Norbit Sweeps Four Categories, Eddie Murphy Wins Worst Actor and Actress, and Dane Cook Named Most Overexposed and Cinematic Tragedy of 2007

(Beverly Hills, January 22, 2008) Although it was released almost a year ago, voters in the United Critics Organization (UCO) did not forget Norbit, which was named the worst film of 2007 in the GAG Awards. Sponsored by 7M Pictures and Film School Rejects, these annual award recognized cinematic catastrophes and just plain awful films.

Norbit swept the top four categories, also winning Worst Director for Brian Robbins. Eddie Murphy made GAG Awards history for being the first person to not only be nominated as Worst Actor and Worst Actress, but also to win both awards.

Men in fat suits and dresses were a popular choice for voters this year as John Travolta won Worst Supporting Actor for his role in the otherwise delightful Hairspray. On the Supporting Actress front, director Rob Zombie’s main squeeze Sheri Moon Zombie won the honors for her role in Halloween.

The Worst Screenplay category had a photo finish between Todd Komarnicki’s script for the thriller Perfect Stranger and Bill Kelly’s time-bending story for Premonition. After a tie-breaking analysis, Perfect Stranger came out slightly ahead.

Another nail-biter finale was between Things We Lost in the Fire and Lions for Lambs as Worst Oscar Bait (a new category this year). The Halle Berry drama edged out Robert Redford’s war-time snoozer by a slim margin.

While comedian-turned-actor Dane Cook narrowly escaped Worst Actor and Worst Supporting Actor awards, he was named the Most Overexposed Celebrity (the special Godiva Award) as well as the Cinematic Tragedy of the Year.

“This year, Mr. Cook was nominated for four awards, and he is only an actor right now,” said Kevin Carr, lead film critic for 7M Pictures and president of the UCO. “Imagine how daunting he will be in the GAG Awards if he decides to direct.”

Other movies honored for the lowest form of filmmaking include Shrek the Third for Worst Animated Film and Worst Blockbuster, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer for Worst Special Effects and Worst Sequel, and Michael Moore’s SiCKO for Worst Documentary.

“Anyone can make a bad movie,” said Carr. “However, it takes a special talent to make a film so bad that it leaves a lasting impression for months to come. All of the nominees should be honored for this recognition.”

In addition to Dane Cook’s honor as the Cinematic Tragedy of 2007, other nominees include Seth Rogan having sex with Katherine Heigl and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s bare ass in the opening scene of Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.

A complete list of awards follows, including the winners and other nominees:

WORST PICTURE
Norbit – WINNER!
Because I Said So
Good Luck Chuck
Balls of Fury
Halloween
Codename: The Cleaner

WORST DIRECTOR
Brian Robbins, Norbit – WINNER!
Mark Helfrich, Good Luck Chuck
Rob Zombie, Halloween
Michael Lehmann, Because I Said So
Les Mayfield, Codename: The Cleaner


WORST ACTOR
Eddie Murphy, Norbit – WINNER!Jamie Kennedy, Kickin’ It Old Skool
Nicolas Cage, Ghost Rider
Dane Cook, Good Luck Chuck
Nicolas Cage, Next


WORST ACTRESS
Eddie Murphy, Norbit – WINNER!
Diane Keaton, Because I Said So
Halle Berry, Perfect Stranger
Jodie Foster, The Brave One
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age


WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
John Travolta, Hairspray – WINNER!
Robin Williams, August Rush
George Lopez, Balls of Fury
Dane Cook, Mr. Brooks
Dan Fogler, Good Luck Chuck


WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Sheri Moon Zombie, Halloween – WINNER!
Nicolette Sheridan, Codename: The Cleaner
Jessica Alba, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Malin Akerman, The Brothers Solomon
Mandy Moore, Because I Said So


WORST SCREENPLAY
Todd Komarnicki, Perfect Stranger – WINNER!
Bill Kelly, Premonition
Rob Zombie, Halloween
Josh Stolberg, Good Luck Chuck
Scott Wiper and Rob Hedden, The Condemned


WORST DOCUMENTARY
SiCKO – WINNER!
The 11th Hour
No End in Sight


WORST ANIMATED FILM
Shrek the Third – WINNER!
Happily N’Ever After
Bee Movie
Meet the Robinsons
Beowulf


WORST SPECIAL EFFECTS
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer – WINNER!
I Am Legend
Spider-Man 3
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
D-War: Dragon Wars


WORST SEQUEL
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer – WINNER!
Shrek the Third
Resident Evil: Extinction
Spider-Man 3
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End


WORST BLOCKBUSTER
Shrek the Third – WINNER!
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Wild Hogs
Spider-Man 3


MOST OVEREXPOSED CELEBRITY
Dane Cook – WINNER!
Lindsay Lohan
Jessica Biel
Terrence Howard
Nicole Kidman


CINEMATIC TRAGEDY OF 2007
Dane Cook’s continued existence – WINNER!
Seth Rogan having sex with Katherine Heigl
Phillip Seymour Hoffman's bare ass in the opening scene of Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Men in fat suits
The backyard scene in Transformers – My bad!
Peter Parker goes emo

About the GAG Awards
The annual GAG Awards are nominated and voted on by the United Critics Organization (UCO), which comprises professional journalists and film critics. “GAG” stands for “God Awful Guild,” which honors a new guild, or group, of films and filmmakers for outstanding cinematic disasters each year.

Visit 7mpictures.com or FilmSchoolRejects.com for more information.

January Continues: Nominations and Awards and Parties and Bad Movies

New at NightsAndWeekends.com Since Last Week:
First Sunday
The Kite Runner

Last night was the annual COFCA awards dinner, which unofficially marks the end of the awards insanity for another 10 months or so. If you want to check out the results, I posted the press release below.

I tend to forget that my busy season doesn’t really end with the last screening before the holidays. Over the holidays, I try to catch up on screeners and start making my lists. That continues right up until COFCA nominations are due (this year, I got mine in a whole 25 hours early, sending them in at 11 p.m. last Friday). Then comes voting (which ended on Wednesday night), followed by the awards party.

It wasn’t over then, either. I’d been so busy agonizing over my picks for the best of everything that I procrastinated on my picks for the worst of everything. But GAG award nominations are due today—so I sat down this morning and flipped through my lists until my nomination ballot was filled in. I got my GAG nominations sent in a whole eight hours before the deadline. Voting for that starts next week—so I guess I’m not completely out of the awards season fog yet, after all.

I have, however, made my picks. It was another tough one this year—even tougher than last year. As I trudged through the lists, checking and rechecking my notes from the year, my despair led me to create these T-shirts—because, after a while, I felt like I was just a cranky critic, unsatisfied with everything. If you share my despair, order a shirt. If you’d like to check out my thoughts on the movies of 2007, check out this year’s movie recap: “Movies 2007: Did I Miss Something?”

Meanwhile, the January Blahs continue—and I’ve already begun creating a list of possible nominations for next year’s GAG awards.

On Tuesday, we gathered at the usual theater for a screening of 27 Dresses. Though it was supposed to be released this weekend, it was postponed a week, for some strange reason, putting it up against Mad Money and Cloverfield next weekend. But since I’m a week ahead of the release date, I can’t really say too much about the movie. The whole screening experience in general was pretty subdued, too—other than the post-screening re-hashing of our award nominations. At this time of year, critics tend to get a little feisty, taking sides and making bold statements. On Tuesday night, Bill remained solo in his I Hate Juno Club. Jason gave another “Why I Totally Hated Into the Wild” speech (which are always highly entertaining). And Bill and I are both proud members of the The Orphanage Scared the Crap Out of Me Club.

The real excitement of the week, however, came on Wednesday, when we headed to The Theater With the Balcony for a screening of First Sunday. It takes a very strong critic to tackle both an Ice Cube/Tracy Morgan movie and the Balcony Brigade—and only a few of us were up for the challenge.

As it turned out, getting there was part of the challenge. That night, the Dancing with the Stars tour was in town, and the worst drivers in the state were out in full force, making left turns from the right lane, making right turns from the left lane, and generally having no clue where they were going. But, fortunately, I did eventually make it. When I got there, the crowd was already lined up around the corner, and Bill and Kevin were waiting inside. We headed straight for the balcony, where a security guard did a very good job of trying to keep us out—until he found out that it really was okay. I was pretty proud of the security guard, though—sticking to his guns and all. Perhaps that would mean that he’d also throw people out for playing with their cell phones and blinding people during the movie.

Once we made it to the balcony, we chose the front row—where we figured that at least we wouldn’t have to deal with loud, obnoxious Balcony Brigade members in front of us. Shortly thereafter, the crowd started filling in. As usual, it was a crazy crowd—so crazy that we had to yell at each other in order to have a conversation. And when the giveaways began, it got even worse. Once again, Team Balcony backed one another up—and the demands for equal treatment/prizing eventually turned into personal attacks on the poor guy who was half-heartedly acting as host. There was much yelling. If there’s one thing that can be said for the Balcony Brigade, it’s that they’re loud. So loud, in fact, that nobody paid any attention to the poor security guy’s warnings. So loud that when the first trailer started—and it was totally blurry—the whole place erupted in shouts and boos. Really. It was crazy.

What’s crazier, though, is that the movie was even more obnoxious than the crowd. After listening to the crowd bickering for 45 minutes before the movie started, the last thing I wanted was an hour and a half of characters bickering on-screen. But that’s what I got.

As we walked out of the theater, Kevin just turned to us and said, “Well, welcome to January.”

Next week marks the release of the highly-anticipated, over-hyped geek-fest, Cloverfield. The closer it gets, the more concerned I get. But we’ll all be there to see it—and we’ll most likely be there early for a few preparatory happy hour drinks. Of course, the whole hand-held-camera thing mixed with alcohol probably isn’t the best idea, but I’m willing to give it a shot. I’ll have to remember to bring my barf bag.