THE 2012 SPIRIT AWARDS NOMINATIONS

Well, it looks like award season has been officially kicked off with the announcement of this year's nominees for the 28th annual Independent Spirit Awards.  A few of my favorites; "Beasts of the Southern Wild", "Keep The Lights On" and "Silver Linings Playbook", have earned multiple nominations with "Linings" and "Moonrise Kingdom" each having the most with five a piece.

The awards are presented by the Film Independent with The Spirit Awards being traditionally handed out at an afternoon ceremony along the beach in Santa Monica, CA., on February 23, 2013, the day before the Academy Awards.

Here are the nominees:

BEST FEATURE
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"
"Bernie"
"Keep the Lights On"
"Moonrise Kingdom"
"Silver Linings Playbook"

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 SCREENPLAY
Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, "Moonrise Kingdom"
Zoe Kazan, "Ruby Sparks"
Martin McDonagh, "Seven Psychopaths"
David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Ira Sachs, "Keep the Lights On"

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Linda Cardellini, "Return"
Emayatzy Corinealdi, "Middle of Nowhere"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Quvenzhané 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 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 SUPPORTING MALE 
Matthew McConaughey, "Magic Mike"
David Oyelowo, "Middle of Nowhere"
Michael Péna, "End of Watch"
Sam Rockwell, "Seven Psychopaths"
Bruce Willis, "Moonrise Kingdom"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 
Yoni Brook, "Valley of Saints"
Lol Crawley, "Here"
Ben Richardson, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Roman Vasyanov, "End of Watch"
Robert Yeoman, "Moonrise Kingdom"

BEST DOCUMENTARY 
"How to Survive a Plague"
"Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present"
"The Central Park Five"
"The Invisible War"
"The Waiting Room" 

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM 
"Amour," Michael Haneke
"Once Upon a Time in Anatolia," Nuri Bilge Ceylan
"Rust and Bone," Jacques Audiard
 "Sister," Ursula Meier
"War Witch," Kim Nguyen

BEST FIRST FEATURE 
"Fill the Void"
"Gimme the Loot"
"Safety Not Guaranteed"
"Sound of My Voice"
"The Perks of Being a Wallflower"

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY 
Rama Burshtein, "Fill the Void"
Derek Connolly, "Safety Not Guaranteed"
Christopher Ford, "Robot & Frank"
Rashida Jones and Will McCormack, "Celeste and Jesse Forever"
Jonathan Lisecki, "Gayby"

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)
"Breakfast With Curtis"
"Middle of Nowhere"
"Mosquita y Mari"
"Starlet"
"The Color Wheel"