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David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

Posted Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 - 11 Comments »

I've Got Spirit, How About You?

A rather odd list from the Indie Spirit crew this year. No one can really accuse the group of pandering to celebrity with its version of Best Picture

11 Comments »

11 Responses to “I've Got Spirit, How About You?”

  1. swordandpen says:
    November 27, 2007 at 10:39 am

    I get to vote in this every year and the randomness of the nominations baffle me. I remember when “The Sweet Hereafter” was considered a foreign film, but now “Diving Bell” isn’t, but “Once” is?
    They also have a tendency for nominating unexceptional performances while ignoring great ones. How do you nominate “The Savages” in all those categories and omit Picture and even worse, Laura Linney, for Actress when her performance was what made the movie for me? Or was Marisa Tomei the only performance in “Before The Devil” worth nominating?

  2. movieman says:
    November 27, 2007 at 10:57 am

    It’s beginning to look like The Golden Globes have more integrity than the ISP awards. Frigging nuts.
    But it was nice to see “Lake of Fire” get some love. That is hand’s-down the best doc I’ve seen all year.

  3. jeffmcm says:
    November 27, 2007 at 12:00 pm

    Perhaps even the Indie Spirit people found the premise of Lars and the Real Girl off-putting. Or, the flip side, they found it not off-putting enough (I personally wish it had been made by Cronenberg with all that entails).

  4. David Poland says:
    November 27, 2007 at 12:18 pm

    You really CAN’T be suggesting Lars is Cronenberg material if you have seen it, J-Mc. Can’t.

  5. jeffmcm says:
    November 27, 2007 at 12:43 pm

    I’m saying I would have liked it better if it had been.

  6. errolmorrisfan says:
    November 27, 2007 at 1:32 pm

    To qualify for the Spirits, a film has to be “American” in the same way, I suppose, that a foreign Oscar selection has to be “from” the submitting country. By which they mean the creative principals (director/writer/producer) are from that country. That’s why Diving Bell is American (Schnabel/Kennedy) and not French. I guess that’s also why Away From Her (Canada) and Once (Ireland) aren’t eligible in any category other than foreign film. Crazy, I know.

  7. PetalumaFilms says:
    November 27, 2007 at 3:28 pm

    HUGE HUGE HUGE PROPS to Aaron Katz/QUIET CITY getting a Cassavettes Award nomination!!!!! Holy shit….that’s HUGE!! Such an outstanding little film…

  8. KamikazeCamelV2.0 says:
    November 28, 2007 at 1:38 am

    Christ the ISAs are so stupid. On one hand it’s utterly baffling that they didn’t nominate Linney (or Kidman for that matter), but I’m glad Sienna Miller is getting some awards love. It really is bizarre though.
    Maybe they can finally get around to releasing Paranoid Park though. I’m slightly desperate for new Van Sant.

  9. kelzeek says:
    November 28, 2007 at 6:46 am

    For my money, Manufactured Landscapes was the best movie of 2007. Should please fans of Baraka and An Inconvienient Truth. The opening tracking shot of a Chinese iron making factory is one of the most stunning openings I’ve ever seen.

  10. doug r says:
    November 28, 2007 at 6:49 am

    Why doesn’t Lars get nominated for best foreign picture? It was shot in Canada, after all-even though they hint at Michigan in the office.
    That seems to be the quintessential Canadian story.
    SPOILER?
    You leave someone alone, mostly. When he responds by getting weird, everyone adjusts a little until he heals.

  11. Scott Feinberg says:
    November 28, 2007 at 8:16 am

    Dave, you’re selling Juno short!! The Academy that in recent years honored Eminem, The Departed, Three Six Mafia, and Crash is not going to be turned off by a teenage pregnancy… especially one as heartwarming and well done as Juno. If anything, I think it stands a better chance at winning than last year’s lighter BP nominee, Little Miss Sunshine, because it is the ONLY real feel-good film that is likely to make the nomination cut. People of all ages respond to it–laughing, crying, whatever–in large part because the joke is that Ellen Page is a smartass adult stuck in a 20 year old body. And Dave… she is SO good. When voters walk out of that screening drying their tears and with a big smile on their face… I’m telling you, man! :)

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