On what's turning out to be a huge day for film awards-- check out last night's Gotham Award winners and the forthcoming prizes from the New York Film Critics Circle to see what I mean-- the Independent Spirit Awards have announced the nominees for their annual prizes, which will be handed out on February 25, the day before the Oscars. True to form, the Indie Spirits recognized a number of films that won't show up at all for Oscar consideration, like Another Earth and Terri, but also a few heavy hitters, including multiple nominations for The Descendants and The Artist, both of which got nominations for Best Feature and Best Director in addition to a few others.

As always, there are surprise inclusions to cheer, and then even weirder shut-outs. It's fantastic to see such a strong showing for Take Shelter, which snagged four nominations, and something even smaller and weirder like Bellflower, which was recognized for the Cassavetes Award as well as for its cinematography. And even though 50/50 was one of the biggest projects in this lineup, produced by Summit Entertainment, it got virtually ignored when it was released and really deserves the recognition its getting here. But as for the shut-outs... how did The Descendants get so much attention but no nod for George Clooney's lead performance?

Ponder all that and other mysteries as you check out the full list of nominees below.

Best Feature
50/50
Beginners
Drive
Take Shelter
The Artist
The Descendants

Best Director
Mike Mills, Beginners
Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive
Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants

Best First Feature
Another Earth
In The Family
Margin Call
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Natural Selection

Best Male Lead
Demian Bichir, A Better Life
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Ryan Gosling, Drive
Woody Harrelson, Rampart
Michael Shannon, Take Shelter

Best Female Lead
Lauren Ambrose, Think of Me
Rachel Harris, Natural Selection
Adepero Oduye, Pariah
Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Best Supporting Male
Albert Brooks, Drive
John Hawkes, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
John C. Reilly, Cedar Rapids
Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris

Best Supporting Female
Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter
Anjelica Huston, 50/50
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Harmony Santana, Gun Hill Road
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

John Cassavetes Award for films made under $500,000
Bellflower
Circumstance
Hello Lonesome
Pariah
The Dynamiter

Best Documentary
An African Selection
Bill Cunningham New York
The Interrupters
The Redemption of General Butt Naked
We Were Here

Best Cinematography
Joel Hodge, Bellflower
Benjamin Kasulke, The Off Hours
Darius Khondji, Midnight in Paris
Guillaume Shiffman, The Artist
Jeffrey Waldron, The Dynamiter

Best First Screenplay
Mike Cahill & Brit Marling, Another Earth
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Patrick DeWitt, Terri
Phil Johnston, Cedar Rapids
Will Reiser, 50/50

Best Screenplay
Joseph Cedar, Footnote
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Tom McCarthy, Win Win
Mike Mills, Beginners
Alexander Payne, The Descendants

Best Foreign Film
A Separation
Melancholia
Shame
The Kid With a Bike
Tyrannosaur

Robert Altman Award for ensemble
Margin Call