Independent Spirit and Razzie Awards

Posted on February 27, 2011 at 9:49 am

Just before the Oscars every year, the Film Independent Spirit and Razzie awards are given out. It was a good year for “Black Swan” and not such a good year for “The Last Airbender” and Jessica Alba.
Film Independent gives awards for independent films, some of them produced on micro-budgets. Some of them feature big Hollywood stars; others feature unknowns or the film-makers themselves. But all of them are deeply personal works that reflect the passionate commitment of the people who make them.
Best Feature
Black Swan Producers: Scott Franklin, Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Brian Oliver
Best Director
Darren Aronofsky Black Swan
Best Screenplay
The Kids Are All Right Writers: Stuart Blumberg & Lisa Cholodenko
Best First Feature Sony Pictures Classics
Get Low Director: Aaron Schneider
Producers: David Gundlach, Dean Zanuck
Best First Screenplay
Lena Dunham Tiny Furniture
John Cassavetes Award
(For the best feature made under $500,000) Writers/Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
Daddy Longlegs Producers: Casey Neistat, Tom Scott
Best Supporting Female
Dale Dickey Winter’s Bone
Best Supporting Male
John Hawkes Winter’s Bone
Best Female
Natalie Portman Black Swan
Best Male
James Franco 127 Hours
Best Cinematography
Matthew Libatique Black Swan

Best Foreign Film
The King’s Speech Director: Tom Hooper
Best Documentary
Exit Through The Gift Shop
And the Razzies recognize the worst that Hollywood gave the world over the last year. The “winners” for 2011 are:
Aang Last Airbender.jpg Worst Picture
The Last Airbender
Worst Actor
Ashton Kutcher, Killers and Valentine’s Day

Worst Actress
Sex and the City 2 — All four leading ladies
Worst Supporting Actor
Jackson Rathbone, The Last Airbender‘ and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Worst Supporting Actress
Jessica Alba, The Killer Inside Me, Little Fockers, Machete, and Valentine’s Day
Worst Eye-Gouging Mis-Use of 3-D
The Last Airbender
Worst Screen Couple/Ensemble
The Entire Cast, Sex and the City 2
Worst Director
The Last Airbender, M. Night Shyamalan

Worst Screenplay
The Last Airbender, M. Night Shyamalan
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel
Sex and the City 2

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The Razzies!

Posted on January 24, 2011 at 1:52 pm

The Razzies salute the worst movies of the year. A day before the Oscar nominations, they announce their candidates for the most excruciatingly painful cinematic experiences of the previous 12 months. The best thing about them — anyone can vote! If you suffered through something truly awful in the theater last year and want to get your revenge, now is your chance. Here is the Hall of Shame, I mean list of candidates:
Worst Picture
“The Bounty Hunter”
“The Last Airbender”
“Sex and the City 2”
“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”
“Vampires Suck”
Worst Actor
Jack Black – “Gulliver’s Travels”
Gerard Butler – “The Bounty Hunter”
Ashton Kutcher – “Killers” and “Valentine’s Day”
Taylor Lautner – “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” and “Valentine’s Day”
Robert Pattinson – “Remember Me” and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”
Worst Actress
Jennifer Aniston – “The Bounty Hunter” and “The Switch”
Miley Cyrus – “The Last Song”
Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon – “Sex and the City 2”
Megan Fox – “Jonah Hex”
Kristen Stewart – “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”
Worst Supporting Actress
Jessica Alba – “The Killer Inside Me,” “Little Fockers,” “Machete” and “Valentine’s Day”
Cher – “Burlesque”
Liza Minnelli – “Sex and the City 2”
Nicola Peltz – “The Last Airbender”
Barbra Streisand – “Little Fockers”
Worst Supporting Actor
Billy Ray Cyrus – “The Spy Next Door”
George Lopez – “Marmaduke,” “The Spy Next Door” and “Valentine’s Day”
Dev Patel – “The Last Airbender”
Jackson Rathbone – “The Last Airbender” and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”
Rob Schneider – “Grown-Ups”
Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3-D
“Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore”
“Clash of the Titans”
“The Last Airbender”
“The Nutcracker 3D”
“Saw 3D”
Worst Screen Couple/Ensemble
Jennifer Aniston & Gerard Butler – “The Bounty Hunter”
Josh Brolin’s Face & Megan Fox’s Accent – “Jonah Hex”
The Entire Cast of “The Last Airbender”
The Entire Cast of “Sex and the City 2”
The Entire Cast of “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”
Worst Director
Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer – “Vampires Suck”
Michael Patrick King – “Sex and the City 2”
M. Night Shyamalan – “The Last Airbender”
David Slade – “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”
Sylvester Stallone – The Expendables
Worst Screenplay
“The Last Airbender”
“Little Fockers”
“Sex and the City 2”
“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”
“Vampires Suck”
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel
“Clash of the Titans”
“The Last Airbender”
“Sex and the City 2”
“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”
“Vampires Suck”

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Razzies and Spirit Awards

Posted on March 7, 2010 at 11:58 am

Sandra Bullock certainly gets the good sport award for her gracious acceptance of the worst actress Razzie for her performance in All About Steve. She came out on stage with a wagon full of DVDs for everyone. If she wins tonight, that will make her the first person to win both an Oscar and a Razzie in the same year.

I really hated the movie, but I recognized that she had good intentions and a good idea and her performance was not the problem. And Bradley Cooper (her co-awardee for worst couple) was certainly blameless. The Razzie should go to the screenwriter. I also thought the Jonas Brothers’ award was mean-spirited. They weren’t acting; it was a documentary. But I completely support the Razzie for Land of the Lost.

Worst Picture of 2009:

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

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

Land of The Lost

Worst Director:

Michael Bay

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

Worst Screenplay:

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

On a happier note, the Spirit Awards for independent films were given out on Friday night. Eddie Izzard was surprisingly disappointing as the host and Ben Stiller ruined his segment with a trashy stunt, but the laid-back ceremony continues to have the best sense of passion and community of any of the award shows. “Precious” was the big winner with awards for leading and supporting actresses, best director, and best picture. All of their acceptance speeches were sensational. I especially loved seeing the documentary award go to Anvil, who also got a chance to perform with a great introduction from Dave Grohl. Here are the very worthy winners:

Best Film: Precious

Best Director: Lee Daniels, Precious

Best Actress: Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, Precious

Best Supporting Actor: Woody Harrelson, The Messenger

Best Documentary: Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Best Foreign film: An Education

Best Debut film: Scott Cooper, Crazy Heart

Best First screenplay: Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious

Best Screenplay: Scott Neustader and Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer

Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins, A Serious Man

John Cassavetes Award: Lynn Shelton, Humpday

Robert Altman Award: A Serious Man

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The Spirits and the Razzies

Posted on February 22, 2009 at 8:38 am

Just before the Oscars every year, two other important awards are announced. The Razzies (named for the rude noise called a “raspberry”) are given to the worst of the year from Hollywood. This year the recipients are:
Worst Picture: The Love Guru (which I also picked as the year’s worst in my essay for Rotten Tomatoes) love guru.jpg
Worst Actor: Mike Myers in “The Love Guru”
Worst Actress: Paris Hilton “The Hottie and the Nottie”
Worst Screenplay: “The Love Guru”
Worst Supporting Actor: Pierce Brosnan in “Mamma Mia!”
Worst Supporting Actress: Paris Hilton again in “Repo! The Genetic Opera”
Worst Couple: Paris Hilton again with either Christine Lakin or Joel David Moore in “The Hottie & The Nottie”
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel: “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
And by the way, anyone can vote on the Razzies for a modest fee.
The Spirit Awards (formerly called Independent Spirit) are given out by Film Independent, a resource group for independent film-makers. Its annual awards ceremony is broadcast on the Independent Film Channel and it is always hilarious, outrageous, and lots of fun (warning: very strong language and provocative material).
This year’s Spirit winners include:
“The Wrestler” (best feature, best actor Mickey Rourke, best cinematographer)
“Vicky Christina Barcelona” (best screenplay by Woody Allen, best supporting actress Penelope Cruz)
“Milk” (best first screenplay by Dustin Lance Black, best supporting actor James Franco)
“The Visitor” (best director Tom McCarthy)
“Synecdoche New York” (best first feature, Robert Altman ensemble award)
“The Class” (best foreign film)
“Man on Wire” (best documentary)
“Frozen River” (best actress Melissa Leo)
Membership is also available in Film Independent.

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