‘Everything’ sweeps Spirit Awards
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” has continued its awards sweep at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. The multiverse-hopping adventure collected awards for best picture, directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, actors Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu, screenplay and editing.
“Thank you to everyone who makes crazy, weird independent movies,” Scheinert said.
Awards were handed out Saturday in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, California, and the show was streamed live on YouTube.
Quan took the prize for best supporting actor for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” for which his co-star Jamie Lee Curtis was also nominated. This is the first year the Spirit Awards embraced gender neutral acting awards — both lead and supporting performance categories had 10 nominees. Yeoh won best lead performance for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” and her co-star Hsu collected the prize for best breakthrough performance.
“Nanny” director Nikyatu Jusu won the Someone to Watch award. Laura Poitras’s “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” took home best documentary, while Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun” won best first feature.
“Women Talking” was previously announced as winner of the Robert Altman Award, celebrating director Sarah Polley, casting directors John Buchan and Jason Knight, and the ensemble cast. Apple TV+’s “Pachinko” got the corresponding award on the television side.
“Abbott Elementary’s” Quinta Brunson won for leading performance in a new scripted series. Other winners included “Joyland” (best international film), “The Bear” (new scripted series and supporting actor Ayo Edebiri), “The Rehearsal” (best new non-scripted or documentary series), John Patton Ford (first screenplay for “Emily the Criminal”) and “Tar” cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister.
Winners are voted on by members of the nonprofit group Film Independent. The budget cap for eligible films is $30 million.
Kotb returns to ‘Today’: Hoda Kotb returned to NBC’s “Today” show Monday after tending to her 3-year-old daughter.
“My youngest, Hope, was in the ICU for a few days and in the hospital for a little more than a week,” Hoda said at the top of the morning show. “I’m so grateful she’s home.”
It was not made clear what sent Hope to the hospital. Kotb’s absence coincided with co-host Savannah Guthrie taking a break after testing positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 28. Guthrie was also back on set Monday.
Actor Browning dies: Ricou Browning, a skilled swimmer best known for his underwater role as the Gill Man in the 1950s monster movie “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” has died at age 93, according to his family. Browning died Feb. 27 at his home in Southwest Ranches, Florida.
Browning also did the swimming scenes in two “Creature from the Black Lagoon” sequels, “Revenge of the Creature” (1955) and “The Creature Walks Among Us” (1956). Other actors played the Gill
Man on land. In addition to acting roles, Browning collaborated as a writer on the 1963 movie “Flipper” and the popular TV series of the same name.
March 7 birthdays: Actor Daniel J. Travanti is 83. Guitarist Ernie Isley is 71. Actor Bryan Cranston is 67. Actor Mary Beth Evans is 62. Comedian Wanda Sykes is 59. Actor Jonathan Del Arco is 57. Actor Rachel Weisz is 53. Actor Peter Sarsgaard is 52. Actor Jay Duplass is 50. Actor Jenna Fischer is 49. Actor Tobias Menzies is 49. Actor Laura Prepon is 43.