The Independent Spirit Awards never fail to entertain us, here are the best moments from last night’s show.

#1. Fred Armisen and Kirsten Bell wrote a song making fun of themselves for being a little studio and a little indie.

#2. Nightcrawler picked up two awards! During his acceptance speech, Dan Gilroy calls for more indie movies, less superhero remakes.

Full quote: “Independent film, the foundation and everybody here today, I think are holdouts against a tsunami of superhero movies that have swept over this industry. We have survived and we have thrived and I think that’s true spirit.”

#3. Paul Thomas Anderson slams American Airlines for losing his luggage. Note: The airline is a major sponsor of the awards show.

Full quote: “Don’t fly American Airlines, man. They will f—ing lose your luggage.”

#4. Bennett Miller tried covering it up later, insisting it was United Airlines. Good save.

#5. Jared Leto’s err.. fashionable outfit?

#6. Justin Simien pleads for more diversity in acceptance speech for Dear White People.

Full quote: “I started writing this movie some 10 years ago as an impulse because I didn’t really see my story out there in the culture. I didn’t see myself reflected back at me in the films I love or the stories that resonated for me. I tried to put myself in the culture. That can be difficult when, along the way, there’s really nothing there to tell you that you belong there. I’m very grateful. If you don’t see yourself in the culture, please put yourself there, because we need you. We need to see the world from your eyes.”

#7. Birdman wins Best Picture over Boyhood. Nobody saw that coming. Oscar race heats up.

While Birdman comes in with the most Independent Spirit Award nominations this year with a total of six, I’m predicting Richard Linklater’s Boyhood winning the most awards with four (including most of the big ones). Birdman will likely pick up at least two awards, same as Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler, and the rest of the field should be fairly spread out. You’re likely to see wins for smaller independent films like Dear White People, Blue Ruin, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, and CITIZENFOUR.

In addition to picking the winners, I explain the reasoning behind my picks underneath each category. There’s still plenty of time for some shakers and movers between now and when the winners are revealed as the award season continues on. Tune into IFC on Saturday, February 21st at 2PM PT and watch live to see if my predictions hold up.

2015 Independent Spirit Award Predictions

(My prediction for the winners are highlighted in bold red font)

Birdman
Boyhood
Love is Strange
Selma
Whiplash

Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
Ava DuVernay – Selma
Alejandro G. Iñárritu – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
David Zellner – Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

André Benjamin – Jimi: All Is By My Side
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton – Birdman
John Lithgow – Love is Strange
David Oyelowo – Selma

Marion Cotillard – The Immigrant
Rinko Kikuchi – Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Jenny Slate – Obvious Child
Tilda Swinton – Only Lovers Left Alive

Riz Ahmed – Nightcrawler
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Alfred Molina – Love is Strange
Edward Norton- Birdman
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
Carmen Ejogo – Selma
Andrea Suarez Paz – Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
Emma Stone – Birdman

Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski – Big Eyes
J.C. Chandor – A Most Violent Year
Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler
Jim Jarmusch – Only Lovers Left Alive
Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias – Love is Strange

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Dear White People
Nightcrawler
Obvious Child
She’s Lost Control

Desiree Akhavan – Appropriate Behavior
Sara Colangelo – Little Accidents
Justin Lader – The One I Love
Anja Marquardt – She’s Lost Control
Justin Simien – Dear White People

Darius Khondji – The Immigrant
Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman
Sean Porter – It Felt Like Love
Lyle Vincent – A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Bradford Young – Selma

Sandra Adair – Boyhood
Tom Cross – Whiplash
John Gilroy- Nightcrawler
Ron Patane – A Most Violent Year
Adam Wingard – The Guest

Force Majeure
Ida
Leviathan
Mommy
Norte, the End of History
Under the Skin

20,000 Days on Earth
CITIZENFOUR
Stray Dog
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

Blue Ruin – Jeremy Saulnier
It Felt Like Love – Eliza Hittman
Land Ho! – Aaron Katz & Martha Stephens
Man From Reno – Dave Boyle
Test – Chris Mason Johnson

Nighttime vultures circling around the cynical, cruel world of newsworthy accidents and tragedies are depicted with delectably compelling malice in Dan Gilroy’s directorial debut, Nightcrawler. Hitting home runs with feature debuts seems to run in the Gilroy family, with older brother Tony’s excellent Michael Clayton coming out of the woodwork in 2007. With his own debut, Dan has channeled the very best from big brother’s repertoire, and written one of the year’s standout screenplays; full of razor-sharp dialogue and nail-biting suspense. But the spoils don’t stop there, because there are two guys who help Gilroy raise Nightcrawler to deliciously deviant levels in the form of leading man Jake Gyllenhaal and Director of Photography Robert Elswitt.

Things kick off in the dead of night, where petty thief and all-around scumbag Louis Bloom (Gyllenhaal) scavenges the L.A. streets for ways to make a dime. His game is usually to steal and pawn, though he does ask for jobs and a chance to prove himself any chance he gets. One night, while jammed in traffic because of an accident on the highway, he sees freelancer Joe (Bill Paxton) taping the brutal scene, and finds out what “nightcrawlers” like him do. Armed with a police scanner, a camera or two (if there’s an assistant to film different angles), and a vehicle, these people tape crime scenes and sell the footage to whichever news station coughs up the highest pay. Louis is hooked on the spot and proceeds to get into the game himself; pawning a bike for a cheap camcorder and “hiring” bottom feeder Rick (Riz Ahmed) as his intern and GPS navigator.

Louis’ fearsome determination and resolve to be the very best nightcrawler he can be starts to pay dividends when he begins to foster a working relationship with Nina (Rene Russo), news director of a local station and as desperate for ratings as Louis is focused for success. Starting off with petty home invasions and dog attacks, and moving up to heavier crimes, Bloom realizes that he’s finally found his vocation. How far will he go to make sure his videos are the first thing people see in next morning’s breaking news? What lines will Bloom cross, dragging whoever stands in his way, in order to get the best angle? The lines dividing and connecting ethics, morals, and professional conduct don’t just get blurred; they get smeared in blood.

Jake Gyllenhaal has outdone himself here, slithering under the skin of Louis Bloom to create a compelling anti-hero for the ages. As introverted as Travis Bickle, as ambivalent as Patrick Bateman, and as greedy as Gordon Gekko, Gyllenhaal’s Bloom joins the seedy ranks of charismatic anti-heroes who inadvertently glue the viewer in; unsure whether one wants him to succeed or fail, or whether it’s hatred or admiration that draws one to this strange man. Gyllenhaal has been on a roll since 2012’s End Of Watch but Louis Bloom is, without a doubt, his greatest performance. Amusing, menacing, and wacko in more ways than one, the character is Gilroy’s spawn as much as Gyllenhaal’s. Gilroy has made his previous work (Bourne Legacy, Reel Steal and The Fall, most notably) look like child’s play compared to his Nightcrawler screenplay. A dual character study of the modern American entrepreneur and the cutthroat world of contemporary media, Nightcrawler is the apex of the year’s original screenplays; brimming with intelligence, humor, and tension.

Elevating the picture that much further is the exemplary work of master cinematographer Robert Elswitt, regular Paul Thomas Anderson collaborator. Choosing to shoot on film, the establishing shots of L.A. nights haven’t looked this attractive in ages, almost surpassing Michael Mann’s signature visuals. While the film is a little slow in its first act, and before Bloom begins to truly flower, we have Elswitt’s keen eye to nurture our senses and immerse us into the belly of this beast. The supporting cast, lead by an inspired Rene Russo unseen in this form for what feels like decades, and rounded off by the excellent Ahmed and Paxton, almost make Nightcrawler into an ensemble piece, if it wasn’t for Gyllenhaal stealing scene after scene.

Much of the film’s appeal comes from the fact that it’s so many things all at once; a showcase for Gyllenhaal’s evolutionary maturity since the early days of Donnie Darko, a reminder that Rene Russo can act circles around her peers when the material is right, and an astonishing feature debut by Dan Gilroy, who may not direct as seamlessly as he writes, but whose imperfections here are almost too minute to count. This is cryptic twilight moviemaking of the highest order, and the result is a ferocious film predestined for cult status.

Review originally published on 9/24/14

Nightcrawler trailer