In Contention

Tag: Catalina Saavedra

  • ‘Hurt Locker’ tops at Gothams

    Jeremy Renner in The Hurt LockerI had a Q&A to moderate this evening, so forgive the lateness here (though these and the Indie Spirits, for my money, stopped being about true independent cinema long ago, so there was really no haste to begin with).

    Anyway, predictably, “The Hurt Locker” came out on top at tonight’s Gotham Awards.  The film won Best Feature and Best Ensemble, though lead actor Jeremy Renner was upset in the breakthrough actor race by Catalina Saavedra in “The Maid.” I’ve got that screener around here somewhere.

    Tomorrow the Indie Spirits announce their nominees, which, by the way, will not include “The Hurt Locker” because the film wasn’t eligible this year.  It was last year, when it received nods for Best Actor (Renner) and Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Mackie).  Looking for a leg up tomorrow are “Precious” and “Crazy Heart,” I’d say, though we can expect some surprises too, I guess (I hope).

    Full list of Gotham Winners after the jump.

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  • ‘Nine’ leads Golden Satellites with 11 nods

    Shohreh Aghdashloo in The Stoning of Soraya M.(UPDATE: Full list of categories and special awards added, including a random Best Ensemble prize for “Nine.” Also, a pointless Ten Best Films of 2009 list that leaves out some of their very own Best Picture nominees. Don’t even try to make sense of it. Thanks to Ziyad for the info.)

    It isn’t really worth spending too much time talking about the Golden Satellites — after all, this is the group who last year thought “Elegy” was an original screenplay written by Philip Roth.

    Still, while their nominations are typically meaningless, they are, as usual, fun to consider. At the very least, unlike many other awards bodies on the precursor track, they don’t slavishly try to anticipate the Academy’s choices. When they throw in a Best Picture nod for “The Stoning of Soraya M.,” or a Best Actress mention for Catalina Saavedra, Oscar is the furthest thing from their minds. I salute them for that.

    Anyway, enjoy the list and its assorted quirks and surprises — from the exclusion of Gabourey Sidibe in Best Actress to the female triple-header in Best Director to their curious classification of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” as “animated or mixed-media.” Just don’t take it too seriously.

    Best Motion Picture (Drama)
    “Bright Star”
    “An Education”
    “The Hurt Locker”
    “The Messenger”
    “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire”
    “The Stoning of Soraya M.”

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