Razzie Awards: 'After Earth', 'Movie 43' Dishonored with 3 "Wins" Each

Many call the day of the Academy Awards the Super Bowl for movie fans, but for others it's like cinematic tax day. And those who are paying the price for their filmic indiscretions in 2013 are those responsible for inflicting After Earth and Movie 43 on us.

The Razzie Awards came out with their awards for the worst movies and performances of 2013, and *shocker* there's not an Adam Sandler sighting to be found. Instead, their wrath is aimed at another soft target: Will and Jaden Smith. Will took home Worst Actor for his performance in After Earth, with Jaden taking Worst Supporting Actor, and the pair dishonored with Worst Screen Ensemble.It's worth noting that the Razzies, which have become more pointless than ever as they aim for easy comedy targets that will gain them media attention, didn't recognize that Jaden was the lead actor in After Earth but it doesn't really matter.

If there's such a thing as the top Razzie awards, then Movie 43 took them all. The sketch comedy, which features an Oscar-worthy cast in a seemingly endless series of unfunny gross-out gags, earned Worst Movie, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Director awarded to all 13 directors who took part in making it happen. Other easy targets for the Razzies were the box office bomb, The Lone Ranger, and Kim Kardashian for her supporting appearance in Tyler Perry's Temptation. Full announcement is below, and I think this article in The Telegraph encapsulates why I think the Razzies are worthy of ridicule.

The results are in, the envelopes have been opened, and the "winners" of the 34th Awards have been unveiled in ceremonies held at Hollywood's coolest new venue — just down the street from Sunday night's Oscars — IgnitedSpaces. The hour long show handed out at least one statuette to four of the five Worst Picture nominees, but Adam Sandler and his unfunny follow up Grown Ups 2 went home empty-handed.

Taking three of the top awards was the star-studded, snicker-free sketch comedy Movie 43, which "won" for Worst Screenplay (written by at least 19 people), Worst Director ("credited" to 13 people), and Worst Picture. Tying with 43, and also "winning" 3 gold spray-painted trophies, was the Will and Jaden Smith sci-fi fiasco After Earth. Dad Will Smith took Worst Supporting Actor, son Jaden was named Worst Lead Actor, and the combination of father & son, described in the ceremony as being "stranded on Planet Nepotism", took the award for Worst Screen Combo.

Rounding out the names read when the envelopes were torn were: Tyler Perry (in drag) as Worst Actress for his 8th time playing the cross-dressing character in A Madea Christmas; Kim Kardashian in Tyler Perry's Temptation as Worst Supporting Actress; and the year's biggest box office bomb, a $250 million "reboot" of The Lone Ranger (on which Disney took a $200 million tax write off) which was chosen as Worst Remake/Rip-Off or Sequel.

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Tops At the Box Office: 'The Purge' Invades #1 While 'The Internship' Stumbles

1. The Purge- $36.4M
And the first box office shocker of the summer goes to The Purge, with the horror film slicing and dicing its way past what should've been a clear-cut winner in The Internship. To say that it simply fared better than the Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn comedy is an understatement, doubling its total and tripling it on a per-site basis. Its the latest micro-budget hit for Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions, the studio behind Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and Sinister. Its $3M budget is astonishingly on the high side for them, but that was earned back quickly during a red hot $16M Friday debut. The Purge is basically helping to lead the charge of unexpected hits that don't fit into the normal summer mold, and you can throw The Great Gatsby in that mix as well. The 'C' Cinemascore suggests not everybody who attended was satisfied, but enough showed up that the debut is now the highest-grossing for an R-rated film that isn't a sequel or remake. Wait, what? Who keeps track of stats like that? Ugh.

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Tops at the Box Office: 'Fast & Furious 6' holds to #1; 'After Earth' crash lands

1. Fast & Furious 6- $34.5M/$170.4M
After more than a decade, the Fast & Furious franchise continues to show its mettle, with the latest installment of the street racing series besting two powerful newcomers. In its second weekend, the film tumbled 64%, but with such a strong debut it was more than enough to hold on to the top spot. As director Justin Lin hands over the directing reins for the seventh film, he can go out knowing that the box office has grown for each chapter since he took over with 'Tokyo Drift'. Globally, this will be the second straight film to easily surpass the $500M mark, probably in the next couple of days.

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Cinema Royale #20- Jesse Eisenberg interview; Now You See Me; After Earth

On this week's episode of Cinema Royale, I was joined by Jesse Eisenberg, who reveals all of the tricks in his new magician heist film, Now You See Me.

The summer blockbuster season usually belongs to Will Smith, but can he and son Jaden maintain their dominance wtih M. Night Shyamalan's new film, After Earth?  Fellow Punch Drunk Critic and The Movie Examiner herself +Mae Abdulbaki calls in to discuss which film you should be checking out at theaters this weekend!

You can find Cinema Royale every single week on Blogtalkradio, Itunes, Libsyn, and Podomatic. Listen to this week's episode below...

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M. Night Shyamalan is getting closer to an 'Unbreakable' sequel

If the box office numbers hold up over the weekend, M. Night Shyamalan's After Earth will be another in a string of poorly-received films for the once-promising director. The reviews have been hella harsh, including my own, and its debut on Friday only pulled in $9.8M, putting it behind Fast & Furious 6 and Now You See Me. It's my believe that Shyamalan is better than the crap he's been putting out there for the last few years. His talent may be in making smaller, high-concept character films rather than big budget spectacles. The Sixth Sense and Signs are two such films, but many (myself included) consider his comic book style film Unbreakable to be his most successful effort from a creative standpoint.

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Review: 'After Earth', starring Will and Jaden Smith

Nepotism is hardly a new thing in Hollywood, which may be why nobody cares that Jaden Smith has been handed a golden ticket into the big leagues thanks to his daddy. Will Smith came up with the idea for After Earth himself, as a means of offering up another easy role for Jaden, who has already been given a generous familial boost with The Pursuit of Happyness and The Karate Kid. Whether or not Jaden could make it on his own is an answer we may never know, but his lack of presence and overacting in After Earth suggest that perhaps Will needs to hold off on passing any torches.

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Jaden Smith battles monkeys and tigers in two 'After Earth' clips

One of the big questions surrounding the success of M. Night Shymalan's After Earth was whether audiences would be willing to show up for a film that seems to focus less on Will Smith and more on his son, Jaden. As the release date rapidly approaches, Sony has released a pair of clips that show how Will is going to be very much a part of the story, even as it's Jaden's character who undertakes the perilous journey at the heart of it.

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New clips from 'Now You See Me' and 'After Earth'

We just put up a handful of clips from some of the most intriguing indie films coming down the pike, so it's only fair to do the same for the ones that will actually play in front of packed theaters, right? The month of May is arguably the most stacked of the entire year, and on its final weekend will come one of the more intriguing blockbuster match-ups of the summer season. On May 31st we'll see who wins out between two star-powered films: Louis Leterrier's Now You See Me, and After Earth starring Will Smith. Which one will you turn out for that day? Two clips have been released to perhaps help you decide.

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The Must-See Movies of May

May 2nd

Iron Man 3
Director: Shane Black
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall

How successful have Marvel's first two Iron Man movies been? The first two didn't just combine for over $1.1B at the box office, they led to one of the most successful films of all-time in The Avengers, and helped usher in Marvel's dominant movie machine. So what's next? Iron Man 3 kicks off Phase Two, and it finds Tony Stark affected by the tragic destruction of New York after the Avengers' battle with Loki. His vaunted intellect will be put to the test by the Mandarin, a global terrorist utilizing a powerful nano-virus more advanced than anything Stark has ever seen. Expect the usual round of Marvel Easter Eggs and cameos, including a possible appearance from the Guardians of the Galaxy, as the march begins towards The Avengers 2.

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Will Smith eyes two new projects as 'After Earth' moves up a week

It's not often that news of three potential Will Smith films emerges in the span of a few days. The box office juggernaut is usually good for about one film a year, and often goes a few years without stepping in front of the camera. But he seems to be picking up the pace, as he recently agreed to star in the crime caper, Focus, and now has added two more potential projects to his slate. But first, there's been a little movement on his next film, the sci-fi flick After Earth.

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Two 'After Earth' international posters with Will and Jaden Smith

Seven years after Will Smith introduced us to his son Jaden in the $300M-grosing hit, The Pursuit of Happyness, the two are back at it again in a very different sort of film. After Earth has the father and son duo in the far-flung future, with Will as an injured military commander and Jaden as his son who must make a dangerous journey to save his life.  Two new international posters have been released for the film, which is directed by M. Night Shyamalan and hits theaters on June 7th.

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New posters for 'After Earth', 'Kiss of the Damned', and 'Room 237'

It was only a week ago that we received the new trailer and poster for M. Night Shyamalan's After Earth, and I have to say they were both pretty impressive. Visually, the film sets itself apart from the similarly-toned Oblivion (with Tom Cruise), and looks like a solid "race for your life" action film. A new international poster has been released today, centering on Will and Jaden Smith with a forest growing out of their chests or something.  Their first pairing since The Pursuit of Happyness has them as legendary military commander and son who crash land on a dangerous future version of Earth, with the only hope of survival to make a dangerous journey and activating a rescue beacon. After Earth opens on June 7th.

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New trailer for 'After Earth' with Will and Jaden Smith

Tom Cruise and Will Smith, arguably Hollywood's two most bankable stars, will be competing for your dollars this year in sci-fi films that look an awful lot alike. Cruise has Joseph Kosinski's Oblivion arriving in a couple of months, while Smith enlists his son Jaden for After Earth, brought to life by M. Shyamalan.

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New poster and images from 'After Earth' with Will and Jaden Smith

So far, the marketing campaign for After Earth has not measured up to the usual Will Smith summer release. Last year saw the generally well-received first trailer, but it's been mostly silent since then. That's all about to change tomorrow when the latest trailer hits, and to get us ready Sony has released a new poster and a pair of images.

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New poster for 'After Earth' with Will and Jaden Smith

Although Will Smith is clearly the big draw for M. Night Shymalan's After Earth, it's starting to look like it may be his son Jaden who drives much of the action. That certainly appeared to be the case in the recently released trailer, and it looks like Jaden is at the center of the newly released poster.

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Will and Jaden Smith are lost in space in first 'After Earth' trailer

Short of a small appearance at Comic-Con and an informative promo video, we haven't seen a lot from After Earth, the upcoming sci-fi film that sees Will and Jaden Smith teaming up with M. Night Shymalan. An intriguing combination, to be sure, as the director has hooked up with perhaps the one actor who can put him back in the public's good graces.

The first trailer for After Earth has been released, and the jury may still be out on this one. Set in the distant future where the planet has been devastated and the people escaped to Nova Prime, Will Smith plays legendary General Cypher Raige, who returns home from an extended tour of duty and ready to be a father to his estranged son, Kitai. An asteroid destroys their ship, forcing a crash landing on a dangerous and unfamiliar Earth, and with Cypher dying it's up to Kitai to make the dangerous journey to signal a rescue beacon.

The opening sequence, where Cypher and Kitai attempt to survive the brutal crash, is certainly riveting, but the somber tone that follows doesn't do much to inspire a lot of excitement.  Shymalan's strength has always been in visual effects, it's his scripts that always do him in, and he certainly seems to be in top form here as it looks absolutely stunning, especially during the flying sequences. There's a certain "passing the torch" element here as Jaden is going to be the focal point more than Will. Whether he can handle that in a picture this massive remains to be seen.

After Earth opens on June 7th 2013. Check out the trailer below....

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Promo video for Will Smith and M. Night Shyamalan's 'After Earth'

Sony didn't bother to have too much of a presence for After Earth at Comic-Con, but they didn't shut us out completely. I skipped their meager panel, but from what I heard it was a pretty good introduction to the alternate history timeline dreamed up by M. Night Shymalan, co-writer Gary Whitta(The Book of Eli), and star Will Smith. They then followed that up with this nifty little promo video, that walks us through a Facebook timeline leading up the heavy sci-fi story's events. Yes, in the future, Facebook still rules. And they apparently don't care we all think "timeline" sucks ass....

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