Spirit Awards. Nominees.

At indieWIRE, Peter Knegt has already done the math and sees four films leading the pack with four nominations each: I'm Not There, Juno, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and The Savages. There nudges a nose even further ahead, though, as it's also won the inaugural Robert Altman Award, given to one film's director, casting director and ensemble cast.

Updated.

Updates: Karina Longworth's got a great round of first impressions at the SpoutBlog.

Matt Dentler counts the SXSW alums in the list.

"[D]oes this list really represent 'Independent Cinema' 2007?" asks David Poland.

"I would like to applaud the nominating committee members for spotlighting so much great work," blogs Michael Tully, following that ovation with a damn well-observed set of notes.

Jeffrey Wells makes his predictions.

"Now we're talking," smiles AJ Schnack. "Picking up where the Academy left off, the Independent Spirit Award nominations were announced today and - aside from two-timing Lake of Fire - the list of films in two separate categories steared clear of the 15 films Shortlisted last week by the Academy. In total, the eight features mark some of the most interesting and stylistic films of 2007." An in-depth look at each follows.

Posted by dwhudson at November 27, 2007 9:10 AM