Small films win
big at the Oscars

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December movies
James Cameron’s spectacle “Avatar” hits theaters, along with George Clooney, who is “Up in the Air,” and Robert Downey Jr. as “Sherlock Holmes.”

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If it wasn’t quite the train wreck many predicted, the show lacked excitement during its first half. But a standing ovation for Sidney Lumet, who was presented with a special award for his body of work (“Network,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Serpico”), was a high point. So was the Jean Hersholt award, which was presented to film preservationist Roger Mayer.

And the final awards were filled with emotion. Eastwood brought his 96-year-old mother to the show, while Swank refused to let an impatient orchestra hurry her through her list of people to thank: “You can’t do that because I haven’t gotten to Clint yet.” Foxx paid moving tribute to his first acting teacher, his deceased grandmother: “Now she talks to me in my dreams. And I can’t wait to go to sleep tonight because we got a lot to talk about.”

That other awards show
On Saturday, the 20^th annual Independent Spirit awards (presented on the Independent Film Channel) were handed out to some of the same films. Robin Williams, announcing that “Sideways” had won best picture (in addition to best screenplay and three acting awards), claimed that the movie’s title referred to “the way the country’s going.”

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Jodie Foster, presenting the best director award to Payne for “Sideways,” pointed out that the first Independent Spirit award for best director, presented 20 years ago, was a tie between Martin Scorsese and Joel Coen. A clever montage of past Indy prize losers included Julia Roberts and John Sayles.

Samuel L. Jackson, the emcee, used the “f word” to praise cable television for allowing him to say whatever he wanted. “Talk about progress,” he grinned, possibly thinking about the restrictions that Rock and Williams would face on Oscar night (when Williams turned up on stage with tape over his mouth). Another Indy prize winner, Jem Cohen, invoked the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the A.C.L.U. to defend his film, “Chain.”

Other Indy winners included “The Motorcycle Diaries,” “Born Into Brothels,” “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster,” “Garden State,” “Maria Full of Grace,” and “Mean Creek” — which won the annual John Cassavetes prize for the best film made for less than $500,000.

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