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Film Independent’s Spirit Awards are meant to honor “indie” films, i.e. no blockbuster movies allowed but if you played at some festivals and didn’t cost a lot of money, you’re in consideration. The Spirit Awards are a good indicator of what smaller films could be getting a shot at Oscar nominations in various categories. Usually, their nominees are pretty solid and play like a nice alternative universe where the Oscars went to more deserving nominees (last year The Wrestler won Best Film and Best Actor).

But this year’s choices are obvious mixed with disappointingly bizarre. In a year where some strong, hard-sell films came out of Sundance with strong buzz, the Spirit Awards have instead shown love to movies like Two Lovers, Cold Souls, and (500) Days of Summer. It’s not that any of these films are resoundingly bad, but when placed alongside obvious contenders like Precious and A Single Man, it feels like Film Independent (who chooses the nominees) were struggling to fill all the nomination slots. It’s even more bizarre for what you won’t find: Colin Firth for A Single Man; any nominations for A Serious Man beyond cinematography, direction, and the Robert Altman Award; and a Best Director nomination for Marc Webb just to name a few. Hit the jump for the full list of nominees. The 2009 Independent Spirit Awards will air on March 5, 2010 at 8pm PST on IFC.’