And the award goes t 0...
Some people might say this was
truly the day the music died. Those
people being the die-hard Britney
fans who didn't think it was possible
for her to lose an award, let alone
two. The Princess of Pop fell to
Faith Hill in the Favorite Female
Pop or Rock category at the 28th
Annual American Music Awards on
January 8. Britney and beau Justin
Timberlake's little ensemble were
both beat out by Creed's Human
Clay for Favorite Album in the Pop
or Rock category. Creed also beat
out archnemesis Limp Bizkit in the
Alternative Artist category, and
Backstreet Boys topped N'Sync
(and Creed) for Best Pop/Rock
Mel Gibson backstage
In another show of legitimacy for
award presentations, The 27th an
nual People's Choice Awards
granted honors to a cancelled tele
vision program and decided that the
favorite film of 2000 was one that
had actually been released in
1999... but who's counting?
In what can only be described as
an ironic silver lining, John
Goodman was chosen as Favorite
Performer in a New TV Series for
his work on Normal, Ohio, the same
show that no one liked enough to
actually watch. Goodman beat out
Tom Cavanaugh of NBC's Ed, and
Michael Richards of The Michael
Richards Show, which was also sac
rificed to the ratings gods this sea-
Movies
Save the Last Dance
13 Days
Antitrust
Finding Forrester
Double Take
Jan. 12
IC
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Aerosmith's Steven Tyler performs (far left), Destiny's
Child accepts (left), and Britney Spears dances
(right).
Band, Duo or Group
Other winners include 3 Doors
Down in Favorite New Artist in the
Pop or Rock category, and Kid Rock
in the surprise win over Marc An
thony and the controversial Eminem
in the Favorite Male Artist Pop or
Rock category. Eminem lost to Dr.
Dre in the Best Rap or Hip Hop Art
ist category, not that he would have
been there to accept. The rapper was
noticeably absent from the festivi
ties.
While Faith Hill was the
evening's darling with three total
awards, (she also won Favorite Fe
male Artist Country and Favorite
Album Country for Breathe), Toni
Bette Midler won honors for her
CBS show Bette, beating out fellow
fledgling Geena Davis for The
Geena Davis Show. Midler also
topped newcomer Jessica Alba of
Dark Angel.
NBC swept the Dramatic Series
category with nominees ER, Law Sz
Order and The West Wing, but it was
the veteran ER that took home the
honors. Another seasoned favorite,
Friends, nabbed the award for Com
edy Series, topping Everybody
Loves Raymond and Frasier. David
Schwimmer accepted on behalf of
the cast, showing that there were no
ill-feelings toward the only cast
member who dichi 't wish to renew
the contract. (Two words for ya,
Dave: The Pallbearer).
Ed, the warmhearted show about
a bowling alley lawyer, picked up
the award for New Television Com
edy Series, while James Cameron's
Dark Angel took the New Dramatic
Series award. While both shows
saw their stars lose the respective
performance categories, the acco
lades will surely help solidify the
new series in their network lineup.
Drew Carey picked up an award
Video *
Any Given Sunday
Boiler Room
Final Destination
Magnolia
Next Best Thing:
Special Edition
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by Deanna Symoski
Braxton received two statues for
Favorite Female Soul or R&B as
well as Favorite Album Soul or
R&B for Heat. Brian McKnight
took the honors for Best Male Soul/
R&B artist, and Destiny's Child
nabbed the Best Soul/R&B award
for Band, Duo or Group.
And now for the interesting stuff.
Was it just me, or were Britney's
dancers wearing little boys' under
wear? In a comparatively tame per
formance, Spears was less the cen
ter of attention than the cast of randy
females writhing around beside her.
A relatively clothed Spears per
formed "Stronger" against a sort of
Mad Max backdrop.
by Deanna Symoski
in the People's Choice category for
Male Television Performer, beating
out Kelsey Grammar of Frasier, and
Ray Romano of Everybody Loves
Raymond, sending those shows
home empty handed. Jennifer
An i ston of Friends took the Female
Television Performer award, beat
ing out Jenna Elfman of Dharma
and Greg and Calista Flockhart,
nominated for Ally Mcßeal.
The film honors were a little less
telling as the winners were chosen
between November 1, 1999 and
October 31, 2000 when the polling
was conducted. Mel Gibson re
ceived two dramatic awards for The
Patriot instead of What Women
Want, since voting had ceased be
fore the film was released. Jim
Carrey received comedy honors for
Me, Myself and Irene instead of The
Grinch for the same reason. Julia
Roberts took home the award for
Favorite Female Actress in a Mo
tion Picture for Erin Brokovich, and
Meet the Parents won the People's
Choice for Favorite Comedy Mo
tion Picture. The 1999 film, The
Green Mile, scored for Motion Pic
ture and Dramatic Motion Picture.
Music *
Silkk The Shocker
All The Pretty
Horses: Soundtrack
Alabama
The Gift:
Soundtrack
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Marilyn Manson also took center
stage, or was that Daryl Hannah? In
a misdirected attempt to make some
sort of fashion statement, a fright
eningly punk Hannah was even
more disturbing than Manson's jour
ney into the crowd during his per
formance. Raucous and real,
Manson's time on stage was actu
ally one of the few worthwhile parts
of the show.
If the nominees and winners seem
like more of the same tired fodder
radios can't get enough of, they are.
Based on music sales and airplay,
the AMAs proved to he a main
stream sampling of everything
you're already tired of.
Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich
Though the nominees were di
verse, country ruled the music
scene. Ricky Martin's bonbon
didn't have quite the shake to knock
out Garth Brooks as the country
crooner nabbed the Male Musical
Performer award. Faith Hill took
the Female honors, topping Britney
Spears and fellow country cross
over, Shania Twain. Luckily N'Sync
swooped in to save the day for boy
bands everywhere, winning Music
Group or Band, over Alabama and
the Dixie Chicks. Whoo! That was
a close one.
Overall, the popularity contest
played out like it was supposed to.
The fans screamed and the stars
schmoozed and the balance of the
universe was maintained.
DVD*
Pete's Dragon
Coyote Ugly
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•
, w
.440.
This is for anyone who read The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton then
watched the film. This is for anyone who reads John Grisham
novels then watches the film. But most of all this is for me,
because I paid almost seven bucks last week to witness quite possibly
the most terrible crime against literature ever conducted--All the Pretty
Horses
It's a long standing assumption, and one that is widely proven, that
good books do not necessarily make good movies. You budding
filmmakers out there, read that last line again. You well-read
enthusiasts, take note. A book is a story someone wrote down in
probably many pages that contains only the pictures inside the reader's
head and only the ideas the author could sculpt with his words. A movie
is not the literal translation of those words, as it is a new product in need
of its own unique genius.
scriptwriter relies on the development and imagery inherent within the
written word, forgetting that real people now have to make us believe
what the characters we developed inside our heads have already proven.
What can you show me about Louis' inner turmoil that I haven't already
determined from reading Interview With the Vampire? What new insight
on Daisy's character is in the film version of The Great Gatsby that F.
Scott Fitzgerald left out of his own book? I've already engaged the
original work, complete with the nuances of inspired writing, so in the
words of NFL playoff promos, "You got to show me something more!"
And that's the tough part. When we read, all of us become
filmmakers, casting the story, setting the stage, all inside our heads. Ow
imagination is the director, and we create our own movie based on the
beautiful words on the page. The film we actually see on screen is
simply the director's version and for this reason, because it's not ours,
adaptations will very rarely touch us the way the original novel did.
The film isn't ours. It's not that scriptwriters are lazy, but perhaps they
are overly confident. They believe they can show you what they think
you see when you read. They can't, and that's why I cried more when I
read about Johnny than when I watched. While The Outsiders movie
was satisfactory, these weren't The Outsiders in my head.
And films will never be able to account for time. An 800 page novel
is an undertaking certainly not to be finished in two and a half, even
three hours. So what makes anyone think that a film of the same story
can be watched in that time? Say it takes you a minute and a half to
read a passage about, oh let's say a horse. It only takes you three
seconds to see that passage condensed into a shot in a film. The director
may have shaved a minute and twenty-seven seconds off his movie, but
he cheated you out of the time to really engage the idea. And that's if he
or she chooses to leave that image in the story. Directors most often
butcher details to fit their time allotment, making the story a moth-eaten
version of the original.
I love movies and that's why I hate to see such possibility go to waste
Matt Damon in a cowboy hat had such potential, but the script should
have been original. With an original story, or even an original take on a
preexisting story, the audience is subject to complete immersion rather
than the distraction of pointing out holes. That's probably why
Leonardo DiCaprio could pull off Shakespeare.
While there are those rare occasions where the film is better (see
Grisham's A Time to Kill after you read the book), most films can never
live up to our own expectations. The sun will never hit the trees the
way you imagined, and the color of the river won't be the right color.
The best they can do is guess what you see, so if you want your own
version--the perfect version that's entirely yours--read the book. That's
what they're for.
Mel
by Deanna Symoski
Book Worms:
Why bad adaptations
are eating away at
the core of good novels
And therein lies the problem. Too often it seems the director or
= " , t
FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2001