In my previous post, I announced the start of “Oscar season” by offering up a recap of the films and performers honored by the New York Film Critics Circle earlier today.  However, the Oscar season was actually kicked off on Monday night with the Gotham Awards.  Much like the Independent Spirit awards, the Gothams are meant to honor the best in the year’s independent films.  Below is a recap of which films were honored at this year’s ceremony.

Best Feature

Beginners(tie)
The Tree of Life(tie)

• The Descendants
• Meek’s Cutoff
• Take Shelter

Best Ensemble Performance

Beginners

• The Descendants
• Margin Call
• Martha Marcy May Marlene
• Take Shelter

Best Breakthrough Actor/Actress

Felicity Jones – Like Crazy

• Elizabeth Olsen – Martha Marcy May Marlene
• Harmony Santana – Gun Hill Road
• Shailene Woodley – The Descendants
• Jacob Wysocki – Terri

Best Breakthrough Director

Dee Rees – Pariah

• Mike Cahill – Another Earth
• Sean Durkin – Martha Marcy May Marlene
• Vera Farmiga – Higher Ground
• Evan Glodell – Bellflower

Best Documentary

Better This World

• Bill Cunningham New York
• Hell and Back Again
• The Interrupters
• The Woodmans

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You

Scenes of a Crime

• Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same
• Green
• The Redemption of General Butt Naked
• Without

The big news here has been that Beginners and Tree of Life tied for best picture.  (Actually, I’m not surprised as both films pretty much explored the same themes of memory, aging, and love.)  It’ll be interesting to see if either one of these films manage to maintain the momentum of their victory through the rest of the Oscar season. 

As for me, I have a new mission and that is to see Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same.