Some previous winners have turned up to collect their awards. Halle Berry was perhaps one of the biggest stars to have turned up to collect her worst actress award and gave the most eloquent acceptance speech.

Surprisingly, the movie she won – Catwoman – was nowhere near the worst of the year so perhaps publicity works both ways.

Nevertheless, some of the turkeys listed for worst movie this year could share the award; such is their familiarity with unfortunate wastes of millions of dollars. Many of these turkeys make money while good films fail. Where’s the logic?

The Razzies suggest this taunt:

The $4.97 gold spray-painted Razzie Award is handed out to otherwise great talent who should have known better than to associate their name with sub-par projects. Every year for over three decades, the Razzies have called on Hollywood’s worst achievers to own their bad, blame someone else or Razz them back.

Jack and Jill, along with actor Adam Sandler (nominated for worst actor and worst actress) will challenge Hollywood’s best for this years awards.

Read reviews before you go to the theatre, you could save hundreds of dollars a year.

BEST PICTURE
“The Artist,” Thomas Langmann, producer
“The Descendants,” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” Scott Rudin, producer
“The Help,” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, producers
“Hugo,” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, producers
“Midnight in Paris,” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, producers
“Moneyball,” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, producers
“The Tree of Life,” Nominees to be determined
“War Horse,” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, producers

LEAD ACTOR
Demián Bichir, “A Better Life”
George Clooney, “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy “
Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”

LEAD ACTRESS
Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis, “The Help”
Rooney Mara, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”

BEST DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh, “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte, “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
Max von Sydow, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Bérénice Bejo, “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain, “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer, “The Help”

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
“The Descendants,” Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Hugo,” John Logan
“The Ides of March,” George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
“Moneyball,” Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
“The Artist,” Michel Hazanavicius
“Bridesmaids,” Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
“Margin Call,” J.C. Chandor
“Midnight in Paris,” Woody Allen
“A Separation,” Asghar Farhadi

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“A Cat in Paris,” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
“Chico & Rita,” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
“Kung Fu Panda 2,” Jennifer Yuh Nelson
“Puss in Boots,” Chris Miller
“Rango,” Gore Verbinski

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Bullhead,” Belgium
“Footnote,” Israel
“In Darkness,” Poland
“Monsieur Lazhar,” Canada
“A Separation,” Iran

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
“Hell and Back Again,” Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front,” Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory,” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
“Pina,” Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
“Undefeated,” TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement,” Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
“God Is the Bigger Elvis,” Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
“Incident in New Baghdad,” James Spione
“Saving Face,” Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom,” Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
“Dimanche/Sunday,” Patrick Doyon
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
“La Luna,” Enrico Casarosa
“A Morning Stroll,” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
“Wild Life,” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
“Pentecost,” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
“Raju,” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
“The Shore,” Terry George and Oorlagh George
“Time Freak,” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
“Tuba Atlantic,” Hallvar Witzø

ART DIRECTION
“The Artist,” production design: Laurence Bennett; set decoration: Robert Gould
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” production design: Stuart Craig; set decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“Hugo,” production design: Dante Ferretti; set decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“Midnight in Paris,” production design: Anne Seibel; set decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
“War Horse,” production design: Rick Carter; set decoration: Lee Sandales

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Guillaume Schiffman, “The Artist”
Jeff Cronenweth, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Robert Richardson, “Hugo”
Emmanuel Lubezki, “The Tree of Life”
Janusz Kaminski, “War Horse”

COSTUME DESIGN
Lisy Christl, “Anonymous”
Mark Bridges, “The Artist”
Sandy Powell, “Hugo”
Michael O’Connor, “Jane Eyre”
Arianne Phillips, “W.E”

FILM EDITING
“The Artist,” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants,” Kevin Tent
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker
“Moneyball,” Christopher Tellefsen

MAKEUP
“Albert Nobbs,” Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin
“The Iron Lady,” Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
“The Adventures of Tintin,” John Williams
“The Artist,” Ludovic Bource
“Hugo,” Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse” John Williams

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets,” music and lyrics by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio,” from “Rio,” music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown; lyrics by Siedah Garrett

SOUND EDITING
“Drive,” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” Ren Klyce
“Hugo,” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“War Horse,” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

SOUND MIXING
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
“Hugo,” Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
“Moneyball,” Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
“War Horse,” Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

VISUAL EFFECTS
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
“Hugo,” Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
“Real Steel,” Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

This year it’s the girls only turn.

Forbes magazine has compiled a list of what the actor was paid verses the cost of the movie and then compared that to the money the movie brought it. They don’t say if it includes DVD sales or movie downloads (the legal ones!) so we’ll have to guess it’s just about the ticket sales in the theatre.

1. Naomi Watts – $44 for every $1 paid
2. Jennifer Connelly – $41 for every $1 paid
3. Rachel McAdams – $30 for every $1 paid
4. Natalie Portman – $28 for every $1 paid
5. Meryl Streep – $27 for every $1 paid
6. Jennifer Aniston – $26 for every $1 paid
7. Halle Berry – $23 for every $1 paid
7. Cate Blanchett $23 for every $1 paid
7. Anne Hathaway $23 for every $1 paid
7. Hilary Swank $23 for every $1 paid

You can go see the Forbes list at their website:

http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/05/best-actresses-buck-business-entertainment-naomi-watts.html

You can go see our list from last year here:

http://filmandmoviemaking.com/will-top-actors-bring-money-to-your-movie/

So here’s the advice for all you budding producers or directors.: Choose one of the guys on the list above and you can’t possibly fail to get a great financial return, but don’t hold me to that as the screenplay is still vitally important. Usually only a great script will get you though, but if you employ one of the actors listed above, then an average screenplay will probably suffice.

This is providing you can attach them to your movie and you can afford them. Surely the bank will lend you
the money based just upon the attached actor? Of course you’ll need $10 million for those at the top of the list and $5 million for those at the lower stages.

From the opening scene until the fade out you can see where they spent the $170 million budget. The explosions and the special effects now set the new standard of expectations. Anything less than those provided in this movie will be deemed less than acceptable. What was real and which were special effects left a blurred line. At times you didn’t know if the character was in the room or being projected there from elsewhere, such was the mix and match of real and false life.

The screenplay is a collaboration from Stuart Beattie, David Elliot and Paul Lovett from a story by Michael B Gordon, Stephen Summers (the director) and Stuart Beattie. All of this is taken without a need to bear any resemblance to the original comic book by Larry Hama. You don’t need to get out your original GI Joe or Action Man figures (was there an Action Girl?) ; this movie just goes where it wants and doesn‘t care whether it has logic or not. Often the good guys are fighting the bad guys and no-one except the screenplay writers (hopefully) have a clue as to who is who and what’s going on. Quite clearly it really doesn’t even matter. We don’t get time to bind with any of the characters although all the main line actors give their characters quality individual variation.

Despite all that I’ve read about Sienna Miller, her wonderful BBC class English accent bodes well against her rampaging and killing activity; she really doesn’t care who gets in her way, former boyfriends and current husband included. She may not match up to Michelle Pfeiffer or Halle Berry’s Catwoman leather close fitting suits, but she shows raw talent for winning any battle, alone or with (temporary) friends. Bruce Willis, in his John McClane days, wouldn’t mess with her. She does an excellent job matching a real force of evil with superior amusement and tongue in cheek expressions. The girl ‘done’ good. I’ll certainly watch out for more of her movies and ignore the press trash about her.

Marlon Wayans is the surprise star of the movie. His highly crafted lines of dialogue provide nearly all the movie’s laughs which arrive frequently and in abundance. The audience liked his jokes, cheering throughout. His comedic timing was brilliant.

So what’s the movie about? It doesn’t really matter. One man wants to rule the world, yet again. Usually you’d say ‘enter James Bond’ but their last effort was very poor and may have lost a large slice of their regular audience for the follow up to this GI Joe.

One point I found amusing; the chief baddie, Dr Who, (Christopher Eccleston) is an Englishman who gets to play with a Scottish accent, while the last Dr Who was played in English by a Scotsman. Perhaps they should have just swapped roles.

Don’t go looking for plot holes as you’ll find many and miss the point of this movie; high entertainment. You just need to sit back and let it ride over you.

1. The movie only reached the theatres less than two weeks ago.
2. It’s not out on DVD yet.
3. It’s not likely to be out on DVD for another 3-6 months.
4. The DVD must be an illegal copy.
5. How much will the screenplay writers get from this ‘purchase’?
6. At what stage is it right to buy a pirated movie?

The last question obviously doesn’t need answering because it’s a case of never, ever, should you buy such unlicensed property. Anyway, Halle Berry isn’t in this latest movie in the franchise.

After asking other film fans for comment, some believe that if it’s a big movie that’s made oceans of profit for the stars, the crew and the studio, then it’s okay to buy a cheap copy because the stars already have enough money and after all, DVDs are expensive, especially if you want Blu-ray quality in these credit crunch times.

I can see why people would hold that point of view, but who decides the cut-off point between the screenwriter getting paid for his work and not getting paid via cheap copies? How well does the movie have to do at the cinema before it’s okay to rip off the movie?

I thought that the governments and industry had managed to find funds to source and control piracy – how wrong I was. A quick ‘Google’ search shows so many hits for torrents of movies being released not this week, but in a month’s time.

It’s theft whatever way you look at it, but the consumer who is willing to pay $5 for a recent movie rather than $20 at the theatre is a difficult force to control

These thefts cost us all money. Go check out these piracy information websites:

United States – http://www.mpaa.org/piracy.asp
UK – http://www.piracyisacrime.com/
Australia – http://www.mipi.com.au/

What is your government doing?

This YouTube video is an official anti piracy comment. Unfortunately, despite what it says, people do steal handbags, televisions and cars.

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