishing norms and shaping our thinking nothing affects us more than the images and concepts delivered into our lives on a daily basis by television, motion picture, recordings and literature. Accordingly, there is ample cause for concern about what does or does not happen in these mediums when there is little or no diversity in either opportunities or the decision making process.

For a complete list of nominees and winners in all categories, visit the official site. Here is a selection of categories in film.

Outstanding Motion Picture:
For Colored Girls – winner
Just Wright
The Book of Eli
The Kids Are All Right
Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?

It’s noteworthy that only one of these received an Oscar nomination in the Best Picture category–which now features ten films. It’s also worth noting that two of the five are directed by women (Sanaa Hamri for Just Wright and Lisa Cholodenko for The Kids Are All Right), while two of the ten Oscar nominees were directed by women. Finally, I can’t help but mention that this site has reviewed exactly one of them (Kids). Why? One reason must be our own failing–not paying enough attention to films by and about people of color. That’s on us. Another reason is that the culture at large still isn’t paying enough attention to films by and about people of color. Films about women are typically marginalized to the category of “women’s films,” and thus not considered “mainstream” enough to attract wide (read: white male) audiences. Similarly, films about the lives and experiences of people of color are often reduced to “black films,” and not given the cultural and critical attention they deserve. Are these all outstanding films, deserving of mass critical attention? I don’t know–and the not-knowing is a problem. But they’re certainly deserving of an examination of gender politics…which is what we do. Here is the rest of the list, uninterrupted.

Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture:
Halle Berry for Frankie & Alice – winner
Janet Jackson for Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?
Kerry Washington for Night Catches Us (check out Arielle Loren’s guest post)
Queen Latifah for Just Wright
Zoe Saldana for The Losers

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture:
Anika Noni Rose for For Colored Girls
Kimberly Elise for For Colored Girls – winner
Phylicia Rashad for For Colored Girls
Whoopi Goldberg for For Colored Girls
Jill Scott for Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?

Outstanding Independent Motion Picture:
Conviction
Frankie & Alice – winner
La Mission
Mother and Child
Night Catches Us

Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture (Theatrical or Television):
Geoffrey Sax for Frankie & Alice
George Tillman, Jr. for Faster
Tanya Hamilton for Night Catches Us
The Hughes Brothers for The Book of Eli
Tyler Perry for For Colored Girls – winner

Be sure to check out all the nominees and winners. Which nominated films have you seen? What do you think of the winners? Share your thoughts in the comments.

2011 Spirit Award Winners

The 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards Ceremony took place on Saturday night–the night before the Academy Awards–and aired on IFC. (Which I didn’t watch, because I don’t get IFC.)
In terms of who and which films were nominated, there was a good bit of crossover this year for indie films: four of the five Best Feature nominees were also Best Picture Oscar nominees (Greenberg didn’t make the cut); five of the six women nominated for Best Lead also received Oscar nods; and the Best Foreign Film award went to the Best Picture award winner–The King’s Speech.
But there are some very important differences, some of which we highlighted in our post about the Spirit Nominees. Namely–you guessed it–how much better women fare in the indie world. Here is a selection of winners, and some thoughts about each. You can see a list of all nominees and winners here.
Best Feature: Black Swan
There is nothing near a consensus on how to read this film. Some find it a feminist statement about the unbearable pressures put on women in modern society, while some find it a misogynist exploration of madness and exploitation of the female body. Nevertheless, it is a female-centered film.
Best Director: Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan
Although a man won, there were two women (Lisa Cholodenko for The Kids Are All Right and Debra Granik for Winter’s Bone) in contention, and the winner directed a woman-centered film. 
Best Screenplay: Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg for The Kids Are All Right
This was a great category for women. In addition to Cholodenko, Debra Granik and Anne Rossellini were nominated for Winter’s Bone, and Nicole Holofcener was nominated for Please Give.
Best First Screenplay: Lena Dunham for Tiny Furniture
The best “first” categories are important, in that they give exposure to mostly little-known films (in terms of the mainstream audience) and help launch new voices into the world of filmmaking. The other female nominee in the category is Diane Bell, for Obselidia.
Best First Feature: Get Low

In addition to promoting new filmmakers, this category is exciting because it often introduces films many of us haven’t seen, or haven’t heard much about, including Tanya Hamilton’s Night Catches Us and Dunham’s Tiny Furniture.

Best Female Lead: Natalie Portman for Black Swan
The winner here is no surprise; Portman swept the awards for her portrayal of determined ballerina Nina, which, regardless of how you feel about the film, was an amazing performance. The other nominees were Annette Bening, Greta Gerwig, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lawrence, and Michelle Williams.

Best Supporting Female: Dale Dickey for Winter’s Bone
This is another exciting Spirit category, as was the corresponding Oscar category (for different reasons), though there was no overlap between nominees. Other nominees were Ashely Bell for The Last Exorcism, Allison Janney for Life During Wartime, Daphne Rubin-Vega for Jack Goes Boating, and Naomi Watts for Mother and Child.

While the Spirit Award nominees represent a slightly more progressive and inclusive range of stories and people who tell them, they also reveal a continuing problem: the lack of films about, centering on, made by, or starring people of color. As far as I can tell (as I haven’t seen all the films, nor do I know each storyline), Hamilton’s Night Catches Us is the only nominee focusing on the experience of people of color, specifically Black Americans.

The Spirit Awards may be better than the Oscars, but we still have a long way to go.

Calling All Writers!

The Academy Awards air February 27th, and we’d love to have some guest writers review the Best Picture nominees.

We currently need reviews for:

  • Black Swan
  • The Fighter
  • Inception
  • The Kids Are All Right
  • The King’s Speech
  • 127 Hours
  • The Social Network
  • Toy Story 3
  • True Grit
  • Winter’s Bone

Obviously, some of these films deserve more commentary, in the context of our site, than others. We’d love to have reviews (in some form–check out our different featured styles of reviews) for the above films before the end of February. We welcome cross-posting. If interested in contributing, email us at btchflcks at gmail dot com.

Update: All films have reviewers! Stay tuned for the Best Picture nominee reviews between now and the Oscar ceremony on Sunday, February 27th.

And, for fun, check out the 2010 reviews, too:

    2011 Oscar Nominations

    Best Picture

    • Black Swan
    • The Fighter
    • Inception
    • The Kids Are All Right
    • The King’s Speech
    • 127 Hours
    • The Social Network
    • Toy Story 3
    • True Grit
    • Winter’s Bone

    Best Actress

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

    Best Supporting Actress

    • Amy Adams, The Fighter
    • Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
    • Melissa Leo, The Fighter
    • Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
    • Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

    Best Actor

    • Javier Bardem, Biutiful
    • Jeff Bridges, True Grit
    • Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
    • Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
    • James Franco, 127 Hours

    Best Supporting Actor

    • Christian Bale, The Fighter
    • John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
    • Jeremy Renner, The Town
    • Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
    • Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

    Best Director

    • Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
    • David O’Russell, The Fighter
    • Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
    • David Fincher, The Social Network
    • Joel and Ethan Coen, True Grit

    Best Original Screenplay

    • Another Year, by Mike Leigh
    • The Fighter, screenplay by Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson; story by Keith Dorrington, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson
    • Inception, by Christopher Nolan
    • The Kids Are All Right, by Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg
    • The King’s Speech, by David Seidler

    Best Adapted Screenplay

    • 127 Hours, by Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy
    • The Social Network, by Aaron Sorkin
    • Toy Story 3, screenplay by Michael Arndt; story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich
    • True Grit, by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
    • Winter’s Bone, by Debra Granick and Anne Rosellini


    Question of the Day: Do We Need a Best Female Director Category?

    Last March, Kim Elsesser wrote an Op-Ed in the NYT called “And the Gender-Neutral Oscar Goes To…” in which she argues for a single acting category. 
    Since the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929, separate acting Oscars have been presented to men and women. Women at that time had only recently won the right to vote and were still several decades away from equal rights outside the voting booth, so perhaps it was reasonable to offer them their own acting awards. But in the 21st century women contend with men for titles ranging from the American president to the American Idol. Clearly, there is no reason to still segregate acting Oscars by sex. 

    When the piece was published, the typical response was “But then no women would be nominated!” Elsesser makes a good argument for equality, but in an industry so dominated by men and sexist attitudes, don’t we still need categories for male and female actresses? Tatiana Siegel of Variety took up the question again last November.
    With the current system of sex-divided categories (and there is a real problem with that kind of division), there are an equal number of men and women garnering attention for their performances. However, in the category for Best Director, only one woman has ever won (Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker), and only three women have even been nominated (Bigelow, Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation, and Jane Campion for The Piano). Will there be any women nominated this year?
    Here’s my question–one that Elsesser sarcastically posed at the end of her editorial, but that I ask sincerely:  
    Do we need a Best Female Director Category?
    Leave your thoughts in the comments!

    Golden Globes and Independent Spirit Award Nominees

    In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s awards season. We all know that some awards are better than others, and that the best picture is rarely the best picture (Crash as the 2005 Academy Award winner, for example). 
    As flawed as film awards are, however, they are a good way to take our cultural temperature; they provide examples of the kinds of themes we’re interested in as a society and the kinds of performances we value.
    Plus, they’re fun to discuss and argue about, and they provide us handy lists of movies to see in the theatre.
    Here are a selection of nominees. We’re only including a few categories here, and the list is not all-inclusive. We plan to cover other award nominee lists in future posts. If you think we should cover a particular organization’s nominees and/or winners, please let us know!

    Golden Globes (Hollywood Foreign Press Association)

    Best Motion Picture – Drama
    Black Swan
    The Fighter
    Inception  (check out our review here)
    The King’s Speech
    The Social Network (check out our Roundup here)

    Best Performance by an Actress in a  Motion Picture – Drama
    Halle Berry – Frankie and Alice
    Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole
    Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
    Natalie Portman – Black Swan
    Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine

    Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
    Alice in Wonderland
    Burlesque
    The Kids Are All Right
    Red
    The Tourist

    Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
    Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right
    Anne Hathaway – Love and Other Drugs
    Angelina Jolie – The Tourist
    Julianne Moore – The Kids Are All Right
    Emma Stone – Easy A

    Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
    Amy Adams – The Fighter
    Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech
    Mila Kunis – Black Swan
    Melissa Leo – The Fighter
    Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom

    No women were nominated for Best Director–Motion Picture, though Lisa Cholodenko was nominated (along with her co-writer) for Best Screenplay–Motion Picture. Women, as has become the norm, seem to do better in television categories. See the complete list of Golden Globe nominees here.

    Film Independent Spirit Awards (IFC)

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

    Best Supporting Female
    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

    I think it’s a notable difference that 2 out of the 5 nominees in the directing category are women, and 3 out of the 5 screenplay nominees are women. Click here for the complete list of nominees.