Overview
The nominations for Hollywood’s most dubious honours have officially been announced. For more than three decades, the Golden Raspberry Awards, better known as the Razzies, have named and shamed the year’s worst motion pictures, with previous winners including The Love Guru, Showgirls and Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2.
Dropping one day ahead of the Oscar nominees, this most recent batch of contenders includes several box office favourites and a multitude of A-list names. It just goes to prove the age-old expression: everyone’s a critic.
Leading the shortlist with seven nominations is Transformers: Age of Extinction. In addition to a Worst Picture nomination, the robo-rumpus earned nods for Worst Sequel, Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor (Kelsey Grammer), Worst Supporting Actress (Nicola Peltz) and Worst Screen Combo (Any Two Robots and/or Actors). Director Michael Bay has also picked up his fifth Worst Director nomination, which must surely be some kind of record. Hopefully the film’s $1bn gross helped to soften the blow.
Close behind Transformers with six nominations each is the Kellan Lutz action vehicle The Legend of Hercules and Kirk Cameron’s ‘faith-based’ holiday comedy Saving Christmas. The latter film enjoys a rare 0% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes and appears to have skipped Australia altogether. Rounding out the Worst Picture category is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot as well as the Nicolas Cage supernatural thriller Left Behind.
Cameron Diaz leads the acting ‘honours’ with three nominations: Worst Actress in The Other Woman and Sex Tape, and Worst Supporting Actress in Annie. Charlize Theron, meanwhile, is up for Worst Actress for her role in A Million Ways to Die in the West, along with a Worst Screen Combo nod she shares with her co-star Seth MacFarlane.
MacFarlane is also nominated for Worst Director and Worst Actor, competing in the latter category against Cameron, Lutz and Cage as well as Blended star Adam Sandler. Here’s hoping at least one of them has the good humour to accept their award in person, ala Halle Berry and Sandra Bullock.
Of course, there are some who might accuse of The Razzies of simply shooting fish in a barrel. Presumably, that’s why they’ve included a new category designed to celebrate actors who’ve managed to pull themselves out of the muck. Contenders for this year’s ‘Redeemer’ Award include Ben Affleck for going ‘from Gigli to Argo and Gone Girl’ and six-time Razzie nominee Keanu Reeves for his role in the critically acclaimed action movie John Wick.
The winners of the Golden Raspberries will be announced on the eve of the Academy Awards in February. We’ve included the full list of nominees below.
THE 35TH ANNUAL RAZZIE NOMINEES:
Worst Picture
Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas
Left Behind
The Legend of Hercules
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Worst Director
Michael Bay, Transformers: Age Of Extinction
Darren Doane, Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas
Renny Harlin, The Legend of Hercules
Jonathan Liebesman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Seth MacFarlane, A Million Ways to Die in the West
Worst Actor
Kirk Cameron, Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas
Nicolas Cage, Left Behind
Kellan Lutz, The Legend of Hercules
Seth MacFarlane, A Million Ways to Die in the West
Adam Sandler, Blended
Worst Actress
Drew Barrymore, Blended
Cameron Diaz, The Other Woman and Sex Tape
Melissa McCarthy, Tammy
Charlize Theron, A Million Ways to Die in the West
Gaia Weiss, The Legend of Hercules
Worst Supporting Actor
Mel Gibson, Expendables 3
Kelsey Grammer, Expendables 3, Legends of Oz, Think Like A Man Too and Transformers: Age of Extinction
Shaquille O’Neal, Blended
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Expendables 3
Kiefer Sutherland, Pompeii
Worst Supporting Actress
Cameron Diaz, Annie
Megan Fox, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Nicola Peltz, Transformers: Age of Extinction
Susan Sarandon, Tammy
Brigitte Ridenour, Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas
Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel
Annie
Atlas Shrugged 3: Who Is John Galt?
The Legend of Hercules
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Transformers: Age Of Extinction
Worst Screen Combo
Any Two Robots, Actors (or Robotic Actors), Transformers: Age of Extinction
Kirk Cameron & His Ego, Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas
Cameron Diaz & Jason Segel, Sex Tape
Kellan Lutz & Either His Abs, His Pecs or His Glutes, The Legend of Hercules
Seth McFarlane & Charlize Theron, A Million Ways to Die in the West
Worst Screenplay
Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas,
Left Behind
Sex Tape
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Razzie Redeemer Award
Ben Affleck, From Razzie ‘Winner’ for Gigli to Oscar darling for Argo and Gone Girl
Jennifer Aniston, From 4-time Razzie nominee to SAG award nominee for Cake
Mike Myers, From Razzie ‘Winner’ for Love Guru to Docu Director of Supermensch
Keanu Reeves, From 6-time Razzie nominee to John Wick
Kristen Stewart, From Razzie ‘Winner’ for Twilight to the art house hit Camp X-Ray