Y'know, I like "indie" movies...

Oh, yeah, the Independent Spirit Awards. Isn't that just a big party with John Waters or Sarah Silverman as host? I hear the stars can booze it up there, so it always makes watching a helluva lot more interesting than the sterile Academy Awards, but I always wonder what constitutes a film to be nominated and not nominated? This year, Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park is up for a handful of prizes, but IFC won't be releasing it until next year. And, is A Mighty Heart really an independent film? Whatever. Also, spare your comments about the photos I chose of Adrienne Shelly and Zoe Cassavetes, nominated for their screenplays, and pictured with cameras. Also, looking at the list of cinematographers, I begin to wonder, "has there been a striking, important American director of photography in the past 20 years?" The nominees are as follows:

Best Feature

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly [Le scaphandre et le papillon] - dir. Julian Schnabel - France/USA
I'm Not There - dir. Todd Hayes - USA
Juno - dir. Jason Reitman - USA
A Mighty Heart - dir. Michael Winterbottom
Paranoid Park - dir. Gus Vant Sant - USA/France

Best Director

Todd Haynes - I'm Not There
Tamara Jenkins - The Savages
Jason Reitman - Juno
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Gus Van Sant - Paranoid Park

Best First Feature

2 Days in Paris [Deux jours à Paris] - dir. Julie Delpy - France/Germany
Great World of Sound - dir. Craig Zobel - USA
The Lookout - dir. Scott Frank - USA
Rocket Science - dir. Jeffrey Blitz - USA
Vanaja - dir. Rajnesh Domalpalli - India/USA

John Cassavetes Award [for features made under $500,000]

August Evening - dir. Chris Eska - USA
Owl and the Sparrow - dir. Stephane Gauger - Vietnam/USA
The Pool - dir. Chris Smith - USA
Quiet City - dir. Aaron Katz - USA
Shotgun Stories - dir. Jeff Nichols - USA

Best Screenplay

Ronald Harwood - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Tamara Jenkins - The Savages
Fred Parnes, Andrew Wagner - Staring Out in the Evening
Adrienne Shelly - Waitress
Mike White - Year of the Dog

Best First Screenplay

Jeffrey Blitz - Rocket Science
Zoe Cassavetes - Broken English
Diablo Cody - Juno
Kelly Masterson - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
John Orloff - A Mighty Heart

Best Actress

Angelina Jolie - A Mighty Heart
Sienna Miller - Interview
Ellen Page - Juno
Parker Posey - Broken English
Tang Wei - Lust, Caution

Best Actor

Pedro Castaneda - August Evening
Don Cheadle - Talk to Me
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Savages
Frank Langella - Staring Out in the Evening
Tony Leung - Lust, Caution

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Anna Kenrick - Rocket Science
Jennifer Jason Leigh - Margot at the Wedding
Tamara Podemski - Four Sheets to the Wind
Marisa Tomei - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Best Supporting Actor

Chiwetel Ejiofor - Talk to Me
Marcus Carl Franklin - I'm Not There
Kene Holliday - Great World of Sound
Irrfan Khan - The Namesake
Steve Zahn - Rescue Dawn

Best Cinematography

Mott Hupfel - The Savages
Janusz Kaminski - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Milton Kam - Vanaja
Mihai Malaimare, Jr. - Youth Without Youth
Rodrigo Prieto - Lust, Caution

Best Documentary

Crazy Love - dir. Dan Klores - USA
Lake of Fire - dir. Tony Kaye - USA
Manufactured Lanscapes - dir. Jennifer Baichwal - Canada
The Monastery - fir. Pernille Rose Grønkjær - Denmark
The Prisoner; or How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair - dir. Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker - Germany/USA

Best Foreign Film

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile] - dir. Cristian Mungiu - Romania
The Band's Visit [Bikur Ha-Tizmoret] - dir. Eran Kolirin - Israel
Lady Chatterley - dir. Pascale Ferran - France
Once - dir. John Carney - Ireland
Perespolis - dir. Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi - France