Independent Spirit Awards ... Could Use Some "Spirit"

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Here is a riddle for you: What looks uncomfortable, acts stilted, and isn't funny? If your answer was last night's Independent Spirit Awards you would be correct. I adore independent film, and many of those last night's films were on my list of favorites this year. So I decided to wile away a Saturday night plopped in front of the TV. Seth Rogen came on as host, and between the uncomfortable laughs and weak jokes, he looked miserable. Now follow this nervous assault with an array of equally uncomfortable-looking actors and actresses, and you have a terrible awards show. It was so unorganized and messy that some award recipients disappeared during it. The award announcers looked as if they were mostly in the dental chair getting their teeth cleaned, and the level of enthusiasm sparked only mere smiles on the winner's faces. Then for some reason, Michael Shannon was seated so that about every 10 minutes he got a close-up. Add to this, the so-called gift from Nokia that was announced to attendees that they could have a free phone ticket in their bags. Really Nokia? A free smart phone is all you could muster up? Rogen got it right when he suggested the phone be given to an assistant. Tell you what! Come to my house and I'll give you a bagful of old phones to recycle, how's that for a stunning offer?

Alexander Skarsgard at IFC Spirit Awards
I also got a chuckle out of a picture of my favorite actor Alexander Skarsgard before the show. The caption read he arrived looking "darling" and then the next personal pronoun was a "she". For the record, unless Alexander got a sex change, he's still a he! I also noticed the first photo looked very nice, but his lips looked a nice shade of lavender lipstick. I frowned? "Did he wear lipstick?" I wondered ... and then looked at the other pictures where the lip shade looked perfectly normal. Note to re-touchers: don't make a man's mouth a nice shade of lavender! Just suggesting ... And maybe the personal-pronoun error arose after the writer mistook his beautiful lavender lips for a girl's pair LOL. Now I'm being ornery.

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