‘Vegas’ Tops Independent Spirit Nominees

“Leaving Las Vegas,” a bleak saga about a Vegas hooker and an unrepentant alcoholic that dominated the year-end critics’ balloting, scored big again Thursday, receiving six Independent Spirit Award nominations.

The 3,700-member Independent Feature Project/West, which presents the awards, continued its embrace of the downbeat with four nods each to “Georgia,” a movie about a drug-addicted singer; “Safe,” the story of an L.A. housewife inhabiting a toxic environment; and “Little Odessa,” a brooding portrait of Russians in Brooklyn.

Still, three nominations were awarded to the poetic and mythical “The Secret of Roan Inish” featuring a 10-year-old Irish girl unlocking the secrets of her family’s past, and to the offbeat vampire tale “Nadja.”

The 11th annual awards ceremony, an irreverent affair traditionally held two days before the black-tie Oscars, is often referred to as the “alternative Oscars.” It is set for March 23 in a tent on the beach at Santa Monica.

Competing against “Leaving Las Vegas” in the best feature category are “The Addiction,” “Living in Oblivion,” “Safe” and “The Secret of Roan Inish.”

Abel Ferrara (The Addiction”) and Tom DiCillo (“Living in Oblivion”) didn’t make the cut for the best director, however. That category included Ulu Grosbard (“Georgia”) and Michael Almereyda (“Nadja”) as well as Mike Figgis (“Leaving Las Vegas”), Todd Haynes (“Safe”) and John Sayles (“Roan Inish.”)

Among the distributors, Miramax Films led the way with 10 nominations, followed by Sony Pictures Classics and Gramercy Pictures with eight each.

In contrast to 1995, when more mainstream movies such as “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare” and Woody Allen’s “Bullets Over Broadway” were best feature nominees, this year’s field is made up of lower-budget, more independent fare. And, unlike last year’s winner “Pulp Fiction,” which grossed more than $100 million, the most commercial of the current pack is “Inish,” which took in $6 million at the box office.

“The Spirit Awards are doing their job--putting the spotlight on films that haven’t been seen by large audiences,” said Dawn Hudson, executive director of the IFP/West. “These are not films made by committee. Many were turned down by major distribution companies before they were finally released.”

The criteria for eligibility were revised last year in the wake of a 1994 controversy over “A Dangerous Woman,” which was prevented from competing because it was partially financed by a major studio, Universal Pictures. A film is no longer judged solely on how it got financed, but also on “original, provocative, subject matter, uniqueness of vision, economy of means and percentage of independent financing,” Hudson said.

The new rules may have hurt the chances of higher-budget independent films such as New Line Cinema’s “Seven,” produced for $22 million.

Other critical favorites overlooked in most major categories include “Smoke” (best first screenplay, best supporting actor), “The Usual Suspects” (supporting actor, cinematography) and “Dead Man Walking” (actor, supporting actress).

Other nominees include:

* Best first feature: “The Brothers McMullen”; “Kids”; “Little Odessa”; “Picture Bride”; “River of Grass.”

* Best actress: Jennifer Jason Leigh (“Georgia”); Elina Lowensohn (“Nadja”); Julianne Moore (“Safe”); Elisabeth Shue (“Leaving Las Vegas”); Lili Taylor (“The Addiction”).

* Best actor: Nicolas Cage (“Leaving Las Vegas”); Sean Penn (“Dead Man Walking”); Tim Roth (“Little Odessa”); Jimmy Smits (“My Family”); Kevin Spacey (“Swimming With Sharks”).

* Best supporting actress: Jennifer Lopez (“My Family”); Vanessa Redgrave (“Little Odessa”); Chloe Sevigny (“Kids”); Celia Weston (“Dead Man Walking”); Mare Winningham (“Georgia”).

* Best supporting actor: Benicio Del Toro (“The Usual Suspects”); James Le Gros (“Living in Oblivion”); David Morse (“The Crossing Guard”); Max Perlich (“Georgia”); Harold Perrineau (“Smoke”).

* Best debut performance: Jason Andrews (“Rhythm Thief”); Lisa Bowman (“River of Grass”); Gabriel Casseus (“New Jersey Drive”); Rose McGowan (“The Doom Generation”); Justin Pierce (“Kids”).

* Best screenplay: “Leaving Las Vegas” (Mike Figgis); “Living in Oblivion” (Tom DiCillo); “Safe” (Todd Haynes); “The Secret of Roan Inish” (John Sayles); “The Usual Suspects” (Christopher McQuarrie).

* Best first screenplay: “Kids” (Harmony Korine); “Little Odessa” (James Gray); “Postcards From America” (Steve McLean); “River of Grass” (Kelly Reichardt); “Smoke” (Paul Auster).

* Best cinematography: Elliot Davis (“The Underneath”); Jim DeNault (“Nadja”); Declan Quinn (“Leaving Las Vegas”); Tom Richmond (“Little Odessa”); Newton Thomas Sigel (“The Usual Suspects”).

* Best foreign film: “Before the Rain”; “The City of Lost Children”; “Exotica”; “I Am Cuba”; “Through the Olive Trees.”