Los Angeles, March 4, 2006 – Hollywood’s poor relations, independent films, got their moment of glory a day before the Oscars, at the Independent Spirit Awards.

As has been widely noted, this year’s Academy Award contenders are all indie films with offbeat, somewhat dark themes and the moody actors who gravitate toward such fare. So while the nominees for Saturday’s Independent Spirit Awards mirrored those for the Oscars, we couldn’t help but notice that the Indie kudos seemed to lift the cranky pants actors’ spirits.

Even Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams - good looking, talented and acclaimed actors who for unknown reasons seem to have a vendetta against the press – tried to smile and at least look like happy humans at the Independent Spirit awards ceremony in Santa Monica. (At a Brokeback Mountain premiere in December, we saw the pair snarl at a photographer who asked them to “look like you like each other”.)

Normally surly, Philip Seymour Hoffman tried his best to crack a smile after taking the best actor prize. Best actress Felicity Huffman wasn’t acting; she’s actually friendly and doesn’t take herself too seriously.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, not exactly staples on the indie movie scene, showed up, and, shockingly, they smiled! True, we still haven’t seen their teeth, but one step at a time, people.

Sienna Miller, who is usually quick to laugh, ducked in without fanfare, but was more accessible later on, at the Weinstein Company's pre-Oscar party. Lots of the folks attending the Independent Spirits migrated over to the Weinstein party, but not the Olsens. Harvey and Bob Weinstein also scored Scarlett Johansson and Judi Dench.

Weinstein party photos by Michael Williams/Startraks