Overview
Come Monday, February 25, Australian and New Zealand time, Hollywood will crown this year's Academy Award winners; however they're not the only gongs being handed out at this time of year. On the weekend before the Oscars, it's always time for cinema's worst and dullest to earn some recognition, all thanks to the Golden Raspberry Awards.
Now in their 39th year, the Razzies have unveiled their latest slate of recipients — aka the films from 2018 that you've hopefully avoided. On the list: a comic take on a couple of literary greats, an actor who's also in contention for the best actress Oscar and the current US President.
Taking out worst picture is Holmes & Watson, the Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly-starring supposed comedy based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous sleuthing pair. Reilly also nabbed the awards' worst supporting actor prize for his troubles, while the movie earned Etan Cohen the worst director trophy, too. And, it was further recognised as the worst remake, rip-off or sequel of 2018.
In the worst actor field, Ferrell lost out to Donald Trump, who was recognised for his work, as himself, in documentaries Death of a Nation and Fahrenheit 11/9. The American leader also took out the worst screen combo category for the same two flicks, with the award noting his pairing with "his self-perpetuating pettiness".
While Melissa McCarthy won worst actress for her two low points of 2018, aka The Happytime Murders and Life of the Party, she also received the Razzies' redeemer award for going "from a multi-Razzie darling to a critically acclaimed Oscar Nominee for her out-of-caricature role in Can You Ever Forgive Me?".
And, bringing the franchise's Razzie total to eight trophies across three movies, Fifty Shades Freed was anointed the worst screenplay of the last 12 months.
GOLDEN RASPBERRY NOMINEES AND WINNERS 2019
WORST PICTURE
- Holmes & Watson
- Gotti
- The Happytime Murders
- Robin Hood
- Winchester
WORST ACTOR
- Donald J. Trump (as himself) in Death of a Nation and Fahrenheit 11/9
- Johnny Depp (voice only) in Sherlock Gnomes
- Will Ferrell in Holmes & Watson
- John Travolta in Gotti
- Bruce Willis in Death Wish
WORST ACTRESS
- Melissa McCarthy in The Happytime Murders and Life of the Party
- Jennifer Garner in Peppermint
- Amber Heard in London Fields
- Helen Mirren in Winchester
- Amanda Seyfried in The Clapper
WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
- John C. Reilly in Holmes & Watson
- Jamie Foxx in Robin Hood
- Ludacris (voice only) in Show Dogs
- Joel McHale in The Happytime Murders
- Justice Smith in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
- Kellyanne Conway (as herself) in Fahrenheit 11/9
- Marcia Gay Harden in Fifty Shades Freed
- Kelly Preston in Gotti
Jaz Sinclair in Slender Man
Melania Trump (as herself) in Fahrenheit 11/9
WORST SCREEN COMBO
- Donald J. Trump and his self-perpetuating pettiness in Death of a Nation and Fahrenheit 11/9
- Any two actors or puppets (especially in those creepy sex scenes) in The Happytime Murders
- Johnny Depp and his fast-fading film career (he's doing voices for cartoons, fer kripesakes!) in Sherlock Gnomes
- Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly (trashing two of literature's most beloved characters) in Holmes & Watson
- Kelly Preston and John Travolta (getting Battlefield Earth-type reviews) in Gotti
WORST DIRECTOR
- Etan Cohen for Holmes & Watson
- Kevin Connolly for Gotti
- James Foley for Fifty Shades Freed
- Brian Henson for The Happytime Murders
- The Spierig Brothers (Michael and Peter) for Winchester
WORST PREQUEL, REMAKE, RIP-OFF or SEQUEL
- Holmes & Watson
- Death of a Nation (remake of Hillary's America...)
- Death Wish
- The Meg (rip-off of Jaws)
- Robin Hood
WORST SCREENPLAY
- Fifty Shades Freed, screenplay by Niall Leonard, from the novel by E.L. James
- Death of a Nation, written by Dinesh D'Souza and Bruce Schooley
- Gotti, screenplay by Leo Rossi and Lem Dobbs
- The Happytime Murders, screenplay by Todd Berger, story by Berger and Dee Austin Robinson
- Winchester, written by Tom Vaughan and The Spierig Brothers
RAZZIE REDEEMER AWARD
- Actress: Melissa McCarthy, who went from a multi-Razzie darling to a critically acclaimed Oscar Nominee for her out-of-caricature role in Can You Ever Forgive Me?.
- Actor: Tyler Perry, from a multi-Razzie nominee and winner for his self-imposed Madea trap to his role as Colin Powell in the Oscar and Golden Globe favourite Vice.
- Director: Peter Farrelly from Razzie Winner for Movie 43 and more shallow choices like Dumb and Dumber 2 etc… to director/co-writer of the deeply heartfelt Green Book.
- Franchise: From the Razzie-targeted heap of metal Transformers to the more innocent and endearing three-dimensional approach taken with Bumblebee.
- Sony Animation Studio from crass multi-Razzie winner Emoji Movie to the highly acclaimed Spider Man Into The Spider-Verse, which was loved by critics and audiences alike.