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• Harrelson, Mo'Nique win early Spirit Awards

  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Oscar nominees Woody Harrelson and Mo'Nique took home early prizes on Friday at the Spirit Awards, the independent film world's version of the Oscars.

  Sitcom veteran Harrelson, 48, w

  as honored for his supporting turn in "The Messenger," in which he played a U.S. Army captain who must notify soldiers' next-of-kin when they are killed in service.

  Harrelson, who rose to fame playing naive bartender Woody in TV comedy "Cheers," will also vie for an Academy Award on Sunday, although pundits expect the prize will go to Austrian actor Christoph Waltz for his turn as a Nazi polyglot in "Inglourious Basterds."

  Comedienne Mo'Nique, 42, won a Spirit for her supporting turn as an abusive mother in the urban drama "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire." She is expected to cap her clean sweep during awards season with an Oscar.

  "Precious" also won the Spirit Award for best first screenplay, an honor that went to Geoffrey Fletcher. Along with the Tolstoy drama "The Last Station," it led the field with five nominations each, including best picture and director.

  Other early winners included "Crazy Heart" for best first feature.

  "He never directed a high school play before," Robert Duvall, one of the "Crazy Heart" producers, said of first-time director Scott Cooper.

  The 25th annual Spirit Awards were held at night underneath a marquee on a rooftop parking garage in downtown Los Angeles, ditching the traditional midday setting at the beach.

  Some observers had worried the famously relaxed and boozy ceremony would lose some of its edge, but organizers have been at pains to say the cocktails would flow and speeches remain unrestricted.

  British comedian Eddie Izzard hosted the awards, televised live and uncensored on cable channel IFC.

  Each year, a handful of Spirit winners usually go on to earn Oscars thanks in part to the success of low-budget films.

  But this year's top Oscar race appears to be a showdown between the mega-budget "Avatar" and the indie war drama "The Hurt Locker," which was not eligible for the Spirits this year because it was nominated last year.

  That leaves "Precious," which got six Oscar nominations, as the film likely to take the spotlight at the Spirits. It also will compete for best director (Lee Daniels) and female lead (Gabourey Sidibe).

  "The Last Station," which revolves around the domestic drama besetting dying Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, also got Spirit nominations for best director (Michael Hoffman), screenplay (Hoffman), female lead (Helen Mirren) and supporting male (Christopher Plummer). Mirren and Plummer also earned Oscar nods for their turns as the battling Tolstoys.

  The Spirit Awards honor low-budget American films based on such criteria as original, provocative subject matter and the degree of independent financing. The event is organized by Film Independent, a nonprofit group that champions arthouse movies.

  (Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Eric Walsh)

  ...(more) - 03 7 2010 6:45AM

• "Precious" sweeps indie film awards

  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – "Precious," the harrowing tale of an incest survivor's struggle for self-acceptance, swept the Spirit Awards on Friday, taking home five prizes at the independent film world's ver

  sion of the Oscars.

  The film's haul included best feature, director and first screenplay. Its actors, newcomer Gabourey Sidibe and comedienne Mo'Nique, took home the honors for female lead and supporting female, respectively.

  For Mo'Nique, who played an abusive mother, it represented yet another statuette for her groaning shelf this awards season. The only event left is the Academy Awards on Sunday.

  But the 42-year-old actress told reporters backstage that she was not preparing an Oscar acceptance speech, because "I think the universe would say, 'You have a lot of nerve.'"

  Sidibe, 26, plucked from obscurity to play an illiterate schoolgirl impregnated by her stepfather, recalled that her mother would give her $2 a day for going to school. She saved her funds and saw her first 1995 independent movie, "Welcome to the Dollhouse."

  "Perhaps that was when my independent spirit was born," said Sidibe, who described herself as "kind of a dork."

  OSCAR OUTLOOK

  The film, whose full name is "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," also won the screenplay award for Geoffrey Fletcher. Lee Daniels, accepting his award for best director, indicated it might be his last time at the podium during awards season.

  "Kathryn Bigelow's not here tonight. I am," a tearful Daniels said, referring to the "Hurt Locker" director, who is the favorite to win the Oscar.

  Backstage he said, "We've won already," when asked about his Oscar chances. The film, a testament to the struggle that filmmakers undergo every day, received six Oscar nominations.

  Daniels made the movie with $10 million in funding from a Denver couple, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, and launched an extensive casting search to find the title character. He settled on Sidibe after realizing that she was the diametrical opposite of her on-screen character.

  He unveiled the film at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009 with the modest goal of securing a straight-to-DVD deal. But it inspired a bidding war and it ended up at independent distributor Lionsgate. The studio released it last November to critical and commercial acclaim.

  Another Oscar favorite, Jeff Bridges, won the male lead award for playing a washed-up country singer in "Crazy Heart." The 60-year-old Hollywood veteran, who has never won an Oscar, told reporters that he was "not counting any chickens."

  "Crazy Heart" also won for best first feature.

  Each year, a handful of Spirit winners usually go on to earn Oscars thanks in part to the success of low-budget films.

  But this year's top Oscar race appears to be a showdown between the mega-budget sci-fi extravaganza "Avatar" and the indie war drama "The Hurt Locker," which was not eligible for the Spirits this year because it was nominated last year.

  Along with the Tolstoy drama "The Last Station," "Precious" led the field with five nominations each. "The Last Station" went home empty-handed.

  Other winners included Woody Harrelson for his supporting turn in "The Messenger." The 48-year-old actor played a U.S. Army captain who must notify soldiers' next-of-kin when they are killed in service.

  The British period drama "An Education" was named best foreign film. Documentary honors went to "Anvil! The Story of Anvil." The indefatigable heavy-metal band at the center of the action performed at the ceremony.

  The Spirit Awards, now in their 25th year, honor low-budget American films based on such criteria as original, provocative subject matter and the degree of independent financing. The event is organized by Film Independent, a nonprofit group that champions arthouse movies.

  (Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Eric Walsh)

  ...(more) - 03 7 2010 6:21AM

• Detroit teen takes "Stand" in amiable drama

  PARK CITY, Utah (Hollywood Reporter) – The phrase "it takes a village" is no overstatement when it comes to "Bilal's Stand," a community-coordinated film project set in contemporary Detroit. Based

  on his personal experience, writer-director Sultan Sharrief's feature debut (programed in the Sundance festival's new "Next" category for low-budget films) is bursting with heart.

  Its slightly rough-around-the-edges aesthetic makes it well suited to fests, and it could also appeal to educational outlets or distributors particularly focused on DVD and VOD releases.

  Black Muslim teenager Bilal (Julian Gant) works at his uncle's (Nadir Ahmad) taxi stand and picks up fares when he's not in school trying to maintain his grades. Surrounded by drugs, crime and unmotivated role models, Bilal dreams of getting out of the 'hood to study at a good university, but everyone from his mom (Angela G. King) to his guidance counselor constantly lowers his expectations. An acceptance letter from the University of Michigan opens the door of opportunity, but in order to attend, Bilal must find a way to pay for his tuition by convincing his practicality-minded mom that dreams really can come true.

  While it deals with some overly familiar themes and issues perhaps too directly at times, "Bilal's Stand" is invigorated by a savvy script and likable performances.

  Gant plays the lead with an amiable blend of determination and bewilderment. Bilal's voiceover segments, although overused, are humorous and astute overall. Supporting roles, many filled by nonprofessionals, benefit from authentic demeanor and dialogue. Amusing animated line drawings that illustrate Bilal's point of view invigorate the low-budget production values that mix 16mm and digital video.

  ...(more) - 02 3 2010 12:40AM

• Woody Harrelson puts new spin on movie superhero

  TORONTO (Reuters) – It may be hard to imagine actor Woody Harrelson, known for his work to legalize marijuana among other causes, as Hollywood's next superhero, so don't.

  Harrelson outfits himself in a skin

  tight crime-fighting suit for his new movie "Defendor," which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival this week, but for the low-budget film he is far less Superman and far more Don Quixote.

  Quixote, the literary character who battled windmills and learned of the world in romance books, is not too different from "Defendor" Arthur Poppington, who dons a homemade costume adorned in duct tape and sets out nightly to battle crime and search for his long-time nemesis, Captain Industry.

  "The world is his windmill," Harrelson told Reuters.

  "Defendor" is part drama, part comedy, and it borrows from superhero films. But writer/director Peter Stebbings insists he is not spoofing big-budget Hollywood flicks like the Batman or Spider-Man movies. He said he is using elements of fantasy to explore real issues of social justice and mental health.

  Stebbings said major studio executives could not fit "Defendor" in a specific genre, which made the script a hard sell in Hollywood, but the story's power eventually won out and he found financing in the low-budget, independent film arena.

  "They (the studios) didn't want to touch it, but all the actors and their agents wanted to," he said.

  "Defendor" attracted "Grey's Anatomy" star Sandra Oh and Kat Dennings ("Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist"), and Harrelson said the character Arthur was too compelling to pass up.

  "It was one of those longshot things where they sent the script to my agent and I was like, 'Oh man, that is a good script.' It was so well written, so original," he said.

  ORDINARY HEROES

  Arthur is a grown man who has the mental development of a child but still knows the difference between right and wrong despite the fact there is a lot of ambiguity in between the two, and Harrelson said he could identify with the character.

  "When I was a child, they put me in special education after I got out of this private school and went into public school, for which, I was a bit resentful and not really taking it well," said Harrelson, "I thought they should put me into just a normal routine with the other kids."

  Harrelson overcame that bit of adversity and went on to receive degrees in theater arts and English from Hanover College in Indiana and, of course, a major career as an actor.

  In his day job, Arthur holds traffic signs for a street crew, and does not feel part of the routine of others. But by night, he confronts life on his own terms, "'cause superheroes aren't stupid and they're not afraid," as he says in the film.

  Defendor incorporates a lot of the dark, gritty realism that is a key part of many big superhero blockbusters, but beyond that, it turns the genre on its head.

  Instead of the outside world not knowing the identity of the mysterious protagonist behind his crime-fighting mask, it is the hero himself, Arthur, who is unaware of the strength and depth of the ordinary man beneath the costume.

  It takes an unlikely friendship with a young, drug-addicted prostitute (played by Dennings) for Arthur to see that real people can do extraordinary things on their own.

  And in real-life when Harrelson is not dressing up and playing a character, the longtime vegan has tried to change the world himself, championing environmental and other causes.

  (Reporting by John McCrank; editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Mohammad Zargham)

  ...(more) - 09 13 2009 1:55PM

• Countdown - Six Transformers in Need of an Upgrade

  Those giant robots storming the silver screen in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen don't look much like the Transformers of yesteryear. Optimus Prime may still be trucking along, but the Autobot Bumblebee has ditched his

  old Volkswagon Beetle shell to take on the form of a fifth-generation Chevy Camaro. Other Autobots and their evil Decepticon foes now form a veritable fleet of the latest motorcycles, cars, trucks and U.S. military hardware. Never say obsolete to robots that can shape-shift, right?

  Well, not quite. A few Transformers seem literally stuck in the 1980s when it comes to their faded exteriors. And not to nitpick on the choice of vehicle chassis for extraterrestrial robots, but it's not just about choosing the latest car or airplane - even the snazziest hardware can have a short shelf life or just represent an outmoded concept in today's modern world.

  So here are Newsarama's modest nominations for Transformers that could use an upgrade or two. Because the times, they are a-changin'...

  6) Frenzy

  This small Decepticon reliedon stealth to survive in a world of big humans and bigger Transformers.Fortunately, the modern world offers plenty of handy household gadgetsto transform into, and so Frenzy chose ... a boombox. OK, so the boomboxsported a sleek exterior and played CDs instead of cassette tapes(bonus: CDs doubled as lethal shurikens to fire at protagonists!) Thatdoesn't change the fact that people these days are far more likely tocarry mp3 players, rather than tote around a boombox on theirshoulders. Nostalgia for the '80s aside, can a tiny Transformer spy getmore retro?

  Upgrade: iPod. Those darn things are everywhere, which makes them ideal cover for a tiny saboteur.

  5) Ratchet

  Ratchet represents anAutobot medic in the form of a "search and rescue" H2. The civilianversion of the Hummer may be great for a bit of off-road driving, butthe Transformers aren't on a camping trip - they're at war. This is waras in giant robots firing alien weapons and stomping each other'sfaces. Even the U.S. Army doesn't count on its military-grade Humveesto withstand IEDs and other explosive hazards in Iraq and Afghanistan,and has instead begun buying Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP)vehicles, Stryker combat vehicles, and modified Bradley FightingVehicles as battlefield ambulances. Surely a robot medic shouldn'tsettle for less to protect its patients.Upgrade: MRAP. At least Ratchet won't need constant armor upgrades with his Autobot technology.

  4.) Blackout/Grindor

  Blackout may haveperished in the first "Transformers" movie, but the Decepticon firstsingle-handedly demolished a U.S. military base after sneaking in as anMH-53 Pave Low helicopter. Now a near-identical replacement namedGrindor promises to continue that lethal legacy, except for onepossible hitch - the U.S. military retired the long-serving helicopternear the end of 2008. Keeping the MH-53 appearance won't do much fordeception, unless Grindor plans to infiltrate the Air Park for retiredbirds at Maxwell Air Force Base.

  Upgrade: V-22 Osprey. It's the new tiltrotor ride of choice for the U.S. military.

  3) Jetfire

  Jetfire makes an appearancein the new "Transformers" movie as aging Decepticon who defects to jointhe Autobots. The crotchety Transformer retains his outdated form as anSR-71 Blackbird, the supersonic and futuristic-looking reconnaissancejet that could fly over Mach 3. It was the darling of the U.S. AirForce during the Cold War, and was finally retired in 1998. However,Jetfire supposedly recognizes his obsolescence and simply accepts thathe's not hanging with Bumblee and the cool kids anymore - a situationwhich may provide for some unexpected pathos in an otherwise slam-bangsummer blockbuster.

  Upgrade: DSP-23 reconnaissance satellite. It flies higher and can watch for those pesky missiles.

  2) Starscream

  Ah, Starscream. Thescheming Decepticon once flew as an F-15 Eagle, and has sincereincarnated as an F-22 Raptor for the new "Transformer" movies. It'san unparalleled fighter aircraft, make no mistake. But if Hollywood hastaught anything, it's that a rich genius with his own armored suit cantake out an F-22 without even trying (looking at you, "Iron Man"). Andthen there's the real world, where a swarm of Predator and Reaperunmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) now regularly carry out surveillance andmissile strikes. The U.S. Air Force has already transformed onesquadron of F-16 pilots into UAV operators, and the U.S. Department ofDefense has stopped new orders of F-22s. Ultimately, the Raptor maysimply have the distinction of representing one of the last greatfighter aircraft flown by humans.

  Upgrade: MQ-9 Reaper. It maynot fly as pretty as the F-22, but it would set up the delicioussituation of a robot disguised as a robot.

  1) GM Bot

  Here's a scene for a future "Transformers" sequel - the Autobots combine into a robotic behemoth with GM logos on every appendage, and proceed to sustain a massive beating from a giant Decepticon rival known as Toyota Bot. Seriously, there are a lot of GM cars and trucks in the new "Transformers" movies. Concept cars such as the Chevrolet Trax and Beat enter the fray, and even the upcoming Chevrolet Volt electric car joins the Autobot cast as a new creation named Jolt. It's all a brave showing, considering that GM has only begun to emerge from bankruptcy and owes $50 billion to the U.S. government (also its new majority owner). This comes after the economic recession has capped a long downward slide where the car company found itself constantly outfoxed by competitors. But then again, maybe the Autobots want a challenge as GM's hopeful face of the future.

  Upgrade: Who knows? Here's hoping that GM can transform into something both lean and mean.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  • Original Story: Countdown - Six Transformers in Need of an Upgrade

  Newsarama.com is the go-to source for the latest comic book and genre entertainment news, reviews and commentary. Newsarama's passionate audience contributes to lively discussions ranging from classic and new comics to movies, TV, manga, anime and more. Watch previews, interviews and more on our video player, sneak peeks of new comics on our Comic Book Viewer and sign up for our RSS feeds. And be sure to join our community so you can voice your opinion on our articles and in our lively forums.

  ...(more) - 06 25 2009 3:26AM