Roadside AttractionsWhere will the final resting place be for Winter's Bone? The Academy Awards, perhaps.
The critically adored drama about a hardheaded teen searching for her missing father topped more buzzed-about fare like Natalie Portman's delusional-ballerina thriller Black Swan to be named Best Feature at the 20th Annual Gotham Awards, a celebration of independent film that unofficially heralds the beginning of Award Season.
Last year, in particular, the Gothams kicked things off with a bang, awarding The Hurt Locker, the eventual Best Picture Oscar winner, the night's top prize.
But more often than not, and despite its estimable guest list, the Gothams' half a dozen or so trophies tend to go to the actors and directors who might spend most of the year otherwise overlooked.
Along with Black Swan, Winter's Bone also bested the blush-worthy Blue Valentine, The Kids Are All Right and the retooled-for-America vampire scarefest Let Me In.
The cast of Winter's Bone, headed up by Jennifer Lawrence as an impoverished teen in the Ozarks who sets off to find her meth-cooker dad after she learns he's put up the family's home as a bail bond, was also honored for Best Ensemble Performance.
Lawrence lost out for Breakthrough Actor (no mainstream actor/actress distinction at this serious-thespian ceremony), however, to Daddy Longlegs' Ronald Bronstein.
Meanwhile, Portman and her fellow lucky losers seemed to be having a great time regardless.
Paying tribute to Black Swan director, Darren Aronofsky (one of a whopping four tributes tonight), Portman hilariously called his breakthrough film Requiem for a Dream "a disturbing film about sleep disorders." (It's not.)
Attention was also paid to Hilary Swank, known for rising to the occasion when the character calls for it; Brokeback Mountain producer James Schamus, whom Anne Hathaway thanked for casting her in a non-princess role; and Robert Duvall.
"I know he's a big deal because he's Boo Radley," said Get Low costar Bill Murray, referring to Duvall's character in To Kill a Mockingbird. "I watched it the other night on TCM."
Leighton Meester, her bum fully covered this time, and Anthony Mackie presented the viewers' choice Festival Genius Award to probable Oscar nominee Davis Guggenheim for his alarm-sounding education documentary Waiting for Superman.
Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci, the revered-indie-star version of Hathaway and James Franco, hosted Monday's ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan.
Here's the complete list of winners from the 2010 Gotham Awards:
Best Feature: Winter's Bone
Ensemble Performance: Winter's Bone
Breakthrough Actor: Ronald Bronstein, Daddy Longlegs
Breatkthrough Director: Kevin Asch, Holy Rollers
Documentary: The Oath
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You: Littlerock
Festival Genius Award: Waiting for Superman