I must admit I feel pretty proud of myself: the Razzie nominations have been revealed, and I have not seen a single one of their Worst Picture nominees. Not one.
Not Paris Hilton vehicle “The Hottie and the Nottie” — uh, did anyone? Not the latest nail in Shyamalan’s career coffin, “The Happening,” though I admit I came close. Not “In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale,” which I must confess I haven’t heard of here in the UK. And certainly not Mike Myers’ “The Love Guru,” which leads the field with 7 nods. (The film’s “American Idol” promo spots were traumatic enough.)
I find myself a little bored with the Razzies lately… it’s not much fun to pick on films that, for the most part, nobody saw. Also, singling out films like “The Hottie and the Nottie” seems like a futile exercise when they never had any intention of being good in the first place. Far more rewarding, I think, is when they celebrate (so to speak) high-profile, high-stakes projects that failed miserably. “Striptease,” for example. “Catwoman.” “The Postman.”
But does anyone really care whether Jenny McCarthy is deemed marginally worse than Carmen Electra? If you do, feast your eyes on the nomination list below. (But hey, good call on Pierce Brosnan, guys.)
Worst Picture
“Disaster Movie” and “Meet the Spartans”
“The Happening”
“The Hottie & the Nottie”
“In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale”
“The Love Guru”
Worst Actor
Larry the Cable Guy, “Witless Protection”
Eddie Murphy, “Meet Dave”
Mike Myers, “The Love Guru”
Al Pacino, “88 Minutes” and “Righteous Kill”
Mark Wahlberg, “The Happening” and “Max Payne”
Worst Actress
Jessica Alba, “The Eye” and “The Love Guru”
The cast of “The Women” (Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Meg Ryan)
Cameron Diaz, “What Happens in Vegas”
Paris Hilton, “The Hottie & the Nottie”
Kate Hudson, “Fool’s Gold” and “My Best Friend’s Girl”
Worst Supporting Actress
Carmen Electra, “Disaster Movie” and “Meet the Spartans”
Paris Hilton, “Repo: The Genetic Opera”
Kim Kardashian, “Disaster Movie”
Jenny McCarthy, “Witless Protection”
Leelee Sobieski, “88 Minutes” and “In the Name of the King”
Worst Supporting Actor
Uwe Boll as himself, “Uwe Boll’s Postal”
Pierce Brosnan, “Mamma Mia!”
Ben Kingsley, “The Love Guru,” “War, Inc.” and “The Wackness”
Burt Reynolds, “Deal ” and “In the Name of the King”
Verne Troyer, “The Love Guru” and “Uwe Boll’s Postal”
Worst Screen Couple
Uwe Boll and any actor, camera or screenplay
Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher, “What Happens In Vegas”
Paris Hilton and either Christine Lakin or Joel David Moore, “The Hottie & the Nottie”
Larry the Cable Guy and Jenny McCarthy, “Witless Protection”
Eddie Murphy and Eddie Murphy, “Meet Dave”
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel (combined category for 2008)
“The Day the Earth Blowed Up Real Good”
“Disaster Movie” and “Meet the Spartans”
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
“Speed Racer”
“Star Wars: The Clone Wars”
Worst Director
Uwe Boll, “1968: Tunnel Rats,” “In the Name of the King” and “Postal
Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, “Disaster Movie” and “Meet the Spartans
Tom Putnam, “The Hottie & the Nottie
Marco Schnabel, “The Love Guru”
M. Night Shyamalan, “The Happening”
Worst Screenplay
“Disaster Movie” and “Meet the Spartans,” both written by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer
“The Happening,” written by M. Night Shyamalan
“The Hottie & the Nottie,” written By Heidi Ferrer
“In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale,” screenplay by Doug Taylor
“The Love Guru,” written by Mike Myers and Graham Gordy
Worst Career Achievement
Uwe Boll (Germany’s answer to Ed Wood)
Comments
13 responses to “‘Love Guru’ not so loved”
Damn, it’s too bad Rambo didn’t make it in these categories. That movie was awful.
The Razzies don’t seem like that much fun anymore. In a way, they’re obligated to single out big-budget disasters — they could not ignore “The Love Guru.” But there are still so many bitingly creative ways to spotlight the worst in cinema, and they’re missing out.
Schadenfreude is the order of the day, and there’s none of that when you nominate heiresses and reality stars. The only nominations I find interesting are for people who have had Oscar attention in the past (Ben Kingsley, Al Pacino, Kate Hudson, M. Night Shyamalan, etc.) and have fallen so far.
It would also be nice to see nominations given to weak links in movies that are otherwise Oscar contenders — think of Andie McDowell in “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” then a Best Picture nominee. She wasn’t nominated for a Razzie that year, but it would have made a statement, to puncture the Academy’s hot air a bit.
As sweet as it is to see Kate Hudson as worst actress…
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I wish people weren’t so harsh on The Happening! I’m not going to attempt to defend it, but maybe it should be ‘Biggest Disappointment’ or something along those lines. It was not one of THE WORST movies of the year.
I was worried that Rambo would get a nomination for Worst Sequel. Glad to see the Razzie peeps could appreciate it for the great action flick it is.
Neel Mehta: I agree completely. They should be singling out the films/performers with the widest chasm between ambition and achievement.
I like the ‘weak link’ idea, too — though if I’m not mistaken, Sofia Coppola won a Razzie for “The Godfather Part III.”
Also, funny you should mention Andie McDowell — just the other day, I caught “Four Weddings” on TV and was struck anew by just how ghastly she is. Why on earth were we supposed to want Hugh Grant to hook up with her, and not Kristin Scott Thomas?
But I digress.
Jack Nicholson got nominated for The Wackness. Enough said.
Also… BEN KINGSLEY FOR THE WACKNESS?!?!?! HE WAS BRILLIANT!!! He’s in my set of nominees!
Yeah, I don’t get that one either — he was fine in “The Wackness.” (Better than he was in “Elegy,” but that’s my bias speaking, perhaps.) Sometimes they just like to pile onto a person with little regard for specifics.
Honestly, I’m a little surprised that Samuel L. Jackson didn’t recieve a nomination for Worst Supporting Actor in The Spirit.
Yeah, Kingsley was great in The Wackness and oscar-worthy in my mind, I bet the voters probably just put in him because of the other films without paying much attention to Wackness. I also don’t think Happening was worst picture worthy (I felt it was a flawed, but at least watchable and creepy at times horror film) but I know a lot of people would disagree with me and I wasn’t shocked to see it included.
This seems a banner year for mark Wahlberg though obviously perennial nominee Eddie Murphy is the favorite. Too bad they over-looked such deserving people as Matthew Matthew McConaughey(I always have to google to spell his name), Aston Kutcher & Zac Efron. I read in some article that High School Musical 3 was on their longlist. Too bad it failed to make it.
red_wine, High School Musical was on their longlist but it is probably good they didn’t nominate it. Its reviews were actually pretty decent (a 67% on rotten tomatoes) and I think it is best they actually go for films that have bad reviews.
Guy, I must say that I’m quite impressed at your restraint: not one grumble about the “Mamma Mia!” snub!
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