The Indie Spirit Awards: The Wrestler Wins Best Picture

British funny man Steve Coogan (Hamlet 2) hosted this year's Indie Spirit Awards, the casual antidote to the Academy Awards held on a tent on the Santa Monica beach the day before the big show. With three awards, Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler came away as the big winner: Best Feature, Best Cinematography, and Best Actor for Mickey Rourke.

Enjoying the tremendous resurgence in his career, Rourke (pictured backstage with Jessica Alba) kissed Aronofsky on the lips before accepting his award; he went on to pay tribute to his recently deceased Chihuahua Loki and also urged Hollywood to give another chance to his pal Eric Roberts (older brother to Julia whose career took a hit after his much too successful portrait of an unsavory pimp in Star 80).

Gus Van Sant's Milk and Woody Allen's Vicky Christina Barcelona took two awards. Milk won for Best First Screenplay for Dustin Lance Black and Best Supporting Male for James Franco; Penelope Cruz won Best Supporting Actress for Vicky Christina Barcelona. Woody Allen, who was a no-show at the ceremony, received the Best Screenplay Award. Melissa Leo, also up for an Academy Award tonight, won Best Actress for Frozen River. "I have no chance," Leo said when asked about her Oscar nomination. "Don't put your money on me."

Tom McCarthy was the surprise winner of the night, winning Best Director for The Visitor. Screenwriter-turned-director Charlie Kaufman, no newcomer to the industry, won Best First Feature for Synecdoche, New York.

The Complete List of Winners