The Spirit Awards turn 30 next February 21, and lots of the film we’ve shown, are showing or will show are up for shiny hardware. BIRDMAN and BOYHOOD are the worthy nominees with the most nods, but other terrific, startlingly original films you can see at Laemmle Theatres include CITIZENFOUR, MOMMY, WHIPLASH, SELMA, A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT and more. John Waters, a frequent host of the proceedings, calls it his “kind of crowd…sexually confused…and financially challenged.” Here are his birthday wishes for Spirit Awards:
Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson of Indiewire are pleased with Film Independent’s Choices, which they think are a return to the organization’s non-conformist roots. (Last year the Spirit Awards and Oscars were carbon copies of each other in most of the major categories.) Listen to their conversation.