Grabbys 2009: The Day After
The Grabby Awards are now history (you can see the list of winners here) but the fun and parties are still going on in Chicago as we write this. We're sure there will be lots of talk about the "after parties" on various blogs, websites, etc. Naturally we're following many of them and we'll pass along news and observations that we find along the way---especially the common threads. That's all coming in the next few days. Plus there's more to come since the IML finals take place tonight. For now we present our musings on this year's Grabby Awards.
In the next few days all the major studios will be touting their wins, as is their prerogative, and there is much they can be proud of. Raging Stallion was again a big winner as both of its heavily-nominated flicks To The Last Man and The Drifter took home four awards each. However, to everyone's surprise the Director & Best Picture awards were split. As expected Chris Ward, Ben Leon, Tony Dimarco won for To The Last Man but it was the The Drifter that took home the evening's top prize. Of course it's much to early to speculate but it will be interesting to find out how this happened. Did TTLM peak in popularity? Or were voters making a statement about a desire to see less "epic" films and more personal stories like The Drifter?
We'd have to go back and check over the archives of awards winners but it does seem that this was a pivotal year for ethnically diverse films getting recognition. Both Black Meat, White Heat and Black Balled 6 were nominated in the "Best Ethnic Video" category (Black Balled 6 won) but these two movies were also nominated outside this category AND won! Consider the competition in this year's field and you'll see that this was a remarkable achievement. Black Meat, White Heat took home two awards for Best Boxcover but it also won for Best Screenplay. This wasn't lost on writer Doug Jeffries who got fairly emotional during his acceptance speech. Black Balled 6 also took home the awards for Best Cum Scene and Best All Sex Video (again the competition was fierce here)
In terms of individual achievements this seemingly big shift was exemplified by Diesel Washington winning the highly coveted Performer of The Year award. This was long overdue and after he lost out at the recent GayVN Awards Washington was vocally hurt by the snub. He was pretty vocal about it all and once he got over it, Diesel was like a man possessed with renewed energy and enthusiasm and making plans for the next phase of his career. But this year his dream came true at The Grabbys. In addition the blog that he puts so much effort into also won. It seems appropriate that in this category where two men are given this honor, his fellow recipient was Steve Cruz who directed him in Red Light which will no doubt be recognized next year. And Cruz himself won for HIS website!
Steve Cruz let us know he was blown away by his honor. He was so stunned in fact that he forgot to thank some people on stage. So, he's posted his thank you's on his blog and remained ever gracious. There's big stuff coming from this man and we'll keep you posted.
We were also gratified that so many of our picks won this year. We aren't really looking at our success ratio because more often that not we weren't makes on choices based on our predictions.
---Scott Tanner was one of many men in TTLM but he was a real standout. His win in the Best Supporting Actor category was almost a no-brainer.
---Our friend Jett Blakk may not have won as many awards as we think he deserved but one of the key scenes in his Endgame DID win.
---Damien Crosse was another of those performers who finally got his due. Coincidentally he just got legally married to Francesco D'Macho in Spain. So double congratulations go to Damien.
---In a way we feel particularly bonded to website winner Cocky Boys since we started Jack Manly at the same time it launched. Congratulations to Kyle Majors and all the "boys".
---We had hoped for a three-way tie in the Best Duo Scene category BUT two of our three picks did win. The scene in The Drifter with Vinnie D'Angelo & Logan McCree is still potent months after we first saw it and this real life couple nailed it. The same holds true for the scene from Best Men 2 with Adam Killian & Zeb Atlas. It's also great to see Adam Killian get this boost.
Again, we'll be posting up more about the awards and the weekend in Chicago during the coming days.
In the next few days all the major studios will be touting their wins, as is their prerogative, and there is much they can be proud of. Raging Stallion was again a big winner as both of its heavily-nominated flicks To The Last Man and The Drifter took home four awards each. However, to everyone's surprise the Director & Best Picture awards were split. As expected Chris Ward, Ben Leon, Tony Dimarco won for To The Last Man but it was the The Drifter that took home the evening's top prize. Of course it's much to early to speculate but it will be interesting to find out how this happened. Did TTLM peak in popularity? Or were voters making a statement about a desire to see less "epic" films and more personal stories like The Drifter?
We'd have to go back and check over the archives of awards winners but it does seem that this was a pivotal year for ethnically diverse films getting recognition. Both Black Meat, White Heat and Black Balled 6 were nominated in the "Best Ethnic Video" category (Black Balled 6 won) but these two movies were also nominated outside this category AND won! Consider the competition in this year's field and you'll see that this was a remarkable achievement. Black Meat, White Heat took home two awards for Best Boxcover but it also won for Best Screenplay. This wasn't lost on writer Doug Jeffries who got fairly emotional during his acceptance speech. Black Balled 6 also took home the awards for Best Cum Scene and Best All Sex Video (again the competition was fierce here)
In terms of individual achievements this seemingly big shift was exemplified by Diesel Washington winning the highly coveted Performer of The Year award. This was long overdue and after he lost out at the recent GayVN Awards Washington was vocally hurt by the snub. He was pretty vocal about it all and once he got over it, Diesel was like a man possessed with renewed energy and enthusiasm and making plans for the next phase of his career. But this year his dream came true at The Grabbys. In addition the blog that he puts so much effort into also won. It seems appropriate that in this category where two men are given this honor, his fellow recipient was Steve Cruz who directed him in Red Light which will no doubt be recognized next year. And Cruz himself won for HIS website!
Steve Cruz let us know he was blown away by his honor. He was so stunned in fact that he forgot to thank some people on stage. So, he's posted his thank you's on his blog and remained ever gracious. There's big stuff coming from this man and we'll keep you posted.
We were also gratified that so many of our picks won this year. We aren't really looking at our success ratio because more often that not we weren't makes on choices based on our predictions.
---Scott Tanner was one of many men in TTLM but he was a real standout. His win in the Best Supporting Actor category was almost a no-brainer.
---Our friend Jett Blakk may not have won as many awards as we think he deserved but one of the key scenes in his Endgame DID win.
---Damien Crosse was another of those performers who finally got his due. Coincidentally he just got legally married to Francesco D'Macho in Spain. So double congratulations go to Damien.
---In a way we feel particularly bonded to website winner Cocky Boys since we started Jack Manly at the same time it launched. Congratulations to Kyle Majors and all the "boys".
---We had hoped for a three-way tie in the Best Duo Scene category BUT two of our three picks did win. The scene in The Drifter with Vinnie D'Angelo & Logan McCree is still potent months after we first saw it and this real life couple nailed it. The same holds true for the scene from Best Men 2 with Adam Killian & Zeb Atlas. It's also great to see Adam Killian get this boost.
Again, we'll be posting up more about the awards and the weekend in Chicago during the coming days.
Posted by JackManly at 5/24/2009 1:13 PM 
Categories: commentary, gay porn, news
Tags: Rahging Stallion Diesel
Categories: commentary, gay porn, news
Tags: Rahging Stallion Diesel
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