Independent Spirit Awards love Michael Keaton, 'Birdman'

"BIRDMAN," a dark comedy about show business, took flight yesterday with a leading six nominations for the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Star Michael Keaton and director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu picked up nominations for the film, along with supporting actors Emma Stone and Edward Norton, and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki.

Collecting five nominations each were the coming-of-age drama "Boyhood," the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. biopic "Selma," and the noir thriller "Nightcrawler."

Don't remember "Selma"? It hasn't been released yet.

Other films recognized in the best feature category included "Whiplash" and "Love Is Strange," both of which received four nominations.

Rosario Dawson and Diego Luna announced the nominees live from the W Hotel in Hollywood. The awards recognize achievements in the somewhat nebulous category of independent film. "Birdman," for instance, was released by Fox Searchlight. "Selma" is coming from Paramount.

Nods in the male lead category went to David Oyelowo for his portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr. in "Selma"; Jake Gyllenhaal for "Nightcrawler"; John Lithgow for "Love is Strange"; and Andre Benjamin for "Jimi: All Is By My Side."

Female lead nominations included Julianne Moore for "Still Alice"; Marion Cotillard for "The Immigrant"; Tilda Swinton for "Only Lovers Left Alive"; Jenny Slate for "Obvious Child"; and Rinko Kikuchi for "Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter."

In addition to Inarritu, directing nominations went to Ava DuVernay ("Selma"), Damien Chazelle ("Whiplash"), Richard Linklater ("Boyhood") and David Zellner ("Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter").

Noticeably absent from the slate was "The Imitation Game," starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, and "Wild," starring Reese Witherspoon, both of which are expected to be Oscar contenders. No reasons were given.

"The Theory of Everything," starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, also was missing from the slate because it is not an American film.

The Spirits did honor "Foxcatcher" with its Special Distinction Award and "Inherent Vice" with the Robert Altman Award. For unspecified reasons, neither film was eligible for individual nominations.

Some of the biggest hits in India's prolific Bollywood movie industry this year have female leads in female-oriented stories.

In this summer's surprise hit, "Queen," Kangana Ranaut is the spunky heroine who embarks on her honeymoon alone after she is jilted the day before her big fat Indian wedding. In "Mary Kom," Priyanka Chopra plays a female Olympic bronze-medal-winning boxer. Previously, women were relegated to playing subservient roles reflecting the traditional dominance of men in Indian society.

But for all their box-office success, Bollywood actresses are asking: Where is the money?

Top male stars, such as the three Khans - Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir - and action star Akshay Kumar, earn around $6.7 million per film on average, apart from a share of the profits, according to industry experts.

A-list actresses, such as Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif, get paid a tenth of that. When Padukone recently signed a movie deal for $1.1 million, it generated a buzz since it was one of the highest amounts paid to a female lead.

"I don't really understand why we are paid less than the male actors, because we put in equal effort and the recent past has shown that actresses can deliver a hit film. We deserve better pay, equal to what actors get," up-and-coming star Aditi Rao Hydari told Press Trust of India.

Uh, make that former up-and-coming star.

* William Shatner is trying Kickstarter for his new book, "Catch Me Up," featuring interviews with over-50s who redefined themselves by embracing new technology and accepting new challenges at a later stage of life.

"Catch Me Up" hopes to teach seniors how to leverage their skill sets to create viable businesses and become entrepreneurs.

Unfortunately, the people who most need the book don't know what Kickstarter is or where to find it on the television.

* TheWrap.com reports that Garth Brooks postponed appearances on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon," the "Today" show and "Live! with Kelly and Michael," following the Ferguson grand-jury decision and subsequent national protests.

"We landed in NY last night [Monday] to the news of the civil unrest that was going on in our nation," Brooks posted to his Facebook page.

"To spend the day promoting our stuff like nothing was wrong, seemed distasteful to me," he wrote, encouraging his followers to "love one another."

Yeah, good luck with that.

And happy Thanksgiving.

- Daily News wire services

contributed to this report.

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