The indie awards are not so indie this year.

Lincoln sweeps up, with Django Unchained and Argo right behind it!

After intriguing us with his enigmatic presence in Winter’s Bone, then quietly disturbing us as the maniacal cult leader in Martha Marcy May Marlene, the increasingly versatile John Hawkes now reveals his softer side in endearing comedy drama The Sessions. That rare thing, a populist movie that also happens to be a good one, audiences will rightly flock to see The Sessions – and so should you. Just one word of warning… if Mr. Hawkes wants you to start crying in public, you will start crying in public.

Cults! Can’t live with ’em, can’t run away from ’em without being burnt alive as a human sacrifice to the pleasure gods. Over the years, cults – with all their hifalutin child eating and wicker brandishing – have inspired many a filmmaker to get their crazy deeds up on the big screen. And, as seen most recently in Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, they’re still hot stuff. So, in honour of the release of PTA’s film, but mainly because BY THE BEARD OF THE HARVEST GOD we love a good sacrificial killing, BFF presents you with the Top Ten Cults in Film. Warning: contains boobs and fire, obviously.

He’s got an Oscar nomination, a fantastic new film in cinemas and a talent for playing creatively terrifying characters. So why have you barely heard of him? This week the Cheat Sheet celebrates John Hawkes, an actor who has finally come in from the cold to the reception he deserves.

Except he isn’t called Mos Def any more.

Festival audiences all over the world have lavished praise on Sean Durkin’s debut feature Martha Marcy May Marlene, the tense and disturbing story of a girl who escapes from a charismatic cult leader but is plagued by horrific memories of her subjugation. Who knew there was an Olsen sister who was actually talented?

Wonderfully acted and beautifully shot, Winter’s Bone has been causing a sensation on the festival circuit. Yet although the film may deliver as a piece of cinema, its story leaves little impact. A bit like looking at a lovely painting of nothing in particular.