娱乐英语新闻:Rourke, "The Wrestler" win honors at Spirit Awards

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Mickey Rourke and "The Wrestler" were among the top winners at Saturday's Independent Spirit Awards ceremony in Santa Monica, a Pacific coastal town near Los Angeles, as the off-Hollywood movie industry honored so-called indie or low-budget films at the annual event on the eve of the Academy Awards show.

    "The Wrestler" won for best picture and Rourke, who played the title role in the film that tells the story of a retired professional wrestler looking for one last shot at glory, won for best actor. The film's cinematographer Maryse Alberti also won for best cinematography.

    Some of the winners at the ceremony are also up for Sunday's Academy Awards, including Rourke, Melissa Leo, who won best actress for "Frozen River," and Penelope Cruz, who won best supporting actress for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."

    "Barcelona" writer and director Woody Allen took home the award for best screenplay for the romantic comedy about two American women and their affairs in Spain.

    The best director award went to Tom McCarthy for the drama about immigrants, "The Visitor," while James Franco won the award for his turn as a lover of gay-rights activist Harvey Milk in "Milk." "Milk" writer Dustin Lance Black won for best first screenplay.

    The Spirit Awards were presented during a ceremony held in a large tent on the beach in Santa Monica, about 20 km west of Hollywood.

    To be eligible for a Spirit Award, films must be at least 70 minutes long, and the total cost of the film must be less than 20 million dollars. They also must have been shown in a commercial theater for at least one week during 2008 or have been shown at one of the qualifying festivals -- Los Angeles Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, New York, Sundance, Telluride or Toronto.