Best Documentary The Oath
Breakthrough Director Kevin Asch for Holy Rollers
Breakthrough Performance Ronald Bronstein from Daddy Longlegs
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You Littlerock (Mike Ott)
Festival Genius Award Waiting For 'Superman'
Best Ensemble Performance Winter's Bone
Best Feature Winter's Bone
Tributes: Hilary Swank, James Schamus, Darren Aronofsky, Robert Duvall
The most interesting detail was that, despite a strong night for Winter's Bone, Jennifer Lawrence did not win Breakthrough Performance. I now kick myself for missing Daddy Longlegs which was on my Sundance schedule at least twice and I kept having to rearrange and missed it. The other immediately noticeable development was in the Documentary field. The field was entirely composed of films that did not make the Academy's Finalist List, Inside Job excepted. The terrorism doc The Oath won.
(Speaking of those Oscar finalist documentaries, I'm only seen a handful but Restrepo, detailing one deployment for US soldiers in Afghanistan is my personal favorite of the lot thus far. Still, none of them compare to Last Train Home, which gets shunned awards-wise.)
What's next for Winter's Bone? Tomorrow will undoubtedly be another good day for the scary Ozark-set drama. The Spirit Award nominees, the big deal for indies, will be announced at 11 AM EST. Expect it to lead the nominations, or thereabouts. From there the awards path for Debra Granik's well loved minor hit gets trickier. Will the critical enthusiasm translate to mainstream movie prizes like the The Globes and Oscar? Stay tuned.
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17 comments:
What about the other acting awards?
I've had the screener for "Last Train Home" sitting next to my DVD player for months. Your championing of it keeps reminding me to buck up and watch it.
Can anyone explain or link to an article or review that explains why Winter's Bone is so great?
I honestly feel like I saw a totally different movie from people. "Boring" is too often used as an easy blanket term applied to films, but I personally felt that the movie was on the verge of losing my interest for the entire running time.
I admit it was well done overall with solid acting by everyone, but it just felt so minor and I can't imagine anyone finishing the film feeling anythig more than realizing they just watched a good little simple story.
Help! I feel like I'm going to be really annoyed by it this awards season as I feel like voters just like it as some poverty porn voyeurism weird thing.
Yayyyy! That means the awards season is about to start!
Dean, trust me, you're not alone.
People must be really desperate for awards season to start since they have gone completely overboard on the Gothams, an award show that means absolutely nothing. I am sure Winter's Bone was a bona fide top ten candidate before the awards so, dear folks, no need to start calling it one just because it won here (like this article does with hyperbole out the wazoo). And it winning the Gotham award will not make anybody see the film that wasn't already going to. General public and Academy members alike.
Good grief, I feel the negativity already, but once the proper awards start (like the Indie Spirits) I'll perk up. People were just acting like the Gothams were the biggest, most tell-tale awards show on the planet. They're not.
I still think that Lawrence takes the fifth spot en lieu of Manville (category confusion) and Moore (fell off the radar and is overshadowed by Bening). Portman, Bening are sure things, Kidman seems safe, and Berry is promoting the hell out of her movie, I'm almost sure she's in to prove the Academy was right to award her in 2002.
Fingers crossed for Kidman and RH @ the Spirit nominations. They've never liked to nominate her hence JJL nominated for MATW but not her, none for Birth or Dogville so all I can say is fingers crossed, it will be good to see her receive a nomination.
joe -- as far as I'm aware that's the only categories they do. they have enough tributes to not have too many categories.
kurtis -- do it ;) it's weird to feel like i'm championing docs but PRODIGAL SONS and that one just clobbered me emotionally and I see these others that people are raving about and (mostly) they're good... but i just don't understand fussing about them. and ignoring Joan Rivers!
Dean -- poverty porn is undoubtedly some of its appeal but not all. I personally think it's quite a good movie but I wouldn't say "great". I was just talking about this with a friend and we were talking about the sometimes violent reaction against Sofia Coppola's "boring" films and how maybt that's reverse classicism. Like intimiately gazing at rich people is often viewed as terribly indulgent but intimately gazing at poor people is usually not considered indulgent, but brave. it's a curious thing.
I have a couple of problems with the movie but they're minor. I'd suggest watching it again because there are some moments that it just nails (love that livestock scene that plays with the sound) and love the acting -- the casting is so spot on.
Yeah I'd say Winter's Bone is solidly B+ material, but no more. I'd hate to have to put it on a top ten list, since it had very little personal staying power for me, even though I respected it quite a bit. Part of it is just that I couldn't relate much, I guess. But it's also just not particularly dynamic or ambitious filmmaking.
I think Jennifer Lawrence has a good shot at snagging a golden globe nomination, since Moore & Bening will be shuffled out to the comedy category. I imagine it's Portman, Kidman, Manville, Lawrence & either Sally Hawkins, Michelle Williams or perhaps Berry, Swinton or Swank. I suppose there are enough contenders that she could get squeezed out, but she's been at the forefront of the conversation for some time. I'd place her 4th in likeliness at this point. Only Portman seems like a slam dunk. Nicole I'd say was a shoo in, but they've fallen out of love with her since the early 00's.
Thank you Dean. I agree completely. And Jennifer Lawrence was acceptable, but hardly award-worthy. If she pulls an Oscar nom out of this, I will be disappointed.
cb
adam k -- yeah the Globe nom seems likely. I'm not convinced she's a lock for Oscar but she's definitely a threat and her age will definitely help since Oscar voters likes young women and the rest of the field is quite a bit older.
@ Amy
She was not eligible for Dogville and Birth, neither were American films but European co-productions, but she was probably eligible for Fur and MATW. The former was too weird even for the Indie and Margot was too unsympathetic a character, I guess. But they nominated Jolie in A Mighty Heart so they're not against superstars getting noms.
@ Amy
She was not eligible for Dogville and Birth, neither were American films but European co-productions, but she was probably eligible for Fur and MATW. The former was too weird even for the Indie and Margot was too unsympathetic a character, I guess. But they nominated Jolie in A Mighty Heart so they're not against superstars getting noms.
Dale Dickey! Dale Dickey!!
D-A-L-E D-I-C-K-E-Y!!!...
p.s. even if she doesn't really have a chance, I will (obssessively) campaign for her.
if Jennifer Lawrence gets an Oscar nomination I'll be happy because I predicted her in my April Best Actress predictions, apart from that her performance was on the one-dimensional side, I really really loved the way she started, very organic, very real and all, was impressed, but she kept a low profile pace to the very end of the movie and it makes you feel like the character is way too cold, too unrealistically reserved and lacking emotions in a way, even when she was trying to show emotions. I'm not saying I didn't like it, but I don't understand why people said she was SO INCREDIBLE, the scene in which they beat her up and we see her lying on the ground was funny to me.
Dale DickEY was SUPERB!
Thanks for the clarification, Jamie :).
She got nominated for RH, woo hoo!
eh, i'm already in the JENNIFER LAWRENCE=overrated camp. I'm starting to feel the same way about her film...
I was really hoping to see CASSEL get a mention here and while the GOSLING/ WIEST/ HERSHEY snubs are equally annoying and baffling... i'm thrilled ECKHART and RUFFALO made the cut.
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