SANTA MONICA, Calif. — When Adam Sandler’s bad, he’s really bad, according to voters for the Razzies, an Academy Awards spoof that singles out the worst movies of the year.
Sandler received a record 11 nominations Saturday for the Razzies as star, producer or writer on three 2011 movies — “Jack and Jill,” “Just Go with It” and “Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star.”
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That more than doubled the previous record of five Razzie nominations held by Eddie Murphy for 2007’s “Norbit.”
Sandler’s nominations include worst actor for both “Jack and Jill” and “Just Go with It” — and worst actress for “Jack and Jill,” in which he plays a family man and his own twin sister.
Sandler also had two nominations as worst screen couple opposite Jennifer Aniston or Brooklyn Decker in “Just Go with It” and opposite Katie Holmes, Al Pacino or himself in “Jack and Jill.”
As a producer, Sandler was credited with worst-picture and worst-prequel, remake, rip-off or sequel nominations for both “Bucky Larson” and “Jack and Jill.” He also shared in worst-screenplay nominations as a writer on both movies, and a worst-ensemble nomination for “Jack and Jill.”
“It’s almost karmic for someone to have made that much razz-able stuff in one year,” said Razzies founder John Wilson. “He has angered someone really powerful, I would say.”
Along with “Bucky Larson” and “Jack and Jill,” worst-picture contenders are “New Year’s Eve,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1.”
“Jack and Jill” led with 12 nominations, with “Transformers” second with nine and “Breaking Dawn” right behind with eight.
Razzie nominations were released on the eve of the Oscars. Winners will be announced on April Fool’s Day.
Lawless gets arrested after oil ship protest
WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Police arrested actress Lucy Lawless and five environmental activists after the group spent four days protesting aboard an oil-drilling ship docked in New Zealand.
Police today removed the group from their perch atop a 174-foot drilling tower on the Noble Discoverer in Port Taranaki. Lawless and Greenpace activists climbed the tower Friday in an attempt to raise awareness about Arctic oil drilling. Chartered by Shell, the ship had been due to leave over the weekend for the Arctic to drill exploratory wells.
Lawless, 43, a native New Zealander, is best known for her title role in the TV series “Xena: Warrior Princess.”
Writers group honors Berry, Cohen for song lyrics
BOSTON – Rock ‘n’ roll icons Chuck Berry and Leonard Cohen received PEN New England’s inaugural award for Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence on Sunday. The jury for the award was itself filled with impressive writers, including Bono, Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Paul Muldoon, Smokey Robinson, Salman Rushdie and Paul Simon.
Costello, Rushdie, Simon, Keith Richards, Shawn Colvin, Peter Wolf and local novelist Tom Perrotta were all in attendance at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum when the late president’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy, opened the ceremony by quoting her father’s speech from the dedication of the Robert Frost library: “I see little that is more important to our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist. In serving his vision of the truth, the artist best serves the nation.”
The crowd in the packed auditorium quickly rose to its feet when Berry walked in, leading the celebrities to their seats.
After opening remarks by author Bill Flanagan, who reminded the crowd that it’s been 60 years since Berry’s hit “Maybellene” was written, Perrotta repeatedly made the audience laugh with his opening remarks peppered with famous song lyrics.
In introducing Cohen, novelist Rushdie spoke about the “great beauty and depth” of his work, saying: “To put it quite simply, if I could write like him, I would.”
Colvin paid tribute to the 77-year-old Cohen by playing his song “Come Healing” on an acoustic guitar.
After receiving the award from Rushdie, Cohen thanked the jury in his honeyed, raspy baritone and paid homage to Berry, comparing Berry’s “Roll Over, Beethoven” to Walt Whitman’s “barbaric yawp,” from “Leaves of Grass.”
Flanagan read an email from Bob Dylan that said: “Congratulations to Chuck Berry, who has written the book with a capital B. Congratulations to Leonard, who’s still writing it.”
Simon introduced Berry, saying he was rightfully considered a “great poet of teenage life” but was much more than that.
He went on to read and remark on the lyrics to what he called some of his favorite Berry songs, including “Maybellene,” ”Johnny B. Goode” and “Long Distance Information.”
Costello played Berry’s “No Particular Place to Go,” which he said he heard for the first time as a 10-year-old.
Simon hung the award medal on Berry’s neck and in a move that surprised the event organizers, the 85-year-old Berry picked up an electric guitar and played “Johnny B. Goode” to enthusiastic applause.
To close the show, Costello coaxed Richards out of the audience to play a duet of Berry’s “Promised Land,” bringing the crowd to its feet once again.
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