'Precious' wins big at 25th Indie Spirit Awards

Lee Daniels' acclaimed drama "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire" emerged as the big winner Friday at the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards. "Precious" took home five awards, including best feature and best director for Daniels.

The remaining three wins went to Geoffrey Fletcher for best first screenplay, Gabourey Sidibe for best female lead, and Mo'Nique for best supporting female. Jeff Bridges took home the prize for best male lead in "Crazy Heart," which also won best first feature.

Scott Neustader and Michael H. Weber won in the best screenplay category for "(500) Days of Summer." Woody Harrelson received the award for best supporting male in "The Messenger." "An Education" took home the award for best foreign film.

Lynn Shelton's superb comedy "Humpday" won the John Cassavetes Award, while Roger Deakins won best cinematography for "A Serious Man." The Robert Altman Award went to "A Serious Man" as well. "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" won the documentary prize.

82nd Annual Academy Award nominations!

And the nominees are...

The nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards have been announced, and to be honest, I'm not really surprised by all the picks. As commercial as the whole thing has become, it's not too hard to guess who's on the list. Let's take a brief look:

Nominated for best picture are "Avatar," "The Blind Side" (what the f**k?), "District 9," "An Education," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire," "A Serious Man," "Up" and "Up in the Air."

Nominated for best actor are Jeff Bridges for "Crazy Heart," George Clooney for "Up in the Air," Colin Firth for "A Single Man," Morgan Freeman for "Invictus," and Jeremy Renner for "The Hurt Locker."

Nominated for best supporting actor are Matt Damon in "Invictus," "Woody Harrelson" for "The Messenger," Christoper Plummer for "The Last Station," Stanley Tucci for "The Lovely Bones" and Christoph Waltz for "Inglourious Basterds."

Actress in a leading role: Sandra Bullock for "The Blind Side" (what the f**k?), Helen Mirren for "The Last Station," Carey Mulligan for "An Education," Gabourney Sidibe for "Precious" and Meryl Streep for "Julie & Julia."

Actress in a supporting role: Penelope Cruz for "Nine," Vera Farmiga for "Up in the Air," Anna Kendrick for "Up in the Air," Maggie Gyllenhaal for "Crazy Heart" and Mo'Nique for "Precious."

The nominees for best animated film are "Coraline," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "The Princess and the Frog," "The Secret of Kells," and "Up."

Click to read more ...

2010 Writers Guild of America nominations

The Writers Guild of America today announced the 2010 nominations for outstanding achievement in writing for the screen during the last year, and James Cameron's "Avatar" is among those fighting for an award in the category of best original screenplay.

Also competing for that particular trophy are "The Hangover" (Jon Lucas & Scott Moore), "(500) Days of Summer" (by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber) "The Hurt Locker" (Mark Boal) and "A serious Man" (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen).

The nominees in the category of adapted screenplay are: "Crazy Heart" (Scott Cooper), "Julie & Julia" (Nora Ephron), "Precious" (Geoffrey Fletcher), "Star Trek" (Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman) and "Up in the Air" (Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner).

Click to read more ...

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2009

Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" emerged as the big winner as the Chicago Film Critics Association picked the best films of 2009. "The Hurt Locker" won best film, and Bigelow was named best director.

"Locker" also took home the award for best original screenplay for Mark Boal, and Barry Ackroyd picked up the award for best cinematography for the war drama. Lead Jeremy Renner was voted best actor.

Carey Mulligan was named best actress for "An Education," while Christoph Waltz won the award for best supporting actor in "Inglourious Basterds." Mo’Nique won best supporting actress ("Precious").

Click to read more ...

Florida Film Critics pick 'Up in the Air'

The Florida Film Critics Circle picked the best films of 2009 ealier today, and the results are in! Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air" was voted best film of the year, and Reitman was also named best director.

George Clooney took home the best actor award for "Up in the Air," while Gabourey Sidibe was named best actress for her breakout performance in "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire."

Mo'Nique picked up another best supporting actress award for "Precious," and Christoph Waltz was voted best supporting actor for "Inglourious Basterds." "(500) Days of Summer" won best screenplay.

Click to read more ...

Las Vegas Film Critics Awards 2009

The Las Vegas Film Critics Society picked its best of 2009 this week, and Kathryn Bigelow's war drama "The Hurt Locker" was vited best film of the year. Bigelow also won another best director award.

I already lost count on how many awards the film has been taking home recently, but "The Hurt Locker" also won the best actor award for Jeremy Renner, and the best cinematography prize for Barry Ackroyd.

It doesn't end there though, because "Hurt Locker" also won best editing for Bob Murawski. Meanwhile, Gabourey Sidibe was voted best actress for her role in "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire."

Click to read more ...

Detroit Film Critics Society Awards 2009

The Detroit Film Critics Society announced its 2009 awards earlier today, and the big winner this year is Pete Docter's animated Pixar adventure "Up." Docter was also named the year's best director.

Colin Firth was named best actor for his performance in "A Single Man," while Gabourey Sidibe was voted best actress for her role in Lee Daniels' drama "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire."

In the supporting actor category, Christoph Waltz won for Inglourious Basterds," while Mo'Nique won best supporting actress for her powerful performance in "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire."

Click to read more ...

67th Annual Golden Globes Nominations

I don't particularly care about the Golden Globes much, but the 67th annual Globes ceremony is coming up soon, so here is a quick summary of this year's nominations. Any big surprises? Not exactly.

Best drama: "Avatar," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Up in the Air" and "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire" all made the cut. I'm glad to see "Avatar" is a part of the race.

In the best musical or comedy category, "Nine," "Julie & Julia," "The Hangover," "(500) Days of Summer" and "It's Complicated" earned a nomination. I bet "Julie & Julia" could win this thing, but you never know...

Click to read more ...

Southeastern Film Critics Awards 2009

The Southeastern Film Critics Association picked Jason Reitman's superb "Up in the Air" as the best film of 2009. Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" was runner-up, followed by Pixar's animated flick "Up."

That said, Kathryn Bigelow ("Locker") picked up the award for best director. George Clooney ("Up in the Air") was voted best actor of 2009. Meryl Streep was named best actress for her role in "Julie & Julia."

Christoph Waltz picked up another award for best supporting actor in "Inglourious Basterds," while Mo’Nique was named best supporting actress for "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."

Click to read more ...

New York Film Critics Circle Awards 2009

The New York Film Critics Circle today announced its 2009 film awards, and Kathryn Bigelow's war drama "The Hurt Locker" was named best film of the year. N.Y. critics also named Bigelow best director.

In the best actress category, Meryl Streep took the top award for her extraordinary performance in "Julie & Julia." George Clooney won best actor for "Up in the Air," and in my book, he totally deserves it.

Christoph Waltz was named best supporting actor for his amazing role in "Inglourious Basterds," and Mo'nique picked up yet another best supporting actress prize for her powerful performance in "Precious."

Click to read more ...