By Suneal Kolluri
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
One movie awards organization opted not to nominate “A
Beautiful Mind” or “Lord of the Rings” for any
awards this year. Mariah Carey’s “Glitter” and
Tom Green’s “Freddy Got Fingered,” however,
walked away with numerous nominations.
No, the academy is not on crack. A different kind of movie
awards is now on the Internet at www.thestinkers.com. “The
Stinkers” nominate the worst movies of the year in different
categories and allow the site’s visitors to vote.
The idea started when co-founders Michael Lancaster and Ray
Wright worked at a movie theater together and had to work on Oscar
night. It began as a joke and ultimately it became a tradition
among their group of friends.
Every year before the Oscar’s, they would make a bad movie
list and vote on it with their friends, completely oblivious to any
commercial potential it might have in the future.
“We just amused ourselves and annoyed our friends,”
Lancaster said.
And then came the Internet.
“Around “˜95, when we discovered the Internet, a
friend agreed to put ourselves up on the Internet and it just built
from there,” Lancaster said.
Since then, the Web site has become incredibly popular, and the
two get e-mails commenting on the nominated films.
“I get e-mails all the time from people campaigning for
movies “¦ the Internet allows us to be truly international.
The Internet is like the coolest thing ever,” Lancaster
said.
“The Stinkers” are run entirely through the Internet
and base the nominations heavily on feedback from the site’s
visitors, but they don’t have a ceremony that announces the
winners.
“We don’t do a ceremony because we figure no star in
their right mind will show up,” Lancaster said.
Nonetheless, the Web site displays a quote from Green expressing
his excitement for having received seven “Stinker”
nominations.
“I am very proud and honored to be nominated for these
awards,” Green said. “I’ve never won an award
before. I hope there is an actual trophy because I’ve already
dusted off my mantel. I guess dreams can come true.”
Aside from the barrage of nominations for Green’s flop,
“Freddy Got Fingered,” other movies also received a
significant number of nominations.
“3,000 Miles to Graceland,” “Pearl
Harbor,” and “Glitter” received numerous Stinker
nominations.
Even some respected individuals received nods for the awards.
Cuba Gooding Jr. received a nomination for his role in “Rat
Race,” and director Tim Burton took a jab from “The
Stinkers” with a nomination in the category of “Worst
Sense of Direction.”
Yet “The Stinkers” are not free from competition. A
similar sort of operation called the Razzie’s also awards
movies that don’t get respect from serious award shows.
“In “˜96 we discovered that there was a thing called
the Razzie’s. We were stunned, we had no idea that it even
existed. We’re very similar to them, but if you compare the
ballots you’ll see we have a more comprehensive ballot and we
have funnier categories.”
Some of the categories of “The Stinkers” include
“Most Annoying Accent,” “Worst On-Screen
Couple” and “Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy.”
The Razzie’s, however, hold a ceremony for their award
show.
“Their ceremony is pretty clever,” Lancaster said.
“It’s a glorified press conference and it’s
pretty interesting, but their ballot is weak.”
Yet despite the competition, Lancaster and Wright feel strong in
the validity of their nominations because they base them on public
opinion.
“The nominees are made up by everybody throughout the
Internet “¦ We really don’t have much say in it,”
Wright said.
In putting together the nominees and determining the winners,
Wright and Lancaster are having a blast, even if they are just
breaking even.
“I don’t know anyone who’s making money on the
Internet. Unless you’re doing porn, I don’t know anyone
who is making money on the Internet,” Lancaster said.
“It really is a labor of love.”