In this podcast Richard, Matt L. and I discuss the Film Independent Spirit nominations from this week; who got snubbed (The Imitation Game!) and who made a big play in the race (Selma!). We break down the categories to find a 30th Spirits Awards with a bit of a throwback to its early days to truly indie picks like Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter. We talk about the hows and whys of Harvey Weinstein's failure to secure a single nomination for The Imitation Game and will it be a bellwether for the season to come. And what happened in the Best Screenplay category?
Then we dig into the two critics groups announcing next week; the New York Film Critics Circle on Monday the 1st and the National Board of Review on Tuesday the 2nd. Lots of Boyhood predictions, which is to be expected from the best rated film of the year. Also across the board predictions for Michael Keaton (Birdman) for Best Actor, Julianne Moore (Still Alice) for Best Actress, J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) for Best Supporting Actor but a split in Best Supporting Actress that finds a battle between Jessica Chastain for A Most Violent Year and Patricia Arquette in Boyhood but with a fun prediction from Matt L. You'll just have to listen to the podcast to find out who.