'Battlefield Earth' weighs in big for worst movie dishonors

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 12 (AP) - John Travolta's ``Battlefield Earth," which got gleefully vicious reviews when it came out last May, now has even more marks of dis-stink-tion.

The movie, based on the novel by writer and Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, received eight Razzie nominations - worst picture, director, screenplay, actor, screen couple and three supporting actors - as the Golden Raspberry Foundation picked contenders Monday for 2000's worst movies.

``Showgirls'' is the all-time Razzie Award nomination leader with 13, but the number of categories has been trimmed to nine.

Still, the sentiment against ``Battlefield Earth'' is more overwhelming than than it was against ``Showgirls,'' which wound up winning seven, Raspberry founder John Wilson said. ``I'd say 'Battlefield' is pretty much a shoo-in.''

Adam Sandler's ``Little Nicky,'' ``Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2'' and ``The Next Best Thing'' tied for second in the dishonor list with five nominations apiece. ``The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas'' joined them in the worst picture category.

The foundation has 503 voting members consisting of critics, filmgoers and people who work in the entertainment business. Winners will be announced March 24 during a news conference on the eve of the Academy Awards. (Oscar nominations are announced Tuesday.)

The Golden Raspberry Foundation won't have a ceremony this year to present its dlrs 4.27 trophy, a gold-painted, golf-ball sized plastic raspberry atop a film canister.

``I don't think this year's pictures are worthy of a ceremony,'' Wilson said.

Travolta, a Scientologist, was a double nominee in the worst actor category, getting nominations for ``Battlefield Earth'' and ``Lucky Numbers.'' In addition to Travolta and Sandler, worst actor nods also went to Leonardo DiCaprio (``The Beach'') Sylvester Stallone (``Get Carter'') and Arnold Schwarzenegger (``The 6th Day'').

Worst actress nominees were Kim Basinger (``Bless the Child'' and ``I Dreamed of Africa''), Melanie Griffith (``Cecil B. Demented''), Madonna (``The Next Best Thing''), Bette Midler (``Isn't She Great'') and Demi Moore (``Passion of Mind'').

Worst director nominees: Joe Berlinger for ``Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2,'' Steven Brill for ``Little Nicky,'' Roger Christian for ``Battlefield Earth,'' Brian DePalma for ``Mission to Mars'' and John Schlesinger for ``The Next Best Thing.''