'Precious' Rules Independent Spirit Awards

The reason The Hurt Locker didn't figure in this year's Independent Spirit Awards is because it was up for some Spirits last year. So it was mostly down to Precious, which took five big awards and was clearly the film of the night. The Spirits were also kind to Crazy Heart and A Serious Man (two awards each), and Woody Harrelson was singled out for his terrific work in The Messenger, so it's good that Christoph Waltz wasn't up for this one. I would've been happy for Christian McKay (Me and Orson Welles), as well. The Spirit Awards celebrated its 25th year with Eddie Izzard as host. That must have been a blast. Here are the winners: Best Picture
Precious Best Director
Lee Daniels - Precious Best Lead Performance by a Female
Gabby Sidibe - Precious Best Lead Performance by a Male
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart Best Supporting Performance by a Female
Mo'Nique - Precious Best Supprting Actor by a Male
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger Best First Feature
Crazy Heart Best Cinematography
Roger Deakins - A Serious Man John Cassevetes Award
Humpday Best Screenplay
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber - (500) Days of Summer Best First Screenplay
Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious Best Documentary
Anvil! Best Foreign Film
An Education Robert Altman Award
Cast and Crew of A Serious Man Truer Than Fiction Award
Bill Ross, Turner Ross - 45365 Producers Award
Karen Chien - The Exploding Girl and Santa Mesa Someone to Watch Award
BKyle Patrick Alvarez - Easier With Practice