Results of indieWIRE's 2008 Critics Poll

Hou Hsiao-hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon was named the best film in indieWIRE's Critics Poll; Hou also was named best director. Though both of those wins were certainly welcome and exciting, most of the other winners went to predictable choices: Mickey Rourke, Heath Ledger, Charlie Kaufman, Man on Wire and Ballast. Look deeper though and you'll find a lot of wonderful picks, like Asia Argento for Boarding Gate, The Last Mistress and Mother of Tears. Here's the full list.

Independent Spirit Award Nominations

I'm still unsure as to what films are eligible for nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards, but either way, the nominations were made today, with Rachel Getting Married, The Wrestler, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Milk, Ballast, Wendy and Lucy, Frozen River and The Visitor up for a handful. You can read the full list over at IndieWire, but here are some of the categories:

Best Picture

Ballast - dir. Lance Hammer
Frozen River - dir. Courtney Hunt
Rachel Getting Married - dir. Jonathan Demme
Wendy and Lucy - dir. Kelly Reichardt
The Wrestler - dir. Darren Aronofsky

Best Director

Ramin Bahrani - Chop Shop
Jonathan Demme - Rachel Getting Married
Lance Hammer - Ballast
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River
Tom McCarthy - The Visitor

Best First Feature

Afterschool - dir. Antonio Campos
Medicine for Melancholy - dir. Barry Jenkins
Sleep Dealer - dir. Alex Rivera
Sangre de mi sangre [Padre Nuestro] - dir. Christopher Zalla
Synecdoche, New York - dir. Charlie Kaufman

Best Screenplay

Woody Allen - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck - Sugar
Charlie Kaufman - Synecdoche, New York
Howard A. Rodman - Savage Grace
Christopher Zalla - Sangre de mi sangre

Best First Screenplay

Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Lance Hammer - Ballast
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River
Jonathan Levine - The Wackness
Jenny Lumet - Rachel Getting Married

Best Male Lead

Javier Bardem - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Sean Penn - Milk
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Best Female Lead

Summer Bishil - Towelhead
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Tarra Riggs - Ballast
Michelle Williams - Wendy and Lucy

Best Supporting Male

James Franco - Milk
Anthony Mackie - The Hurt Locker
Charlie McDermott - Frozen River
JimMyron Ross - Ballast
Haaz Sleiman - The Visitor

Best Supporting Female

Penélope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Rosemarie DeWitt - Rachel Getting Married
Rosie Perez - The Take
Misty Upham - Frozen River
Debra Winger - Rachel Getting Married

Best Documentary

The Betrayal - dir. Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath
Encounters at the End of the World - dir. Werner Herzog
Man on Wire - dir. James Marsh
The Order of Myths - dir. Margaret Brown
Up the Yangtze - dir. Yung Chang

Best Foreign Film

The Class [Entre les murs] - dir. Laurent Cantet - France
Gomorrah [Gomorra] - dir. Matteo Garrone - Italy
Hunger - dir. Steve McQueen - UK
Secret of the Grain [La graine et le mulet] - dir. Abdel Kechiche - France
Silent Light [Stellet licht] - dir. Carlos Reygadas - Mexico

Previous 10: 29 October - After the Flood

It's pretty sad news when you only admire one of the past ten 2008 releases, but at least Rachel Getting Married was a keeper. I can't decide, if given the option, whether I'd ask someone to rewrite all the "I'm old" bits of dialogue in the new Indiana Jones movie or to think up a better explanation for that Crystal Skull. Though I quite disliked I've Loved You So Long, I won't be disappointed seeing Kristin Scott Thomas win a number of awards this winter. I might, however, be disappointed to hear a bunch of Charlie Kaufman worshipers call me an idiot for disliking Synecdoche, New York so much... but it's probably worth noting that, for a variety of reasons, it's the first film I've walked out of in a theatre since I saw that horrendous melodrama Second Skin (Segunda piel) with Javier Bardem six years ago (I don't count Hou Hsiao-hsien's Milennium Mambo, which I also ditched before the credits, as it occured during a horrendous date). And, though I'm sure I'm not the first to point this out, Filth and Wisdom has none of the above.

La Crème

Rachel Getting Married - dir. Jonathan Demme - USA - Sony Pictures Classics - with Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mather Zickel, Bill Irwin, Debra Winger, Tunde Adebimpe, Anna Deavere Smith, Anisa George

Les Autres

I Dreamt Under the Water [J'ai rêvé sous l'eau] - dir. Hormoz - France - TLA Releasing - with Hubert Benhamdine, Caroline Ducey, Christine Boisson, Hicham Nazzal, Franck Victor, Hélène Michel

In the Arms of My Enemy [Voleurs de chevaux] - dir. Micha Wald - France/Belgium/Canada - Picture This! - with Grégoire Colin, Adrien Jolivet, François-René Dupont, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet

Pleasure Factory - dir. Ekachai Uekrongtham - Thailand/Netherlands/Hong Kong - Strand Releasing - with Isabella Chen, Ananda Everingham, Zihan Loo, Kuei-Mei Yang, Jeszlene Zhou

The Bad!

Boystown [Chuecatown] - dir. Juan Flahn - Spain - TLA Releasing - with Pepón Nieto, Pablo Puyol, Carlos Fuentes, Concha Velasco, Rosa Maria Sardà, Eduard Soto

Eight Miles High [Das Wilde Leben] - dir. Achim Bornhak - Germany - Dokument Films - with Natalia Avelon, David Scheller, Matthias Schweighöfer, Friederike Kempter, Alexander Scheer, Victor Norén

Filth and Wisdom - dir. Madonna - UK - IFC Films - with Eugene Hutz, Holly Weston, Vicky McClure, Richard E. Grant, Inder Manocha

I've Loved You So Long [Il y a longtemps que je t'aime] - dir. Philippe Claudel - France/Germany - Sony Pictures Classics - with Kristin Scott Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein, Serge Hazanavicius, Laurent Grévill, Frédéric Pierrot, Claire Johnston

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - dir. Steven Spielberg - USA - 20th Century Fox - with Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Shia LaBeouf, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Jim Broadbent

Synecdoche, New York - dir. Charlie Kaufman - Sony Pictures Classics - with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis, Dianne Wiest, Emily Watson, Daniel London