The Indie Spirit Awards will be awarded on Saturday night, one day before Hollywood's biggest night. Among the major contenders are Oscar nominees "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Beasts of the Southern Wild."
According to Deadline.com, the presenters include Amy Poehler, Dennis Quaid, Dermot Mulroney, Ellen Page, Emily Mortimer, Jason Schwartzman, Laura Dern, Matthew McConaughey, Jeremy Renner, Zoe Saldana, and Brian Cranston.
Poehler made headlines earlier this year by co-hosting the Golden Globes with Tina Fey; the two women received outstanding reviews for their performance, which showcased a number of jabs at the nominees and the Hollywood Foreign Press.
SNL Vet Andy Samberg will host the show. "I got interested in doing it because I saw Seth Rogen's monologue last year and I thought it was so funny," said Samberg. "I was like, 'That's a fun show.' It would be fun to do jokes about movies that don't always get the attention necessarily because they're not as big as the ones nominated for Oscars. And I always watch them every year anyway, so it just worked out that they asked."
Regarding his plans on running the show Samberg added, ""We're going to do stuff that is indie film-appropriate but has some good energy. We're hoping to have a little more pre-tape fun, which is kind of my m.o.... Anyone who doesn't know what the movie Keep the Lights On is will by the end of the show."
Samberg also noted that "As far as I'm concerned, [the Spirits are] as good as the Oscars, if not better."
Indiewire notes that the battle for Best Picture comes down to "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Beasts of the Southern Wild." Both films were nominated for best picture at the Oscars and have tremendous buzz heading into the Indie Spirit Awards ceremony. "Silver Linings" seems the obvious choice due to its higher profile, but Peter Knegt noted the film was not expected to receive any nominations because its budget was slightly over the $20 million limit. "Beasts" has been a critics darling and came out of the Sundance Film Festival as the ultimate paragon of the successful indie. For that reason, Indiewire picks "Beasts" to take home the top prize.