Michael Moore and Mel Gibson surprise winners at People's Choice Awards

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) _ Filmmakers Michael Moore and Mel Gibson were all smiles after they won top honors at the 31st Annual People's Choice Awards. <br/><br/>Both men had controversial films that

Monday, January 10th 2005, 8:44 am

By: News On 6

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) _ Filmmakers Michael Moore and Mel Gibson were all smiles after they won top honors at the 31st Annual People's Choice Awards.

Both men had controversial films that fared well at the box office last year. Moore's film ``Fahrenheit 9/11,'' which took a critical look at President Bush's actions after the 2001 terror attacks, won the favorite movie award, while Mel Gibson's explicit ``The Passion of the Christ'' won in the favorite drama category.

Moore dedicated Sunday's win to the U.S. troops fighting overseas and said he was ``amazed'' that people voted his film their favorite. ``I love making movies and I'll take this as an invitation to make more 'Fahrenheit 9/11s,''' Moore said.

Gibson echoed Moore's appreciation, saying the award ``means a lot more to me this time than anything before.''

``I depended on you and you were there,'' Gibson said. ``If it wasn't for you guys, we would have been dead in the water.''

The animated ``Shrek 2'' swept a number of categories, being named favorite comedy, favorite sequel and favorite animated movie.

The character of Donkey in ``Shrek 2,'' voiced by Eddie Murphy, was named favorite animated movie star, while The Fairy Godmother, voiced by Jennifer Saunders, won in the favorite movie villain category.

Perennial favorites took many of the top awards, including many of this year's new categories. Julia Roberts and Johnny Depp won for favorite female and male movie star. Matt LeBlanc and Marg Helgenberger won for favorite male and female TV stars.

``Will & Grace,'' won for favorite TV comedy. ``CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' was named favorite TV drama.

After votes cast via the Internet during the first hour of the live telecast were counted, ``Joey'' was named favorite new TV comedy, while ``Desperate Housewives'' won for favorite new TV drama.

The People's Choice Awards, hosted by Jason Alexander and Malcolm-Jamal Warner, were presented at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and broadcast live on CBS. The awards covered 38 film, television and music categories, including a number of new ones.

The nominations were determined by editors at Entertainment Weekly, the People's Choice production team and a panel of pop culture fans. Winners were determined by Internet voting.

The complete list of winners:

_ Motion picture: ``Fahrenheit 9/11''

_ Drama motion picture: ``The Passion of the Christ''

_ Comedy motion picture: ``Shrek 2''

_ Animated motion picture: ``Shrek 2''

_ Favorite sequel: ``Shrek 2''

_ Animated movie star: Donkey in ``Shrek 2'' (voiced by Eddie Murphy)

_ Movie villain: The Fairy Godmother in ``Shrek 2'' (voiced by Jennifer Saunders)

_ Favorite on-screen chemistry: Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler in ``50 First Dates''

_ Female movie star: Julia Roberts

_ Male movie star: Johnny Depp

_ Female action movie star: Angelina Jolie

_ Male action movie star: Will Smith

_ Leading lady: Renee Zellweger

_ Leading man: Brad Pitt

_ Funny female star: Ellen DeGeneres

_ Funny male star: Jim Carrey

_ Television drama series: ``CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''

_ Television comedy series: ``Will & Grace''

_ New television comedy series: ``Joey''

_ New television drama series: ``Desperate Housewives''

_ Female television star: Marg Helgenberger

_ Male television star: Matt LeBlanc

_ Late night talk show host: David Letterman

_ Daytime talk show host: Ellen DeGeneres

_ Reality show _ competition: ``American Idol''

_ Reality show _ makeover: ``Extreme Makeover Home Edition''

_ Reality show _ 24/7: ``Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica''

_ Crest fans favorite smile: Julia Roberts

_ Pantene fans favorite hair: Jennifer Garner

_ Cover Girl fans favorite look: Kate Hudson

_ Favorite group: U2

_ Female singer: Alicia Keys

_ Male singer: Usher

_ Favorite remake: ``The First Cut is the Deepest'' by Sheryl Crow

_ Favorite combined forces: ``Yeah'' by Usher/Lil Jon/Ludacris

_ Country group: Brooks & Dunn

_ Country female singer: Shania Twain

_ Country male singer: Tim McGraw