Awards season: nominations out for Spirits and Annies

The awards season is revving up and today, two sets of nominations have been announced. The first shortlist comes from the Spirit Awards (independent film) and the second comes from the Annie Awards (animation). We've got the full lists below, as well as some info on which one of these ceremonies is now a complete load of cobblers.

Since 1986, The Independent Spirit awards, or the Spirits (though its name has been fussed over and tweaked from the FINDIES: Friends of Independents to the awkwardly named Film Independent’s Spirit Awards) has always been a pretty good barometer of what’s hot in the indie world. Presented by non-profit organization Film Independent, its M.O. is to support independent films and filmmakers, with a pretty clear focus on commercial success. Looking back over the lauded films of the last few years, the most garlanded film each year is the big indie/mainstream crossover.

In 2003 it was Lost In Translation (four awards), 2004 saw Sideways pick up five awards, 2006 was Little Miss Sunshine’s year (four awards), 2007 saw Juno get three awards, and last year The Wrestler took home three.

This year, there is not such an obvious winner – in commercial terms, anyway (we’re presuming that fun but blah 500 Days... won’t win.). But if we think about the previous winners being underdog stories, which have been flipped to reveal an unlikely message of positivity and humour, we’d guess that Precious and Amreeka have a pretty good shot of picking up some of the big awards. We also imagine that A Serious Man will get some sort of recognition too, as everyone is saying how damn good it is (or maybe the Robert Altman ensemble award will have to do?).

Here are the 2010 noms in full, with some trailers for films you might not have caught yet. The winners will be announced in March:

Best feature
(500) Days Of Summer – Producers: Mason Novick, Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Steven J. Wolfe
Amreeka – Producers: Paul Barkin, Christina Piovesan
Precious – Producers: Lee Daniels, Gary Magness, Sarah Siegel-Magness
Sin Nombre – Producer: Amy Kaufman
The Last Station – Producers: Bonnie Arnold, Chris Curling, Jens Meuer

Precious trailer

Best director
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen – A Serious Man
Lee Daniels – Precious
Cary Joji Fukunaga – Sin Nombre
James Gray – Two Lovers
Michael Hoffman – The Last Station

Best screenplay
Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman – The Messenger
Michael Hoffman – The Last Station
Lee Toland Krieger – The Vicious Kind
Greg Mottola – Adventureland
Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber – (500) Days Of Summer

Amreeka trailer

Best first feature
A Single Man – Director: Tom Ford; Producers: Tom Ford, Andrew Miano, Robert Salerno, Chris Weitz
Crazy Heart – Director: Scott Cooper; Producers: T Bone Burnett, Judy Cairo, Rob Carliner, Scott Cooper, Robert Duvall
Easier With Practice – Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez; Producer: Cookie Carosella
Paranormal Activity – Director: Oren Peli; Producer: Jason Blum, Oren Peli
The Messenger – Director: Oren Moverman; Producers: Mark Gordon, Lawrence Inglee, Zach Miller

Best first screenplay
Sophie Barthes – Cold Souls
Scott Cooper – Crazy Heart
Cherien Dabis – Amreeka
Geoffrey Fletcher – Precious
Tom Ford, David Scearce – A Single Man

A Single Man trailer

John Cassavetes Award - Given to the best feature made for under $500,000.
Big Fan – Writer/Director: Robert Siegel; Producers: Elan Bogarin, Jean Kouremetis
Humpday – Writer/Director/Producer: Lynn Shelton
The New Year Parade – Writer/Director: Tom Quinn; Producers: Steve Beal, Tom Quinn
Treeless Mountain – Writer/Director: So Yong Kim; Producers: Bradley Rust Gray, Ben Howe, So Yong Kim, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy
Zero Bridge – Writer/Director: Tariq Tapa; Producers: Josee Lajoie, Hilal Ahmed Langoo, Tariq Tapa

Best female lead
Maria Bello – Downloading Nancy
Nisreen Faour – Amreeka
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Gwyneth Paltrow – Two Lovers
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious

The Last Station trailer

Best male lead
Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – (500) Days Of Summer
Soulymane Sy Savan – Goodbye Solo
Adam Scott – The Vicious Kind

Best supporting female
Dina Korzun – Cold Souls
Mo'Nique – Precious
Samantha Morton – The Messenger
Natalie Press – Fifty Dead Men Walking
Mia Wasikowska – That Evening Sun

The Messenger trailer

Best supporting male
Jemaine Clement – Gentlemen Broncos
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christian McKay – Me and Orson Welles
Raymond McKinnon – That Evening Sun
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station

Best cinematography
Roger Deakins – A Serious Man
Adriano Goldman – Sin Nombre
Anne Misawa – Treeless Mountain
Andrij Parekh – Cold Souls
Peter Zeitlinger – Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Best documentary
Anvil! The Story of Anvil – Director: Sacha Gervasi
Food, Inc. – Director: Robert Kenner
More Than A Game – Director: Kristopher Belman
October Country – Directors: Donal Mosher, Michael Palmieri
Which Way Home – Director: Rebecca Cammisa

Best foreign film
A Prophet – (France) Director: Jacques Audiard
An Education – (UK/France) Director: Lone Scherfig
Everlasting Moments – (Sweden) Director: Jan Troell
Mother – (South Korea) Director: Bong Joon-Ho
The Maid – (Chile) Director: Sebastian Silva

Someone to watch award
Kyle Patrick Alvarez – Easier With Practice
Asiel Norton – Redland
Tariq Tapa – Zero Bridge

Truer than fiction award (What?)
Natalia Almada – El General
Jessica Oreck – Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo
Bill Ross, Turner Ross – 45365

Robert Altman award – (Given to one film's director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
A Serious Man
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Casting directors: Ellen Chenoweth, Rachel Tenner
Ensemble cast: Richard Kind, Sari Lennick, Jessica McManus, Fred Melamed, Michael Stuhlbarg, Aaron Wolff

The second set of nominations are from the Annies, the LA branch of the International Animated Film Association. The Annie awards have been around since 1972 but the awards body pushed itself into irrelevancy last year when the voting was swayed by industry members, resulting in an embarrassing ceremony that saw Kung Fu Panda beat out the infinitely superior WALL-E in every category.

According to animator Bill Plympton, Jeffrey Katzenberg bought ASIFA-Hollywood memberships for many people within his studio, and told them which way to vote. Oddly, the website has not yet been updated to cover last year’s nominees and winners – an oversight we’re sure they’ll correct soon.

In the meantime, here are the new Annie nominations. We must stress that they are now pretty much irrelevant, and the sponsors are the same studios that pick up the awards. The ceremony is to be held on February 6. Take a gander at the noms. Does it strike anyone else that The Princess and the Frog is rather over-represented for a film that has not yet seen the light of day?

Best animated feature
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs — Sony Pictures Animation
Coraline — Laika
Fantastic Mr. Fox — 20th Century Fox
The Princess and the Frog — Walt Disney Animation Studios
The Secret of Kells — Cartoon Saloon
Up — Pixar Animation Studios

Best animated short subject
Pups of Liberty — Picnic Pictures
Robot Chicken: Star Wars 2.5 — ShadowMachine
Santa, The Fascist Years — Plymptoons
The Rooster, The Crocodile and The Night Sky — Barley Films
The Story of Walls — Badmash Animation Studios

Animated effects
Scott Cegielski, Monsters vs. Aliens — DreamWorks Animation
Alexander Feigin, 9 — 9 L.L.C.
Eric Froemling, Up — Pixar Animation Studios
Tom Kluyskens, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs — Sony Pictures Animation
James Mansfield, The Princess and the Frog — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Character animation in a feature production
Andreas Deja, The Princess and the Frog — Walt Disney Animation Studios
Eric Goldberg, The Princess and the Frog — Walt Disney Animation Studios
Travis Knight, Coraline — Laika
Daniel Nguyen, Up — Pixar Animation Studios
Bruce Smith, The Princess and the Frog — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Character design in a feature production
Daniel Lopez Munoz, Up — Pixar Animation Studios
Shane Prigmore, Coraline — Laika
Shannon Tindle, Coraline — Laika

Directing in a feature production
Wes Anderson, Fantastic Mr. Fox — 20th Century Fox
Pete Docter, Up — Pixar Animation Studios
Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs — Sony Pictures Animation
Hayao Miyazaki, Ponyo — Studio Ghibli
Henry Selick, Coraline — Laika

Music in a feature production
Bruno Coulais, Coraline — Laika
Michael Giacchino, Up — Pixar Animation Studios
Joe Hisaishi, Ponyo — Studio Ghibli
John Powell, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs — Blue Sky Studios

Production design in a feature production
Christopher Appelhans, Coraline — Laika
Ian Gooding, The Princess and the Frog — Walt Disney Animation Studios
Tadahiro Uesugi, Coraline — Laika
Christophe Vacher, 9 — 9 L.L.C.

Storyboarding in a feature production
Sharon Bridgeman, Astro Boy — Imagi Studios
Chris Butler, Coraline — Laika
Ronnie Del Carmen, Up — Pixar Animation Studios
Tom Owens, Monsters vs. Aliens — DreamWorks Animation
Peter Sohn, Up — Pixar Animation Studios

Voice acting in a feature production
Jen Cody, voice of Charlotte, The Princess and the Frog — Walt Disney Animation Studios
Dawn French, voice of Miss Forcible, Coraline — Laika
Hugh Laurie, voice of Dr. Cockroach Ph.D, Monsters vs. Aliens — DreamWorks Animation
John Leguizamo, voice of Sid, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur — Blue Sky Studios
Jenifer Lewis, voice of Mama Odie, The Princess and the Frog — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Writing in a feature production
Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach, Fantastic Mr. Fox, 20th Century Fox
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy, Up, Pixar Animation Studios
Timothy Hyde Harris and David Bowers, Astro Boy, Imagi Studios
Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Sony Pictures Animation