Posts Tagged ‘Awards’
Earlier today, Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore sent an e-mail out to his mailing list (a list I belong to) listing his top 20 films of 2009. In the e-mail, Moore hails the best movie he saw in 2009, a film which wasn’t nominated, and wasn’t even shown in the United States — a film titled Troubled Water. Moore writes:
“I’m confident that, if you had had a chance to see it, you would likely agree with me that this is a brilliant film, a rare gem. …. When the film was over, I sat there amazed and wondering, “Why can’t I see movies like this all the time?” What is wrong with filmmaking, with Hollywood? Why are most films just the same old tired assembly line stuff — sequels, remakes, old TV shows turned into movies, predictable plots and storylines… “If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen the movie.” But “Troubled Water” was not like that — and therefore its distribution to the theaters of America was, in essence, doomed.”
Moore went on to criticize those who praise the Best Picture/Director winner The Hurt Locker for being unbiased or taking no political sides:
…like that’s an admirable thing! I wonder if there were critics during the Civil War that hailed plays or books for being “balanced” about slavery, or if there were those who praised films during World War II for “not taking sides?” I keep reading that the reason Iraq War films haven’t done well at the box office is because they’ve been partisan (meaning anti-war). The truth is “The Hurt Locker” is very political. It says the war is stupid and senseless and insane. It makes us consider why we have an army where people actually volunteer to do this. That’s why the right wing has attacked the movie. They’re not stupid — they know what Kathryn Bigelow is up to. No one leaves this movie thinking, “Whoopee! Let’s keep these wars going another 7 years!”
You can read Moore’s full e-mail, which includes a defense of James Cameron’s Avatar and his personal list of the top 20 films of 2009, after the jump.
Let’s Watch the Oscars Together — Right Now! …from Michael Moore
Sunday, March 7th, 2010
Friends,
The best movie I saw this year won’t be winning any awards tonight at the Oscars. It wasn’t even nominated for anything. In fact, it wasn’t even shown in the United States. Yet, I’m confident that, if you had had a chance to see it, you would likely agree with me that this is a brilliant film, a rare gem.
It’s called “Troubled Water” (not to be confused with last year’s superb Katrina doc, “Trouble the Water”). “Troubled Water” is from Norway and it is a work of art and great storytelling from the opening frame to its final fade to black. It tells the story of a young man who is paroled after spending time in prison and gets a job as a church organist. He claims to be innocent in the drowning of a child, but the boy’s mother won’t let it go.
When the film was over, I sat there amazed and wondering, “Why can’t I see movies like this all the time?” What is wrong with filmmaking, with Hollywood? Why are most films just the same old tired assembly line stuff — sequels, remakes, old TV shows turned into movies, predictable plots and storylines… “If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen the movie.”
But “Troubled Water” was not like that — and therefore its distribution to the theaters of America was, in essence, doomed.
That’s not to say we don’t make great movies anymore. I loved “Avatar,” “District 9,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Up in the Air,” and “Up” among many others.
Some critics have hailed “The Hurt Locker” because the film “doesn’t take sides” in the Iraq War — like that’s an admirable thing! I wonder if there were critics during the Civil War that hailed plays or books for being “balanced” about slavery, or if there were those who praised films during World War II for “not taking sides?” I keep reading that the reason Iraq War films haven’t done well at the box office is because they’ve been partisan (meaning anti-war).
The truth is “The Hurt Locker” is very political. It says the war is stupid and senseless and insane. It makes us consider why we have an army where people actually volunteer to do this. That’s why the right wing has attacked the movie. They’re not stupid — they know what Kathryn Bigelow is up to. No one leaves this movie thinking, “Whoopee! Let’s keep these wars going another 7 years!”
James Cameron has been targeted by the crazy right, too. Because — and Fox and Rush have this one correct, too — “Avatar” is, in fact, an allegory for America — a land stolen from an indigenous people who were slaughtered, a nation that not only allows corporations to call the shots but let’s them privatize our wars (wars in distant places with the objective of controlling a dwindling energy resource), and a people who seem hell-bent on destroying the environment.
Cameron is a brave and bold filmmaker, a college drop-out who became a truck driver and then one day just decided he was going to make movies. “Avatar” is an idea he’s had in his head since he was a teenager — and somewhere, somehow, his dreams and creativity weren’t snuffed out by the machine. Thank God.
There is so much more I want to say about the state of movies these days, but you’ve got better things to do on this beautiful Sunday. I love this art form, and tonight is the night to celebrate it!
In fact, the Oscars are about to start. I’ll try to “tweet” along with you during the show.
Finally, let me leave you with a list of 20 great movies I saw in 2009 that received little or no recognition or distribution in the U.S. They deserve to be acknowledged on this important night, and I hope you can find them somewhere, someday (a number are already on DVD). They represent the hope I have for the movies being the inspiring force I’ve always believed in.
Be well. And — no extra salt or butter on the popcorn!
Yours,
Michael Moore
MichaelMoore.com
Twitter.com/MMFlint
P.S. Here’s my list of 20 “best pictures” I saw in 2009:
1. “Troubled Water” (see above)
2. “Everlasting Moments” - A wife in the early 20th century wins a camera and it changes her life (from Sweden).
3. “Captain Abu Raed” - This first feature from Jordan tells the story of an airport janitor who the neighborhood kids believe is a pilot.
4. “Che” - A brilliant, unexpected mega-film about Che Guevara by Steven Soderbergh.
5. “Dead Snow” - The scariest film I’ve seen in a while about zombie Nazis abandoned after World War II in desolate Norway.
6. “The Great Buck Howard” - A tender look at the life of an illusionist, based on the life of The Amazing Kreskin starring John Malkovich.
7. “In the Loop” - A rare hilarious satire, this one about the collusion between the Brits and the Americans and their illegal war pursuits.
8. “My One and Only” - Who woulda thought that a biopic based on one year in the life of George Hamilton when he was a teenager would turn out to be one of the year’s most engaging films.
9. “Whatever Works” - This was a VERY good Woody Allen film starring the great Larry David and it was completely overlooked.
10. “Big Fan” - A funny, dark film about an obsessive fan of the New York Giants with a great performance by the comedian Patton Oswalt.
11. “Eden Is West” - The legendary Costa-Gavras’ latest gem, ignored like his last brilliant film 4 years ago, “The Axe”.
12. “Entre Nos” - An mother and child are left to fend for themselves in New York City in this powerful drama.
13. “The Girlfriend Experience” - Steven Soderbergh’s second genius film of the year, this one set in the the post-Wall Street Crash era, a call girl services the men who brought the country down.
14. “Humpday” - Two straight guys dare each other to enter a gay porn contest — but will they go through with it?
15. “Lemon Tree” - A Palestinian woman has her lemon trees cut down by the Israeli army, but she decides that’s the final straw.
16. “Mary and Max” - An Australian girl and and elderly Jewish man in New York become pen pals in this very moving animated film.
17. “O’Horten” - Another Norwegian winner, this one about the final trip made by a retiring train conductor.
18. “Salt of This Sea” - A Palestinian-American returns to her family’s home in the West Bank, only to find herself caught up in the struggles between the two cultures.
19. “Sugar” - A Dominican baseball player gets his one chance to come to America and make it in the big leagues.
20. “Fantastic Mr. Fox” - A smart, adult animated film from Wes Anderson that at least got two nominations from the Academy.
The 82nd Academy Awards have begun. We’ll begin to update our live blog of the award ceremony after the jump. Leave your thoughts, commentary, and predictions in the comments below!
The award show has begun…
Samsung is all over the commercial breaks, pushing their new 3D televisions. All because of Avatar.
The show opened with an on stage introduction of all the Actors and Actors nominated for Best Leading Role. That’s different.
Neil Patrick Harris has the stage for his musical opening number. The stage is full of white and black, and silver shades og gray. At moments it almost looks like an old black and white movie.
Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin were lowered from the rafters.
Baldwin notes that “Then no matter what, they nominate Meryl Streep” Martin calls it the most losses in Oscar history.
First time the word “Spoiler” was used on the Oscar stage?
They put on red/blue 3D glasses while trying to find James Cameron in the audience.
“Who doesn”t love Sandra Bullock?” “Oh, tonight we may find out..”
Winners:
Best Supporting Actor:
- Matt Damon - Invictus
- Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
- Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
- Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
- Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
Penelope Cruz is presenting. I already had Waltz’s name red/bolded before they even began showing clips. Waltz was able to turn his thank you speech into a story. Bravo!
Ryan Reynolds introduces a video clip montage from one of the ten Best Picture nominees: The Blind Side. One of the downsides of having ten nominees for Best Picture is we’re going to have to sit through ten of these things.
Cameon Diaz and Steve Carell introduced a clip package showing the fictional characters of the Best Animated Feature nominees talking about what being nominated means to them. This is actually pretty cool. I love the Up segment: Carl couldn’t hear the interviewer, and Dug the dog ended up licking the camera.
Best Animated Feature Film:
- Coraline
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- The Princess and the Frog
- The Secret of the Kells
- Up
Pete Doctor and Pixar won for Up. This is probably the first year I wasn’t die hard set on Pixar taking home this award. So many solid entries in a variety of different animation formats. Doctor is wearing the bottlecap pin from Up (photo below thanks to firstshowing):
Amanda Seyfried and Miley Cyrus introduce the nominees for Best Song. I’m so glad we dont have to sit through live performances this year.
Best Original Song:
- “Almost There” from The Princess and the Frog
- “Down in New Orleans” from The Princess and the Frog
- “Loin de Paname” from Paris 36
- “Take It All” from Nine
- “The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart
Chris Pine introduced a montage for District 9.
No surprises so far.
Best Original Screenplay:
- Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker
- Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
- Oren Moverman and - The Messenger
- Joel and Ethan Coen - A Serious Man
- Pete Docter and Bob Peterson - Up
Robert Downey Jr. and Tina Fey present the Award. The first of many award wins for The Hurt Locker tonight, I’m sure…
Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick presented a special tribute to the late writer/director John Hughes, complete with video package. A very respectable tribute video. Now on stage is an ensemble group of actors who have appeared in Hughes’ films over the years. John’s family was shown in the audience.
Samuel L Jackson presents a video package for another Bes Picture nominee Up.
This year they have created a video package with directors explaining why moviegoers should care about the short film nominees/winners. I think this is a very smart move. It’s definitely a better tactic than previous years where they try to push the less interesting awards off the screen as fast possible.
Best Animated Short:
- French Roast
- Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
- The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
- Logorama
- A Matter of Loaf and Death
I’m glad to see Logorama win. I screened the film at Sundance and thought despite not looking photoreal, the film was one of the most entertaining shorts I’ve seen in recent years. The filmmaker of Logorama joked that since the short took him six years to make, he hopes to return with a feature film in something like 36 years.
Best Documentary Short:
- China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
- The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
- The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
- Music by Prudence
- Rabbit à la Berlin
The first filmmakers to be played off stage by music… Can’t say I don’t disagree with this decision.
Best Live-Action Short:
- The Door
- Instead of Abracadabra
- Kavi
- Miracle Fish
- The New Tenants
Ben Stiller is dressed and made-up like a Na’vi from Avatar to present the award for Best Make-up. Stiller joked “the ironic thing is Avatar isn’t nominated” and said that he should have worn Spock ears but commented that a Star Trek get up might have been too nerdy.
Best Make-up:
- Il Divo
- Star Trek
- The Young Victoria
I’m very glad to see Star Trek win at least one Oscar, even if it is for best make-up. This is probably the only chance they had to take home a statue.
Jeff Bridges presents the Best Picture video montage for A Serious Man.
Ben Stiller’s appearance as a Na’vi seems to be getting the same reaction as the movie Avatar: people either loved it or hated it.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
- Neill Blomkamp and - District 9
- Nick Hornby - An Education
- Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche - In the Loop
- Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
- Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner - Up in the Air
This is my first “BULLSHIT” of the 2010 Academy Awards. Up in the Air, District 9, In the Loop and An Education were all more deserving of this Oscar. This is also the first big upset/surprise of tonight’s awards.
Best Supporting Actress:
- Penelope Cruz - Nine
- Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
- Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart
- Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
- Mo’Nique - Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
Robin Williams presents. Mo’Nique won, as expected… and she deserves it.
Best Art Direction
- Avatar
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
- Nine
- Sherlock Holmes
- The Young Victoria
Sigourney Weaver presents. And why Weaver? Because Avatar wins, of course…
Best Costume Design:
- Bright Star
- Coco Before Chanel
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
- Nine
- The Young Victoria
Tom Ford and Sarah Jessica Parker present. Really don’t have much to say about this one.
Charlize Theron presents the best picture video montage for Precious.
Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin’s Paranormal Activity parody was funny, but a sad “tribute” to the horror genre.
Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart present a video clip tribute to the horror genre, which appears to include a lot of films that were not nominated in previous years.
Zak Efron and Anna Kendrick present the award for Sound editing. Using a clip narrated by Morgan Freeman. the Academy explains how Sound editing and Sound Mixing added to The Dark Knight.
Best Sound Editing:
- Avatar
- The Hurt Locker
- Inglourious Basterds
- Star Trek
- Pixar’s Up
The second win of the night for The Hurt Locker…
Best Sound Mixing:
- Avatar
- The Hurt Locker
- Inglourious Basterds
- Star Trek
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Third win of the night for Hurt Locker. Who would have thought that Hurt Locker would beat Avatar in the two sound awards?
John Travolta presents the Best Picture video package for Inglourious Basterds.
Best Cinematography:
- Maurio Fiore - Avatar
- Bruno Delbonnel - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Barry Ackroyd - The Hurt Locker
- Robert Richardson - Inglourious Basterds
- Christian Berger - The White Ribbon
Sandra Bullock presents. Second award of the night for Avatar. Is this the first cinematographer to win an Oscar for a mostly virtual performance-capture production?
Demi Moore presents the video package remembering those in the film industry we’ve lost over the post year. James Taylor performs music.
Jennifer Lopez and Sam Worthington present a legion of dancers (The LXD) to dance to the music of the Best Original Score nominees.I think The dance sequences were cool, but I think I would have rather seen the music performed on stage.
Best Original Score:
- James Horner - Avatar
- Alexandre Desplat - Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Marco Beltrami & Buck Sanders - The Hurt Locker
- Hans Zimmer - Sherlock Holmes
- Michael Giacchino - Pixar’s Up
This is the first academy award for Giacchino, and well deserved. Giacchino is also wearing the grape bottle cap pin. Giacchino took a different approach, didn’t go into a list of “thank yous”, and instead encouraged young people to persue their creative urges.
Best Visual Effects:
- Avatar
- District 9
- Star Trek
Third win for Avatar, as expected. The Hurt Locker and Avatar are now officially tied.
Jason Bateman introduces the Best Picture video package for Up in the Air.
Best Documentary Feature:
- Burma VJ
- The Cove
- Food, Inc.
- The Most Dangerous Man in America
- Which Way Home
Matt Damon presents. My biggest regret of this past year is not having seen The Cove…
Best Film Editing:
- Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron - Avatar
- Julian Clarke - District 9
- Bob Murawski and Chris Innis - The Hurt Locker
- Sally Menke - Inglourious Basterds
- Joe Klotz - Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Tyler Perry made a joke about probably never hearing his name announced at the Oscars. I hope so…
Fourth win for The Hurt Locker, which puts Bigelow’s film in the lead.
Keanu Reeves introduces the Best Picture video montage for The Hurt Locker.
Best Foreign Language Film:
- Ajami - Israel
- El Secreto de sus Ojos - Argentina
- The Milk of Sorrow - Peru
- Un Prophéte - France
- The White Ribbon - Germany
Pedro Almodóvar and Quentin Tarantino present. And this is the first huge upset of the Oscars. I think most everyone thought either Un Prophete or The White Ribbon was going to win.
Kathy Bates introduces the Best Picture montage for Avatar. If you haven’t noticed, most of the Best Picture video presentors are in some way connected to the director of the Best Picture nominee. Bates was in Titanic, directed by James Cameron, who directed Avatar. Keanu Reeves was in Point Break, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, director of The Hurt Locker…etc.
Best Actor:
- Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
- George Clooney - Up in the Air
- Colin Firth - A Single Man
- Morgan Freeman - Invictus
- Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
Here are the list of presenter mash-ups: Michele Pfeiffer for Bridges, Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air co-star Clooney, Julianne Moore for Single Man co-star Firth, Tim Robbins for Shawshank co-star Freeman, Colin Farrell for SWAT co-star Renner.
Last year’s Best Actress Kate Winslet presents. Bridges wins, and thanked his parents for supporting his show business career, his director, and cast. Does this mean that Disney is going to market TRON: Legacy as starring Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges?
Best Actress:
- Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
- Helen Mirren - The Last Station
- Carey Mulligan - An Education
- Gabourey Sidibe - Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
- Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Here are the list of presenter mash-ups: Forest Whitaker for Hope Floats star Bullock, Michael Sheen for Queen co-star Mirren, Peter Sarsgaard for An Education co-star Mulligan, Oprah Winfrey for Sidibe, Stanley Tucci for Devil Wears Prada co-star for Streep.
Sean Penn presents. Bullock thanked the other nominees in the category, and tried to hold back the tears while thanking her mother.
Best Director:
- Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
- James Cameron - Avatar
- Lee Daniels - Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
- Jason Reitman - Up in the Air
- Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
As expected, Bigelow won… but did she deserve it or did the Academy want to make history with the first woman as Best Director? And for the record, I think Bigelow deserved the nomination, but Cameron’s direction on Avatar was far more involved, far superior.
Fifth win for The Hurt Locker… only one more to go.
Best Picture:
- Avatar
- The Blind Side
- District 9
- An Education
- The Hurt Locker
- Inglourious Basterds
- Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
- A Serious Man
- Up
- Up in the Air
I’m sure that in 20 years we’ll look back and wonder how Avatar didn’t win either Best Picture or Best Director. The Hurt Locker will be this generation’s How Green Was My Valley. And for those who don’t get the How Green Was My Valley reference, go look up which Oscars Citizen Kane won. I’m not saying Avatar is an incredible film, and no.. I’m not comparing Avatar to Citizen Kane, I’m only saying that Avatar will have much greater significance in years to come over Hurt Locker.
The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation have announced the “dis-hours” for the year in film that was 2009. Michael Bay and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was the big “winner”, taking home three awards: Worst Screenplay (Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci must be proud), Worst Director and the not so coveted “Worst Picture of 2009″.
Sandra Bullock, who is up for a Best Actress Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards for the movie The Blind Side, takes home two dishonors: Worst Actress (for her performance in All About Steve) and Worst Screen Couple (shared with Bradley Cooper for, yes, All About Steve).Bullock had said that she would accept her award in person if she won, and was true to her word. You can watch a video clip of Bullock’s acceptance speech embedded after the jump.
The Razzies also awarded Battlefield Earth with Worst Picture of the Decade. Check out the full press release, which includes a full list of winners, after the jump.
Bullock accepts her Razzie:
30th Annual Dis-Honors for Cinematic Dreck:
RAZZIE® Voters
Spread the Loathe Around
With so many Berry Bad Movies to choose from, voting members of The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation decided to spread their dis-honors among multiple titles for their Gala 30th Annual RAZZIE® Awards. In ceremonies presented on Oscar Eve at Hollywood’s Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, no less than six 2009 releases received at least one gold-spray-painted statuette designating them as being among last year’s Worst Achievements in Film.
The big “winner” was also one of last year’s biggest box office hits: The overlong, over-loud, under-whelming toy-based sequel TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN. In addition to taking Worst Director for The Boy Blunder of Blow-‘em-Ups Michael Bay, FALLEN also fell victim as the year’s Worst Screenplay and Worst Picture. Worst Actress was awarded to a star who could well follow up the berry next night with an Oscar® win: Sandra Bullock, RAZZed for her performance in ALL ABOUT STEVE. The film also took the Worst Screen Couple dis-honor, for Bullock and co-star Bradley Cooper. Worst Actor went jointly to Disney Boy Band The Jonas Brothers, playing themselves in JONAS BROTHERS: THE 3-D CONCERT EXPERIENCE. Supporting “winners” were Billy Ray Cyrus, riding his daughter’s coat-tails and playing her dad in HANNAH MONTANA: THE MOVIE and Sienna Miller as the former girlfriend and current nemesis of the main character in G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA. One of last year’s biggest box office bombs, LAND OF THE LOST, started the evening with a pack-leading 7 nominations. But the $150 million production (which grossed a humiliating $49 million in the U.S.) wound up only “winning” as Worst Remake/Rip-Off or Sequel.
In celebration of three decades of Dissing Hollywood’s Biggest Under-Achievers, special awards were also given for Worst Picture of the Decade (BATTLEFIELD EARTH, which “won” by a landslide) Worst Actor of the Decade (Eddie Murphy for ADVENTURES of PLUTO NASH, I SPY, IMAGINE THAT, MEET DAVE, NORBIT and SHOWTIME) and Actress of the Decade (”Celebutant” Paris Hilton for THE HOTTIE & THE NOTTIE, HOUSE OF WAX and REPO: THE GENETIC OPERA).
Worst Picture of 2009:
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
(Aka Trannies, Too)
(DREAMWORKS/PARAMOUNT)
Worst Actress of 2009:
Sandra Bullock
ALL ABOUT STEVE
Worst Actor(s) of 2009:
All Three Jonas Brothers
JONAS BROTHERS: THE 3-D CONCERT EXPERIENCE
Worst Screen Couple:
Sandra Bullock & Bradley Cooper
ALL ABOUT STEVE
Worst Supporting Actress:
Sienna Miller
G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA
Worst Supporting Actor:
Billy Ray Cyrus
HANNAH MONTANA: THE MOVIE
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel
(Combined Category for 2009):
Land of The Lost
(UNIVERSAL PICTURES)
Worst Director:
Michael Bay
TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (AKA TRANNIES, TOO)
Worst Screenplay:
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
WRITTEN BY EHREN KRUGER & ROBERTO ORCI & ALEX KURTZMAN,
BASED ON HASBRO’S TRANSFORMERS ACTION FIGURES
Special 30th RAZZIE®-versary Awardz
Worst Picture of the Decade:
Battlefield Earth
NOMINATED FOR 10 RAZZIES® / “WINNER” OF 8
(INCLUDING WORST DRAMA OF OUR FIRST 25 YRS)
Worst Actor of the Decade:
Eddie Murphy
NOMINATED FOR 12 “ACHIEVEMENTS” / “WINNER” OF 3 RAZZIES®
ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH, I SPY, IMAGINE THAT,
MEET DAVE, NORBIT, SHOWTIME
Worst Actress of the decade
Paris Hilton
NOMINATED FOR 5 “ACHIEVEMENTS,” “WINNER” OF 4 RAZZIES®
THE HOTTIE & THE NOTTIE, HOUSE OF WHACKS,
REPO: THE GENETIC OPERA
Dis-honorees were determined by mailing ballots to 657 voters in 47 U.S. states and 19 foreign countries. The RAZZIES® were created in 1980 as a logical antidote to Tinsel Town’s annual glut of self-congratulatory awards by John Wilson, author of both THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE® MOVIE GUIDE and EVERYTHING I KNOW I LEARNED AT THE MOVIES. The Barnsdall Gallery Theatre is a facility of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
For more information on this year’s “winners,” the Golden Raspberry Awards’ history, or to arrange an interview with Wilson, please visit the official RAZZIE® web site (www.razzies.com) or contact HeadRAZZberry@razzies.com
The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation have announced the “dis-hours” for the year in film that was 2009. Michael Bay and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was the big “winner”, taking home three awards: Worst Screenplay (Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci must be proud), Word Director and the not soo coveted “Worst Picture of 2009″. Sandra Bullock, who is up for a Best Actress Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards for the movie The Blind Side, takes home two dishonors: Worst Actress (for her performance in All About Steve) and Worst Screen Couple (shared with Bradley Cooper for, yes, All About Steve). The Razzies also awarded Battlefield Earth with Worst Picture of the Decade. Check out the full press release, which includes a full list of winners, after the jump.
30th Annual Dis-Honors for Cinematic Dreck:
RAZZIE® Voters
Spread the Loathe Around
With so many Berry Bad Movies to choose from, voting members of The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation decided to spread their dis-honors among multiple titles for their Gala 30th Annual RAZZIE® Awards. In ceremonies presented on Oscar Eve at Hollywood’s Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, no less than six 2009 releases received at least one gold-spray-painted statuette designating them as being among last year’s Worst Achievements in Film.
The big “winner” was also one of last year’s biggest box office hits: The overlong, over-loud, under-whelming toy-based sequel TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN. In addition to taking Worst Director for The Boy Blunder of Blow-‘em-Ups Michael Bay, FALLEN also fell victim as the year’s Worst Screenplay and Worst Picture. Worst Actress was awarded to a star who could well follow up the berry next night with an Oscar® win: Sandra Bullock, RAZZed for her performance in ALL ABOUT STEVE. The film also took the Worst Screen Couple dis-honor, for Bullock and co-star Bradley Cooper. Worst Actor went jointly to Disney Boy Band The Jonas Brothers, playing themselves in JONAS BROTHERS: THE 3-D CONCERT EXPERIENCE. Supporting “winners” were Billy Ray Cyrus, riding his daughter’s coat-tails and playing her dad in HANNAH MONTANA: THE MOVIE and Sienna Miller as the former girlfriend and current nemesis of the main character in G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA. One of last year’s biggest box office bombs, LAND OF THE LOST, started the evening with a pack-leading 7 nominations. But the $150 million production (which grossed a humiliating $49 million in the U.S.) wound up only “winning” as Worst Remake/Rip-Off or Sequel.
In celebration of three decades of Dissing Hollywood’s Biggest Under-Achievers, special awards were also given for Worst Picture of the Decade (BATTLEFIELD EARTH, which “won” by a landslide) Worst Actor of the Decade (Eddie Murphy for ADVENTURES of PLUTO NASH, I SPY, IMAGINE THAT, MEET DAVE, NORBIT and SHOWTIME) and Actress of the Decade (”Celebutant” Paris Hilton for THE HOTTIE & THE NOTTIE, HOUSE OF WAX and REPO: THE GENETIC OPERA).
Worst Picture of 2009:
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
(Aka Trannies, Too)
(DREAMWORKS/PARAMOUNT)
Worst Actress of 2009:
Sandra Bullock
ALL ABOUT STEVE
Worst Actor(s) of 2009:
All Three Jonas Brothers
JONAS BROTHERS: THE 3-D CONCERT EXPERIENCE
Worst Screen Couple:
Sandra Bullock & Bradley Cooper
ALL ABOUT STEVE
Worst Supporting Actress:
Sienna Miller
G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA
Worst Supporting Actor:
Billy Ray Cyrus
HANNAH MONTANA: THE MOVIE
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel
(Combined Category for 2009):
Land of The Lost
(UNIVERSAL PICTURES)
Worst Director:
Michael Bay
TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (AKA TRANNIES, TOO)
Worst Screenplay:
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
WRITTEN BY EHREN KRUGER & ROBERTO ORCI & ALEX KURTZMAN,
BASED ON HASBRO’S TRANSFORMERS ACTION FIGURES
Special 30th RAZZIE®-versary Awardz
Worst Picture of the Decade:
Battlefield Earth
NOMINATED FOR 10 RAZZIES® / “WINNER” OF 8
(INCLUDING WORST DRAMA OF OUR FIRST 25 YRS)
Worst Actor of the Decade:
Eddie Murphy
NOMINATED FOR 12 “ACHIEVEMENTS” / “WINNER” OF 3 RAZZIES®
ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH, I SPY, IMAGINE THAT,
MEET DAVE, NORBIT, SHOWTIME
Worst Actress of the decade
Paris Hilton
NOMINATED FOR 5 “ACHIEVEMENTS,” “WINNER” OF 4 RAZZIES®
THE HOTTIE & THE NOTTIE, HOUSE OF WHACKS,
REPO: THE GENETIC OPERA
Dis-honorees were determined by mailing ballots to 657 voters in 47 U.S. states and 19 foreign countries. The RAZZIES® were created in 1980 as a logical antidote to Tinsel Town’s annual glut of self-congratulatory awards by John Wilson, author of both THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE® MOVIE GUIDE and EVERYTHING I KNOW I LEARNED AT THE MOVIES. The Barnsdall Gallery Theatre is a facility of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
For more information on this year’s “winners,” the Golden Raspberry Awards’ history, or to arrange an interview with Wilson, please visit the official RAZZIE® web site (www.razzies.com) or contact HeadRAZZberry@razzies.com
The Independent Spirit Awards might not be as popular as other awards ceremonies such as the Golden Globes and the Oscars, but I’m a huge fan of nonetheless. One of the key elements of eligibility for the Spirit Awards is that nominated films don’t have to have played in a theater; they just need to have been screened at either the Telluride, Toronto, Sundance, New York, New/Directors/New Films, or the Los Angeles Film Fesitval. Movies also cannot have been made for more than $20 million. Together, all of their criteria ensure that smaller movies will get recognized — potentially films that won’t get any attention on Oscar night.
This year’s awards were heartening, but held relatively few surprises. I was happy to see Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber win for their screenplay for 500 Days Of Summer, since I unabashedly enjoyed the hell out of that film. Woody Harrelson and Jeff Bridges also picked up much-deserved acting awards (I haven’t seen The Messenger yet but I’ve heard great things. Bridges was already virtually a lock for Best Actor at the Oscars and this just gives him more momentum).
But the big success story of the evening was Lee Daniels‘ Precious, which won for all five categories in which it was nominated: Best Feature, Best Director, Best Female Lead, Best Supporting Female, and Best Supporting Screenplay. Hit the jump for a full list of all the award winners (winners in bold).
BEST FEATURE
Precious
Amreeka
500 Days of Summer
Sin Nombre
The Last Station
BEST FIRST FEATURE
Crazy Heart
A Single Man
Easier With Practice
Paranormal Activity
The Messenger
BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Daniels - Precious
Ethan Coen & Joel Coen - A Serious Man
Cary Fukunaga - Sin Nombre
James Gray - Two Lovers
Michael Hoffman - The Last Station
BEST MALE LEAD
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - 500 Days Of Summer
Souléymane Sy Savané - Goodbye Solo
Adam Scott - The Vicious Kind
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Maria Bello - Downloading Nancy
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Gwentyth Paltrow - Two Lovers
Nisreen Faour - Amreeka
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Jemaine Clement - Gentleman Broncos
Christian McKay - Me and Orson Welles
Raymond McKinnon - That Evening Sun
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Mo’Nique - Precious
Dina Korzun - Cold Souls
Samantha Morton - The Messenger
Natalie Press - Fifty Dead Men Walking
Mia Wasikowska - That Evening Sun
BEST SCREENPLAY
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - 500 Days Of Summer
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman - The Messenger
Michael Hoffman - The Last Station
Lee Toland Krieger - The Vicious Kind
Greg Mottola - Adventureland
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious
Sophie Barthes - Cold Souls
Scott Cooper - Crazy Heart
Cherien Dabis - Amreeka
Tom Ford & David Scearce - A Single Man
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Roger Deakins - A Serious Man
Adriano Goldman - Sin Nombre
Anne Misawa - Treeless Mountain
Andrij Parekh - Cold Souls
Peter Zeitlinger - Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Food, Inc.
More Than a Game
October Country
Which Way Home
BEST FOREIGN FILM
An Education (UK/France)
A Prophet (France)
Everlasting Moments (Sweden)
Mother (South Korea)
The Maid (Chile)
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Best feature made for less than $500,000)
Humpday
Big Fan
The New Year Parade
Treeless Mountain
Zero Bridge
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
(Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
“A Serious Man”
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Casting Directors: Ellen Chenoweth, Rachel Tenner
Cast: Richard Kind, Sari Lennick, Jessica McManus, Michael Stuhlbarg, Aaron Wolff
PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
Karen Chien (The Exploding Girl & Santa Mesa)
Larry Fessenden (I Sell the Dead, The House of the Devil)
Dia Sokol (Beeswax, Nights and Weekends)
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Tariq Tapa (Zero Bridge)
Kyle Patrick Alvarez (Easier with Practice)
Asiel Norton (Redland)
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Bill Ross & Turner Ross (“45365”)
Natalia Almada (El General)
Jessica Oreck (Beetle Queen Conquer Tokyo)
In honor of the 25th Independent Spirit Awards, Eddie Izzard, William H. Macy, Viola Davis, Tim Roth, Juliette Lewis, Fred Willard, Frances Fisher, and Illeana Douglas have recorded a video talking about what the Independent Spirit means to them. Of course, it was created in fun, and without the pretension you might expect from the title. Watch the video now, after the jump.
In honor of the 25th Independent Spirit Awards, Eddie Izzard, William H. Macy, Viola Davis, Tim Roth, Juliette Lewis, Fred Willard, Frances Fisher, and Illeana Douglas have recorded a video talking about what the Independent Spirit means to them. Of course, it was created in fun, and without the pretension you might expect from the title. Watch the video now, after the jump.
You have to wonder how nobody saw this coming. Last week it was announced that Sacha Baron Cohen would be presenting at the Oscars this Sunday. Yesterday, his name disappeared from the presenters list. The reason for the dismissal, according to Vulture, was that Cohen was collaborating with Ben Stiller for an Avatar sketch that might have offended director James Cameron – someone not exactly known for his sense of humor.
The sketch was dropped by Oscar producer Bill Mechanic, who also dealt with the director as head of Twentieth Century Fox when Cameron was working on Titanic. Mechanic likely gathered a sixth sense towards Cameron’s prickly nature during that film’s shoot, and didn’t want to risk him walking out in the middle of the Oscar ceremony.
According to an Oscar insider speaking to Vulture, the sketch would have played out like so:
Baron Cohen planned to appear onstage as a blue-skinned, female Na’vi, with Stiller translating “her” interplanetary speech. As the skit went on, though, it would become clear that Stiller wasn’t translating properly, because Cohen would grow ever more upset. At its climax, an infuriated Baron Cohen would pull open “her” evening gown to reveal that s/he was pregnant, knocked up with Cameron’s love child, and would go on to confront her baby daddy as if s/he were on Jerry Springer.
We’ve seen the sort of responses Cohen can gather from unsuspecting bystanders in Borat, Bruno, and Da Ali G Show, and it’s a shame that we’re not going to see how James Cameron would react to a mockery of his mega-hit film. I can understand why the Oscar producers would be nervous, but I’m not sure how anyone can bring Cohen onto a project and not expect him to offend someone. This reminds me of how attendees at the recent TED conference were offended when Sarah Silverman was brought on to be Sarah Silverman.
This is the second snub from the upcoming Oscars ceremony for Cohen. According to an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air, Cohen was one of names brought up to host the event, but he was shot down for that as well. “They thought it was too big of a wild card,” said Oscar producer Adam Shankman (Bedtime Stories and Hairspray).
So it’s come to this: Nicolas Chartier, one of The Hurt Locker’s four producers, has been banned from attending the Oscars this year due to remarks he made about his film in an e-mail, which violated Academy rules. If The Hurt Locker wins Best Picture, Chartier will have to collect his Oscar at a later date. Hit the jump for all the details of The Hurt Locker’s sad, unexpected, bump-ridden path towards Oscar gold.
For the past few months, The Hurt Locker has been widely favored to take the Best Picture prize, and also garner Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow. The trouble began in late February, when producer Chartier sent an e-mail out to industry colleagues. Here is the text of the e-mail:
I hope all is well with you. I just wanted to write you and say I hope you liked Hurt Locker and if you did and want us to win, please tell (name deleted) and your friends who vote for the Oscars, tell actors, directors, crew members, art directors, special effects people, if everyone tells one or two of their friends, we will win and not a $500M film, we need independent movies to win like the movies you and I do, so if you believe The Hurt Locker is the best movie of 2010, help us!
I’m sure you know plenty of people you’ve worked with who are academy members whethere a publicist, a writer, a sound engineer, please take 5 minutes and contact them. Please call one or two persons, everything will help!
Not terribly professional, but fairly innocuous. However, Chartier’s remarks about a “$500M film,” clearly aimed at Avatar (though not naming that film), violated Academy rules against “casting a negative or derogatory light on a competing film.” After word of the e-mail reached the press, Chartier recanted almost immediately, issuing a statement that read, in part:
My naivete, ignorance of the rules and plain stupidity as a first time nominee is not an excuse for this behavior and I strongly regret it. Being nominated for an Academy Award is the ultimate honor and I should have taken the time to read the rules.
To be fair, Chartier’s actions are nothing new. Miramax famously got in trouble over its whisper campaign against Saving Private Ryan in 1999 (Shakespeare ended up taking the prize. Side note: Which one of those films do you think has had more of a lasting impact?). This time around, Deadline blogger Nikki Finke responded to news of Chartier’s e-mail with complete nonchalance:
[F]or months now I have been sent so many emails from so many studios and filmmakers and flacks and insiders badmouthing every rival nominee this Oscar season and talking up their own. How the hell am I to tell them apart? Or tattle on them all? This is the down and dirty system which AMPAS hath wrought and doth condone. And no one is surprised by it, least of all the Academy.
Furthermore, by the time Chartier had written his e-mail, most of the ballots were already cast. However, one publicist claimed that some Academy voters went so far as to demand new ballots to change their votes (once a ballot has been cast, it cannot be altered). For the past few weeks, speculation has swirled as to whether or not the Academy would take action, and if so, what that action would be. There was even talk that the Academy might rescind The Hurt Locker’s nomination for Best Picture, a drastic move that would have outraged just about everyone (admittedly, the likelihood that this would have happened was virtually nonexistent).
On Monday, The Daily Beast published an assessment of the situation, with more details about Chartier’s involvement in the film. Chartier raised the $15 million required to finance the film, but his relationship with the film’s crew was so fractious that he was eventually asked to leave the set and not come back. According to Hurt Locker screenwriter and producer Mark Boal:
It was a hard movie to get made…It was a challenging shoot, and it’s the nature of those things that tempers can flare and strong disagreements can arise. And Nic was eventually asked not to come back to the set.
People involved in The Hurt Locker’s production have tried to distance themselves from Chartier’s remarks. After hearing about the e-mail, Bigelow called Avatar producer Jon Landau immediately to express her apologies. Boal recalled, “Kathryn was shocked and appalled and embarrassed by Nick’s poor judgment, and condemned it.” This is a sentiment apparently shared by everyone involved with the movie. “Everyone understands that Nic bears the responsibility for his mistake 100 percent on his own shoulders,” Boal added.
In the meantime, other publicity mishaps have also befallen the film. Specifically, a Newsweek piece written by Army veteran Paul Rieckhoff alleged that The Hurt Locker was laden with inaccuracies. “The Hurt Locker tries to articulate [the experience of modern combat],” Rieckhoff writes, “but those of us who have served in the military couldn’t help but be distracted by a litany of inaccuracies that reveal not only a lack of research, but ultimately respect for the American military.” Moreover, in the past day we’ve learned that, Master Sgt. Jeffrey Sarver, who served in Iraq, is suing the makers of The Hurt Locker for pilfering his story. Sarver was the subject of the Playboy article on which the film’s script was based. A press conference is schedule for later today.
In the end, the Academy has decided to ban Chartier from attending the Oscars. He will be denied attendance and he will not be able to go as anyone’s guest that evening. This is the first time the Academy has ever taken the step as banning one individual specifically. Here’s the Academy’s statement via the LATimes:
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that, should “The Hurt Locker” be announced as the recipient of the Best Picture award at Sunday’s ceremonies, only three of the picture’s producers will be present for the celebration. The fourth of the film’s credited producers, Nicolas Chartier, has been denied attendance at the 82nd Academy Awards as a penalty for violating Academy campaigning standards…
The group stopped short of recommending that the Academy governors rescind Chartier’s nomination. If “The Hurt Locker” were to be selected as Best Picture, Chartier would receive his Oscar statuette at some point subsequent to the March 7 ceremonies.
One thing’s for sure: If The Hurt Locker doesn’t take Best Picture, I do not want to be Nicolas Chartier on Sunday night.
LocateTV has created a wonderful infographic titled “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The Oscars”, which is filled with fun facts about the Academy Awards. For example, which person has won the most Oscars? What is the longest acceptance speech in history? Or the box office factoid above that this year’s top two contenders for best picture. Check it out, embedded after the jump.
Source: LocateTV
