This year’s Independent Spirit Award nominations were announced yesterday.  The Spirit Awards are basically the Oscars for independent films.  By independent, of course, we means films that were not directed by David Fincher, written by Aaron Sorkin, and embraced by mainstream toadsuckers who should know better.

Anyway, you can find a complete list of the nominees at the IFC web site but that site — at least on my hard-working little laptop  — had been taking forever to load.  You can also find a nearly complete list over at AwardsDaily.com but just be careful not to actually read any of Sasha Stone’s opinions while visiting the site.  Because seriously, she’ll turn you into a Roger Ebert-obsessed Stepford Wife.

Anyway, here’s the main nominees:

BEST FEATURE

• 127 HOURS
• BLACK SWAN
• GREENBERG
• THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
• WINTER’S BONE

BEST DIRECTOR

• DARREN ARONOFSKY – Black Swan
• DANNY BOYLE – 127 Hours
• LISA CHOLODENKO – The Kids Are All Right
• DEBRA GRANIK – Winter’s Bone
• JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL – Rabbit Hole

BEST SCREENPLAY

• STUART BLUMBERG & LISA CHOLODENKO – The Kids Are All Right
• DEBRA GRANIK & ANNE ROSELLINI – Winter’s Bone
• NICOLE HOLOFCENER – Please Give
• DAVID LINDSAY-ABAIRE – Rabbit Hole
• TODD SOLONDZ – Life During Wartime

BEST FIRST FEATURE
(Award given to the director and producer)

• EVERYTHING STRANGE AND NEW
• GET LOW
• NIGHT CATCHES US
• THE LAST EXORCISM
• TINY FURNITURE

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

• DIANE BELL – Obselidia
• LENA DUNHAM – Tiny Furniture
• NIK FACKLER – Lovely, Still
• BOB GLAUDINI – Jack Goes Boating
• DANA ADAM SHAPIRO & EVAN M. WIENER – Monogamy

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000;
award given to the writer, director, and producer)

• DADDY LONGLEGS
• LOVERS OF HATE
• OBSELIDIA
• THE EXPLODING GIRL

BEST FEMALE LEAD

• ANNETTE BENING – The Kids Are All Right
• GRETA GERWIG – Greenberg
• NICOLE KIDMAN – Rabbit Hole
• JENNIFER LAWRENCE – Winter’s Bone
• NATALIE PORTMAN – Black Swan
• MICHELLE WILLIAMS – Blue Valentine

BEST MALE LEAD

• RONALD BRONSTEIN – Daddy Longlegs
• AARON ECKHART – Rabbit Hole
• JAMES FRANCO – 127 Hours
• JOHN C. REILLY – Cyrus
• BEN STILLER – Greenberg

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

• ASHLEY BELL – The Last Exorcism
• DALE DICKEY – Winter’s Bone
• ALLISON JANNEY – Life During Wartime
• DAPHNE RUBIN-VEGA – Jack Goes Boating
• NAOMI WATTS – Mother and Child

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

• JOHN HAWKES – Winter’s Bone
• SAMUEL L. JACKSON – Mother and Child
• BILL MURRAY – Get Low
• JOHN ORTIZ – Jack Goes Boating
• MARK RUFFALO – The Kids Are All Right

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• ADAM KIMMEL – Never Let Me Go
• MATTHEW LIBATIQUE – Black Swan
• JODY LEE LIPES – Tiny Furniture
• MICHAEL McDONOUGH – Winter’s Bone
• HARRIS SAVIDES – Greenberg

BEST DOCUMENTARY
(Award given to the director)

• EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
• MARWENCOL
• SWEETGRASS
• RESTREPO
• THUNDER SOUL

BEST FOREIGN FILM
(Award given to the director)

• KISSES (Ireland)
• MADEMOISELLE CHAMBON (France)
• OF GODS AND MEN (Morocco)
• THE KING’S SPEECH (United Kingdom)
• UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (Thailand)

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
(Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its
ensemble cast)

• PLEASE GIVE (DIRECTOR: Nicole Holofcener)

To be honest, the only thing that really surprises me on this list is that Greenberg was 1) remembered and 2) an independent film.  Still, Greta Gerwig was wonderful in the film and it’s good to see here getting some recognition along with Dale Dickey, John Hawkes, Ashley Bell, and the cast of one of the year’s most underrated films, Please Give.

To be honest, it’s kind of nice — in these Social Network dominated times — to see that the majority of the films nominated here deal with, feature, or were made by strong women.  (Not to mention that 127 Hours is about a man who eventually has to chop off his arm because he wasn’t properly in touch with his feminine side.)

One last note — yay! for that Last Exorcism nomination though it would have been nice to see a nomination for Patrick Fabian as well.  Still, the Spirit Awards are as close as a deserving but out-of-the-mainstream film like this one can hope to get to the Oscars.