Raspberry Awards Salute Hollywood’s Dishonor Roll
There weren’t any red-carpet arrivals at the fabled Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Saturday night. No designer gowns and no stretch limousines either. Instead, the carpet was a dingy puke green and cream, and there was self-parking for $5 across the street. But the 20th annual Golden Raspberry Awards are not your ordinary awards show. It’s the Oscars for the worst Hollywood has to offer.
The alliteration-heavy dialogue of presenters included snippets of nasty reviews: “[He] rattles off his lines like he’s the star in a grade school Christmas play,” Box Office magazine said about Jake Lloyd, nominated for worst supporting
actor for his performance in “Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.”
The tyke was narrowly beat by the sci-fi stinker’s Jar-Jar Binks. The computer-generated boob didn’t pick up his award; then again, the only nominee who has ever accepted a Razzie in person was director Paul Verhoeven, who had the guts to take the blame and the 1996 Razzie for “Showgirls.”
This year’s ceremony did break the 19-year streak of star no-shows. Robert Conrad, who played the original James West in the hit 1960s TV series “The Wild, Wild West,” took the stage three times to accept awards on behalf of the ridiculous 1999 film version, which he was not in. Roger Ebert likened the movie to “watching money burn on the screen.” Accepting for worst picture, Conrad said sarcastically, “I can’t tell you how happy this makes me.” The film’s Will Smith and Kevin Kline earned an award for worst on-screen chemistry.
Razzie Awards founder John Wilson, a promo writer-producer, said this year’s crop of crud was unique because “most of these bad movies actually made money.” Together, the five worst picture nominees--”Wild Wild West,” “Big Daddy,” “The Haunting,” “Star Wars: Episode I” and “Blair Witch Project”--made close to $940 million, he said, adding that “I’m not sure what that says about the moviegoing public.”
For other winners, or losers, log on to https://www.razzies.com.
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The entire staff, except publisher Linda Mason, was fired from Details magazine last week, but, as Hollywood parlance goes, the party must go on. And it did. On Friday night, Details and Artisan Entertainment (which produced “Blair Witch”) hosted hundreds at a bash at Quixote Studios in Hollywood.
The magazine will be relaunched in October as a consumer companion to Fairchild Publications’ DNR, a men’s fashion trade daily. Kathleen Madigan, spokeswoman for the New York-based Details, said the timing of the announcement was shocking. “Fortunately, Conde Nast corporate [which now owns Fairchild] stepped up to fulfill our commitment at this party.”
I spotted Shoshanna Lonstein, who was tired from a trunk show in Las Vegas but nevertheless on cloud nine. Her clothing line is receiving a boost from “Erin Brockovich’s” Julia Roberts, who sports a Shoshanna bustier on the movie poster.
Gushing about director Steven Soderbergh (“The Limey”), the eternally cool Peter Fonda said: “He knows what he’s going to do in the editing room when he’s filming. I won’t take a job as a director if I don’t see that vision.” Fonda said his next project, a children’s film, will be in theaters this summer. Then he let me try on the sleek steel and glass bifocals built for him by Oakley.
“The lenses are bulletproof,” said the Easy Rider.
At least the stars--Juliette Lewis, Stephen Dorff, Terrence Stamp, Heather Donahue, Jason Lee and others--were not cloistered in poser power pods like they were at the Iam.com bash held at the same venue last Tuesday. The private cabanas set up indoors at the Iam.com launch party allowed celebs to smoke pot, snuggle and feel important--even if they (Pauly Shore?) aren’t.
Artisan and Details deserve props for making their famous guests mix with the plebiscites, which, in my opinion, builds character and reigns in the ego.
Power to the plebes!
Booth Moore can be reached at booth.moore@latimes.com.
