Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
name	Golden Raspberry Award
description	Worst in film
presenter	Golden Raspberry Award Foundation
country	United States
year	1981
website	http://www.razzies.com/ }}

A Golden Raspberry Award, or Razzie for short, is an award presented in recognition of the worst in movies. Founded by American copywriter and publicist John J.B. Wilson in 1981, the annual Razzie Awards ceremony in Los Angeles precedes the corresponding Academy Awards ceremony by one day. The term ''raspberry'' in the name is used in its irreverent sense, as in "blowing a raspberry". The awards themselves typically cost $4.97 each, in the form of a "golfball-sized raspberry" which sits atop a Super 8 mm film reel, the whole of which is spray-painted gold.

History

Foundation

American copywriter and publicist John J.B. Wilson traditionally held potluck dinner parties at his house in Los Angeles on the night of the Academy Awards. In 1981, after the 53rd Academy Awards had completed for the evening, Wilson invited friends to give random award presentations in his living room. Wilson decided to formalize the event, after watching a double feature of ''Can't Stop the Music'' and ''Xanadu''. He gave them ballots to vote on worst in film. Wilson stood at a podium made of cardboard in a tacky tuxedo, with a foam ball attached to a broomstick as a fake microphone, and announced ''Can't Stop the Music'' as the first Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture. The impromptu ceremony was a success, and the following week a press release about his event released by Wilson was picked up by a few local newspapers, including a mention in the ''Los Angeles Daily News'' with the headline: "Take These Envelopes, Please".

Approximately three dozen people came to the 1st Golden Raspberry Awards. The 2nd Golden Raspberry Awards had double the attendance as the first, and the 3rd awards ceremony had double this number. By the 4th Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony, CNN and two major wire services covered the event. Wilson realized that by scheduling the Golden Raspberry Awards prior to the Academy Awards, the ceremony would get more press coverage: "We finally figured out you couldn't compete with the Oscars on Oscar night, but if you went the night before, when the press from all over the world are here and they are looking for something to do, it could well catch on," he said to ''BBC News''.

Name

The term ''raspberry'' is used in its irreverent sense, as in "blowing a raspberry". Wilson commented to the author of ''Blame It on the Dog'': "When I registered the term with the Library of Congress in 1980, they asked me, 'Why ''raspberry''? What's the significance of that?' But since then, ''razz'' has pretty much permeated the culture. We couldn't have done it without Hollywood's help." Wilson is referred to as "Ye Olde Head Razzberry".

Format

Awarding process

Paid members of the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation vote to determine the winners; individuals may become members of the foundation by visiting the organization's website at www.razzies.com. For the 29th Golden Raspberry Awards in 2009, award results were based on votes from approximately 650 journalists, cinema fans, and professionals from the film industry. Voters hailed from 45 states in the United States and 19 other countries.

Ceremony

The ceremony, typically held one day before the Academy Awards, is modelled after the latter but "deliberately low-end and tacky".

Categories

Current

Worst Actor

Worst Actress

Worst Supporting Actor

Worst Supporting Actress

Worst Screen Couple (since 1994; re-designated Worst Screen Couple/Screen Ensemble for the 2010 award)

Worst Screenplay

Worst Director

Worst Picture

Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel (since 1994)

Retired

Worst Original Song (1980 to 1999, 2002)

Worst New Star (1981 to 1988, 1990 to 1998)

Worst Musical Score (1981 to 1985)

Worst Visual Effects (1986 to 1987)

Special categories

Special categories have also been introduced for specific years. Such special awards include Worst Screenplay Grossing Over $100 Million (1996), Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property (1997), Most Flatulent Teen-Targeted Movie (2002), Worst Excuse for an Actual Movie (All Concept/No Content!) (2003), Most Tiresome Tabloid Targets (2005), Worst Excuse For Family Entertainment (2006), Worst Excuse for a Horror Movie (2007), and Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3D (2010).

Other types of awards

Over the years, the Golden Raspberry Awards have awarded special awards next to the actual Razzie Awards as well.

Worst Career Achievement Award

This award has been given only five times, in 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, and 2009 to Ronald Reagan, Linda Blair, Irwin Allen, "Bruce the Rubber Shark" from ''Jaws'' and director Uwe Boll who received his for his achievement as "Germany's answer to Ed Wood".

Governor's Award

This is a special award given by Razzie Award Governor John Wilson to an individual whose achievements are not covered by the Razzie's other categories. It was awarded in 2003 to Travis Payne for "Distinguished Under-Achievement in Choreography" in the film ''From Justin to Kelly''.

See also

Academy Award

Bad Sex in Fiction Award

Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year for odd book titles

Ig Nobel Prizes for questionable scientific achievements

List of films considered the worst

List of people who have accepted Golden Raspberry Awards

Stella Awards for outrageous lawsuits

Stinkers Bad Movie Awards

The Golden Turkey Awards

References

External links

Golden Raspberry Official Website

Razzie Awards page on the Internet Movie Database

Razzie channel on YouTube

Category:Ironic and humorous awards Category:American film awards Category:Awards established in 1981 Category:Lists of worsts

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Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
alt	Head and shoulders shot of a smiling Berry facing the camera.
birth date	August 14, 1966
birth place	Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
birth name	Maria Halle Berry
occupation	Actress
years active	1989–present
spouse
partner	Gabriel Aubry (2005–10)Olivier Martinez (2010–present)
children	Nahla Ariela Aubry }}

Halle Berry (; born August 14, 1966) is an American actress, a former fashion model, and beauty queen. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image Award for ''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge'' and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in ''Monster's Ball'', becoming the first and, as of 2011, only woman of African American descent to have won the award for Best Actress. She is one of the most highly paid actresses in Hollywood and also a Revlon spokeswoman. She has been involved in the production side of several of the films in which she performed.

Before becoming an actress, Berry entered several beauty contests, finishing as the 1st runner-up in the Miss USA Pageant (1986), and coming in 6th place in the Miss World Pageant in 1986. She made her film debut with a small role in 1991's ''Jungle Fever''. This led to starring roles in ''The Flintstones'' (1994), ''Bulworth'' (1998), ''X-Men'' (2000) and its sequels, and as Bond Girl Jinx in ''Die Another Day'' (2002). She also won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress in 2005 for ''Catwoman'' and accepted the award in person—one of the few performers to do so.

Early life

Berry was born Maria Halle Berry, though her name was legally changed to Halle Maria Berry in 1971. Berry's parents selected her middle name from Halle's Department Store, which was then a local landmark in her birthplace of Cleveland, Ohio. Her mother, Judith Ann (née Hawkins), who is Caucasian, was a psychiatric nurse. Her father, Jerome Jesse Berry, was an African American hospital attendant in the same psychiatric ward where her mother worked; he later became a bus driver. Berry's maternal grandmother, Nellie Dicken, was born in Sawley, Derbyshire, England, while her maternal grandfather, Earl Ellsworth Hawkins, was born in Ohio. Berry's parents divorced when she was four years old; she and her older sister Heidi were raised exclusively by her mother. Berry has said in published reports that she has been estranged from her father since her childhood, noting in 1992, "I haven't heard from him since [he left]. Maybe he's not alive."

Berry graduated from Bedford High School, afterward working in the children's department at Higbee's Department store. She then studied at Cuyahoga Community College. In the 1980s, she entered several beauty contests, winning Miss Teen All-American in 1985 and Miss Ohio USA in 1986. She was the 1986 Miss USA first runner-up to Christy Fichtner of Texas. In the Miss USA 1986 pageant interview competition, she said she hoped to become an entertainer or to have something to do with the media. Her interview was awarded the highest score by the judges. She was the first African-American Miss World entrant in 1986, where she finished sixth and Trinidad and Tobago's Giselle Laronde was crowned Miss World.

Acting career

1989–2002

In the late 1980s, Berry went to Illinois to pursue a modeling career as well as acting. One of her first acting projects was a television series for local cable by Gordon Lake Productions called ''Chicago Force''. In 1989, Berry landed the role of Emily Franklin in the short-lived ABC television series ''Living Dolls'' (a spin-off of ''Who's the Boss?''), during the taping of which she lapsed into a coma and was diagnosed with diabetes. She went on to have a recurring role on the long-running primetime serial Knots Landing. In 1992, Berry was cast as the love interest in the video for R. Kelly's seminal single, "Honey Love".

Her breakthrough feature film role was in Spike Lee's ''Jungle Fever'', in which she played a drug addict named Vivian. Her first co-starring role was in the 1991 film ''Strictly Business.'' In 1992, Berry portrayed a career woman who falls for Eddie Murphy in the romantic comedy ''Boomerang.'' That same year, she caught the public's attention as a headstrong biracial slave in the TV adaptation of ''Queen: The Story of an American Family'', based on the book by Alex Haley. Berry was in the live-action ''Flintstones'' movie as "Sharon Stone", the sultry secretary who seduced Fred Flintstone.

Playing a former drug addict struggling to regain custody of her son in ''Losing Isaiah'' (1995), Berry tackled a more serious role, starring opposite Jessica Lange. She portrayed Sandra Beecher in ''Race the Sun'' (1996), which was based on a true story, and co-starred alongside Kurt Russell in ''Executive Decision''. Beginning in 1996, she was a Revlon spokeswoman for seven years and renewed her contract in 2004.

In 1997, Halle starred alongside Natalie Deselle Reid in the comedy film, B*A*P*S. Although panned by critics, it showed Halle's acting versatility.In 1998, Berry received praise for her role in ''Bulworth'' as an intelligent woman raised by activists who gives a politician (Warren Beatty) a new lease on life. The same year, she played the singer Zola Taylor, one of the three wives of pop singer Frankie Lymon, in the biopic ''Why Do Fools Fall in Love''. In the 1999 HBO biopic ''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge'', she portrayed the first black woman to be nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award. Berry's performance was recognized with several awards, including an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

Berry portrayed the mutant superhero Storm in the film adaptation of the comic book series ''X-Men'' (2000) and its sequels, ''X2: X-Men United'' (2003) and ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' (2006). In 2001, Berry appeared in the film ''Swordfish'', which featured her first nude scene. At first, she refused to be filmed topless in a sunbathing scene, but she changed her mind when Warner Brothers raised her fee substantially. The brief flash of her breasts added $500,000 to her fee. Berry considered these stories to be rumors and was quick to deny them. After turning down numerous roles that required nudity, she said she decided to make ''Swordfish'' because her husband, Benét, supported her and encouraged her to take risks.

In 2001, Berry appeared as Leticia Musgrove, the wife of an executed murderer, in the film ''Monster's Ball''. Her performance was awarded the National Board of Review and the Screen Actors Guild best-actress prizes; in an interesting coincidence she became the first African-American to win the Academy Award for Best Actress (earlier in her career she portrayed Dorothy Dandridge, the first African-American to be nominated for Best Actress). The NAACP issued the statement: "Congratulations to Halle Berry and Denzel Washington for giving us hope and making us proud. If this is a sign that Hollywood is finally ready to give opportunity and judge performance based on skill and not on skin color then it is a good thing." Her role also generated controversy. Berry's graphic nude love scene with a racist character played by co-star Billy Bob Thornton was the subject of much media chatter and discussion among African-Americans. Many in the African-American community were critical of Berry for taking the part. Berry responded: "I don't really see a reason to ever go that far again. That was a unique movie. That scene was special and pivotal and needed to be there, and it would be a really special script that would require something like that again."

Berry asked for a higher fee for Revlon advertisements after winning the Academy Award, and Ron Perelman, the cosmetics firm's chief, congratulated her, saying how happy he was that she modeled for his company. She replied, "Of course, you'll have to pay me more." Perelman stalked off in a rage. Her win at the Academy Awards led to two famous "Oscar moments." In accepting her award, she gave an acceptance speech honoring previous black actresses who had never had the opportunity. She said, "This moment is so much bigger than me. This is for every nameless, faceless woman of colour who now has a chance tonight because this door has been opened." One year later, as she presented the Best Actor award, winner Adrien Brody ran on stage and, instead of giving her the standard peck on the cheek, planted a long kiss on Berry.

2002 – present

As Bond girl Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson in the 2002 blockbuster ''Die Another Day'', Berry recreated a scene from ''Dr. No'', emerging from the surf to be greeted by James Bond as Ursula Andress had 40 years earlier. Lindy Hemming, costume designer on "Die Another Day", had insisted that Berry wear a bikini and knife as an homage. Berry has said of the scene: "It's splashy", "exciting", "sexy", "provocative" and "it will keep me still out there after winning an Oscar." The bikini scene was shot in Cadiz; the location was reportedly cold and windy, and footage has been released of Berry wrapped in thick towels in between takes to avoid catching a chill. According to a ITV news poll, Jinx was voted the fourth toughest girl on screen of all time. Berry was hurt during filming when debris from a smoke grenade flew into her eye. It was removed in a 30-minute operation.

After Berry won the Academy Award, rewrites were commissioned to give her more screentime for ''X2''.

In November 2003, she starred in the psychological thriller ''Gothika'' opposite Robert Downey Jr., during which she broke her arm in a scene with Downey, who twisted her arm too hard. Production was halted for eight weeks. It was a moderate hit at the United States box office, taking in $60 million; it earned another $80 million abroad. Berry appeared in the Limp Bizkit music video for "Behind Blue Eyes" for the motion picture soundtrack for the film. The same year, she was named #1 in ''FHM'''s 100 Sexiest Women in the World poll. In 2004, Berry was voted fourth of Empire magazine's 100 sexiest film stars of all time poll.

Berry received $12.5 million for the title role in the film ''Catwoman'', a $100 million movie; it grossed $17 million on its first weekend. She was awarded a "worst actress" Razzie award in 2005 for this role. She appeared at the ceremony to accept the award in person (making her the third person, and second actor, to ever do so) with a sense of humor, considering it an experience of the "rock bottom" in order to be "at the top". Holding the Academy Award in one hand and the Razzie in the other she said, "I never in my life thought that I would be here, winning a Razzie. It's not like I ever aspired to be here, but thank you. When I was a kid, my mother told me that if you could not be a good loser, then there's no way you could be a good winner." The Fund for Animals praised Berry's compassion towards cats and for squelching rumors that she was keeping a Bengal tiger from the sets of Catwoman as a "pet."

Berry next appeared in the Oprah Winfrey-produced ABC TV movie ''Their Eyes Were Watching God'' (2005), an adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's novel, in which Berry portrayed Janie Crawford, a free-spirited woman whose unconventional sexual mores upset her 1920s contemporaries in a small community. She was nominated for an Emmy for this TV film. Meanwhile, she voiced the character of Cappy, one of the many mechanical beings in the animated feature ''Robots'' (2005).

In 2006, Berry, Pierce Brosnan, Cindy Crawford, Jane Seymour, Dick Van Dyke, Tea Leoni, and Daryl Hannah successfully fought the Cabrillo Port Liquefied Natural Gas facility that was proposed off the coast of Malibu. Berry said, "I care about the air we breathe, I care about the marine life and the ecosystem of the ocean." In May 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the facility. Hasty Pudding Theatricals gave her its 2006 ''Woman of The Year'' award.

Berry is involved in production of films and television. She served as executive producer on ''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge'' in 1999, and ''Lackawanna Blues'' in 2005. Berry both produced and starred in the thriller ''Perfect Stranger'' with Bruce Willis and in ''Things We Lost in the Fire'' with Benicio del Toro. Berry then starred in the film ''Frankie and Alice'', in which she plays Frankie Murdoch, a young multiracial American women with dissociative identity disorder struggling against her alter personality to retain her true self. She was awarded the African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress and also was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama.

Berry is one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, earning $10 million per film. In July 2007, she topped ''In Touch'' magazine's list of the world's most fabulous 40-something celebrities. On April 3, 2007, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the Kodak Theatre at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard for her contributions to the film industry.

Berry has served for many years as the face of Revlon cosmetics and also as the face of Versace. The Coty Inc. fragrance company signed Berry to market her debut fragrance in March 2008. Berry was delighted, saying that she had created her own fragrances at home by mixing scents.

Personal life

Family and relationships

Berry has been married twice. Her first marriage was to former baseball player David Justice, shortly after midnight on January 1, 1993. The couple separated in 1996 and their divorce was finalized in 1997. Berry has stated publicly that she was so depressed after her breakup with Justice that she considered taking her own life, but she could not bear the thought of her mother finding her body.

Berry married Eric Benét in early 2001 on a beach in Santa Barbara. Berry credited Benét with support after she was involved in a February 2000 traffic collision, in which she left the scene of the accident. Some in the media complained that her misdemeanor hit and run charge was preferential treatment; she had also been the driver in an alleged hit and run incident three years earlier in which no charges were filed. The incident became fodder for comedians. Berry pled no contest, did community service, paid a fine and was placed on three years' probation. A civil lawsuit was settled out of court.

The couple separated in 2003. After the separation, Berry stated, "I want love, and I will find it, hopefully." While married to Benét, Berry adopted his daughter, India. The divorce was finalized in January 2005. Benét – who admitted to being unfaithful to Berry – married Prince's ex-wife, Manuela Testolini, on 31 July 2011.

In November 2005, Berry began dating French-Canadian supermodel Gabriel Aubry, nine years her junior. The couple met at a Versace photoshoot. After six months with Aubry, she stated in an interview, "I'm really happy in my personal life, which is a novelty to me. You know, I'm not the girl that has the best relationships."

At one point, Berry had indicated that she planned to adopt children, but her experience playing a mother in ''Things We Lost In The Fire'' opened her mind to the possibility of motherhood. After initially denying rumors, she confirmed in September 2007 that she was three months pregnant. Berry gave birth to a girl named Nahla Ariela Aubry on March 16, 2008, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Nahla means "honeybee" in Arabic; Ariela is Hebrew for "lion for God". Berry hired security guards after receiving racist threats to her unborn baby from a stalker, who said her child will be "cut into hundreds of pieces".

At one time, Berry indicated that she did not intend to marry again, insisting the couple's life was already complete without the need for a marriage. She stated that she hoped to have a second child right away. Aubry told ''In Touch'' magazine, "I'd like Nahla to have a sibling in 2009."

On April 30, 2010, it was reported that Berry and Aubry had separated. Several days later, Berry's representative confirmed the relationship had ended, saying, "They have been split for some time, but remain friends and committed parents to their daughter." They worked out a financial and 50/50 custody deal with a family lawyer, but TMZ reported that it was not final. Aubry filed documents with the Los Angeles Superior Court on December 30, 2010, asking the court to formally recognize his paternity and grant a court order giving him and Berry joint legal and physical custody over their daughter. On January 31, 2011, Berry's representative told ''People'' that Berry had pulled out of the film ''New Year's Eve'' to make time for custody litigation because the actress "has serious concerns for her daughter's well-being while in the care of her father for any extended period of time and is prepared to take all necessary steps to protect her". The publicist claimed that Berry "has attempted to resolve these custody issues amicably with her daughter's father...directly, but given his lack of cooperation, Halle has no choice but to seek swift judicial intervention." The following day, Aubry responded by saying through his representative that he was "disappointed in Halle's decision to falsely malign him publicly and for her own purposes", calling himself "a caring father who shares custody of Nahla". Aubry further stated that "he refuses to be pulled into her dispute over a canceled film production" and "also refuses to air their issues in the press as he believes this may ultimately harm their daughter".

In the media

Berry has stated that the manner in which people have reacted to her because of her racial background is often the result of ignorance. Her own self-identification has been influenced by her mother. She is quoted as saying:

After having many talks with my mother about the issue, she reinforced what she had always taught me. She said that even though you are half black and half white, you will be discriminated against in this country as a black person. People will not know when they see you that you have a white mother unless you wear a sign on your forehead. And, even if they did, so many people believe that if you have an ounce of black blood in you then you are black. So, therefore, I decided to let folks categorize me however they needed to.

While taping the ''Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' on October 19, 2007, Berry displayed a distorted image of her face, remarking: "Here's where I look like my Jewish cousin!" During the editing of the program, the comment was obscured by a laugh track. Berry later stated "What happened was I was backstage before the show and I have three girls who are Jewish who work for me. We were going through pictures to see which ones looked silly, and one of my Jewish friends said [of the big-nose picture], 'That could be your Jewish cousin!' And I guess it was fresh in my mind, and it just came out of my mouth. But I didn't mean to offend anybody. I didn't. I didn't mean any harm. – and after the show I realized it could be seen as offensive, so I asked Jay to take it out, and he did.'"

Berry took part in a nearly 2000-house party cell-phone bank campaign for Barack Obama in February 2008, and said that she will "collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear."

In October 2008, Berry was named Esquire Magazine's "Sexiest Woman Alive", about which she stated "I don't know exactly what it means, but being 42 and having just had a baby, I think I'll take it."

Filmography

Title	Year	Role	Notes
''Living Dolls''	1989	Emily Franklin	TV (canceled after 13 episodes)
! scope="row"	1991	Claire	TV series, episode: "Unforgettable"
''''	1991	Jaclyn	TV series, episode: "Love, Hillman-Style"
''They Came from Outer Space''	1991	Rene	TV series, episode: "Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow"
''Knots Landing''	1991	Debbie Porter	TV (cast member in 1991)
''Jungle Fever''	1991	Vivian
! scope="row"	1991	Natalie
''''	1991	Cory
! scope="row"	1992	Angela Lewis
''Alex Haley's Queen''	1993	Queen	NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
''CB4''	1993	Herself	Cameo
''Father Hood''	1993	Kathleen Mercer
''''	1993	Autumn Haley
''''	1994	Sharon Stone
''Solomon & Sheba''	1995	Nikhaule/Queen Sheba	TV
''Losing Isaiah''	1995	Khaila Richards	Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
''Executive Decision''	1996	Jean
''Race the Sun''	1996	Miss Sandra Beecher
! scope="row"	1996		Cameo
''''	1996	Josie Potenza
''B*A*P*S''	1997	Nisi
''''	1998	Shelby Coles	TV
''Bulworth''	1998	Nina	Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
! scope="row"	1998	Zola Taylor
''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge''	1999	Dorothy Dandridge	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a MovieGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television FilmScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television MovieNAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic SpecialNominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
! scope="row"	2000
''Welcome to Hollywood''	2000		Documentary
! scope="row"	2001	Ginger Knowles	NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
''Monster's Ball''	2001	Leticia Musgrove
''Die Another Day''	2002	Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson
! scope="row"	2003	Ororo Munroe/Storm
''Gothika''	2003	Miranda Grey	Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie Actress – Drama/Action AdventureNominated – Black Reel Award for Best ActressNominated – Kids Choice Award for Favorite ActressNominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion PictureNominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Performance - Female
! scope="row"	2004			2005	Janie Starks	Nominated—[[Black Reel Award for Best Actress: T.V. Movie/Cable">Golden Raspberry Award
! scope="row"	2005	Janie Starks	Nominated—[[Black Reel Award for Best Actress: T.V. Movie/CableNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television FilmNominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic SpecialNominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
! scope="row"	2005		(Voice)
''X-Men: The Last Stand''	2006	Ororo Munroe/Storm
! scope="row"	2007	Rowena Price
! scope="row"	2007	Audrey Burke
''Frankie and Alice''	2010	Frankie/Alice	African-American Film Critics Association for Best ActressNAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion PicturePRISM Award for Best Performance in a Feature FilmNominated—BET Award for Best ActressNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
''Dark Tide''	2011	Kate Mathieson
! scope="row"	2011		filming
''Movie 43''	2012		filming

Awards

! Year	! Award	! Category	! Film	! Result
1995	NAACP Image Awards		''Alex Haley's Queen''
2000	Primetime Emmy Award		''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge''
2000	Golden Globe Award		''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge''
2000	Screen Actors Guild Awards		''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge''
2000	Black Reel Awards	Best Actress in a TV Movie/Mini-Series	''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge''
2000	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a TV Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special	''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge''
2001	Academy Award		''Monster's Ball''
2001	Screen Actors Guild Awards		''Monster's Ball''
2001	British Academy of Film and Television Arts	Best Lead Actress	''Monster's Ball''
2001	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama	''Monster's Ball''
2001			''Monster's Ball''
2002	Black Reel Awards	Best Actress	''Monster's Ball''
2002	NAACP Image Award	NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
2002	BET Awards	Best Actress
2002	Women in Film Los Angeles			Recipient
2003	BET Awards	Best Actress
2003	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress	''[[Die Another Day''
2004	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Actress	''Gothika''
2004	BET Awards	Best Actress
2004	Golden Raspberry Awards	Worst Actress
2005	BET Awards	Best Actress
2005	Primetime Emmy Award
2006	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress – TV series	''Their Eyes Were Watching God''
2006	Golden Globe Awards		''Their Eyes Were Watching God''
2007	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Female Action Hero	''X-Men: The Last Stand''
2008	BET Awards	Best Actress
2009	Spike Guys' Choice Awards	Decade of Hotness Award
2011	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama	''Frankie and Alice''
2011	NAACP Image Awards	NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture	''Frankie and Alice''

References

Further reading

Banting, Erinn. ''Halle Berry'', Weigl Publishers, 2005 – ISBN 1-59036-333-7

Gogerly, Liz. ''Halle Berry'', Raintree, 2005 – ISBN 1-4109-1085-7

Naden, Corinne J. ''Halle Berry'', Sagebrush Education Resources, 2001 – ISBN 0-613-86157-4

O'Brien, Daniel. ''Halle Berry'', Reynolds & Hearn, 2003 – ISBN 1-903111-38-2

Sanello, Frank. ''Halle Berry: A Stormy Life'', Virgin Books, 2003 – ISBN 1-85227-092-6

Schuman, Michael A. ''Halle Berry: Beauty Is Not Just Physical'', Enslow, 2006 – ISBN 0-7660-2467-9

External links

Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:People from Cleveland, Ohio Category:Actors from Ohio Category:African American film actors Category:African American television actors Category:American female models Category:American film actors Category:American people of English descent Category:American television actors Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners Category:Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actress Golden Globe winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Miss USA 1986 delegates Category:Miss World 1986 delegates Category:Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Screen Actors Guild Award winners

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Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
birth name	Sandra Annette Bullock
birth date	July 26, 1964
birth place	Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
nationality	American
years active	1985–present
spouse	Jesse G. James (2005–2010)
children	Louis Bardo (2010)
residence	New Orleans, Lousiana
alma mater	Washington-Lee High School
parents	John BullockHelga Meyer (deceased)
occupation	Actress, producer }}

Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as ''Speed'', ''A Time to Kill'', and ''While You Were Sleeping''. She continued with films such as ''Miss Congeniality'', ''Two Weeks Notice'', and ''Crash'', the third of which received critical acclaim. In 2007, she was ranked as the 14th richest female celebrity with an estimated fortune of US$85 million. In 2009, Bullock starred in the most financially successful films of her career, ''The Proposal'' and ''The Blind Side''. Bullock was awarded a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, and the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy in ''The Blind Side''.

Early life

Sandra Annette Bullock was born in Arlington, Virginia, daughter of John W. Bullock (born 1925), an United States Army employee and part time-voice coach from Birmingham, Alabama, and his wife Helga D. Meyer (1942–2000), a German opera singer and voice teacher. Bullock's maternal grandfather was a rocket scientist from Nuremberg, Germany. John Bullock, then in charge of the Army's Military Postal Service in Europe, was stationed in Nuremberg when he met his wife. They married in Germany, soon moving to Arlington, where John Bullock worked with the Army Materiel Command, before becoming a contractor for The Pentagon.

Bullock frequently accompanied her mother on her opera tours throughout Europe. She spent time in Salzburg and Nuremberg, where she stayed with her aunt and grandmother and became fluent in German. Bullock studied ballet and vocal arts as a child, taking small parts in her mother's opera productions. She sang in the operas children's choir at the ''Staatstheater Nürnberg''.

Bullock attended Washington-Lee High School, where she was a cheerleader and performed in high school theater productions. After she graduated in 1982, she entered East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. However, she dropped out in her fourth year in spring of 1986, just three credits short of graduating, to become an actress. She moved to Manhattan and supported herself as a bartender, cocktail waitress, and coat checker. She later completed her coursework and graduated from East Carolina University.

Acting

While in New York, Bullock took acting classes with Sanford Meisner. She appeared in several student films, and later landed a role in an Off-Broadway play ''No Time Flat''. Director Alan J. Levi was impressed by Bullock's performance and offered her a part in the TV movie ''Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman'' (1989). Afterward, she was cast in a series of small roles in several independent films as well as in the lead role of the short-lived NBC television version of the film ''Working Girl'' (1990). She later appeared in several films, such as ''Love Potion No. 9'' (1992), ''The Thing Called Love'' (1993) and ''Fire on the Amazon''. A prominent supporting role in the science-fiction/action movie ''Demolition Man'' (1993) led to her breakthrough performance in ''Speed'' the following year. She became a movie star in the late 1990s, carrying a string of successes, including ''While You Were Sleeping'', and ''Miss Congeniality'' in 2000. Bullock received $11 million for ''Speed 2: Cruise Control'', which she agreed to star in for financial backing for her own project, ''Hope Floats'', and has revealed she regrets making the sequel. She later received $17.5 million for ''Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous''.

Bullock was selected as one of ''People'' magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World in 1996 and 1999, and was also ranked #58 in ''Empire'' magazine's Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time list. She was presented with the 2002 Raúl Juliá Award for Excellence for her efforts, as the executive producer of the sitcom ''George Lopez'', in helping expand career openings for Hispanic talent in the media and entertainment industry. She also made several appearances on the show as Accident Amy, an accident-prone employee at the factory Lopez's character manages. In 2002, she starred opposite Hugh Grant in ''Two Weeks Notice'' and in the film ''Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood''.

In 2004, Bullock had a supporting role in the film ''Crash''. She received positive reviews for her performance, with some critics suggesting that it was the best performance of her career. In 2005, she was a co-recipient of the Women in Film Crystal Award.

Bullock later appeared in ''The Lake House'', a romantic drama also starring her ''Speed'' co-star, Keanu Reeves; it was released on June 16, 2006. Because their film characters are separated throughout the film (due to the plot revolving around time travel), Bullock and Reeves were only on set together for two weeks during filming. The same year, Bullock appeared in ''Infamous'', playing author Harper Lee. Bullock also starred in ''Premonition'' with Julian McMahon, which was released in March 2007. 2009 proved to be especially good for Bullock, giving the actress two record highs in her career, as earlier in the year she released ''The Proposal'', with co-star Ryan Reynolds, a huge hit that took in more than $314 million at the box office worldwide, making it her most successful picture to date.

In November 2009, Bullock starred in ''The Blind Side'', which opened at #2 behind ''New Moon'' with $34.2 million, making it her highest opening weekend ever. ''The Blind Side'' is unique in that it had a 17.6% increase at the box office its second weekend, and it took the top spot of the box office in its third weekend. The movie cost $29 million to make according to the Box Office Mojo. It has grossed over $250 million to date, making it her domestic highest grossing film and the first movie in history to pass the $200 million mark with only one top-billed female star. She won the award for Best Actress at the Golden Globes, Academy Awards, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance in ''The Blind Side''. Bullock had initially turned down the role three times due to a discomfort with portraying a devout Christian. Winning the "Oscar" also gave her another unique distinction — since she won two "Razzies" the day before, for her performance in ''All About Steve'', she is the only performer ever to have been named both "Best" and "Worst" for the same year. Sandra was asked to return her 2009 "Worst Actress of the Year" Razzie award; however, this wasn't because of a change of heart for Bullock's performance but because Bullock personally accepted her Razzie and accidentally took the original one-of-a-kind prototype Razzie, as opposed to the cheap trinket normally handed out to celebrities.

Recognition

As of 2009, Bullock's films have grossed over $3.1 billion worldwide. According to ''The Numbers'', her total domestic gross stands at $1.7 billion, placing her among the Top 100 Stars at the Box Office.

Critics, while praising her screen persona, have been less receptive to her films. As of the 2009 release of ''The Proposal'', Mark Kermode said she's made only three "good" films in her career—''Speed'', ''While You Were Sleeping'', and ''Crash'', and says "she's funny, she's gorgeous, it's impossible not to love her and yet she makes rotten film after rotten film after rotten film." As of December 2009, Bullock has appeared on three ''Entertainment Weekly'' covers. She was selected by ''People'' Magazine as its "Woman of the Year" for 2010. She was ranked #12 on ''People'''s Most Beautiful 2011 list.

Entrepreneurship

Bullock runs her own production company, Fortis Films. Bullock was an executive producer of ''The George Lopez Show'', which garnered a lucrative syndication deal that banked her some $10 million (co-produced with Robert Borden). Bullock tried to produce a film based on F.X. Toole's short story, ''Million-Dollar Baby'', but could not interest the studios in a female boxing drama. The story was eventually adapted and directed by Clint Eastwood as the Oscar-winning film, ''Million Dollar Baby'' (2004). Bullock's production company, Fortis Films, also produced ''All About Steve'', which was released in September 2009. Her father, John Bullock, is the company's CEO, and her sister, Gesine Bullock-Prado, is the former president.

Since November 2006, Bullock founded a popular Austin, Texas, restaurant, Bess Bistro. She later opened another business across the street in a building she extensively renovated downtown called Walton's Fancy and Staple a bakery, upscale restaurant and floral shop that also offers services such as event planning.

Personal life

Relationships and children

Bullock was once engaged to actor Tate Donovan, whom she met while filming ''Love Potion No. 9''; their relationship lasted four years. She previously dated football player Troy Aikman, Austin musician Bob Schneider (for two years), and actors Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Gosling.

Bullock married motorcycle builder and ''Monster Garage'' host Jesse James on July 16, 2005. They first met when Bullock arranged for her ten-year-old godson to meet James as a Christmas present.

In November 2009, Bullock and James entered into a custody battle with James' second ex-wife, former pornographic actress Janine Lindemulder, with whom James had a child. Bullock and James subsequently won full legal custody of James' five-year-old daughter.

In March 2010, a scandal arose when several women claimed to have had affairs with James during his marriage to Bullock. Bullock cancelled European promotional appearances for ''The Blind Side'' citing "unforeseen personal reasons". On March 18, 2010, James responded to the rumors of infidelity by issuing a public apology to Bullock. He stated, "The vast majority of the allegations reported are untrue and unfounded" and "Beyond that, I will not dignify these private matters with any further public comment." James declared that "There is only one person to blame for this whole situation, and that is me", and asked that his wife and children one day "find it in their hearts to forgive me" for their current "pain and embarrassment". James’ publicist subsequently announced on March 30, 2010, that James had checked into a rehab facility "to deal with personal issues" and "save his marriage" to Bullock. However on April 28, 2010, it was reported that Bullock had filed for divorce on April 23 in Austin. Their divorce was finalized on June 28, 2010, with "conflict of personalities" cited as the reason.

Bullock announced on April 28, 2010, that she had proceeded with plans to adopt a baby boy born in January 2010 in New Orleans. Bullock and James had begun an initial adoption process four years earlier. The child began living with them in January 2010, but they chose to keep the news private until after the Oscars in March 2010. However, given the couple's separation and then divorce, Bullock continued the adoption of the baby, named Louis Bardo Bullock, as a single parent.

Vehicular accidents

On December 20, 2000, Bullock and another passenger survived the crash of a chartered business jet during an attempted night landing at Jackson Hole Airport. The pilots were unable to activate the runway lights due to having out-of-date approach plates, but continued the landing. The aircraft landed in the airport's graded safety area between the runway and parallel taxiway and hit a snowbank. The accident caused a separation of the nose cone and landing gear, partial separation of the right wing, and a bend in the left wing.

On April 18, 2008, while Bullock was in Massachusetts shooting the film ''The Proposal'', she and her then-husband were in an SUV that was hit head-on (driver's side offset) at moderate speed by a drunken driver. Vehicle damage was not major and there were no injuries.

Legal matters

In October 2004, Bullock won a multimillion-dollar judgment against Benny Daneshjou, the builder of her Lake Austin, Texas home; the jury ruled the house was uninhabitable. It has since been torn down and rebuilt.

Stalking

On April 22, 2007, Marcia Diana Valentine was found lying outside James and Bullock's Southern California home in Orange County. When James confronted the woman, she ran to her 2004 silver Mercedes, got behind the wheel, and tried to run over James. The woman is said to be an obsessed fan of Sandra Bullock. The woman was charged with one felony count each of aggravated assault and stalking, while Bullock obtained a restraining order to bar Valentine from "contacting or coming near her home, family or work for three years." Valentine pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated assault and stalking. Valentine was subsequently convicted of stalking and was sentenced to three years of probation.

Charity work

Bullock has been a public supporter of the American Red Cross, having donated $1 million to the organization at least four times. Her first public donation of that amount was to the Red Cross's Liberty Disaster Relief Fund. Four years later, she sent money in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis. In 2010, she donated $1 million to relief efforts in Haiti following the Haiti earthquake, and again donated the same amount following the 2011 Japan Earthquake.

Along with other stars, Bullock did a PSA urging people to sign a petition for clean-up efforts of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Filmography

+ Feature films
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1987	''Hangmen''	Lisa Edwards
1989	''Religion, Inc.'' (aka "A Fool and His Money")	Debby
1989	''Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman''	Kate Mason
1989	''Who Shot Patakango?''	Devlin Moran
1989	''''	Stacy
1990	''Lucky/Chances''	Maria Santangelo
1992	''Who Do I Gotta Kill?'' (aka "Me and the Mob")	Lori
1992	''When the Party's Over''	Amanda
1992		Diane Farrow
1993	''''	Diane Shaver
1993	''''	Linda Lue Linden
1993		Lt. Lenina Huxley	Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award
1993	''[[Fire on the Amazon''	Alyssa Rothman
1993	''Wrestling Ernest Hemingway''	Elaine
1994		Annie Porter	Saturn Award for Best ActressMTV Movie Award for Best Female PerformanceMTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo (with Keanu Reeves) MTV Movie Award for Most Desirable Female Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (with Keanu Reeves)
1995	''While You Were Sleeping''	Lucy Moderatz	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated—MTV Movie Awards
1995	''''	Angela Bennett/Ruth Marx
1996	''[[Two If by Sea''	Roz
1996	''''	Ellen Roark
1996		Agnes Von Kurowsky
1997	''Speed 2: Cruise Control''	Annie Porter	Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst ActressNominated—Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple (with Jason Patric)
1997	''Making Sandwiches''	Melba Club	Debut—Sundance Film Festival; also writer, director, and producer
1998	''Hope Floats''	Roberta "Birdee" Pruitt
1998	''Practical Magic''	Sally Owens	Co - Producer
1998	'''' (animated film)	Miriam	(Voice)
1999	''Forces of Nature''	Sarah Lewis
2000		Judy Tipp
2000		Gwen Cummings
2000		Gracie Hart/Gracie Lou Freebush	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Also Producer
2002	''Murder by Numbers''	Cassie Mayweather/Jessica Marie Hudson
2002		Siddalee Walker
2002	''Two Weeks Notice''	Lucy Kelson
2004		Jean Cabot	Black Reel Award: Best Ensemble
2005		Mrs. Harker
2005	''[[Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous''	Gracie Hart	Producer
2006	''''	Kate Forster
2006		Nelle Harper Lee
2007		Linda Hanson
2009	''''	Margaret Tate	Teen Choice Award for Best Dance (with Betty White)Teen Choice Award for Best Romantic Comedy ActressNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Chemistry (with Ryan Reynolds) Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer: Movie Star—FemaleNominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Liplock (with Ryan Reynolds) Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (with Ryan Reynolds) Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance Nominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite On Screen Team (with Ryan Reynolds) Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	Producer
2009	''All About Steve''	Mary Horowitz	Razzie Award for Worst ActressRazzie Award for Worst Screen Couple (with Bradley Cooper)	Producer
2009	''''	Leigh Anne Tuohy	Academy Award for Best Actress Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress (tied with Meryl Streep) Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Teen Choice Award for Best Actress Drama MTV Generation Award Nominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress Nominated—Denver Film Critics Award for Best Actress Nominated—Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best ActressNominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated—Washington D.C. Area Films Critics Association for Best Actress
2011			Post-production
2012			Filming

References

External links

Sandra Bullock at Yahoo! Movies

Sandra Bullock: 2010's Triumphs – slideshow by ''Life magazine''

Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from Virginia Category:American film actors Category:American film producers Category:American people of German descent Category:American philanthropists Category:American television actors Category:American television producers Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners Category:East Carolina University alumni Category:Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre alumni Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:People from Arlington County, Virginia Category:People from Austin, Texas Category:People from Fürth Category:Waldorf school alumni

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Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
name	Uwe Boll
birth date	June 22, 1965
birth place	Wermelskirchen, West Germany
occupation	Director, producer, screenwriter
yearsactive	1991–present
website	http://www.boll-ag.de }}

Uwe Boll (; born June 22, 1965) is a German director, producer and screenwriter, whose work includes several films adapted from video games. He finances his own films through his Boll KG production company. He is often cited as one of the worst directors of all time.

Early life

Boll was born in Wermelskirchen. He studied at the University of Cologne and the University of Siegen, and holds a doctorate in literature.

He first decided to go into the movie business at ten years old, after seeing Marlon Brando's ''Mutiny on the Bounty''.

Films

Boll's first two major releases were the horror movie ''Blackwoods'' and the drama ''Heart of America'', both of which he directed and co-wrote.

Boll is best-known for adapting video games into movies, having directed and produced a number of such adaptations, including ''House of the Dead'', ''Alone in the Dark'', ''Alone in the Dark II'', ''BloodRayne'', ''BloodRayne II: Deliverance'', ''BloodRayne: The Third Reich'', ''In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale'', ''Postal'' and ''Far Cry''.

In the opening credits to ''Seed'' (2007), Boll used footage of animal abuse and torture he acquired from PETA to underscore the film's nihilism. He has also promised to donate 2.5 percent of his net profits from ''Seed'' to PETA.

Financing

Boll's movies have often performed poorly at the box office in the United States. ''House of the Dead'', which was budgeted at $12 million, made $5.73 million in its opening weekend, ''Alone in the Dark'', which was budgeted at $20 million, made over $5.1 million, and ''BloodRayne'', which was made for $25 million, made $2.42 million. The least profitable commercial performance of his career was ''In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale'', which made barely $10 million worldwide at the box office on a $60 million budget.

Until the law was changed in 2005, Boll was able to acquire funding thanks to German tax laws that reward investments in film. The law allowed investors in German-owned films to write off 100% of their investment as a tax deduction; it also allowed them to invest borrowed money and write off any fees associated with the loan. The investor was then only required to pay taxes on the profits made by the movie; if the movie loses money, the investor got a tax writeoff.

In the DVD commentary of ''Alone in the Dark'', Boll explains how he funds his films: "Maybe you know it but it's not so easy to finance movies in total. And the reason I am able to do these kind of movies is I have a tax shelter fund in Germany, and if you invest in a movie in Germany you get basically fifty percent back from the government."

Boll has received a lot of negative publicity regarding this funding method.

Criticism

As of May 2011 ''House of the Dead'' (for which ''VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever'' described Boll as a "cinematic train wreck"), and ''Alone in the Dark'' appear on the Internet Movie Database's Bottom 100 films list. Three of his films (''Alone in the Dark'', ''House of the Dead'', and ''BloodRayne'') also appeared on GT Countdown's "Top 10 Worst Video Game Movies"; all were in the top five, with only Super Mario Bros. (at number 2) preventing them all from being in the top three; ''BloodRayne'' was ranked number one. In a review of ''Alone in the Dark'', Rob Vaux states that the movie makes other "bad" movie directors feel better in comparison: "'It's okay,' they'll tell themselves, 'I didn't make ''Alone in the Dark''.'" Another reviewer wrote that ''Alone in the Dark'' was "so poorly built, so horribly acted and so sloppily stitched together that it's not even at the straight-to-DVD level." For example, in one scene a character who was "killed" can be seen getting up as the actor prematurely made the move to get off the set. One critic has dubbed him as the "Jonas Brothers of movie directors".

Boll also made a bid to direct the upcoming ''World of Warcraft'' movie, but was turned away by the owners of the ''Warcraft'' franchise, ''Blizzard Entertainment'' who said: "We will not sell the movie rights, not to you…especially not to you." Boll responded "Because it’s such a big online game suc­cess, maybe a bad movie would destroy that ongo­ing income, what the com­pany has with it."

Blair Erickson, a writer of a treatment for ''Alone in the Dark'', has written a critical account of his experience working with Boll, in which Erickson alleges that Boll stole ideas from prior movies and wanted to add elements to the story that were not true to the tone of the source material. Uwe chose to not use Erickson's script, citing reasons such as it having "not enough car chases."

The comic book series ''Firestorm'' features an issue where the titular character reacts angrily when his girlfriend Gehenna purchases DVDs of all of Boll's films. When he berates her for her decision, she jokingly claims that she becomes aroused by how bad Boll's films are.

Boll has blamed the poor theatrical performance of his early video game adaptations on his distribution company, Romar, and has filed a lawsuit against them. Boll's films prior to the release of ''House of the Dead'' were more positively received. ''The New York Times'', for instance, gave ''Blackwoods'' a positive review, although most reactions to the film have been negative.

On ''X-Play'''s "Gphoria" awards show, one of the categories was "Game Most Deserving of an Uwe Boll Adaptation."

Boll received a rare "Worst Career Achievement" award at the 29th Golden Raspberry Awards on February 21, 2009 for ''In The Name of the King'', ''1968 Tunnel Rats'', and ''Postal''. Boll has been nominated for Razzies three times in total.

Boll has begun to sue BitTorrent users for illegally downloading his film, ''Far Cry'', as a way to generate revenue from money thought lost to illegal file-sharing.

Response to criticism

Boll does not shy away from his critics. In the ''Alone in the Dark'' DVD commentary, he responds to criticism that his adaptations make significant changes to the plot and style of the source material: "Fans are always totally flipping out and I understand that the fan of a video game has his own agenda in his head and has his ideas about what is a good movie and what is a bad movie." Referring to ''House of the Dead'', Boll said: "I think I made a perfect ''House of the Dead'' movie, because it really shows how the game is. It's a lot of fun, it's over-the-top action." Boll is especially critical of his Internet detractors. Referring to two Ain't It Cool News critics who negatively reviewed his work, Boll said, "Harry (Knowles) and Quint (Eric Vespe) are retards."

Boll also criticizes the game companies themselves for providing zero support once the movie license is sold. He cites the cross-promotion and support which comic-book-based properties adapted for the screen receive, whereas video game companies often "sell off the license and then forget about it." He argues that this is the reason video game adaptations are not well received by critics and audiences.

When ''Wired'' published a negative review of ''Postal'', Boll responded with an e-mail claiming that the critic didn't "understand anything about movies and that you are a untalented wanna bee filmmaker with no balls and no understanding what POSTAL is. you don't see courage because you are nothing. and go to your mum and fuck her ...because she cooks for you now since 30 years ..so she deserves it" [sic]. Boll claims that this angry email was sparked not by the review, but because the ''Wired'' editor told Boll in person that the editor loved the movie then published a negative review.

Critic boxing matches (Raging Boll)

Boll made headlines by challenging his critics to "put up or shut up". In June 2006, his production company issued a press release stating that Boll would challenge his five harshest critics each to a 10-round boxing match. Invitations were also open to film directors Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary. To qualify, critics had to have written two extremely negative reviews of Boll, in print or on the Web. In 2005, footage from the fights were to be included on the DVD of his upcoming film ''Postal''. On June 20, 2006, Rich "Lowtax" Kyanka stated on Something Awful that he had been invited by Boll to be the first contestant, after Kyanka reviewed ''Alone in the Dark''. The online gambling site GoldenPalace.com decided to sponsor this event, dubbing it "Raging Boll". A lot was drawn up in late August 2006, featuring Kyanka, ''Rue Morgue'' magazine writer Chris Alexander, webmaster of ''Cinecutre'' Carlos Palencia Jimenez-Arguello, ''Ain't it Cool News'' writer Jeff Sneider and Chance Minter, amateur boxer and website critic. Boll fought and won against all five participants. The first match took place on September 5, 2006 in Málaga, Spain against Carlos Palencia. The others battled on September 23, 2006 at the Plaza of Nations in Vancouver.

After Kyanka lost his match, he would go on to make several allegations against Boll, including the fact that Boll refused to fight against Chance Minter (an amateur boxer), because he was an experienced boxer. However, Boll fought Minter as his fourth opponent. He also claimed that Boll misled them by claiming it was a PR stunt when he actually intended to fight them and that Boll claimed that the participants would get training before the match (which no one did). Boll had seriously wounded Sneider, who had also believed Boll.

Kyanka added in a post-match interview that, "Half of us (the contenders) hadn't even seen his movies." Sneider shared similar sentiments, stating "I think he's a jerk. This might be PR but I don't want to keep getting punched in the head." Boll has denied these claims in an interview, stating that he gave his opponents three months to prepare. Other contestants responded less negatively. Alexander, in a ''Toronto Star'' article, recounts being invited to Boll's beach house on the following day, where Boll asked him about the reasons for his unilaterally negative reviews. Alexander bluntly told Boll that his movies were "bloated, expensive and incoherent attempts at aping American genre pictures, sporting some of the most boneheaded casting choices in filmdom". He also stated that Boll was an "insane, two-fisted rogue, and a shockingly honest one at that, someone who absolutely adores film, knows its history and truly lives for what he does."

Alexander referred to the event as "the weirdest pop culture bizarre journalism stunt I've ever been involved in." Minter also praised what he had seen of Boll's upcoming production known as ''Seed''. Boll praised the contestants in a post fight press conference, stating "I now like the critics... Everybody who was in the ring showed guts. Nobody dived."

Electronic Gaming Monthly's November 2006 edition's "The Rest of the Crap" section, written by critic Seanbaby, described Seanbaby's own involvement. Apparently Uwe was going to appear on G4's ''Attack of the Show!'' to promote this fight by sparring with one of the hosts. Seanbaby claims that, "Again, he's a matchmaking genius, because everyone on TV is 3 feet tall. If you were watching Attack of the Show during the time I cohosted, you might have noticed that I could have leaned over and eaten host Kevin Pereira." A producer of the show then asked if Seanbaby would come and spar in the host's place for the event. Seanbaby says that he trains in Muay Thai and jujutsu, stating that, "boxing is to fighting what Hungry Hungry Hippos is to eating." When Uwe heard of this, he wanted to know Seanbaby's age, height, weight and fighting experience since he "learned he wasn't fighting a midget." Seanbaby claims he sent said information to Boll, after which Boll chose not to appear on the program.

Petition to retire

In April 2008, ''The Guardian'' ran an article claiming Boll had promised to retire if an online petition at PetitionOnline.com asking him to do so received 1,000,000 signatures.

On May 7, 2008, the makers of Stride gum announced they would give each signer a digital coupon for a pack of gum if the petition obtained the required 1 million signatures by May 14, 2008.

, there are around 364,572 signatures. In an interview with Mike Gencarelli of the ''Movie Mikes'' website on March 22, 2010, Boll stated that he would not retire, should the petition receive one million signatures, commenting:

I think no, it has been too long. If they would have made to a million in like 2 months, then they would have had something. They even got sponsored by that gum factory. I felt like it's three years later, forget it. I also felt that people signed numerous time on the petition so it is probably only like 150,000 people that actually signed it.

Response

As part of a publicity stunt for POSTAL, Uwe Boll released a video stating that he is "the only genius in the whole fucking [movie] business" and that other directors such as Michael Bay and Eli Roth are "fucking retards." He promised that his film ''Postal'' would be "way better than all that social-critic George Clooney bullshit that you get every fucking weekend." In response to an "Anti-Uwe Boll" online petition, Boll has also expressed hopes that somebody will start a Pro-Uwe Boll petition, which he would expect to hit a million signatures. As of May 15, 2011, the pro-Uwe Boll petition with the most signatures is the ''Long Live Uwe Boll'' poll with a total of 7,588 signatures.

Bay responded to the "fucking retards" comment by calling Boll "a sad being" and stated that he did not care "in the slightest" about the remark while Roth facetiously said Boll's comments were the "greatest compliment ever." Boll later noted that the comments were meant to be a generic picture over Hollywood, and that he has nothing against the people mentioned.

Boll then appeared on Thursday, April 10's episode of G4's ''Attack of the Show'', where he was interviewed regarding his controversial online retort. In the interview, he said (in regard to Michael Bay and Eli Roth responding to his criticisms) that Roth "has a sense of humor" and that Bay "has no sense of humor." He also jokingly stated that he believes that his upcoming adaptation of ''Postal'' (from the video game of the same name) could beat ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' at the box office.

On April 27, 2008, Boll responded to Bay's "not caring about Boll" comment. "To prove who is the better director", Boll offered to challenge Bay to a boxing match at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. If Bay accepted, the match would last for 12 rounds and would take place in September. In response to Boll's comments, Bay again posted a statement this time saying:

I never even heard his name till last week when he made threats and rants. The guy is a fucking idiot, making threats to me, Clooney, Eli Roth, says he has a doctorate—but uses the word 'retard' in his vocabulary, come on. When you look at his videos, what is interesting are the backgrounds. I guess his low rent offices, with 15 year old 3/4 machines, archaic computers, this is just some dumb chump trying to get some fame when he has none, so he has to make Youtube lame quality anger rants. This guy just wants attention because he can't get any for the so called movies he makes. Nothing sadder when he had his screening in LA to an over half empty movie house.

Writings

Boll has written two books, ''Wie man in Deutschland einen Film drehen muss'' (''How one must make a movie in Germany'') and ''Die Gattung Serie und ihre Genres'' (''Genus Series and its Genres''), on themes of serial television.

Upcoming projects

Uwe Boll's website now offers the opportunity for anyone to "co-produce" his upcoming film ''Blackout''. In exchange for a gift of €33 (US$44), a donor will receive a limited edition DVD of the film and a signed certificate from the cast and crew.

In September 2010, a trailer for his new film, entitled ''Auschwitz'', about the concentration camp, was posted on YouTube. The trailer, in which Boll appears as an SS gas-chamber guard, contains explicit scenes of the brutalization and killing of concentration camp inmates. Boll has been quoted as saying that films such as Schindler's List "no longer had the ability to reach young people and that it was his duty as a German to make the film as a way of confronting the past."

Boll is the subject of a documentary film entitled ''Raging Boll'', directed by Dan Lee West, which premiered at the Austin Film Festival in October 2010.

The upcoming Italian zombie film Eaters is presented by Uwe Boll.

Boll is also slated to appear as himself in the upcoming ''Postal III'' video game.

Personal life

He currently lives in Richmond Hill, Ontario, and currently holds both Canadian and German citizenship. His wife is native to Vancouver.

Filmography

! Year	! Film	Film director>Director	Film producer>Producer	Screenwriter>Writer
	''German Fried Movie''
	''Barschel – Mord in Genf?''
	''Amoklauf''
	''Das Erste Semester''
	''Fíaskó''
rowspan=2	''Sanctimony''
''Angels Don't Sleep Here''
rowspan=2
rowspan=2
	''In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale''
rowspan=4	''They Wait''
''BloodRayne 2: Deliverance''
rowspan=3	''1968 Tunnel Rats''
''Alone in the Dark II''
rowspan=3
rowspan=3	''Final Storm''
''BloodRayne: The Third Reich''
rowspan=3
''Blubberella''
''In the Name of the King 2''

References

External links

Golden Palace Events – Photos, video, and details of Uwe's September 2006 boxing match with his critics

Category:1965 births Category:Horror film directors Category:German expatriates in Canada Category:German film directors Category:German film producers Category:Living people Category:Naturalized citizens of Canada Category:Canadian people of German descent Category:University of Cologne alumni Category:University of Siegen alumni

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