'Winter's Bone,' 'Black Swan' Nab Independent Spirit Noms

'127 Hours,' 'Greenberg,' 'The Kids Are All Right' also up for best feature.
By James Kuo

Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter's Bone"
Photo: Anonymous Content

Movie awards season is here again. And while most of the year's big Oscar-buzz-generating films have yet to open, the indies, as usual, are a step ahead. On Tuesday (November 30), a day after "Winter's Bone" won best feature at the Gotham Awards, the film garnered seven Independent Spirit Award nominations, including a nod for best feature.

"Winter's Bone," directed by Debra Granik, is a dark drama about a girl (Jennifer Lawrence) looking for her father in a drug-riddled rural Arkansas community. Granik earned nominations for best director and best screenplay along with co-writer Anne Rosellini.

Rounding out the nominations for Spirit's best feature list was Danny Boyle's "127 Hours," Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan," Noah Baumbach's "Greenberg" and Lisa Cholodenko's "The Kids Are All Right."

James Franco got a nod for best actor for his role as a hiker trapped in a canyon who must cut off his own arm to survive in "127 Hours." His competition is John C. Reilly for "Cyrus," Ben Stiller for "Greenberg," Ronald Bronstein for "Daddy Longlegs" and Aaron Eckhart for "Rabbit Hole."

On the best actress side of Spirit nominees was Natalie Portman for her portrayal of a ballet dancer in "Black Swan," Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine," Annette Bening in "The Kids Are All Right," Greta Gerwig in "Greenberg," Nicole Kidman in "Rabbit Hole" and Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter's Bone."

The Independent Spirit Awards, given out by Film Independent, is a major event for films made outside of the major Hollywood studios with budgets of less than $20 million. The 2011 ceremony will be held on February 26 in Santa Monica and will be hosted by "Community" star Joel McHale.

Check out everything we've got on "Black Swan."

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