The great 1970s soul singer Joe Simon has died at age 85. He had a bunch of R&B chart hits but his breakthrough hits in pop were the classics “Drowning in a Sea of Love” and “Power of Love.”

Simon’s buttery voice powered those hit singles to the top of the charts. I had the pleasure of meeting him in the 90s after he’d become a full time preacher. He was a lovely guy and leaves a huge legacy. Here’s a link to his obit from Billboard

Rest in peace, Joe. You were just great.

Betty Lavette wrote on Facebook: “I’m so sorry to hear of the passing of rhythm & blues legend, Joe Simon. In the last several years, he had become a minister. While I don’t know him in that capacity, I do know him from the many recordings that he made. One of my best and most popular songs, was a song written by, as well as recorded by, him:Your Turn To Cry. I have not spoken to him in years, but just before I moved to NJ, I got a call from him, asking me to sing either with him, or at his church. Some gospel song-I can’t remember which one. Though I don’t do church, I was so happy and flattered to hear from him. He was one of the NICEST guys that I ever met in show business. RIP.”

The Independent Spirit Awards have reached a level of unimportance that is startling. Their nominations are useless. Most of these movies and performances no one’s ever heard about and no one cares about. I like that they nominated Clifton Collins, Jr. for “Jockey,” but he probably won’t win. Thank goodness the Spirit Awards are on March 6th, three weeks before the Oscars, and I don’t have to deal with them and their leaky tent. Ratings on the IFC channel will be down to five people and a dog in Santa Monica.

BEST FEATURE

A Chiara

C’mon C’mon

The Lost Daughter

The Novice

Zola

BEST FIRST FEATURE

7 Days

Holler

Queen Glory

Test Pattern

Wild Indian

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Isabelle Fuhrman, The Novice

Brittany S. Hall, Test Pattern

Patti Harrison, Together Together

Taylour Paige, Zola

Kali Reis, Catch the Fair One

BEST MALE LEAD

Clifton Collins Jr., Jockey

Frankie Faison, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

Michael Greyeyes, Wild Indian

Udo Kier, Swan Song

Simon Rex, Red Rocket

BEST DIRECTOR

Janicza Bravo, Zola

Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter

Lauren Hadaway, The Novice

Mike Mills, C’mon C’mon

Ninja Thyberg, Pleasure

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Ascension

Flee

In the Same Breath

Procession

Summer of Soul 

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter

Amy Forsyth, The Novice

Ruth Negga, Passing

Revika Anne Reustle, Pleasure

Suzanna Son, Red Rocket

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Colman Domingo, Zola

Meeko Gattuso, Queen of Glory

Troy Kotsur, CODA

Will Patton, Sweet Thing

Chaske Spencer, Wild Indian

BEST SCREENPLAY

C’mon C’mon, Mike Mills

The Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal

Swan Song, Todd Stephens

Together Together, Nikole Beckwith

Zola, Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr., Wild Indian 

 Matt Fifer; Story by Sheldon D. Brown, Cicada

Shatara Michelle Ford, Test Pattern 

Fran Kranz, Mass 

Michael Sarnoski; Story by Vanessa Block, Michael Sarnoski, Pig

BEST EDITING

Affonso Gonçalves, A Chiara

Ali Greer, The Nowhere Inn

Lauren Hadaway, Nathan Nugent, The Novice

Joi McMillon, Zola

Enrico Natale, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Ante Cheng, Matthew Chuang, Blue Bayou

Lol Crawley, The Humans

Tim Curtin, A Chiara

Edu Grau, Passing

Ari Wegner, Zola

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

Compartment No. 6
Finland/Russia
Director: Juho Kuosmanen

Drive My Car
Japan
Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Parallel Mothers
Spain
Director: Pedro Almodóvar

Pebbles
India
Director: P S Vinothraj

Petite Maman
France
Director: Céline Sciamma

Prayers for the Stolen
Mexico
Director: Tatiana Huezo

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

(Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)

Mass

Director: Fran Kranz
Casting Directors: Henry Russell Bergstein, Allison Estrin
Ensemble Cast: Kagen Albright, Reed Birney, Michelle N. Carter, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Breeda Wool

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

Given to the best feature made for under $500,000 (Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)

Cryptozoo
Writer/Director: Dash Shaw
Producers: Tyler Davidson, Kyle Martin, Jane Samborski, Bill Way

Jockey
Writer/Director/Producer: Clint Bentley
Writer/Producer: Greg Kwedar
Producer: Nancy Schafer

Shiva Baby
Writer/Director/Producer: Emma Seligman
Producers: Kieran Altmann, Katie Schiller, Lizzie Shapiro

Sweet Thing
Writer/Director: Alexandre Rockwell
Producers: Louis Anania, Haley Anderson, Kenan Baysal

This is Not a War Story
Writer/Director/Producer: Talia Lugacy
Producers: Noah Lang, Julian West

PRODUCERS AWARD
(The Producers Award, now in its 24th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.)
Brad Becker-Parton , Pin-Chun Liu, Lizzie Shapiro

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
(The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 27th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.)

Alex Camilleri, Luzzu

Michael Sarnoski, Pig

Gillian Wallace Horvat, I Blame Society

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

(The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 26th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.)

Angelo Madsen Minax, North By Current

Jessica Beshir, Faya Dayi

Debbie Lum, Try Harder!

TV CATEGORIES

BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES

Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

Black and Missing
Series By/Executive Producers: Soledad O’Brien, Geeta Gandbhir
Executive Producers: Jo Honig, Patrick Conway, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez

The Choe Show
Creator/Exec Producer: David Choe
Executive Producers: Matt Revelli, Christopher C. Chen, Hiro Murai, Nate Matteson

The Lady and The Dale
Executive Producers: Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Allen Bain, Andre Gaines, Nick Cammilleri, Alana Carithers, Zackary Drucker, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller

Nuclear Family
Series By: Ry Russo-Young
Executive Producers: Liz Garbus, Julie Gaither, Jon Bardin, Leah Holzer, Peter Saraf, Alex Turtletaub, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Lauren Haber, Maria Zuckerman, Christine Connor, Ryan Heller, Barbara Dobkin, Eric Dobkin, Andrea Van Beuren, Joe Landauer

Philly D.A.
Creators: Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, Nicole Salazar
Executive Producers: Dawn Porter, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Ryan Chanatry, Gena Konstantinakos, Jeff Seelbach, Patty Quillin
Co-Executive Producers: Nion McEvoy, Leslie Berriman

BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

Blindspotting
Creators/Executive Producers: Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs
Executive Producers: Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Ken Lee, Tim Palen, Emily Gerson Saines, Seith Mann

It’s a Sin
Executive Producers: Russell T Davies, Peter Hoar, Nicola Shindler

Reservation Dogs
Creators/Executive Producers: Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi
Executive Producer: Garrett Basch

The Underground Railroad
Creator/Executive Producer: Barry Jenkins
Executive Producers: Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Colson Whitehead, Richard Heus, Jacqueline Hoyt

We Are Lady Parts
Creator: Nida Manzoor
Executive Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Surian Fletcher-Jones, Mark Freeland

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Thuso Mbedu, The Underground Railroad

Anjana Vasan, We Are Lady Parts

Jana Schmieding, Rutherford Falls

Jasmine Cephus Jones, Blindspotting

Deborah Ayorinde, THEM: Covenant 

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game

Olly Alexander, It’s a Sin

Michael Greyeyes, Rutherford Falls

Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus

Ashley Thomas, THEM: Covenant

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Reservation Dogs
Ensemble Cast: Devery Jacobs, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis, Sarah Podemski, Zahn McClarnon, Lil Mike, FunnyBone

WITH THE LEAST IMPORTANT SPOILERS

I guess it’s safe to say that everything you’ve heard about “Spider Man: No Way Home” is true, and then some. For the third part of his trilogy starring Tom Holland, Jon Watts has thrown in everything but the kitchen sink. The only thing missing, really, is the original “Spider Man” music. I always remember I think in Tobey Maguire‘s second film that music being played on violin. Other than that, everything you can imagine has been stuffed into this two and a half hour blockbuster.

Is “No Way Home” long? Yes. It didn’t have to be, but it takes time to scatter Easter eggs on the lawn of a movie. And there are a lot of them. I’m not allowed to say what they are, but you can kind of guess. And even, not really. Suffice to say, when Dr. Strange, played by potential Oscar nominee from another movie Benedict Cumberbatch, unleashes the multi-verse by accident — similar to Aunt Clara making a bad potion on “Bewitched” — we are reunited with a lot of old friends.

The spoilers are, I can’t tell you what these people do or how much they do it. But it’s a lot.

You do know that a lot of villains come pouring out of the woodwork from the seven previous “Spider Man” movies. They are played with gusto by Alfred Molina, Willem Dafoe, and Jamie Foxx. There are several others and you’ll be happy to see them, although Peter Parker and Dr. Strange are not, and have to deal with them quickly.

This is the crux of the movie: send all these visitors from other universes back where they will have died already, or rehabilitate them for better lives. Peter, who still insists he’s 17 (Holland is 25) and remains naive after two movies in this series, thinks that can happen. Is it possible? As Dr. Strange notes, he’s still a kid.

Here are some takeaways from “No Way Home”: Zendaya, who plays MJ, is a star. I said that after “Malcolm and Marie,” but she’s headed for really big things. Holland is, too, if he can make the jump from “Spider Man.” He actually reminds me of the young Mickey Rooney, which is a huge compliment.What I really got out of this is that Amy Pascal, the producer of these films, is a genius. That Kevin Feige really knows how to make these Marvel films work like Swiss clocks.

All the guest stars are top notch, although I must say that seeing Alfred Molina return to the fold was a kick, he is brilliant. Ditto Willem Dafoe. The two of them came from the first trilogy with Tobey Maguire and still play off each other as if it were all fresh. Jamie Foxx is a force of nature. And he does get in a line about never expecting to see a Black Spider Man. Well, maybe one day.

The movie has a substantial bit of Dr. Strange, so it’s Cumberbatch Season what with “The Power of the Dog.” He’s been a little bit of a slow starter but at this point you can say that BC is a Movie Star. He’s also an actor’s actor. It’s time he came to New York theater. He’s really found the groove to make this super hero stuff seem like it’s damn important.

Marisa Tomei gets more to do here than in the first two Holland films, and that’s always a good thing. It’s also time for her to get back to making Oscar level movies.

There’s some snappy writing thanks to Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers’ script. I don’t know if someone punched it up with jokes, but I laughed out loud a few times. The Feige method is to make Marvel superheroes glib and fast on their feet with one liners. It works.

Do I wish this audience would go see “West Side Story”‘ and “Belfast”? Yes, please. If your theater is sold out for “Spider Man,” try one of those. Do I wihs I could tell you more? I do, because there is a fun story arc and a sad one, and if you like this stuff you will smile and tear up. But that’s all I can say until after the weekend is over.

And no, no one falls off a Peloton bike to their doom.

PS As with all Marvel movies, you must sit through the credits to the very end. There are two PS scenes and the second one is like its own movie. Don’t leave!

Prediction addendum: “Spider Man” will save movie theaters. See my next story on this movie. It’s already selling out for Thursday previews everywhere.