Two R-rated dramas each nab five award nominations
By Robin Rowe

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 12/1/2009 – “From page one, I sat there with my mouth open,” was the reaction of Precious director Lee Daniels when he first read the novel Push, about a Harlem teenager called Precious Jones. “This was a world that I knew intimately. I had many relatives who resembled Precious physically, and I had many friends and relatives who didn’t know how to read but somehow got by in life.”

Daniels first read the book in 1996. Today, Lionsgate’s Precious matched Sony Classics’ The Last Station, each taking five nominations in the Spirit Awards. Both films are R-rated dramas. Precious takes an R for child abuse including sexual assault, and pervasive language. The Last Station rates an R for a scene of sexuality and nudity. Both stories are based on books. The Last Station story is based on Leo Tolstoy’s marriage.

The 2010 Spirit Award nominations are…

BEST FEATURE

(500) Days Of Summer – Producers: Mason Novick, Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Steven J. Wolfe

Amreeka – Producers: Paul Barkin, Christina Piovesan

Precious – Producers: Lee Daniels, Gary Magness, Sarah Siegel-Magness

Sin Nombre – Producer: Amy Kaufman

The Last Station – Producers: Bonnie Arnold, Chris Curling, Jens Meuer

BEST DIRECTOR

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen – A Serious Man

Lee Daniels – Precious

Cary Joji Fukunaga – Sin Nombre

James Gray – Two Lovers

Michael Hoffman – The Last Station

BEST SCREENPLAY

Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman – The Messenger

Michael Hoffman – The Last Station

Lee Toland Krieger – The Vicious Kind

Greg Mottola – Adventureland

Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber – (500) Days Of Summer

BEST FIRST FEATURE

A Single Man – Director: Tom Ford; Producers: Tom Ford, Andrew Miano, Robert Salerno, Chris Weitz

Crazy Heart – Director: Scott Cooper; Producers: T Bone Burnett, Judy Cairo, Rob Carliner, Scott Cooper, Robert Duvall

Easier With Practice – Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez; Producer: Cookie Carosella

Paranormal Activity – Director: Oren Peli; Producer: Jason Blum, Oren Peli

The Messenger – Director: Oren Moverman; Producers: Mark Gordon, Lawrence Inglee, Zach Miller

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Sophie Barthes – Cold Souls

Scott Cooper – Crazy Heart

Cherien Dabis – Amreeka

Geoffrey Fletcher – Precious

Tom Ford, David Scearce – A Single Man

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

Given to the best feature made for under $500,000

Big Fan – Writer/Director: Robert Siegel; Producers: Elan Bogarin, Jean Kouremetis

Humpday – Writer/Director/Producer: Lynn Shelton

The New Year Parade – Writer/Director: Tom Quinn; Producers: Steve Beal, Tom Quinn

Treeless Mountain – Writer/Director: So Yong Kim; Producers: Bradley Rust Gray, Ben Howe, So Yong Kim, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy

Zero Bridge – Writer/Director: Tariq Tapa; Producers: Josee Lajoie, Hilal Ahmed Langoo, Tariq Tapa

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Maria Bello – Downloading Nancy

Nisreen Faour – Amreeka

Helen Mirren – The Last Station

Gwyneth Paltrow – Two Lovers

Gabourey Sidibe – Precious

BEST MALE LEAD

Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart

Colin Firth – A Single Man

Joseph Gordon-Levitt – (500) Days Of Summer

Souléymane Sy Savané – Goodbye Solo

Adam Scott – The Vicious Kind

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Dina Korzun – Cold Souls

Mo’Nique – Precious

Samantha Morton – The Messenger

Natalie Press – Fifty Dead Men Walking

Mia Wasikowska – That Evening Sun

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Jemaine Clement – Gentlemen Broncos

Woody Harrelson – The Messenger

Christian McKay – Me and Orson Welles

Raymond McKinnon – That Evening Sun

Christopher Plummer – The Last Station

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Roger Deakins – A Serious Man

Adriano Goldman – Sin Nombre

Anne Misawa – Treeless Mountain

Andrij Parekh – Cold Souls

Peter Zeitlinger – Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Anvil! The Story of Anvil – Director: Sacha Gervasi

Food, Inc. – Director: Robert Kenner

More Than A Game – Director: Kristopher Belman

October Country – Directors: Donal Mosher, Michael Palmieri

Which Way Home – Director: Rebecca Cammisa

BEST FOREIGN FILM

A Prophet – (France) Director: Jacques Audiard

An Education – (UK/France) Director: Lone Scherfig

Everlasting Moments – (Sweden) Director: Jan Troell

Mother – (South Korea) Director: Bong Joon-Ho

The Maid – (Chile) Director: Sebastián Silva

ACURA SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

Kyle Patrick Alvarez – Easier With Practice

Asiel Norton – Redland

Tariq Tapa – Zero Bridge

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

Natalia Almada – El General

Jessica Oreck – Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo

Bill Ross, Turner Ross – 45365

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD

Karin Chien – The Exploding Girl, Santa Mesa

Larry Fessenden – I Sell the Dead, The House of the Devil

Dia Sokol – Beeswax, Nights & Weekends

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast

A Serious Man

Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Casting Directors: Ellen Chenoweth, Rachel Tenner

Ensemble Cast: Richard Kind, Sari Lennick, Jessica McManus, Fred Melamed, Michael Stuhlbarg, Aaron Wolff