As the big hand of the awards doomsday clock scrapes ever closer to midnight – i.e. the start of this evening’s Oscars – the Spirit Awards held its usual more informal celebration in a big tent in Santa Monica on Saturday afternoon. There were few surprises as Boyhood and Birdman scored top prizes, although we’re happy to note that Nightcrawler also got some love.
The awards big shots once more traded positions for some of the big awards, with Birdman nabbing Best Feature and Best Actor for Michael Keaton while Richard Linklater took Best Director for Boyhood and Patricia Arquette won Best Supporting Actress. Julianne Moore continued her seemingly inexorable march towards the podium with another Best Female Lead gong for Still Alice and Best Supporting Male went home with Whiplash's J.K. Simmons, another person likely to be taking the stage at the Academy Awards.
Paul Thomas Anderson won the Robert Altman Award for Inherent Vice and Nightcrawler scored two: Best Screenplay and Best First Feature for Dan Gilroy. We can see Louis Bloom’s creepy smile from here...
The full list of winners, then:
**BEST FEATURE
Birdman**
Boyhood
Love Is Strange
Selma
Whiplash
**BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Linklater, Boyhood**
Alejandro G. Inarritu, Birdman
Ava DuVernay, Selma
David Zellner, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
**BEST SCREENPLAY
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler**
J.C. Chandor, A Most Violent Year
Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszweski, Big Eyes
Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias, Love Is Strange
Jim Jarmusch, Only Lovers Left Alive
**BEST FEMALE LEAD
Julianne Moore, Still Alice**
Rinko Kikuchi, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Tilda Swinton, Only Lovers Left Alive
Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant
**BEST MALE LEAD
Michael Keaton, Birdman**
Andre Benjamin, Jimi: All Is By My Side
John Lithgow, Love Is Strange
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
David Oyelowo, Selma
**BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood**
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Emma Stone, Birdman
Carmen Ejogo, Selma
Andrea Suarez Paz, Stand Clear Of The Closing Doors
**BEST FIRST FEATURE
Nightcrawler**
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Dear White People
Obvious Child
She’s Lost Control
**BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Justin Simien, Dear White People**
Desiree Akhavan, Appropriate Behavior
Sara Colangelo, Little Accidents
Anja Marquardt, She’s Lost Control
Justin Lader, The One I Love
**BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman**
Lyle Vincent, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Sean Porter,* It Felt Like Love*
Bradford Young, Selma
Darius Khondji,* The Immigrant*
**BEST EDITING
Tom Cross, Whiplash**
Ron Patane, A Most Violent Year
Sandra Adair, Boyhood
John Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Adam Wingard, The Guest
**JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
Land Ho!**
Blue Ruin
It Felt Like Love
Man From Reno
Test
**BEST DOCUMENTARY
Citizenfour**
20,000 Days On Earth
Stray Dog
Virunga
The Salt Of The Earth
**BEST INERNATIONAL FILM
Ida**
Force Majeure
Leviathan
Mommy
Norte, The End Of History
Under The Skin
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Inherent Vice
**SPECIAL DISTINCTION
Foxcatcher **