Spirit Awards: Best Supporting Male

Spirit Awards: Best Supporting Male.

The Spirit Awards: Best Screenplay

The Spirit Awards: Best Screenplay.

The Spirit Awards: The balance of my heart and my head.

Best Supporting Female: Both Heart and Head agree: Helen Hunt for “The Sessions.”

Best Cinematography : Both Heart and Head agree: Ben Richardson for “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” (Note-it started off a wee bit blurry in the enclosed scenes)

Best First Feature: Both Heart and Head agree: Stephen Chbosky for “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.”

Best First Screenplay: Heart: Christopher D. Ford-“Robot & Frank” and Head: Rama Burshtein-“Fill the Void.”

Best Documentary: Heart: “The Central Park Five” and Head: “How to Survive a Plague.”

John Cassavetes Award: Heart: “Mosquita y Mari” and Head: “Middle of Nowhere.”

Best International Film: Heart: “War Witch,” Canada. Head: “Amour.” Which of course makes my head explode almost as the film did in the theatre.

I will be updating and placing the proper links to the actors, directors, writers etc. as soon as i publish this. Will take a Pepsi Max break and start on the Oscars and publish those after tonight’s airing of the Spirit Awards on IFC 7 pm PST.

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Spirit Awards: Best Supporting Male

Five actors who students of the craft would all change places with in a heartbeat. They have glorious futures and incredible pasts. This makes the Spirit Awards special people known for their blockbuster pasts and the character actors who steal scenes and movies.

Bruce Willis, has been a person you can’t keep your eyes off from the little screen to the big screen. He made bad films that made him wealthy but what is forgotten is that anyone would have done the same and that doesn’t diminish his acting chops. So, when “The Sixth Sense” and “Pulp Fiction” come around they’re seen as “Comeback” vehicles when in reality they are roles any actor would be crazy not to take. Captain Sharp is “Moonrise Kingdom” lone mature adult. He is the protector of all on his island and when the runaway hijinks of the stars Suzy and Sam set the search in motion he leads with his quite, controlled approach. It’s during the search and spring to action that it’s revealed what he does in his spare time and it comes to light he is the grown up Sam and Suzy’s mom, the ever amazing Frances McDormand is the grown up Suzy. The star crossed lovers go to rescue the teen version of themselves from forbidden love. Mr. Willis showcases his movie star brilliance with his forgotten origins as an actor of tremendous execution.

Sam Rockwell plays a character similar to other characters he’s played in the past. He is the creator of the impending action in “Seven Psychopaths” and as “Billy” you are uncomfortably rooting for him to succeed in continuing the actions necessary to make a perfect murder mystery script come to life! He is the most comfortable of the “Psychopaths” in the day to day thoughts to action one might take to earn that moniker.

Michael Peña is the best actor to come out of San Fernando High since? Well, he’s it. So, being no stranger to any of the highs and lows that come with his role of “End of Watch” he plays the loving father, husband and more seemingly important because the nature of the business parter to his fellow officer Brian Taylor (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) and brings the humanity necessary to his character Mike Zavala. There is a perceived perception that a mentor or role model sometimes has to be an elder to your age and that his or her experience is more vital than one of your peers. This film succeeds because of the fact that these two men and officers learned, encouraged, honored and disobeyed as a team and not one-sided. Michael Peña will always be a workhorse because he’s a sure bet to finish in the money.

David Oyelowo is featured in the opening moments of a film who’s decaffeinated tea bag budget at the craft service table was larger than the budget of the whole film, ” Middle of Nowhere.” He plays Brian the “free” and freeing possibility between and a couple dealing with Littleton’s ( Omari Hardwick) impending release and Ruby’s (Emayatzy Corinealdi) from prison. There are no simple ways to deal with love of a woman who is loyal to those who deserve contempt. Ruby has stopped living her life to help the man who put the joint bars on her life. Mr. Oyelowo is hope, a future, a genuine love interest but to the eyes of a practicing victim Ruby can’t seem to make the obvious choice. Mr. Oyelowo at least gets the nomination if not  the girl.

Matthew McConaughey is an “experienced” stripper with a mind for business and implementing his vision for growth in the exotic dancer world. He is the Tony Robbins of Exotic male dancers and as Dallas plays the road of a man with the plan and no one; not even Channing Tatum‘s star turn as “Magic Mike” can stop him from achieving the achievable. No one matters in Dallas’ world unless they bow and genuflect in his presence. You forget that snake oil salesmen are of the second oldest profession and he’s the 21st century version and he’s the oiled snake selling himself.

My heart says Bruce Willis my head says David Oyelowo.

Spirit Awards: Best Male Lead

I wish the Academy would consider letting the actors be six. Voting scenarios would make any nominated performance a true contender. Here at the Spirit Awards six remarkable performances were nominated and knowing the Film Independent people as I do; they tossed and turned for this category having to pick only one actor.

In dealing with indie film voters they have a financial criteria that makes their eyeballs focus on movies lost in the shuffle of the blockbuster and Oscar machines and this eliminates usually the eventual Best Actor. I’ve also have seen the scenario where the deserved Best Actor wins Saturday and the most lobbied performance wins Sunday.

Here is the beauty of the nominees; most are actors you heard of but they’re nominated the least likely role or a film you have never heard of and you fancy yourself a film fanatic.

Let’s start with the remarkable and deserved nomination of the hardworking Wendell Pierce for “Four” the film presentation of Christopher Shinn‘s play of the same name. If you saw Mr. Pierce on the street and you started to wonder where have I seen him and he offered “The Wire” or “Treme” or “Suits” you’d probably say no and think he was one of your children’s music teachers. He plays a man with the need to fill his void of loneliness like many do with the help of the internet and meets up with a young caucasian for a night out. It’s not easy to try and control the scenery of a blind leap of faith in dealing with personals. Long gone are the letters to the PO Box it’s all about instant gratification or eternal regret. He is the type of actor actors root for and by this reading has probably appeared in ten shows, 2 films and three shorts.

Thure Lindhardt, is the driving force of “Keep the Lights On” because he’s the empathetic character that you root for. As in most lopsided relationships the one who cares is the one who is least cared about with the equivalent of the “worser” half. He carries the picture and you root for him, you hope he runs away, and ultimately you understand why he does what he does because his actions are human which can be overlooked by the judgemental eyes of different points of view.

Matthew McConaughey was figured by many to be nominated for his more acclaimed roles in “Magic Mike” and “Bernie” for the Academy Awards but thank goodness for The Spirit Awards where he was deservedly able to be a double nominee chiefly because the brisk bits of brilliance that showed him at polar opposites of the acting spectrum. Here he is nominated for his centrist yet darker work in “Killer Joe” and he portrays a cop who moonlights as a hitman with all the other mental twists a bored human must create to keep the game of life interesting. He makes the performances of those around him better and he leads a bunch of rag tag kids to do things they never would have considered on his own.

Jack Black can act; he carries comedies and what voters in any voting body forget is acting too and often the most difficult to do. Mr. Black has created an array of methods to draw us in doubled over laughter sometimes just a look, or the way he sings operatically to something as simple as a nursery rhyme but in “Bernie” he captures a man who has a better chance of budding with a plant than making the commitment or duality of sex with either a man or woman. Men of God sometimes take the path to keep their demons at bay and with any luck don’t act on them. Mr. Black plays a real person who liked the fanciest things in a small Texas town and he played along with the wealthy widow Marjorie Nugent played by the acerbic Shirley MacLaine. Mr. Black’s portrayal of the real life Bernie Tiede shows us that even the nicest, loving, generous and God loving can snap and usually well after when you thought he would. He took the challenge of drama and used his expertise in comedy to make it pay off for this well-deserved nomination.

David O. Russell did what no one else has been able to do. He made Bradley Cooper become better known as an actor instead of a movie star. They are two different animals and they always will be and rarely does someone escape the movie star tag and begin a career as an actor so well into his career. He is our modern day Cary Grant and here in “Silver Linings Playbook” he captures the insidious denial of a bi-polar person who refuses to accept his duality. We see him after the inevitable exit stage of his marriage, a physical shell of his former self, a court mandated rehab stay and his belief that despite his delusional reality he can if he follows his plan of Excelsior he can get it all back. He is a native of Pennsylvania and he played the role that will define him for years to come. He was the guy you root for from beginning to end and the person who benefits most from the most unlikely sources of scenarios; dance.

Finally, the work of John Hawkes has gone from consistent to gold standard and more actors wish they had his career trajectory than one like a Tom Cruise or Robert Downey Jr. His roles are gritty and dark and in his portrayal of the most polite and understanding man in an iron lung in “The Sessions” is only going to increase the ever growing legend of his work. He was a presumed shoo-in for the Oscar nomination that wasn’t even questioned. Well, the five that were nominated (and had it been six four other actors would have vied for the sixth pole position) were performances that were well deserved and from an inevitable place of this being the year of the actor he has a tremendous chance of winning his second Spirit Award (The other being the one he earned for “Winter’s Bone” the sharpest, rapier opposite of his portrayal of Mark.) He gives a performance that young actors from here to eternity will use in their showcases and will try to duplicate the genius of Mr. Hawkes for his ability to create so much with so little ability for movement. His voice his eyes and facial expressions are all he’s able to convey compassion for and his truth is one you hope you never have to experience.

My heart says Bradley Cooper and my head says John Hawkes; he can’t be snubbed twice in two days.

The Spirit Awards: Best Screenplay

Here is a category where the players change ever so slightly and deliciously. Mr. Wes Anderson and Mr. Roman Coppola wrote a love story to both youth and nature, “Moonrise Kingdom.” These are forces we all hope to experience without the inevitable forces of those who want to end youthfulness and nature. Brilliant dialoge and love explained by two adorable teens in a slapstick style escape and chase for the better make this a script worth reading.

Mr. David O. Russell adapted  Matthew Quick‘s novel “Silver Linings Playbook” and made it his own. His son, Matthew Russell was featured in the film as the autistic neighborhood kid wanting to capture Mr. Bradley Cooper‘s manic moments via video camera and it was his son’s true journey growing up that ends up blended in the powerful story of this film. You can’t make this stuff up but yet he seems to and the film becomes like a capper comedy.

Mr. Ira Sachs and Mr. Mauricio Zacharias wrote a screenplay and made it a film that sadly just now could be made without fanfare or protestation, “Keep the Lights On.” The power of love combined with the dark side of love and addiction leap off the page and create situations that anyone with a romantic bone in their body can relate to either openly or secretly. We don’t have the capability of seeing relationships after the party or the concert or the gala. That show is a two person play and the characters who are at opposite ends either flame out or with less likely odds fail which doesn’t mean it ends.

Mr.Martin McDonagh was nominated for the film “Seven Psychopaths” a remarkable screenplay about a screenwriter and his accidental entrance to a bunch of seedy Los Angeles criminals listless lives. There is the need for the fictional screenwriter Marty played by Colin Farrell to get back in the swing of things and produce and with the secret plan and life of his buddy Charlie played by Sam Rockwell as his blood thirty muse the story unravels and writes itself and the most unlikely of characters wander in and out of scenes that make the few who ended up seeing this film hungry for the “right” ending. Scenarios aplenty.

Ms. Zoe Kazan also a well deserved nominee who wrote, produced and starred in “Ruby Sparks.” A tortured writer creates the perfect and literal girlfriend only to come to life and change for better or for worse the fate of Calvin Weir-Fields played by the reliable Paul Dano. Another love story that begins perfect on paper and ultimately turns into a literary Frankenstein creation gone mad. The performances made this story stick.

My heart says Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola and my head says David O. Russell.

The Spirit Awards: Best Director Breakdown

The five directors nominated are gifted, visionary and over due for recognition. The world of film is a better place with these folks making pictures.

The nominees are:

Mr. Wes Anderson “Moonrise Kingdom”

Mr. David O. Russell “Silver Linings Playbook”

Mr. Ira Sachs “Keep the Lights On”

Mr.Benh Zeitlin “Beasts of the Southern Wild”

and the Michael Haneke to Ben Affleck who bumped Richard Linklater out of the category is

Ms. Julia Loktev “The Loneliest Planet”

Four directors who you know from history or recent buzz so one must look at the obvious first and Ms. Loktev made a film that less people saw but the beauty of Spirit Awards are dark horses are encouraged.What Mr. Linklater was able to capture in a rural setting Ms. Loktev was able to capture in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia. Intensity, doubt and revelation in high elevation is the reason she earned this well deserved nod.

Mr. Zeitlin lived the life of his scenery, and captured a place that seemed both fun, adventurous and dangerous. You were given a place and a time but you couldn’t believe that was the USA. You saw survival of the least fit and he made them people you wish openly or secretively you would trade places with because their freedom was original and creative. Amazing shots captured in an amazing place and time in our world.

Ira Sachs received 25k dollars from a Kickstarter campaign to get this ball rolling and he rolled it from the highest mountain top. This film captured the dark side of loving a person who can’t love themselves. Who is crazier the addict or the one addicted to loving the addict. It’s the complicated love story of two young men who are living in an age of openness and freedom yet what could be Shangri La turns out to Hades. Mr. Sachs made a film that was both gritty and tender and that’s never an easy task to convey.

Mr. Anderson and his “Moonrise Kingdom” was a hit not because of the A-List/former Oscar Winning/Nominated Cast but entrusting the story of two unknown first time movie starring teens with his vision, brand and wit. Mr. Anderson deserves the award here not for his history but for his time here and now. He’s already knee deep in his next project and the only other director prepping his next film is the final nominee.

David O. Russell has changed. He’s a better director than ever and like Mr. Anderson film buffs wonder can he top himself is it even possible? And they do. Mr. Russell has created a film that endears an already endearing film world to actors both familiar and dutiful. He captures the world of ADHD, family dysfunction, psychiatry, adultery, grief, gambling, and true love and throw in dancing and competition he does the novel’s author Matthew Quick complete poetic justice.

My heart says Wes Anderson my head says Benh Zeitlin.