Spirit Awards 2011 Nominations

For me the film awards season has officially begun. Although I missed the actual online announcement, this morning Film Independent presented the nominees for the 2011 Spirit Awards. The reason why this is my official start of the film awards season, is that I actually get to vote for the Spirit Awards. There will be screenings and screeners to be viewed – always a pleasure. The awards ceremony will take place during the afternoon of Saturday 26 February 2011 on the beach in Santa Monica, California. On that day I most likely will be at the Official Spirit Awards Viewing Party comfortably situated in a hotel with libations, and well yeah, some food. If you would like to be eligible to vote for the 2011 Spirit Awards, you have until Friday 3 December 2010 to join Film Independent. So which of the nominated films have you seen (no comment from me)? The nominees are:

2011 SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS

BEST FEATURE (Award given to the Producer, Executive Producers are not listed)

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

Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko - 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 FEATURE

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

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

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

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD - Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director, and producer. Executive Producers are not listed

Daddy Longlegs
Lbs.
Lovers of Hate
Obselidia
The Exploding Girl

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 MALE LEAD

Ronald Bronstein - Daddy Longlegs
Aaron Eckhart - Rabbit Hole
James Franco - 127 Hours
John C. Reilly - Cyrus
Ben Stiller - Greenberg

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

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

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

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

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director)

Exit Through the Gift Shop
Marwencol
Restrepo
Sweetgrass
Thunder Soul

BEST FOREIGN FILM (Award given to the director)

Kisses
(Ireland)
Mademoiselle Chambon
(France)
Of Gods and Men
(Morocco)
The King’s Speech(United Kingdom)
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
(Thailand)

ACURA SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 17th annual Acura Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Acura.

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

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 14th annual Piaget Producers Award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.

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

AVEENO® TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 16th annual AVEENO® Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by AVEENO®.

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

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD - (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)

Please Give
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Casting Director: Jeanne McCarthy
Ensemble Cast: Ann Guilbert, Rebecca Hall, Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Lois Smith, Sarah Steele

Image is of the Spirit Awards Nominations Announcement poster

Patriots Redown: November 2010

Game 8 – Sunday 7 November 2010 – Patriots lost - Away

New England Patriots: 0 7 0 7 - 14
Cleveland Browns: 10 7 7 10 - 34

Total game points equal 48. Patriots 29.17% of the points. Browns 70.83% of the points.


Game 9 – Sunday 14 November 2010 – Patriots won – Away

New England Patriots: 10 0 13 16 - 39
Pittsburgh Steelers: 0 3 0 23 - 26

Total game points equal 65. Patriots 60.00% of the points. Steelers 40.00% of the points


Game 10 – Sunday 21 November 2010 – Patriots won – Home

New England Patriots: 7 14 7 3 - 31
Indianapolis Colts: 0 14 0 14 - 28

Total game points equal 59. Patriots 52.54% of the points. Colts 47.46% of the points.


Game 11 – Thursday 25 November 2010 – Patriots won - Away

New England Patriots: 3 7 14 21 - 45
Detroit Lions: 7 10 7 0 - 24

Total game points equal 69. Patriots 65.22% of the points. Lions 34.78% of the points.

New England Patriots logo is from the website wikipedia.org

Patriots Versus Lions: Happy Thanksgiving Again (And More) New England!

It’s not the traditional Thanksgiving of my childhood, but being at the New England bar, Sonny McLean’s, is the closest I can come to the celebration in Southern California. Since the Pats rarely play on Thanksgiving, it’s a special treat to watching them play the Detroit Lions this early morning. The last time the New England Patriots played on Thanksgiving was Thursday 28 November 2002 also against the Lions at Detroit and the Pats were victorious by a score of 20 to 12. Looking for a repeat. A number of people go away for Thanksgiving, so Sonny’s is not really crowded for the 9:30 a.m. kickoff and over the course of the game no one asks to sit at my table and there is no one in the darts area - it’s that empty. Jenny and Lauren are working, along with some other people I don’t know. Well anyway, Rich, a fellow regular is here and I talk to him for a while. He already has Christmas in mind and is planning on buying a new television for himself. There’s certainly a temperature feel to the holiday season as we both remark on how cold it is in the bar – brrr! Later today Rich will be spending Thanksgiving with John’s (another Sonny’s regular) family. My plans are to stay for Sonny’s Thanksgiving meal (of course subject to change). However, I am enjoying the Sonny’s Breakfast (scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, tomato, wheat toast, and fruit) as game time arrives and play begins. Happily, the Patriots score first, but the Lions come back and take the lead. This matchup will prove to be a back-and-forth affair with the lead changing several times and the score tied twice. At the end of the third quarter the score is 24 to 24, but in the fourth quarter New England completely shuts down Detroit and vaults ahead with three unanswered touchdowns! The final score is Patriots 45 and the Lions 24. It is indeed another Happy New England Thanksgiving! As a time for Sonny’s Thanksgiving meal was not yet set and it was still very cold in the bar, I decided I would return home for the rest of the day and let the victory sustain me and keep me warm (as will my apartment!). No, it’s not the Thanksgiving of my youth, but one that is never-the-less happy with great touches of New England in it.


New England Patriots logo is from wikipedia.org

Chatting With Jaana

This morning I had an unexpected conversation with my friend Jaana. Via that all-encompassing and time-consuming social network know as Facebook, I in Southern California was able to talk to Jaana in Southern France using written words on its online Chat.

Of course the technology of Chat is nothing new, but since I rarely use it, I feel it is worth noting. Jaana and her family recently moved to a new home in France, but they may move back to Belgium (where Jaana and I met) in a few years because her husband’s business is based there and I’m sure the constant travel between Belgium and France must be tough and tiring for him. Jaana is happy that she will be skiing on the French Alps this winter. I only Nordic skied once in my life and I’m amazed I completed the trail!

Agree with Jaana that living in France is wonderful and I hope to do so again someday. There is no place quite like Paris! Regret the lack of traveling since I’ve been back – only to San Francisco. As I have some free time lately, I’m doing more writing, especially for this blog. Perhaps I’m improving? Also I’m planning on gaining more technical knowledge by taking a website building course in January.

Alas technology is not always perfect and our Chat session abruptly ended before I was able to ask about the children; but at least we connected and I’m glad to know she’s happy and healthy. The chat was a nice surprise to start my day! I’ll have to do that more often. So who wants to chat?


Images:
Left: California map is from the website geology.com
Center: “Adrean chats, Jaana chats” graphic created by Adrean Darce Brent
Right: France map is from the website upload.wikimedia.org

Reel Rewind: “Pink Saris”

English title – “Pink Saris” / Hindi language title – “Gulābī Sāṛī” (“गुलाबी साड़ी”)

The setting of this documentary, “Pink Saris”, is a rural area of Uttar Pradesh, North India where one woman, Sampat Pal Devi, leads a group of women, known as the Gulābī Gang (Pink Gang) in creating change in the lives of India’s lower caste women. In this place females are forced into marriages when they are still children, suffer physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their husbands and in-laws, and have few recourses for justice. Enter Sampat and the women in pink.

Even if it is just one woman at a time, Sampat works to change their plight in life. For example, marriage for a pregnant untouchable woman (who would have been put to death) to her higher caste lover; justice for a woman raped by her father-in-law; and protection for a runaway wife beaten by her husband. These and several other women’s stories are put forth in the film. Direct confrontation with the offender and the legal system (i.e. police) is the style of this group of courageous women who fight (sometimes with the lathi) for the improvement of women in India.

We learn that Sampat was a child wife, who eventually left her husband and who now lives with a man from the highest caste. In addition to her social movement environment, we see Sampat in her domestic environment - sweeping the floor and comforting a violence refugee in her home. As part of her quest, Sampat does try to negotiate better conditions for the women who return to their husbands’ family. Success on this front is limited. But Sampat and the gang keep trying to bring a new way of being for women throughout India. Sampat may not be perfect (she returns the runaway the wife of one of her husband’s relatives in order to keep peace with her husband’s family), she is a strong voice for change in India and, with many others in pink, will have a definite impact as time progresses.

Film Facts: Director/Cinematogrpher: Kim Longinotto, Editor: Ollie Huddleston, Musician: Midival Punditz, Producers: Amber Latiff, Girjashanker Vohra, Production Company: Women Make Movies

Film Type: Documentary, Drama, Cast: Renu Devi, Sampat Pal Devi, Niranjan Pal, Rekha Paswan, Shiv Devi Patel, Rampataree Yadav, Length: 96’, Language: Hindi, Country: United Kingdom, Year: 2010
Film Trailer
No United States release date set as of this post.


Images:
Left: Sampat Pal Devi and members of the Gulābī Gang from the website blog.afi.com
Center: Graphic interpretation of “Pink Saris” created by Adrean Darce Brent
Right: Sampat Pal Devi from the website viceland.com