Saturday, February 23, 2013

Oscar Week: Reasons to Watch the Independent Spirit Awards

I love the hell out of the Independent Spirit Awards. They always take place under a large tent nestled on the California coast, the day directly before the Oscars. And considering attendees are encouraged to dress casually, drink heavily, and basically have a genuine good time, the Spirits are, in many respects, the antithesis of the Academy Awards. Here are a handful of reasons you shouldn’t forget to watch tonight’s broadcast (if it’s available to you), tonight on the Independent Film Channel at 10 p.m. EST.

Winners are encouraged to curse in their acceptance speeches. Which, more often than not, produces hilarious results. Like here:

Or here:

It’s a Beasts of the Southern Wild/Moonrise Kingdom/Silver Linings Playbook year. I wouldn’t be surprised if all those films take home major awards.

Which reminds me: The Spirit Awards love to spread the love. They typically award Picture and Director to separate films, and often spilt the acting categories up between different movies.

One downside: Highest current buzz often determines the acting winners. Which is why Helen Hunt will probably win for The Sessions, over Rosemarie DeWitt (Your Sister's Sister), Ann Dowd (Compliance), and Brit Marling (Sound of My Voice).

Best Actor really could go four ways. Between Jack Black (Bernie), Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), John Hawkes (The Sessions), and Matthew McConaughey (Killer Joe), this race is up in the air, thankfully so. Cooper is the only one with an Oscar nom, so he’s the best bet.

A 9-year-old could easily win Best Actress. And that would be awesome.


Matthew McConaughey could easily win Best Supporting Actor for his flawless Magic Mike performance. If not him, then Michael Peña (End of Watch), Sam Rockwell (Seven Psychopaths), or Bruce Willis (Moonrise Kingdom). I’ll take it.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower will certainly win its first and only major award when it nabs Best First Feature. And that is damn well deserved.

Rashida Jones could very well win Best First Screenplay for Celeste and Jesse Forever. Not my favorite film, but I’m sure Jones will say something, I dunno… cute.

The Central Park Five, by far and away my favorite documentary of 2012, has a decent shot at winning Best Documentary (but it’ll probably be How to Survive a Plague).

Rust and Bone has a very fair chance at taking Best International Film, which would mean I get to watch my favorite film of 2012 win at least one goddamn award. (Yes, I’m aware that Amour will most likely win this. But a fella can dream.)


More Oscar Posts from And So it Begins...

8 comments:

  1. The speeches are the best part! :) Hope McConaughey picks up something, and I'd love for Wallis/Rust and Bone to win.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Really dug McConaughey's speech last night. And how about Derek Connolly's drunken shitshow of a speech...? He definitely gets the Douche of the Year award. Come on, man.

      Delete
  2. What I do love about the Independent Spirit Awards is that sense of excitement of people cursing like Ally Sheedy going into a long rant after finally winning as she had been exiled for years for being part of the Brat Pack. That was hilarious. I also think there was a time that one of the hosts wanted to fight Philip Seymour Hoffman in a wrestling match and just as the show ended. He wrestle Hoffman... and lost.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sheedy's speech is fucking classic. 18 damn minutes of just going all in. I can't find it online anywhere, so if you're able to track it down, I'd really appreciate you linking it here!

      Delete
  3. "Eric Roberts is the fuckin' man." Seriously, is there any higher compliment you can give a dude than that? Casual dress, drinking, and cursing. Definitely sounds like my kind of party.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mickey Rourke is insane, isn't he? Love his speech there. One of my favorite speeches of all time, from ANY awards show.

      Delete
    2. "If they haven't got the balls to bring it, then fuck 'em." :-D Rourke may be a complete mess in a personal life, but I do *love* this speech, and he seems like the kind of guy who'd fit it at my house. Ha ha! Plus I can't help but love a guy who dedicates his award to his dog.

      Delete
    3. He got made fun of a lot for dedicating it to his dog, but that's just silly, dude clearly loved that animal, so I feel for him. A mess in real life, no doubt, but I'll always love old Mick.

      Delete