Two controversial films that defied the odds to earn millions at the box office joined a familiar green ogre to take top honors at the 31st Annual People's Choice Awards on Sunday.
The Michael Moore documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11, which took a critical look at President George W. Bush's actions after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, won the favorite movie award, while Mel Gibson's explicit The Passion of the Christ won in the favorite drama category.
PHOTO: EPA
Moore dedicated his win to the US 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," he added.
Animation
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.
Several 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.
Film, Television, Music
The People's Choice Awards, hosted by Jason Alexander and Malcolm-Jamal Warner, were presented at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and broadcast 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.
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