Foster Kamer
February 23, 2009
Every year, on the eve of the Oscars, the Independent Spirit Awards go down in Santa Monica in a tent near the beach. The Spirit Awards do a great job of pretty much awarding all the films Academy members don't feel okay about voting for, either because they're not mainstream enough/didn't make enough money, or because they're going to give said films the "indie consolation prize," aka, the Best Original Screenplay award. Either way, they have far more fun at their ceremony than the Academy ever will at the Oscars. The ongoing tradition of the Spirit Awards that really makes it worth watching though (besides the inevitably profanity-laced acceptance speeches) are the musical numbers: all of the films nominated for Best Independent Feature get sing-along numbers performed by special presenters at the live ceremony. And this year's best of the crop was, naturally, Rainn Wilson's take on The Wrestler.

