Welcome to the second part of my look at the duplicity that is the Hollywood we know and love (or love to hate in some cases).   Yesterday I delved into the mainstream films, such as Transformers, which get little to no recognition by the Academy.  These are movies that represent the very monetary foundation of which Hollywood is built.

Today I’m going to slide the other way and talk about the performance side of Hollywood.  Films with limited budgets, little to no marketing and have to fight tooth-and-nail in some instances for distribution as well as theater screens.  They are the darlings of Hollywood, praised for often dramatic portrayal of characters and deeply emotional stories.  Yet, even with all the attention they receive when nominated for an Oscar, only a select group of viewers end up seeing these films.

In contrast to their mainstream counterparts, performance films have always been the underdog.  It starts from the very point the script is completed all the way to getting onto the screen.  It’s the latter which ultimately proves the most critical because without theaters to show it, what good is a movie?

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Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire won Best Feature and a total of 5 awards last night at the 25th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards. Comedian Eddie Izzard served as Master of Ceremonies at the late-night show at LA Live’s event deck in downtown Los Angeles.

Here are all the winners:

BEST FEATURE
Producers Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness for Precious

BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Daniels for Precious

BEST FIRST FEATURE
Scott Cooper, Robert Duvall, Rob Carliner, Judy Cairo, T Bone Burnett for Crazy Heart

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD for Best Feature made for under $500,000
Lynn Shelton for Humpday

BEST SCREENPLAY
Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber for 500 Days of Summer

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Geoffrey Fletcher for Precious

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As it often does, this week brings a host of new movies and some great classics hitting Blu-ray for the first time. This week’s releases include the first time on Blu-ray The Time Traveller’s Wife, Couple’s Retreat, The Phantom, Bronson, Drop Zone and The Running Man.

There is also the first season of Stargate: Universe,  a couple seasons of JAG, season three of The Guild and the Blu-ray release of The Coen Bros.’  A Serious Man with Michael Stuhlbarg (pictured above).

Check out this week’s new releases:

Movies

A Serious Man ~ Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind (Blu-ray and DVD)

Bronson (Widescreen Edition) ~ Tom Hardy (Blu-ray and DVD)

Couples Retreat ~ Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau (Blu-ray and DVD)

Dangerous Man ~ Jerry Wasserman, Steven Seagal (DVD)

Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic ~ Mark Hamill, Victoria Tennant, Vanessa Branch (Blu-ray and DVD)

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This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt are joined by our resident comic book expert Sal Loria to discuss a bunch of topics. Some of these include comics (of course), the upcoming Green Lantern movie and the recently released concept art, the Deadpool movie, Smallville, the Superman franchise, Zac Ephron as Spider-Man, Batman, the comic book business, the nature of heroism and a whole lot more.

The guys also make some picks this week including Sal’s pick of Marvel’s mini-series Deadpool: Suicide Kings, Matt’s choice of the Cohen Brothers A Serious Man and Chris’ pick of David Lynch’s modern classic Mulholland Drive.

As usual, if you have any comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitterand at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

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The 82nd annual Academy Award nominations were announced this morning. This is the first year that the Best Picture category has been expanded to ten films. Here is a list of the major category nominees.

For a complete list of all nominees, visit the official site of the Oscars. The Awards take place on Sunday, March 7 at 8/5P on ABC.

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo’nique, Precious

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibie, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia

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As hard as it may be to believe sometimes, someone (or someones) actually sits down and writes a movie or TV show before you end up seeing it at your local multiplex or on your favorite TV network. The people who do the sitting and the writing are, surprisingly, called writers and, like the Directors, the Golden Globes and the Oscars, they have their own awards show.

This week, the Writers Guild of America, which is the trade group and advocate for writers, announced its nominations for outstanding achievement in feature film and television, radio, news, promotional writing, and graphic animation during the 2009 season to be honored at the upcoming 2010 Writers Guild Awards on February 20, 2010, in Los Angeles and New York.

We realize that these nominations may not be as glamorous as the Golden Globes or the Oscars, but we kinda like writers around here and think they do a pretty important job. So, with that in mind, here’s a complete list of nominees.

Check out these names, these people are pretty important. Without them you wouldn’t get to enjoy your favorite TV show, movie or pretty much any other form of entertainment. The 2010 Writers Guild Awards will be held on Saturday, February 20, 2010, simultaneously at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles and the Hudson Theatre at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York City.

FILM NOMINEES

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

(500) Days of Summer, Written by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber

Avatar, Written by James Cameron

The Hangover, Written by Jon Lucas & Scott Moore

The Hurt Locker, Written by Mark Boal

A Serious Man, Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Crazy Heart, Screenplay by Scott Cooper

Based on the novel by Thomas Cobb

Julie & Julia, Screenplay by Nora Ephron Based on the books Julie & Julia by Julie Powell and My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme

Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire, Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher Based on the novel Push by Sapphire

Star Trek, Written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman Based upon Star Trek, Created by Gene Roddenberry

Up in the Air, Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon TurnerBased upon the novel by Walter Kirn

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2009 was a great year for films in general, particularly if you’re a fan of the sci-fi genre. The year also saw the return of a beloved franchise to the big screen as well as the latest film by one of our best modern directors. And even with the current condition of the country and the economy, audiences still managed to fill theaters and the movies enjoyed record breaking successes that hopefully will continue on into the new year.

Even with all the great movies in 2009, there were also some not so great ones. Sadly, there will always be some real bombs, but that’s to be expected. Fortunately, there were also quite a few standouts that helped keep us entertained, enthralled and excited about going to the movies in 2009.

As usual with lists of this type, I need to disclaim and say this is my list of what I felt were the best films of 2009. Nobody can see everything and opinions vary. Your list may be different.

Differing opinions and the freedom to express them are one of the things that make this country great. There’s always something new and different to see and do and we all get to choose what’s best for us. What movies we watch and enjoy is no exception.

That said, here then is my list, in no particular order, of the films I feel were the best of 2009.

Inglourious Basterds — 2009 saw the return of director Quentin Tarantino and the release of this amazing film. Some might consider it overlong or self-indulgent, but it showcases Tarantino’s filmmmaking skills at their finest and serves as an example of one filmmaker’s singular vision and immense storytelling craft.

This film provides the audience with something they never got from real life: closure. To finally see the Nazis, and in particular Hitler, get the ending they deserve is a testament to the power of this film and to its creator.

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Now in its 25th year, The Independent Spirit Awards honor excellence in independent film. Films must cost less than $20 Million to be eligible for nominations. Nominees were announced on Tuesday. The Last Station (5), Precious (5), and The Messenger (4) received the most nominations.

Of note:  Anvil! The Story of Anvil and Food, Inc. are both up for best documentary. 500 Days of Summer got nods for Best Movie, Best Screenplay and Best Male Lead (Joseph Gordon-Levitt.) Precious received nominations for Best Female Lead (Gabourey Sidibe), Best Supporting Female (Mo’nique), Best Movie, and Best Director. Adventureland was nominated in the Best Screenplay category.

Ethan and Joel Coen’s A Serious Man will receive The Robert Altman Award for directing, casting and ensemble acting. Paramount’s Paranormal Activity received a nomination for Best First Feature.

The awards ceremony will take place in Santa Monica on March 5th, 2010. A complete list of nominees and other notable news may be found on the official Independent Spirit Awards website.

Meanwhile, The Gotham Awards, which is a New York based award ceremony, gave out their awards yesterday. Notably absent was Precious, which didn’t even garner a nomination.

Director Kathryn Bigelow took home Best Movie for The Hurt Locker, which also won Best Ensemble Cast. Food, Inc. won Best Documentary.  Kathryn Bigelow and Natalie Portman also received special tributes.  A complete list of the winners can be found on the IFP website.

You know how you feel when everyone is in on the joke but you?  That’s how I felt about A Serious Man, the latest film from the talented Coen brothers (most recently known for the Oscar winning No Country For Old Men). Dubbed their first “Jewish” film, this movie begins with a Yiddish parable about a dybbuk.

So you don’t know what a “dybbuk” is? Neither did I, because I’m not Jewish. The film doesn’t tell you what that word means, I had to go look it up later.  I’m not going to go so far as to say you won’t enjoy the movie if you are not Jewish, but I think you will have an inherently better understanding and appreciation for the movie. I found it frustrating that the Coen brothers seem to take at face value that you know all about Jewish traditions and mannerisms, and I felt a little left out.

I admire the fact that the prolific brothers clearly wrote this film as an homage to their Jewish roots, and I got the sense that there was definitely a biographical component to the film. Essentially, this is a modern-day retelling of the Book of Job, which is one of the books of the Hebrew bible.

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The newest film from the Coen brothers, A Serious Man, has just hit the internet with it’s first trailer, and it’s already got lots of folks excited. Set in the 1960s, A Serious Man is the story of a man’s life unraveling after his wife decides to leave him because of his deadbeat brother.

Several sources are calling this “trailer of the year” and I’d have to agree. While I don’t quite know what to make of this movie yet, the trailer is edited put together quite well, and we hope that the film will follow in style and innovation.

Written, directed, and produced by Joel and Ethan Coen, the sibling team behind Raising Arizona and No Country for Old Men, the film stars Michael Stuhlbarg (Body of Lies), Simon Helberg (Big Bang Theory), Richard Kind (Spin City), and Adam Arkin (Life).

A Serious Man hits theaters October 9th and you can check out the trailer right after the jump.

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