Silver Linings Playbook And Matthew McConaughey Dominate Indie Spirit Award Nominations

Matthew McConaughey as Dallas in Magic Mike
(Image credit: Warner Bros)

With a ton of prizes to hand out and a splashy ceremony just before the Oscars in February, the Independent Spirit Awards are the biggest night of the year for independent film, and the best chance for many small-scale films to get into the spotlight, But the word "independent" has been fuzzy in these awards for years now, and the trend continued this year, with the Weinstein Company's $23-million Silver Linings Playbook snagging many of the top nominations, including Best Feature and Best Male and Female Lead.

It joins similarly pricey Moonrise Kingdom in the Best Feature category, along with Beasts of the Southern Wild, Bernie and Keep the Lights On, all of which were more traditional independent productions. Moonrise Kingdom and Beasts were both big winners at last night's Gotham Awards and both scored several additional nominations, including for Best Director, Best Cinematography, and respective nods for Beasts's Quvenzhane Wallis as Best Female Lead and Moonrise's Bruce Willis as Best Supporting Male.

You can see the full list of nominees below. I'm especially happy to see Matthew McConaughey scoring two different nominations, for lead actor in Killer Joe and supporting actor in Magic Mike (which, yes, was an independent production financed entirely by Steven Soderbergh and Channing Tatum before Warner Bros. picked it up and made it a huge hit). And three cheers for Bernie, Richard Linklater's criminally overlooked film that features a freer-best performance from Jack Black, who is nominated against co-star McConaughey (what a year for that guy!) as Best Male Lead.

Best Feature

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Bernie

Keep the Lights On

Moonrise Kingdom

Silver Linings Playbook

Best First Feature

Fill the Void

Gimme the Loot

Safety Not Guaranteed

Sound of My Voice

The Perks of Being A Wallflower

Best Director

Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom

Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet

David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On

Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Female Lead

Linda Cardellini, Return

Emayatsy Corinealdi, Middle of Nowhere

Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Smashed

Best Male Lead

Jack Black, Bernie

Bradley Cooper, Silver LInings Playbook

John Hawkes, The Sessions

Thure Lindhardt, Keep the Lights On

Matthew McConaughey, Killer Joe

Wendell Pierce, Four

Best Supporting Male

Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike

David Oyelowo, Middle of Nowhere

Michael Pena, End of Watch

Sam Rockwell, Seven Psychopaths

Bruce Willis, Moonrise Kingdom

Best Supporting Female

Rosemarie Dewitt, Your Sister's Sister

Ann Dowd, Compliance

Helen Hunt, The Sessions

Brit Marling, Sound of My Voice

Lorraine Toussaint, Middle of Nowhere

Best International Film

Amour

Once Upon A Time In Anatolia

Rust & Bone

Sister

War Witch

Best Documentary

How To Survive A Plague

Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present

The Central Park Five

The Invisible War

The Waiting Room

Best Cinematography

Yoni Brook, Valley of Saints

Ben Richardson, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Roman Vasyanov, End of Watch

Robert D. Yeoman, Moonrise Kingdom

Best Screenplay

David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks

Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom

Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On

Martin McDonagh, Seven Psychopaths

Best First Screenplay

Rama Burshtein, Fill the Void

Derek Connolly, Safety Not Guaranteed

Christopher D. Ford, Robot & Frank

Rashida Jones and Will McCormack, Celeste & Jesse Forever

Jonathan Lisecki, Gayby

John Cassavetes Award

Breakfast with Curtis

Middle of Nowhere

Mosquita y Mari

Starlet

The Color Wheel

Truer Than Fiction Award

Jasonyyee Tippet and Elizabeth Mimms, Only The Young

Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel, Leviathan

Peter Nicks, The Waiting Room

Someone To Watch Award

Adam Leon, Gimme the Loot

Rebecca Thomas, Electrick Children

Katey Rich

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend