The Golden Raspberry Awards, aka the Razzies, were created in 1980 with the sole purpose of balancing out the Academy Awards. However, you never want to receive or become nominated for this anti-prestigious statue. It dishonors, (or honors, depending on personal taste) the worst acting, screenwriting, songwriting, directing, and most importantly filmmaking that the industry produces every year.
Unlike the Oscars, voting on the garbage is open to the public, as long as you have membership to the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation (GRAF). Nominations are announced one day prior to the Oscars and also presented one day earlier. The award itself is just as absurd as the mentioned films; taking the form of a plastic raspberry and roll of film that is spray painted gold and mounted on a base, typically valued at a whopping $4.89. This year the nominees were leaked early, much to the dismay of the GRAF, but thankfully for potential audiences.
Some of the other mentionable categories in the award show are: Worst Screen Couple and Worst Prequel or Sequel. Special categories have also been made up depending on the substance of awfulness such as Worst Screenplay Grossing Over $100 Million, Worst Excuse for an Actual Movie (All Concept/No Content!), Most Tiresome Tabloid Targets, Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property and a lengthy list of shameful other categories. However, the Worst Career Achievement Award has to be the most painful by far (only given to Linda Blair, Ronald Regan, Irwin Allen, and “Bruce the Rubber Shark” from Jaws) director Uwe Boll will be accepting his plastic statue of disappointment this year for being, as GRAF said, “Germany’s answer to Ed Wood.”
Despite the intensely horrible public attention, it is no surprise that several stars have still attended and accepted their awards; Bill Cosby, Tom Selleck, Barry Pepper, Tom Green and Halle Berry (who called her winning film “Catwoman” a “piece of shit, god-awful movie”) have all poked fun at themselves. While triple winner for “Gigli,” “Daredevil,” and “Paycheck” actor Ben Affleck angrily broke his award on Larry King Live, the statue was sold and paid for the next year’s ceremony budget. Air-head extreme Kim Kardashian was nominated this year for her performance in “Disaster Movie” and released a statement saying, “It’s an honor just being nominated!” she obviously didn’t get the memo or have the ability to read it.
More importantly though are the laughable Razzie records, that easily show what and who not to go rushing to see when a film premieres. Unsurprisingly “Gigli” is the first and currently only film to win in all the top five categories at the ceremony, which is why Mr. Affleck might have been so pissed. Lindsay Lohan’s catastrophe of a flick “I Know Who Killed Me” managed to win the most Razzies in a single year. Lohan is also the only actress to win twice for her role, for both of her equally deficient characters.
Sylvester Stallone has had the most nominations, an incredible thirty, and won ten of them. I guess if you are nominated nine consecutive years 1984 to 1992, you should seriously reconsider your job. George Bush and his “super team” (includes Rumsfeld and Rice) are the only non-actors to win awards, for their appearances in Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11.” Usually on top of his game, comedian Ben Stiller slipped up big time in 2004 for being nominated for five separate movies; “Along Came Polly,” “Anchorman,” “Dodgeball,” “Envy,” and “Starsky & Hutch.” Also, Eddie Murphy managed to garner up five nominations for his tiresome performances in “Norbit.”
Back to this year’s nominees, because although they are bad, there have been noticeable snubs this year. “Disaster Movie” and “Meet the Spartans” have been grouped together because they share not only the same idiotic producers but director Razzie has labeled them as “Two Movies-One Berry Badly Beaten Dead Horse of a Concept!”
“The Happening,” starring Mark Whalberg, has also been nominated for Worst Picture and shows once-brilliant director M. Night Shyamalan has been steadily slipping since “Lady in the Water” and “The Village.” A romantic comedy that has neither of these elements, but Paris Hilton both produced and stars in, ensures that “The Hottie and the Nottie” will be a strong contender. “Transporter” star Jason Statham’s “In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale” is also nominated and based on title alone it looks like an insanely long medieval bore (costarring Burt Reynolds, which might be a hint). Lastly, Mike Meyer’s enormous summer monster of a bomb “The Love Guru” truly deserves this buzz as well.
I hope this helps fellow moviegoers take caution in renting or even witnessing these film casualties that came out this year. For more horrific movie listings and categories check out the somewhat prestigious awards online.