X-Men Sweeps Saturn Awards

June 13, 2001 -- Mutants battled martial artists and gladiators at the 27th annual Saturn Awards, held Tuesday in Century City, Calif. The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films holds the Saturn Awards to honor the year's best sci-fi, fantasy, and horror work on film and television.

Not surprisingly, the comic-book-inspired X-Men, which boasted 10 nominations going into the ceremony, cleaned up, with Wolverine and his freakishly evolved pals grabbing six awards — including a Best Director prize for Bryan Singer, a Best Actor nod for Hugh Jackman, a Best Supporting Actress trophy for Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and her skin-tight blue suit, a writing honor for David Hayter, and a costuming award for Louise Mingenbach.

The Academy had to stretch a bit to fill the horror spot this year, with critically reviled films Dracula 2000 and Urban Legends: Final Cut receiving unlikely nominations, along with Requiem for a Dream, which really isn't even a horror film.

On the television side, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was named Best Network Television Series, besting its spin-off, Angel, in the category. Robert Patrick was awarded for his acting work as FBI agent John Doggett on The X-Files, and newcomer Jessica Alba earned the nod in the Best Actress on Television category for her role on James Cameron's Dark Angel. In another award going to an actress wearing a skin-tight suit, Jeri Ryan was named Best Supporting Actress on Television for playing Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager.

Director Sam Raimi, who is currently filming Spider-Man, was presented with the George Pal Memorial Award, while producer Brian Grazer (Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas) and actor Robert Englund (you know, Freddy Krueger) received Life Career Awards.