The 2008 Spirit Award Nominations have been announced, and what is most interesting is the amount of nominated films that have either not been seen in a theatrical release yet, or are currently in a limited run. For example, the films in the Best Film category include “The Diving Bell and Butterfly,” “I’m Not There,” “Juno” and “A Mighty Heart.” Out of that grouping, only “I’m Not There” and “A Mighty Heart” have appeared in theaters, and no one went to see the latter. “The Diving Bell and Butterfly” starts its limited theatrical engagement this week, as does other nominee “The Savages” (joining nominee “Starting Out in the Evening” in its current limited run).
The point? Nothing could be more beneficial towards a bunch of unheard-of-outside-of-the-festival-circuit feature films then an awards nod to get mainstream audiences to sit up and pay attention. Now, instead of seeing “Fred Bee Movie Claus This Christmas with the Hitman Beowulf” again, maybe folks will wander over to the smaller theaters to catch some more independent fare.
Check out the rest of the nominees at Yahoo!>>>
