The Razzies Are Here (Though You Wish They Weren't)
Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 4:30PM Kieran, here. The Razzie Awards, “honoring” the worst cinematic offerings of the year have announced their nominees and it’s pretty much as expected—knee-jerk, steeped in misogyny and patriarchal nonsense (more on this later) and generally indicative that they don’t care about quality filmmaking any more than the offenders they’re highlighting. A little background on who votes on the Razzies—voting is actually open to the public. People who want to vote pay an annual fee or you can pay a whopping $500 for lifetime membership. Why would anyone ever pay to be part of this unseemly orgasm of fruitless schadenfreude, you ask? To quote Sarah Paulson’s Abby in Carol, “I can’t help you with that”.
Anyway, here are the nominees...
50 SHADES OF GREY their nomination leader
Worst Picture
Fantastic Four
Fifty Shades of Grey
Jupiter Ascending
Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Pixels
Worst Actor
Johnny Depp, Mortdecai
Jamie Dornan, Fifty Shades of Grey
Kevin James, Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Adam Sandler, The Cobbler and Pixels
Channing Tatum, Jupiter Ascending
Worst Actress
Katherine Heigl, Home Sweet Hell
Dakota Johnson, Fifty Shades of Grey
Mila Kunis, Jupiter Ascending
Jennifer Lopez, The Boy Next Door
Gwyneth Paltrow, Mortdecai
Worst Supporting Actor
Chevy Chase, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 and Vacation
Josh Gad, Pixels and The Wedding Ringer
Kevin James, Pixels
Jason Lee, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Desolation of Smaug
Eddie Redmayne, Jupiter Ascending
Worst Supporting Actress
Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Road Chip and The Wedding Ringer
Rooney Mara, Pan
Michelle Monaghan, Pixels
Julianne Moore, Seventh Son
Amanda Seyfried, Love the Coopers and Pan
Worst Remake or Sequel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
Fantastic Four
Hot Tub Time Machine 2
Human Centipede 3
Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Worst Screen Combo
Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell, Fantastic Four
Johnny Depp and his glued-on mustache, Mortdecai
Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, Fifty Shades of Grey
Kevin James and either his Segway or glued-on mustache, Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Adam Sandler and any pair of shoes, The Cobbler
Worst Director
Andy Fickman, Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Tom Six, Human Centipede 3
Sam Taylor-Johnson, Fifty Shades of Grey
Josh Trank, Fantastic Four
Andy and Lana Wachowski, Jupiter Ascending
Worst Screenplay
Simon Kinberg, Jeremy Slater and Josh Trank, Fantastic Four
Kelly Marcel, Fifty Shades of Grey
Andy and Lana Wachowski, Jupiter Ascending
Kevin James and Nick Bakay, Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Tim Herlihy and Timothy Dowling, Pixels
Worst Screen Combo
Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell, Fantastic Four
Johnny Depp and his glued-on mustache, Mortdecai
Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, Fifty Shades of Grey
Kevin James and either his Segway or glued-on mustache, Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Adam Sandler and any pair of shoes, The Cobbler
Worst Director
Andy Fickman - Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Tom Six - Human Centipede 3
Sam Taylor-Johnson - Fifty Shades of Grey
Josh Trank - Fantastic Four
Andy and Lana Wachowski - Jupiter Ascending
Worst Screenplay
Simon Kinberg, Jeremy Slater and Josh Trank - Fantastic Four
Kelly Marcel - Fifty Shades of Grey
Andy and Lana Wachowski - Jupiter Ascending
Kevin James and Nick Bakay - Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Tim Herlihy and Timothy Dowling - Pixels
Razzies Redeemer Award (Seriously…what the heck does this category even mean?)
Elizabeth Banks
M. Night Shyamalan
Will Smith
Sylvester Stallone
As expected, they went after Fifty Shades of Grey in a big way. It’s a film that’s hard to defend as “great”, but a dubious choice for “Worst of the Year” when its biggest sin is that its forgettable. It probably secured its nomination here the moment the adaptation was announced, long before any voters laid eyes on it. Even if you happened to think Fifty Shades of Grey was dreadful, calling Dakota Johnson’s performance one of the worst of the year feels patently false. She’s admittedly not given much to work with, but there are real glimpese of a talented young performer yearning to breathe free.
This is what the Razzies call a bad performance. Madness.
Looking through the history of their nominees and winners in the female acting categories, a few things struck me. Firstly, they cited Shelley DuVall in The Shining (probably the best performance in a horror film) as one of their nominees of 1980. They also nominated Gina Gershon's brilliant turn in Showgirls, because that film was a punching bag and bile is rarely discerning. Also, their nominees and winners seem to be largely comprised of attractive actresses, working at varying levels of accomplishment. Also, being a pop star and acting in a film seems to be a surefire way to get nominated with this group, regardless of merit or lackthereof. There seems to be a hatred of attractive, accomplished women running through their voting trends. Perhaps sad, insecure men getting “revenge” on women who would never look twice at them in their actual lives? You be the judge. Also note Jamie Dornan, Eddie Redmayne and Channing Tatum (again…not great in their films, but worst of the year?) in the male acting categories as possible further evidence of this resentment and anger towards the young, the rising stars and the attractive.
Here’s the thing…it’s fun to trash bad art sometimes. This is true. But, to have an entire awards ceremony dedicated to the worst in film when you don’t also talk about the best in film just seems crass and useless. Do the people voting on these films have no organizational principle whatsoever when deciding what to watch and what to avoid? Can you imagine actually deciding to go see The Human Centipede 3 and then somehow being upset that it’s bad? What were the people who cited Paul Blart 2 expecting from that film that they didn't get? It’s very strange, very odd. It seems like people with no taste voting on the worst in art, which is quite the snake eating its own tail. I’d much rather watch the Oscars, gripe as we may about their choices sometimes. It really does take more effort to be negative. Also, including Julianne Moore on the worst of anything ever is a place I'm just not willing to go.
Reader Comments (25)
Wow, the razzies managed to nominate TWO women for worst director?
I'd heartily argue that the Oscars would get more consistent ratings if they DID incorporate their personal view of what the worst of the year is. You might get things like Old Fashioned or United Passions cited if Oscar was voting on it, as opposed to this joke.
From the little I saw, Redmayne deserves his nomination. Can't say I agree with Moore's nomination...but I didn't even think Seventh Son was all THAT bad really. They do tend to take a film they hate (or *think* they should hate) and run with it in every category they can.
So, why do you call attention to the razzies?
Let's just pretend it doesn't exist
What you have so against the Razzies? They are voted by people who care about film and even if they are not always the correct choices they are the only ones really doing this and horrible films getting recognized for their flaws is good for Holywood not getting away with making them.
While I agree that much here isn't a contender for "worst," I think you're overlooking the fact that they generally select better known films. The worst acting this year may occur in Promising Young Filmmaker's senior thesis, but where's the point in singling out lesser-known players for this dubious honor? You're right that the Razzies pick on the accomplished, but I bet they would argue they nominate Those Who Should Have Known Better.
Kieran: I'd keep Redmayne, but Tatum over Teller in Fant4stic? Dornan over Tim Roth's Sepp Blatter from United Passions? (Seriously, how is United Passions NOT here in a big way?)
Re: misogyny and patriarchal nonsense
I remember that the Twilight movies were always big "winners" with the Razzies. I have seen parts of the movies on cable, and the thought that kept popping into my head was how those movies are sweeping teenage girl fantasies. A clumsy girl becomes the most popular girl in school, snags both the dreamy vampire and the hunky werewolf. They're both willing to die for her. She has a dreamy wedding, a dreamy house, and then she finds out she's the most powerful vampire in the world. (Correct me if i got it wrong.) It sounds like teenage girl fantasy, and it was decried by men the entire way, including "winning" Razzies on a yearly basis.
On the other hand, there's Braveheart, which is the ultimate male fantasy. Mel Gibson gets to be George Washington, Casanova, and Jesus all in one movie! But no one decries it just based on that premise. In fact, it won best picture.
Now, don't get me wrong: There are some decided quality differences in the movies. The technical aspects in Braveheart are tip-top. Compare that to the werewolves in Twilight; that's some bad CGI, for sure. The acting is all over the place in Twilight (both good and bad), but Braveheart isn't exactly a master class of acting, either.
Then there are the bad sexual politics. Somehow Bella is totally turned on by being stalked and voyuered by a vampire in Twilight. Creepy. But then there's the bride in Braveheart who would rather kill herself than return to her home and husband after she's been raped by her landlord. And Braveheart also has the homosexual Prince/advisor relationship that reeks of insulting stereotype.
OK, now I'm just rambling. There are some quality differences in Twilight and Braveheart, of course. But it seems to me that Twilight gets immediate derision for being a teenage girl fantasy, whereas no one ever does that with the ultimate male fantasy.
(And to be clear: Twilight isn't my type of movie, and it wasn't even when I was a teenage girl. And I don't think all males consider Braveheart the ultimate fantasy, either. It's the gender generalizations that I'm talking about.)
Wow, it's just The Razzies. I'm sure they'd be happy to be called the Worst Awards group in the world. :-)
I appreciate that they don't pick on truly BAD movies, but rather the worst misfires or most disappointing movies.
I saw about 15 minutes of The Seventh Son on TV and thought it was truly terrible. I don't mind that Julianne Moore is the standard bearer for that movie, and honestly, I doubt if she does either. I'm sure she's pissed at how it turned out.
I just saw 50 Shades this past weekend and of course it's not the worst movie of the year, it's not even necessarily bad, but it IS disappointingly dull considering the subject matter. It needed a Ken Russell or Baz Luhrmann type at the helm.
That's a brilliant idea, Dave. Ken Russell would have turned 50 Shades out.
Oh dear. I really think Dakota Johnson did a fine job in that film; she was certainly the best thing in it. If anything, Jamie Dornan's performance (who's so good in The Fall) ranks as one of the most boring "sexy" leads in a long time..
Personally, my vote is a three-way tie between the films, Jurassic World, Pan, and Jupiter Ascending, with a four-way tie for Worst Actor/Actress: Bryce Dallas Howard, Hugh Jackman, Eddie Redmayne and Mila Kunis in those three movies.
Movies like Mall Cop2 are just dumb; they don't steal millions away from potentially better offerings. The worst time I had watching a movie: prob Jurassic World, with Pan being a very close second.
the product placement in Jurassic World made my eyes water
You get to love Showgirls (the genius cult classic as it exists today) and fault the Razzies for "recognizing" it in 1995. The fact that it bombed with audiences and critics is a huge part of what makes it legendary. Anyone who won a Razzie for Showgirls should be honored. And the Razzies should be proud of their hand in the whole thing.
You don't get to*
"There seems to be a hatred of attractive, accomplished women running through their voting trends"
How many unattractive and unaccomplished women get jobs in Hollywood? If every woman has to be pretty attractive to get a role in Hollywood and everyone who has a role in a Hollywood production is accomplished wouldn't that necessitate that their "worst actress" awards would be filled with attractive and accomplished women by default? And wouldn't it be worse if they were picking on women who weren't conventionally attractive?
Volvagia -- possibly because people haven't heard of it. I certainly don't know what "united passions" is.
Hayden -- but what of those of that knew SHOWGIRLS was genius the second we first saw it in 1995? I had Gina Gershon on my supporting actress list that year. alas it was before the site existed so i can't prove it. but it was COMPLETELY OBVIOUS that that was a genius star turn from practically her first line delivery.
Brian De Palma was nominated five times for worst director, including Dressed to kill, Scarface and Body Double !!!!
MJS...I considered this and I definitely see your point. I think what I'm getting at is that they seem to inordinately pick on starlets or performers who are in the media for their personal lives or their perceived public image as much, if not more so, than for their accomplishments and the Razzie nominations seem more like a reaction to THAT than an honest reaction to the work in question. And I think there's an inherent hatred/fear of women tied into that aspect of it. Like Madonna for instance, who I'm by no means a fan of. But you can't seriously tell me that she deserved all six of her Razzie nominations for Worst Actress. There are valid critiques of her, certainly, but a lot of the male critique seems to be steeped in resentment of her agency, her success and her autonomy. Sharon Stone was also a favorite target of theirs back when she was still making movies. And Angelina Jolie in the early to mid 2000s when she had a string of flops, some of which she was bad in, others where she was more forgettable than bad. I should have articulated the point better.
I love Eddie and Julianne and I don't mind seeing them popping up here. Maybe it helps them realize they don't need to say yes to everything that comes in their way. Be picky my dears.
I don't think Julianne needs a razzie nomination to know exactly what Seventh Son is :). Seriously, Razzies...can Cal and Liv go to college? Is that okay?
Peggy, ITA. I view the Razzies as providing some much needed deconstructive criticism. Or maybe just a long overdue kick in the pants.
I like Jupiter Ascending. Made a point of seeing it theatrically before it was prematurely yanked from theaters.
The Shining nominations easily discredit The Razzies. There were people who simply didn't appreciate Kubrick's movie on release. I think Duvall's performance is too polarizing to be considered best by any rational standard. Her work fits neatly along side performances which are considered over the top, cartoon-ish, or camp.
I don't worship vapidness so I don't care about Razzie voters going after women. Hollywood itself is much more dangerous to women than the people at home hating them.
Well, no-one takes the Razzies seriously anyway, unless he is Sandler (he keep churning out bad movies to be nominated)...Its all in good fun, where else wld you see the recent best actor and actress honored for their dubious turns..lol
Surely a razzie is the only acting award that is not on Julianne Moore's mantle? I hope she wins (with love, of course! All the trophies for JMoore I say!)
An industry as powerful as Hollywood, that has influenced
hearts and minds even before the existence of the internet and that loves - rightly – to celebrate success also needs to "celebrate" the shots in the water.
That´s important to learn to laugh at yourself, how Sandra Bullock and Halle Berry - Oscar Winning Actresses that went to their respective ceremonies to receive their Worst Actresses Awards.
Look, nobody needs to cut the wrists whenever
the favorite artist or movie is nominated or wins The Golden Raspberry Award
aka The Razzies. Don’t we do this with the Oscars ?