Independent Spirit Award Nominations
Lots of Independent Spirit nominations for the oh-so-self-consciously indie Rachel Getting Married.  It’s December, and that means plenty of top ten lists, best of lists, and yes, nomination lists are going to come out. First up, we have the Film Independent’s Spirit Award nominations. The awards will be given out on February 21st.   With big stars crossing over to showier roles in smaller movies, and financing coming from major studios, the definition of indie has gotten pretty blurred. We

2009 Independent Spirit Awards Nominations
It’s impossible to pay attention to all the movie awards announcements each year, because there are just so many of them. But the Independent Spirit Awards is one of the second tier (read: non-Academy/Globe) Awards shows that I actually respect and pa attention to. Today the 2009 Indie Spirit nominations were announced. Frozen River and Ballast lead with six nominations each, followed by Rachel Getting Married with five nominations, The Wrestler, Milk, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and The Visitor with thr

2009 INDIE SPIRIT AWARDS Nominations
I didn’t get to watch most of the independent movies that are nominated this year for THE 2009 INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD but if I were to have my pick, I’d say FROZEN RIVER for Best Picture, Courtney River (Frozen River) for Best Director, Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) for Best Male Lead, Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married) for Best Female Lead, James Franco (Milk) for Best Supporting Male, Debra Winger (Rachel Getting Married) for Best Supporting Female, Woody Allen (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)

Indie Spirit noms
The nominations for the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards were announced yesterday and one of the big winners was Oscar favorite RACHEL GETTING MARRIED. The Anne Hathaway film scored six nominations tying it with BALLAST and FROZEN RIVER for the most nominations. To all the bat-fanboys out there, The Dark Knight wasn't nominated for anything so you might want to start a petition or something. Strangely enough, while MILK did very well in the acting categories, the film itself and director Gus Van Sant were

`Rachel,' `River,' lead Spirit Award nominees
LOS ANGELES - Anne Hathaway's family drama "Rachel Getting Married," the border-smuggling tale "Frozen River" and the Deep South saga "Ballast" led nominees Tuesday for the Spirit Awards with six nominations each, including best picture. In this image released by Sony Pictures Classics, Anne Hathaway is shown in a scene from "Rachel Getting Married." (AP Photo/Sony Pictures Classics, Bob Vergara) Other best-picture nominees for the awards,

Michelle Williams and Sean Penn Earn Film Independent Award Nods
Michelle Williams earned a Best Female Lead nomination for her role as a woman who travels to Alaska with her dog in Wendy & Lucy. She faces off against Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), Summer Bishil (Towelhead), Melissa Leo (Frozen River) and Tarra Riggs (Ballast). In the category of Best Actor Lead, Sean Penn scored a nod as gay activist Harvey Milk in the biopic Milk; Javier Bardem for Vicky Cristina Barcelona; Richard Jenkins for The Visitor; Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker; and Mickey Rou

2009 Independent Spirit Awards Nominees Announced
The Independent Spirit Awards are an annual award given in the name of independent film, featuring those little indies which deserve the honor and recognition that they won't necessarily be receiving at the Oscars. The nominees for the 2009 awards have been announced today. The three films with the most nominations include Ballast, Frozen River, and Rachel Getting Married. Also rounding out the list of films nominated for Best Features are The Wrestler and Wendy and Lucy. A very interesting selection and no

Hathaway's "Rachel" Among Top Spirit Noms
Anne Hathaway's family drama "Rachel Getting Married," the border-smuggling tale "Frozen River" and the Deep South saga "Ballast" lead the nominees for the Spirit Awards with six nominations each, including best picture. Other best-picture nominees announced Tuesday: Michelle Williams' down-on-her-luck drama, "Wendy and Lucy," and Mickey Rourke's broken-down athlete tale "The Wrestler." Hathaway and Williams have lead-actress nominations, along with Melissa Leo for "Frozen River," Summer Bishil for "Towel

Rachel Getting Married Leads 2009 Independent Spirit Noms
After all the acclaim heaped on Rachel Getting Married, the family drama starring Anne Hathaway, it makes sense that the movie would lead (along with two other films that also received six nominations each: Sundance favorites Ballast and Frozen River) the year's batch of nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards. Other titles in the Best Feature category include the heartbreaking Wendy and Lucy, starring Michelle Williams, and the Mickey Rourke drama The Wrestler. Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Meryl Streep Up For 2 Acting Nods At The Annual Satellite Awards
Meryl Streep has two chances of winning at the 13th Annual Satellite Awards. The veteran actress is nominated for two Best Actress awards for "Doubt" and "Mamma Mia!" Her two films for the year both earned her an acting nod each, in the Drama category for her role as a Catholic nun in "Doubt," and in the Comedy or Musical category for her performance in "Mamma Mia!" The actress, 59, will be competing against Angelina Jolie, Melissa Leo, Kristin Scott Thomas, Kate Winslett, and her "Devil Wears Prada" co-sta

Penelope Cruz @ Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards
The make up is a little heavy, but Penelope Cruz still looks beautiful as she attends the 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York City.  There have been rumours that her and Javier Bardem are in a ‘cooling off’ phase.  Do you think it’s true? Other celebs that attended the event: Michelle Williams Patrick Clarkson Jennifer Esposito Terrence Howard Amy Adams Ethan Hawke Evan Rachel Wood Rachel Weisz Mickey Rourke Pics after the jump

'Rachel,' 'River,' 'Ballast' lead Spirit nominees
Anne Hathaway’s family drama “Rachel Getting Married,” the border-smuggling tale “Frozen River” and the Deep South saga “Ballast” lead the nominees for the Spirit Awards with six nominations each, including best picture.Other best-picture nominees announced Tuesday: Michelle Williams’ down-on-her-luck drama, “Wendy and Lucy,” and Mickey Rourke’s broken-down athlete tale “The Wrestler.”Hathaway and Williams have lead-actress nominations, along with Melissa Leo for “Frozen River,�

Hathaway's "Rachel" Among Top Spirit Noms
Anne Hathaway's family drama "Rachel Getting Married," the border-smuggling tale "Frozen River" and the Deep South saga "Ballast" lead the nominees for the Spirit Awards with six nominations each, including best picture. Other best-picture nominees announced Tuesday: Michelle Williams' down-on-her-luck drama, "Wendy and Lucy," and Mickey Rourke's broken-down athlete tale "The Wrestler." Hathaway and Williams have lead-actress nominations, along with Melissa Leo for "Frozen River," Summer Bishil for "Towel

`Rachel,' `River,' lead Spirit Award nominees
Anne Hathaway's family drama "Rachel Getting Married," the border-smuggling tale "Frozen River" and the Deep South saga "Ballast" lead the nominees for the Spirit Awards with six nominations each, including best picture. Other best-picture nominees announced Tuesday: Michelle Williams' down-on-her-luck drama, "Wendy and Lucy," and Mickey Rourke's broken-down athlete tale "The Wrestler." Hathaway and Williams have lead-actress nominations, along with Melissa Leo for "Frozen River," Summer Bishil for "Tow

Javier and Penelope Get Independent Spirit Noms
Yesterday’s announcement of nominees for this year’s Independent Spirit Awards featured our two favorite Spaniards, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, getting nods for their work in Woody Allen’s latest flick. The ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ co-stars were nominated for Best Male Lead and Best Supporting Female. Notably absent from the nominations was the busty queen of mediocrity, Scarlett Johansson. No surprise here. If any of you haven’t seen this movie yet, we highly re

'Rachel,' 'Frozen River,' 'Ballast' Lead Race for Independent Spirit Awards
The Independent Spirit Awards announced its list of 2008 nominees, and at the top of the heap stands Rachel Getting Married, Frozen River, and Ballast, all with six nominations. Rachel is, of course, anchored by Anne Hathaway, who is a likely Best Actress nominee for the Academy Awards. The same could be said of Frozen River's Melissa Leo, quickly becoming the trendy pick nobody had ever heard of until a few weeks ago. And Ballast is a drama about the way one suicide affects the lives o

Film Awards get into the 'Spirit' of things
'Rachel Getting Married,' the dysfunctional-family drama starring Anne Hathaway, is one of three movies to earn six nominations for the 2009 Spirit Awards BY GREG HERNANDEZ >STAFF WRITER "Rachel Getting Married," the dysfunctional-family drama starring Anne Hathaway, is one of three movies to earn six nominations for the 2009 Spirit Awards - among the most coveted of honors for independent films during the jam-pa

Woody Allen says Obama loss would be 'humiliation' for U.S.
Joining many celebrities who have hitched their political wagons to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, director and filmmaker Woody Allen, of the recent "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" says it will be a disgrace if Obama fails to win the race for the White House. US film director Woody Allen speaks during a press conference held in Barcelona, Spain, 20 September 2008, to present his movie 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona', starring US actress Scarlett Johansson and Spanish actors Javier Bardem

Excellent Indie Fashion At Gotham Indie Film Awards! [The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly]
When you've got Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz, and Penelope Cruz together at a single event, it's a pretty safe bet the clothes are going to be good. And so it was at last night's 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards (held, for some reason, at NYC's Museum of Finance), where experimentation was the order of the day, retro-shapes ruled, and people got away with an unseemly amount. For the most part, I was very Mike Mulligan (dug it) but there was one case where...well, judge for yourselves, after the

Spirit Award Noms & Winners
Lance Hammer's Ballast, Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married and Courtney Hunt's Frozen River each scored six nominations among the 2009 Film Independent's Spirit Award noms, announced this morning. HE winner picks are as follows. HE's Un-Nominated Best Feature Choice: The Visitor HE Runners-up: Frozen River, Rachel Getting Married, The Wrestler, Wendy and Lucy and Ballast. HE's Best Director Award: Tom McCarthy, The Visitor. Runners-Up: Jonathan Demme, Rachel Getting Married;

Wednesday's Early Buzz: Anne Hathaway, Patrick Dempsey, Battlestar Galactica and more
The Independent Spirit Award nominations were announced yesterday, with predictable results: Anne Hathaway got a nod for Rachel Getting Married, Michelle Williams was nominated for Wendy & Lucy and Sean Penn received his first of what will probably be many nominations for Milk. -- Patrick Dempsey was named the No. 1 sexiest TV hunk, beating out George Clooney. We love McDreamy, but we're calling shenanigans - nobody beats Clooney at anything. -- Speaking of Dempsey and Grey's Anatomy, this blind item an

Anne Hathaway @ "Rachel Getting Married" Screening
Movies: ’Rachel Getting Married’As realized by director Jonathan Demme, "Rachel Getting Married" (in theaters Friday) captures life in all of its messiness, juxtaposing a gorgeous wedding against a family confronting both a past tragedy and the present neediness (or is it selfishness ... or perhaps unrecognized heroism?) of a daughter returning from rehab.The conflicts between the family members - the (by turns, blushing and bitter) bride, Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt), the self-absorbed sis

`Rachel,' `River,' lead Spirit Award nominees
LOS ANGELES - Anne Hathaway's family drama "Rachel Getting Married," the border-smuggling tale "Frozen River" and the Deep South saga "Ballast" lead the nominees for the Spirit Awards with six nominations each, including best picture. In this image released by Sony Pictures Classics, Anne Hathaway is shown in a scene from "Rachel Getting Married." (AP Photo/Sony Pictures Classics, Bob Vergara) Other best-picture nominees announced Tuesday:

`Rachel,' `River,' lead Spirit Award nominees
Anne Hathaway's family drama "Rachel Getting Married," the border-smuggling tale "Frozen River" and the Deep South saga "Ballast" lead the nominees for the Spirit Awards with six nominations each, including best picture. Other best-picture nominees announced Tuesday: Michelle Williams' down-on-her-luck drama, "Wendy and Lucy," and Mickey Rourke's broken-down athlete tale "The Wrestler." Hathaway and Williams have lead-actress nominations, along with Melissa Leo for "Frozen River," Summer Bishil for "Towelhe

'Rachel Getting Married,' 'Frozen River,' Lead Spirit Award Nominees
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Anne Hathaway's family drama "Rachel Getting Married," the border-smuggling tale "Frozen River" and the Deep South saga "Ballast" lead the nominees for the Spirit Awards with six nominations each, including best picture. Other best-picture nominees announced Tuesday: Michelle Williams' down-on-her-luck drama, "Wendy and Lucy," and Mickey Rourke broken-down athlete tale "The Wrestler." Hathaway and Williams have lead-actress nominations, along with Melissa Leo for "Frozen River," Summe