Tis The Season!

RYAN: I didn’t realize that the Independent Spirit Awards are the same weekend as the Oscars.

CAROLINE: Oh I knew that. Get on it!

RYAN: I could not imagine, if I were nominated for an Oscar, that I’d want to attend another awards show right before the big show.

CAROLINE: Well this is a totally different show. It’s a good way to distract the nominees. The Independent Spirit Awards are very casual and breezy. You can stroll in in a pair of jeans. So maybe it’s nice to have something casual to do before the Oscars, to take your mind off things.

RYAN: Ok. I guess it’s all about perspective, like most things in life. Anyway. The 2006 Independent Spirit Award nominations for Best Picture: “Capote,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Good Night and Good Luck,” “The Squid and the Whale” and a title I cannot pronounce: “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.”

CAROLINE: Oh, the Tommy Lee Jones. It’s interesting that three of them are also up for the Academy Award. It says something about the quality of Independent film and the effect it’s having on mainstream film.

RYAN: Oh. So mainstream films are not eligible for these awards?

CAROLINE: Not studio films, no. Hence the name “Independent” Spirit Awards.

RYAN: Good to know.

CAROLINE: Independent films only.

RYAN: I had always thought they were just for actors who gave very “spirited” performances.

CAROLINE: (chuckles)

RYAN: There’s an awards show for everything, I tell you. Best Actress nominees are: Reese Witherspoon.

CAROLINE: “Walk the Line” is considered an independent film?!?!

RYAN: I’m kidding. She’s not nominated. It’s Felicity Huffman, “Transamerica,” Dina Korzun, “Forty Shades of Blue,” Laura Linney, “The Squid and the Whale,” S. Epatha Merkerson, “Lackawana Blues,” and Cyndi Williams, “Room.” I loved her in “Laverne and Shirley.”

CAROLINE: This is lit’rally Shirley of “Laverne & Shirley?”

RYAN: No. Kidding again. This is a different Cyndi.

CAROLINE: Felicity’s probably a lock. What about the men?

RYAN: Best Male Lead: Jeff Daniels, “Squid and the Whale,” Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Capote,” Terrence Howard, “Hustle & Flow,” Heath Ledger, “Brokeback Mountain,” and surprise: David Strathairn. “Good Night and Good Luck.” Who are we missing?

CAROLINE: Joaquin Phoenix.

RYAN: Oh right. Well, obviously, it’s Phil Hoffman.

CAROLINE: Yes.

RYAN: He and Felicity should just get married.

CAROLINE: She’s already married to William H. Macy, another great independent film actor.

RYAN: That’s right. I love it when good actors hook up. Like Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

CAROLINE: (giggles) Now that’s funny.

RYAN: Oh! Amy Adams is up for Supporting Actress.

CAROLINE: She has got to win. Well this will be exciting… a nice Saturday afternoon event for the actors of Hollywood who just wanna take their minds off the Academy Awards for a little bit.

RYAN: Why not? But we have bigger fish to fry in the world of movies this week.

CAROLINE: We certainly do.

RYAN: Mariah Carey has signed on to make another film. Who thought that was a good idea?

CAROLINE: I’m sure she paid someone a substantial amount of money to put her in a movie. She’s got it like that. What else is she gonna do?

RYAN: Make another record.

CAROLINE: She’s still riding the coattails of the last one. She wants to expand her horizons.

RYAN: Who’s side are you on here?!?!

CAROLINE: I did not see “Glitter.”

RYAN: I did. It ain’t happenin’.

CAROLINE: You’re telling me Rachel McAdams does not have a new project but Mariah Carey’s making a movie?

RYAN: I know. What’s the deal Rachel? Make another mew-vie, will ya?

CAROLINE: Well what’s this Mariah movie about?

RYAN: It’s called “Tennessee,” a drama. Mariah will play a waitress determined to save the life of her younger brother, suffering from Leukemia. She ventures off to trace her estranged family in hopes of finding a bone marrow donor.

CAROLINE: Oh boy. That does not sound so good.

RYAN: No. She’s in trouble.

CAROLINE: We’re in trouble. Run for cover!

RYAN: And in other news, 007 Daniel Craig got his two front teeth knocked out, accidentally, whilst filmed the new James Bond movie.

CAROLINE: Oh. I did hear that. And he’s not so dashing if you ask me.

RYAN: And now he’s toothless, to boot.

CAROLINE: I also heard he can’t drive stick. And the classic Bond car is a stick.

RYAN: He’s a wreck.

CAROLINE: This film is not getting off to a great start.

RYAN: OMG. Director Alfonso Cuaron… considering to come back to direct another “Harry Potter.”

CAROLINE: He did number three.

RYAN: It would be a joyous thing.

CAROLINE: Yes. We’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, it’s a big weekend for the movies. Get ready.

RYAN: Saddle up.