The "People's Choice" is Pure Idiocy
Whenever I share a new Top Ten List or Critic's Group Nomination list, I'm always extra careful to be fair and respectful of other peoples' opinions. But after seeing what the "People's Choice Awards" handed out for 2005's movies, I just can't contain myself. It's simply too hilarious.
According to CNN, "the nominations were determined by editors at Entertainment Weekly, the People's Choice production team and a panel of pop culture fans. Winners were determined by Internet voting."
So here are the peoples' choices:
Favorite Female Movie Star: Sandra Bullock
Also nominated: Angelina Jolie & Nicole Kidman
(Ms. Bullock appeared in two films in 2005: the ensemble drama "Crash" and the stunningly awful "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous.")
Favorite Male Movie Star: Johnny Depp
Also nominated: Nicolas Cage & Samuel L. Jackson
(OK, no real complaint here, even if applauding the awesomeness of Johnny Depp has grown a little old-hat by now. JD did have a great '05 tho, starring in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Corpse Bride," and "The Libertine.")
Favorite Leading Lady: Reese Witherspoon
Also nominated: Cameron Diaz & Renee Zellweger
(So does this mean Reese isn't a "movie star"?)
Favorite Leading Man: Brad Pitt
Also nominated: Jamie Foxx & Adam Sandler
(Just for "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" alone? OK, peoples. Better than the alternatives, anyway.)
Favorite Female Action Star: Jennifer Garner
Also nominated: Angelina Jolie & Catherine Zeta-Jones
(Well this just makes no freakin' sense at all. The only action movie Ms. Garner appeared in last year was "Elektra," which nobody went to see because it sucked. And yet enough people saw it to make it their "choice.")
Favorite Male Action Star: Matthew McConaughey
Also nominated: Brad Pitt & The Rock
(For "Sahara"? Did nobody SEE the lead actor in "Batman Begins"?)
Favorite On-Screen Matchup: Vince Vaughn & Owen Wilson in "Wedding Crashers"
Also nominated: Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and Chris Rock & Adam Sandler in "The Longest Yard"
(I'm really glad they said "On-Screen," otherwise I'd assume Vince and Owen are lovers.)
Favorite Movie Comedy: "Wedding Crashers"
Also nominated: "Hitch" & "The Longest Yard"
(Raise your hand if you honestly think "Wedding Crashers" is funnier than "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," which somehow didn't even earn a nomination.)
Favorite Family Movie: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
Also nominated: "Chicken Little" & "Madagascar"
(Another decent pick, although "Wallace & Gromit" would have been nominated if the average American didn't think British films come with subtitles.)
Favorite Movie Drama: "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith"
Also nominated: "Batman Begins" & "Coach Carter"
Favorite Movie: "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith"
Also nominated: "Batman Begins" & "Hitch"
(OK, I'll let 'em get away with the overall movie pick since "Sith" was huge at the box office and I really dug it a whole lot, but ... BEST DRAMA??? The "American public" chose Star Wars freakin' 3 as best drama??? Oh, people. You must stop. Why make the U.S. even more of a global laughing stock? "Brokeback Mountain" is a drama. "Good Night, and Good Luck." is a drama! "Munich," "A History of Violence," "Crash," "Walk the Line," and alllll of THESE MOVIES are dramas. Sorry, but I figure a working knowledge of genre classifications is a minimum requirement if you're going to vote on any sort of movie poll ... even one this painfully silly. Next year they'll give "BloodRayne" best musical.)
My apologies to the folks on the People's Choice payroll for my derisive mockery, but c'mon, you guys made it way too easy. And I challenge anyone to explain to me how "Star Wars 3" qualifies as a drama.
According to CNN, "the nominations were determined by editors at Entertainment Weekly, the People's Choice production team and a panel of pop culture fans. Winners were determined by Internet voting."
So here are the peoples' choices:
Favorite Female Movie Star: Sandra Bullock
Also nominated: Angelina Jolie & Nicole Kidman
(Ms. Bullock appeared in two films in 2005: the ensemble drama "Crash" and the stunningly awful "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous.")
Favorite Male Movie Star: Johnny Depp
Also nominated: Nicolas Cage & Samuel L. Jackson
(OK, no real complaint here, even if applauding the awesomeness of Johnny Depp has grown a little old-hat by now. JD did have a great '05 tho, starring in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Corpse Bride," and "The Libertine.")
Favorite Leading Lady: Reese Witherspoon
Also nominated: Cameron Diaz & Renee Zellweger
(So does this mean Reese isn't a "movie star"?)
Favorite Leading Man: Brad Pitt
Also nominated: Jamie Foxx & Adam Sandler
(Just for "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" alone? OK, peoples. Better than the alternatives, anyway.)
Favorite Female Action Star: Jennifer Garner
Also nominated: Angelina Jolie & Catherine Zeta-Jones
(Well this just makes no freakin' sense at all. The only action movie Ms. Garner appeared in last year was "Elektra," which nobody went to see because it sucked. And yet enough people saw it to make it their "choice.")
Favorite Male Action Star: Matthew McConaughey
Also nominated: Brad Pitt & The Rock
(For "Sahara"? Did nobody SEE the lead actor in "Batman Begins"?)
Favorite On-Screen Matchup: Vince Vaughn & Owen Wilson in "Wedding Crashers"
Also nominated: Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and Chris Rock & Adam Sandler in "The Longest Yard"
(I'm really glad they said "On-Screen," otherwise I'd assume Vince and Owen are lovers.)
Favorite Movie Comedy: "Wedding Crashers"
Also nominated: "Hitch" & "The Longest Yard"
(Raise your hand if you honestly think "Wedding Crashers" is funnier than "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," which somehow didn't even earn a nomination.)
Favorite Family Movie: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
Also nominated: "Chicken Little" & "Madagascar"
(Another decent pick, although "Wallace & Gromit" would have been nominated if the average American didn't think British films come with subtitles.)
Favorite Movie Drama: "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith"
Also nominated: "Batman Begins" & "Coach Carter"
Favorite Movie: "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith"
Also nominated: "Batman Begins" & "Hitch"
(OK, I'll let 'em get away with the overall movie pick since "Sith" was huge at the box office and I really dug it a whole lot, but ... BEST DRAMA??? The "American public" chose Star Wars freakin' 3 as best drama??? Oh, people. You must stop. Why make the U.S. even more of a global laughing stock? "Brokeback Mountain" is a drama. "Good Night, and Good Luck." is a drama! "Munich," "A History of Violence," "Crash," "Walk the Line," and alllll of THESE MOVIES are dramas. Sorry, but I figure a working knowledge of genre classifications is a minimum requirement if you're going to vote on any sort of movie poll ... even one this painfully silly. Next year they'll give "BloodRayne" best musical.)
My apologies to the folks on the People's Choice payroll for my derisive mockery, but c'mon, you guys made it way too easy. And I challenge anyone to explain to me how "Star Wars 3" qualifies as a drama.
Related Items
(1-20 of 109 posts) | Reply
on Jan 11 2006 04:39 AM yeah the list absolutely sucks i don't think sith was a great action movie, not withstanding a drama best action movie should of gone to the 2nd hour of King Kong (Reply to this) |
on Jan 11 2006 05:40 AM Awful. How awful. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 11 2006 05:58 AM Star Wars Episode III was definetly a drama? Did you even watch it??? or were you too busy drooling over natalie portman?? (I was...and i still got the drama) Episode III was the best movie of the year. Im glad someone agrees. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 11 2006 06:23 AM [b]Drammy[/b] I suppose you could say Batman, SW, or Coach Carter were dramas because they had dramatic moments. Hell, 40 year old virgin had moments of drama. But in a classic sense of what the word means as it relates to movies, none of those three are "drama films." Entertainment Weekly and the people that voted are idiots! 'Nuff said. (Reply to this) |
on Jan 11 2006 06:30 AM [b]Maybe This List is Sorta Right[/b] I know the Peoples Choice Awards are sort of stupid, but sometimes they are actually more reliable than critics. Critics seem to like a movie if it is well made, not if it is entertaining. Like The Aviator. I think Star Wars deserved to win, because it was a very entertaining movie, and pretty well made. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 11 2006 06:41 AM [b]Ugh[/b] I cannot put any stock in a list that nominates Hitch for Favorite anything. And as much as I liked SW and loved BB, they simply do not belong in the drama category. And Coach Carter as another fav? That's just confusing. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 11 2006 07:15 AM [b]Peoples Choice, Who's People[/b] Star Wars III Best drama, not even in a galaxy far far away.......... (Reply to this) |
on Jan 11 2006 07:49 AM argh why can't people get over the fact that the overwhelming majoirty of people have different tastes than that of most critics and addictive RT users. I don't think this is a very good list but I don't see any problem with it except for the fact that it kind of looks like someone confused best with highest grossing, Well anyways viritually every awards association and top ten list is dedicated to the choices of film elites. I don't see why people have to bitch because one pseudo awards association puts up a counter-balance whether they like it or not (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 11 2006 08:21 AM THe one that bothers me the most is Christian Bale not even geting recognized for his action role in Batman Beyond. He did AMAZING in that movie and although I enjoy Matthew McConaughey's work, he does far better in comedies. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 11 2006 09:47 AM [b]Ridiculous Choices by Ridiculous People[/b] The problem is that anyone with a computer and Internet access can vote for the People's Choice Awards. So you have 12 year-olds voting for "Star Wars" as best Drama (of course, the people who run the awards made it a choice to begin with). It's all a part of the dumbing down of America. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 11 2006 09:57 AM This is what I see in this list - those who did the nominations are off their rockers. 'Nough said. As for the voting, it looks like the actors who won (out of what was available to choose) didn't neccessarily have the best movies that year, but they are the most popular actors overall (media, movies from previous years, etc.). So for instance, the average person at their computer wasn't neccessarily thinking of Electra when they voted for Gardner, but possibly Alias instead. As for movies, the average person voting online isn't neccessarily going to vote for the best movie that fits the catagory, but their favorite movie in the catagory. Since the choices were poor anyway, it's no wonder Star Wars won best film and best drama. (Reply to this) |
on Jan 11 2006 10:28 AM What a hilariously awful list. Is the average person that dumb? (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 11 2006 10:46 AM [b]Fault People's Choice Organizers[/b] Look, I'm not going to pick on the results of the People's Choice awards TOO much for being generally weird. To each his own right? Folks find Sandra Bullock charming when she's not making movies so they make her their favorite. Fine. She does seem more approachable than Kidman, who looks like she could freeze a man solid with a glance at 20 yards. The real problem here is what got nominated. You want to make Sith the favorite movie, ok, fine, but why the hell was it even nominated as best drama? It's an action film, not a drama. I could go through the whole list, category by category but that would take too long. My point simply is that you shouldn't lose faith in "the people" when the real problem here seems to be what they were offered (strange parallel to US politics isn't it?) (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 11 2006 10:58 AM [b]Awesome commentary[/b] That list just made me wince when I first read it, but it is excellent to see inspired commentary on the site that logged the true course of 2005 movies. Right on! (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 11 2006 12:06 PM I definately agree that in the end it was the choices that were odd, not necessarily the winners. I mean, Sith has a fair amount of drama in it: best friends fighting eachother, people turning their back on others (i.e. Anakin invading the temple, etc.etc.), the scene where all the Jedi are dying and Yoda grabs his heart in what is probably the most heart wrenching CGI ever done, blindly fighting for love while it's destroying you. I'm sorry but if you were watching that film thinking it was purely an action CGI fest you didn't WATCH the movie, you just saw it. Was it the best drama of the year? Certainly not, but with the other choices I can see why it won, I mean Sith was more of a drama than BB, and Coach Carter was a terrible, terrible movie so. You have to be stupid to think that Brokeback Mountain or Goodnight and Goodluck would win anything...THEY WERE ALL LIMITED RELEASES! A.K.A Not many people have seen them!! Of course it was the blockbusters that pretty much got nominated for everything, because that is what was in wide release, what people saw. Hell, perfectly good movies that were in wide release got completely snubbed by the American public and these award committees..can we say SERENITY!? That movie had some of the best acting, effects, story, drama, action that I have EVER seen in a movie, and it doesn't get a nod for anything! Oh well, that's all I gotta say. I'm happy Star Wars got recognition for something, whether it really deserved it or not. (Reply to this) |
on Jan 11 2006 12:25 PM This makes me feel like quoting Triumph. "This list is good....for me to poop on" (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 11 2006 01:32 PM Holy God, that was wretched... (Reply to this) |
on Jan 11 2006 01:32 PM Star Wars Episode III best drama? Are you kidding? It should have been nominated for best comedy. It was one of the funniest movies of the year. I guess I can see why they think it is a drama, but did they take the dialogue between Anakin and Padme seriously? Every time that movie tried to be dark, dramatic and serious, they ruined it with a horribly delivered line that made me laugh uncontrollably. Moments like Mace's death ("What have I done?!"), Anakin's defeat ("You were the chosen one!"), and Vader learning that Padme is dead ("Noooooooo!") could have been dramatic if it weren't for the writing and the acting. The apocalypse is here people. (Reply to this) |
on Jan 11 2006 01:58 PM It's shows like the people's choice awards that give a bad name to America and American taste. They should have another show in which the choices are not based off of a bunch of twelve-year-old girls sitting around saying that Brad Pitt is the best actor in the world because he has a nice ass. It should be called, The People with Brains Located Above the Waistline's Choice Awards. I would watch that one. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 11 2006 01:58 PM [b]What's with the Diss?[/b] These are called the "People's Choice" awards for a reason. People chose them. I don't know about anyone else, but I feel the film industry has a tendancy to pat itself on the back about five-awards-shows-per-year too often. At least this one isn't a bunch of actors and directors voting on who the best actor and director is. It's like freakin' high school; totally ridiculous. Besides, who are we to complain about how the vast majority of Americans are stupid for liking different movies than we do? As if movies aren't completely subjective?!?!?! Please. Get off your high horse people! As if everyone else is stupid, and you have the vast, superior intellect needed to decipher what is and isn't s good movie? Just say what you liked and why, no need to rip other people's choices. (Reply to this) |
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