Naomi Watts, “Argo,” “Wonderstone” among bizarre Teen Choice Awards nominees

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:17:00 +0000

Who knew teens were such big Oscar-bait fans?

Among the nominees, announced today via press release, for the Teen Choice Awards are Naomi Watts and her tsunami drama "The Impossible"; Ben Affleck and his Iranian hostage caper "Argo"; Bradley Cooper in the plagiarism melodrama "The Words" (remember "The Words"?); and Carey Mulligan for "The Great Gatsby." Outside the prestige categories, things got even weirder, with Jessica Biel nominated for two little-seen films: the science fiction remake "Total Recall" and the romantic comedy "Playing for Keeps." The box-office disappointment "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" got three nominations.

Plus ça change, though: the final "Twilight" film led the field with the most nominations, and Justin Bieber was nominated for "Choice Male Hottie." Good luck, Justin -- and say hi to beloved teen icon Naomi Watts on the red carpet!

Pick of the week: Beautiful white people hit by tsunami!

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 01:00:00 +0000

Using natural disaster – or manmade apocalypse, ecological catastrophe, alien invasion – as the backdrop for human drama goes clear back to the invention of cinema as spectacle, and arguably a long way before that. Of course we’re not supposed to think that the big, dramatic flood is the main point of the Noah story in the Book of Genesis, or in the Epic of Gilgamesh. But it certainly helped hold the audience’s attention. Given that, it’s surprising that mainstream filmmakers have all but ignored the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, an event that killed almost 100 times more people than the 9/11 attacks and may well have been the worst natural disaster in recorded history.

Salon.com > Naomi Watts

Naomi Watts, “Argo,” “Wonderstone” among bizarre Teen Choice Awards nominees

Pick of the week: Beautiful white people hit by tsunami!