Winners at this year's Saturn Awards include Fringe 's John Noble and Anna Torv plus The Walking Dead . SFX 's Joseph McCabe was there
By SFX West Coast US Editor Joseph McCabe
Last night I hit the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror’s 37th Annual Saturn Awards , held at Burbank’s Castaway restaurant. Arguably the geekiest of Hollywood’s star-studded award ceremonies, the Saturns honor the best of genre film and television. In attendance were such celebrities as Frank Darabont, Mel Brooks, Chloe Grace Moretz and Rosanna Arquette.
Standouts from this year’s dinner ceremony were the Best Supporting Actor on TV going to Fringe ’s John Noble; Best Supporting Actress on TV to Spartacus ’s Lucy Lawless; Best Actor and Actress on TV to True Blood ’s Stephen Moyer and Fringe ’s Anna Torv; Best TV Presentation to The Walking Dead ; Best Network TV Series to Fringe ; Best Performance by a Younger Actor to Kick-Ass and Let Me In ’s Chloe Grace Moretz; Best Supporting Actress (Film) to Mila Kunis for Black Swan , Best Supporting Actor (Film) to Andrew Garfield for Never Let Me Go ; Best Actress (Film) to Black Swan ’s Natalie Portman; Best Actor to Jeff Bridges for Tron: Legacy ; Best Horror/Thriller Film to Let Me In ; Best Fantasy Film to Alice In Wonderland ; Best Science Fiction Film to Inception ; a Life Career Award to Terminator and Aliens star Michael Biehn; and the George Pal Memorial Award to Frank Darabont.
Backstage I asked Matt Reeves about the significance of the Saturns to a genre filmmaker: “You know, to me, it’s such an honor. They’ve been so kind to us all the way back to Cloverfield . I feel like I understand everybody who is part of the Academy who votes for these things. Because I feel like that’s who I was and I still am. It’s a wonderful thing to be embraced in that way by people who you know have shared experiences that were similar to yours.”
“I think this might be the coolest award I’ve ever gotten,” said Darabont, whose The Mist was a past winner for Best DVD Release.
My personal highlight? Chatting with comedy legend Mel Brooks. I asked Brooks (who produced The Elephant Man and The Fly , in addition to the Broadway adaptation of his classic film Young Frankenstein ) if he could ever see himself producing a film based on his son Max’s hugely successful zombie books. “I don’t think he’ll let me,” laughed Brooks. “I’m very proud of Max. The Zombie Survival Guide has sold over a million copies and World War Z Paramount is now producing as a picture. So things are good. I didn’t even mind the chicken [tonight]. It was a little dry…"
