Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe LUCAS, MADONNA, SPEARS TOP 'RAZZIES' LIST George Lucas, Madonna and Britney Spears took the most hits as nominees were announced for the 23rd annual Golden Raspberry Awards. Advertisement "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones," "Swept Away" and "Crossroads" tied with seven nominations each, including Worst Picture of 2002. The other nominees for worst picture -- as chosen by the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation -- are "Pinocchio," the retelling of the classic Italian fable by writer-director Robert Benigni, and "The Adventures of Pluto Nash," an Eddie Murphy comedy that bombed with critics and moviegoers alike. "Pinocchio" and "Pluto Nash" each had six nominations. The foundation -- created in 1980 by author and movie fan John Wilson -- is committed to deriding what it considers to be the worst in American movies each year. It announces its nominees the day before the Academy of Arts and Sciences announces the Oscar nominees, and it presents the Razzies each year on the day before the Academy Awards are presented. Advertisement In addition to Worst Picture, "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" was nominated for Worst Supporting Actor and Worst Supporting Actress (Haden Christensen and Natalie Portman), Worst Screen Couple (Christensen and Portman, again), Worst Director (Lucas), Worst Sequel and Worst Screenplay (Lucas and Jonathan Hales). Along with its nomination for Worst Picture, "Swept Away" was also nominated for Worst Actress (Madonna), Worst Actor (Adriano Giannini), Worst Screen Couple (Madonna and Giannini), Worst Director (Guy Ritchie), Worst Remake or Sequel and Worst Screenplay (Ritchie). Wilson called it the worst in a series of bad Madonna movies. Spears was nominated for Worst Actress in her feature film starring debut, "Crossroads," which was also nominated for Worst Screen Couple (Spears and "Whatever-his-name-was"), Worst Director (Tamra Davis), Worst Screenplay (Shonda Rhimes) and a new Razzie category, Most Flatulent Teen-targeted Movie. "Crossroads" also scored a rare double with two nominations for Worst "Original" Song -- "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" and "Overprotected." (Thanks to UPI's Pat Nason in Los Angeles) MORE MADONNA NEWS... Madonna's publicist says the pop star's new music video shows the "catastrophic repercussions and horror of war" but is not "specifically anti-Bush." Advertisement "It is an anti-war video, but the purpose of the video, as with a lot of Madonna's work, is to be thought provoking," Liz Rosenberg explained Monday. The Web site The Drudge Report is describing the video, directed by Jonas Akerlund and set to debut next month, as the "most shocking anti-war, anti-Bush statement" to come from the entertainment industry thus far. Dozens of celebrities have spoken out in recent months against a possible U.S. war with Iraq. Rosenberg denies The Drudge Report's claims the "American Dream" video features images of Iraqi children or bloody limbs, although she admits it could always change in post-production. She says as it stands now, the video starts out as a runway show with models wearing fatigues, but then the short film takes a more violent turn. It is, Rosenberg argues, "a panoramic view of our culture and looming war through the view of a female superhero portrayed by Madonna." TURNER OFFERS THOUGHTS ON WAR WITH IRAQ Whether Americans will watch a movie about the Civil War -- just as the country heads for war with Iraq -- remains to be seen. Not even Ted Turner, executive producer of "Gods and Generals," knows how the climate in America will affect the box office business of his new $100 million Civil War epic. Advertisement "Three years ago this movie was green-lit. (War) wasn't even on the horizon," the media mogul told reporters in Washington, D.C. "Fortuitous or not fortuitous, if the war starts while the movie's coming out, it could hurt the attendance because people might stay home. On the other hand, they may say, 'We might as well go see what it's like.' He continued: "God forbid that the war in Iraq will be as bad for us. It'll be worse for the Iraqis because we've got all the bombs and they don't have very much but a few guns. It's a high-tech, wealthy Western nation against a Third World country. It's kind of a foregone conclusion that we'll win. It's just a question of how many civilians get killed over there. That's what worries me. Innocent people. We're trying to go get one man, right? And we're going to kill tens of thousands of people to get him. That seems like a pretty inefficient way to do things." Starring Robert Duvall, Jeff Daniels, C. Thomas Howell and Stephen Lang, the "Gettysburg" prequel "Gods and Generals" opens in limited release Feb. 21. Advertisement MATTHEW PERRY TO MAKE STAGE DEBUT Matthew Perry makes his professional stage debut this spring in a London revival of David Mamet's modern relationship play, "Sexual Perversity in Chicago." Best-known as neurotic Chandler Bing on the hit American sit-com "Friends," Perry will join Hank Azaria ("America's Sweethearts") and Minnie Driver ("Circle of Friends") in director Lindsay Posner's production, Variety says. Perry will play commitment-phobic Danny, the character Rob Lowe portrayed in "About Last Night," the 1986 film adaptation of the play. The play starts previews May 3 at the Comedy Theater and opens its 13-week stand May 12.
