The Artist got two doses of good news today with the announcement of the 26th Annual Spirit Award nominations. In addition to winning the Best Picture and Best Director prizes from the New York Film Critics Circle, the film tied Take Shelter for five nominations apiece for this years Spirit Awards, honoring the best work in independent film in the past year. Noteworthy omissions include Glenn Close who was passed over in Best Female Lead while co-star Janet McTeer managed a supporting nomination. Likewise, Supporting Female nominee Shailene Woodley represents The Descendants‘ only acting nomination with star George Clooney left off the rolls. There were several Oscar contenders on the radar this year including Christopher Plummer, Elizabeth Olsen, Michelle Williams, Woodley, Jean Dujardin, Woody Harrelson, Albert Brooks and McTeer. Other notable snubs included Joseph Gordin-Levitt’s absence from Best Actor for 50/50, Owen Wilson for Midnight in Paris, the entire film We Need to Talk About Kevin and likely others I’m not thinking about at present. And although both Melancholia and Shame were listed for the Best International Film award (replacing the foreign language prize this year), they didn’t appear anywhere else, which is completely surprising (unless these awards are restricted to American productions).

In addition to the nominees and/or winners listed below, this year, we’re giving you a quick background on each individual precursor including founding year, first awards year and a glimpse at how many predictions the group has gotten right in the last five years. This data can be found below.

Nomination Tallies

(5) The Artist / Take Shelter
(4) Beginners / The Descendants / Drive / Martha Marcy May Marlene
(3) 50/50 / Margin Call
(2) Another Earth / Bellflower / Cedar Rapids / The Dynamiters / Midnight in Paris / Natural Selection / Pariah

The Nominations

Best Feature

50/50
The Artist
Beginners
The Descendants
Drive
Take Shelter

Best First Feature

Another Earth
In the Family
Margin Call
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Natural Selection

John Cassavetes Award

Bellflower
Circumstance
The Dynamiter
Hello Lonesome
Pariah

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Jeff Nichols – Take Shelter
Mike Mills – Beginners
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive

Best Female Lead

Lauren Ambrose – Think of Me
Rachael Harris – Natural Selection
Adepero Oduye – Pariah
Elizabeth Olsen – Martha Marcy May Marlene
Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn

Best Male Lead

Demian Bichir – A Better Life
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Ryan Gosling – Drive
Woody Harrelson – Rampart
Michael Shannon – Take Shelter

Best Supporting Female

Jessica Chastain – Take Shelter
Anjelica Huston – 50/50
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Harmony Santana – Gun Hill Road
Shailene Woodley – The Descendants

Best Supporting Male

Albert Brooks – Drive
John Hawkes – Martha Marcy May Marlene
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
John C. Reilly – Cedar Rapids
Corey Stoll – Midnight in Paris

Best Screenplay

The Artist
Beginners
The Descendants
Footnote
Win Win

Best First Screenplay

50/50
Another Earth
Cedar Rapids
Margin Call
Terri

Best Cinematography

The Artist
Bellflower
The Dynamiter
Midnight in Paris
The Off Hours

Best International Film

The Kid with a Bike
Melancholia
A Separation
Shame
Tyrannosaur

Best Documentary

An African Election
Bill Cunningham New York
The Interrupters
The Redemption of General Butt Naked
We Were Here

Robert Altman Award

Margin Call

Piaget Producers Award

Chad Burris – Mosquita y Mari
Sophia Lin – Take Shelter
Josh Mond – Martha Marcy May Marlene

Acura Someone to Watch Award

Simon Arthur – Silver Tongues
Mark Jackson – Without
Nicholas Ozeki – Mamitas

Truer Than Fiction Award

Heather Courtney – Where Soldiers Come From
Danfung Dennis – Hell and Back Again
Alma Har’el – Bombay Beach

Spirit Awards Data

First Awards: 1985 (27)

Precursor Accuracy

KEY:

• Nominee was nominated for the corresponding Oscar
• Nominee was not nominated for a corresponding Oscar
• Total (2010-2009-2008-2007-2006)

Picture: 7 (4-1-0-1-1) N / 18 (1-4-5-4-4) I
Director: 4 (1-1-0-2-0) N / 21 (4-4-5-3-5) I
Actor: 6 (1-2-2-0-1) N / 19 (4-3-3-5-4) I
Actress: 10 (5-2-2-1-0) N / 16 (1-3-3-4-5) I
Supporting Actor: 11 (2-2-1-1-1) N / 18 (3-3-4-4-4) I
Supporting Actress: 2 (0-1-1-0-0) N / 23 (5-4-4-5-5) I
Screenplay: 5 (2-1-0-2-0) N / 20 (3-4-5-3-5) I
Cinematography: 3 (1-0-0-1-1) N / 22 (4-5-5-4-4) I
Foreign Film: 3 (0-1-1-0-1) N / 22 (5-4-4-5-4) I
Documentary: 7 (2-2-3-0-0) N / 18 (3-3-2-5-5) I