Smithee Awards
Saturday the wife and I attended the annual Ann Arbor showing of the Smithee awards! No, we didn't attend just because of the name*. The awards celebrate the very worst in movies with 19 categories, including most inane dialog, worst acting, most ridiculous premise, overkill (termed here "Cutting butter with a chainsaw"). The show culminates in the worst movie of the year. I had never heard of any of the films, most of which were sci fi/fantasy/horror films. Old and new films compete.
One year a film that won in some of the categories was so popular with the audience that several people bought copies online. This made the producer suspicious because he rarely gets anybody buying his films. Instead of suing for copyright infringement, though, he sent in copies of his other movies with a note that said "thanks for promoting independent films!"
We attended with three colleagues and a friend, but saw at least four other friends while we were there (you know you're living in a small town when...). One of our friends won the drawing for a really bad prize. but it was still fun to see someone I know win.
Find out more at http://www.smitheeawards.com/
They are also on Live Journal: http://smithee-awards.livejournal.com/
*Named for the pseudonym, John Smithee, that directors list when their movie is so bad they don't want their real name in the credits.
One year a film that won in some of the categories was so popular with the audience that several people bought copies online. This made the producer suspicious because he rarely gets anybody buying his films. Instead of suing for copyright infringement, though, he sent in copies of his other movies with a note that said "thanks for promoting independent films!"
We attended with three colleagues and a friend, but saw at least four other friends while we were there (you know you're living in a small town when...). One of our friends won the drawing for a really bad prize. but it was still fun to see someone I know win.
Find out more at http://www.smitheeawards.com/
They are also on Live Journal: http://smithee-awards.livejournal.com/
*Named for the pseudonym, John Smithee, that directors list when their movie is so bad they don't want their real name in the credits.