This Sunday’s Oscar Awards presentation was the lowest rated, longest show in history. Between Whoopi Goldberg’s awful jokes and Enya’s shaky performance, viewers were left wondering why ABC chose to run this instead of “Alias” and “The Practice.” This weekend, two alternative presentations, the Independent Spirit Awards and the Golden Raspberry Awards (affectionately called the RAZZIES) occurred, but sadly were not televised.
- Paul Wong
- Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly
Naomi and Nicole show their “Spirit”
A shorter and less gaudy cousin of the Oscars, the Independent Spirit Awards were held this past Saturday in a tent on Santa Monica beach. Director John Waters served as Master of Ceremonies for the event, handing out the eagle-shaped statuettes to the winners.
In a night filled with little surprise, “Memento” and “In the Bedroom” came out on top. In addition to winning for Best Feature, Christopher Nolan took home the Best Director and Best Original Screenplay prizes for “Memento.” Carrie-Anne Moss was also honored for her supporting role in the film. “In the Bedroom” received honors for lead actors Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson, while director Todd Field also took home the prize for Best First Feature.
From “Ghost World,” Steve Buscemi was honored for his portrayal of Seymour, while co-writers Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff won the Best First Screenplay award. “Jackpot” took home the John Cassavetes Award, given to the Best Feature Film that made under $500,000.
“Amelie” was named Best Foreign Film, while David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive” barely registered a blip on the radar, taking only a cinematography award. The film was snubbed by nearly every major group distributing awards.
Meanwhile, 24 hours before the Oscar presentation, the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation announced the winners of the 22nd Annual RAZZIE awards. These honor the worst performances in film over the previous year. Tom Green, the first “winner” planning to accept the cheap spray-painted trophies in person, took home five awards (at just under $5 each, his prizes come to $25): Worst Picture (“Freddy Got Fingered”), Worst Actor, Worst Screen Couple (with “any animal he abuses” in the aforementioned bomb), Worst Director and Worst Screenplay.
The other major loser was Tim Burton’s critically panned “Planet of the Apes.” The film snared three prizes for Worst Supporting Actor (Charlton Heston), Worst Supporting Actress (Estella Warren) and Worst Remake/Sequel. Mariah Carey was the other major loser for her role in the disastrous “Glitter.”
The presentation included a mock opening number and presenters in tuxedoes showing clips from the films. It was also much shorter than the four-hour Academy Awards presentation on ABC. Yet despite this, the show has never been televised, although this could change as early as next year. Just before next year’s self-congratulatory Oscar telecast, viewers could be treated to LL Cool J, Chris Klein and company accepting their RAZZIE for “Rollerball.”