An annual tradition, the Golden Raspberry Awards holds a special place in movie history. A parody show dedicated to acknowledging the worst films and performances of the year, the Razzies, as they as often called, are often quoted when discussing a movie's failure.
Like it's parallel in the Oscars, the Razzies don't always get it right. With the ceremony coming up, now seems a proper time to look back on movies that were perhaps unfairly nominated at the award show.
10 'Blonde' (2022)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 44%
One of the most controversial pictures of this past movie cycle, Andrew Dominik's Blonde drew acclaim and detest in spades. A loose biopic of the life of screen star Marilyn Monroe, the adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates's bestselling and equally polarizing novel received an Oscar nod for its star, Ana de Armas. While many critics acknowledged de Armas' performance, they also questioned the movie's morality.
Premiering in Venice, the movie received a 14-minute standing ovation, with Vanity Fair calling it a "fascinating alternative to the traditional biopic." Other critics were less congratulatory, deeming the movie vile and exploitative. It is yet to be seen whether the movie will win the Razzie for Worst Picture or Worst Director, but, despite some outrage, the movie still has ardent supporters.
9 'Hoffa' (1992)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 52%
Although Al Pacino's recent Oscar-nominated performance in The Irishman will likely be the enduring screen performance of Jimmy Hoffa, the labor union leader has appeared many times on screen, notably in 1992's Hoffa. With Jack Nicholson in the lead role, the movie divided critics and was a box office bust.
Although critics found the film evocative and ambitious, Nicholson's performance was divisive, as it was nominated for both a Golden Globe and a Razzie. In addition, director Danny DeVito also got a Razzie nod for his poor direction. Coming out the same year as Glengarry Glen Ross, Hoffa is a lesser David Mamet but includes enough of his devilish use of language to be engaging.
8 'Heaven's Gate' (1980)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 59%
One of the most notorious disasters in cinematic history, the production and initial reception of Heaven's Gate is legendary. Grossing a measly $3.5 million against a $44 million budget, the movie was littered with fiascos, from cost overruns to retakes. Upon release, it was called "an unqualified disaster" and nominated for a Razzie in almost every category, winning for Worst Director.
With five versions being released, including multiple director's cuts, the movie has been widely reappraised, with some going as far as to call it a masterpiece. Ranked the 12th greatest Western of all time by Time Out London, modern audiences mostly find the movie's condemnation unsupported, characterizing it as "one of the great injustices of cinematic history."
7 'Twister' (1996)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 63%
A former cinematographer, Jan de Bont's films are noted as big, brash spectacles, and Twister is no exception. The second highest grossing film of 1996, most found the film to be a fun, low maintenance, high thrills popcorn flick that is only enhanced on as big a screen as possible. However, the Razzies didn't think so, as the film won Worst Written Film Grossing Over $100 Million.
While most critics enjoyed the movie's maximalism, other outlets did not, as it was also nominated for The Stinkers Bad Movie Award for Worst Picture. However, it was nominated for two Oscars, including Best Sound and Visual Effects. Although not the most cunning script, strong action sequences and a talented cast make Twister a high-octane joyride.
6 'A Time to Kill' (1996)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 68%
People just loved John Grisham's adaptations in the '90s. Seven of them were made in that decade alone, with 4 grossing over $100 million. Coming right in the middle of that run was A Time to Kill, written by Akiva Goldsman and directed by Joel Schumacher, who had directed the Grisham adaptation The Client just two years prior.
A solid courtroom drama, there is little to blow audiences away in the film, but it is literate and well-made with some worthy performances. Grisham noted that A Time to Kill "wasn't a great movie, but a good one." Nevertheless, the Razzies still nominated it for Worst Written Film Grossing Over $100 Million, "losing" to Twister.
5 'mother!' (2017)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 68%
Another highly contentious film, few were more heatedly debated in 2017 than Darren Aronofsky's mother!. While Metacritic has the film with a weighted score of 75 out of 100, CinemaScore has its audience score at an F grade. This disparity highlighted the gaping segregation between those who found it a bewitching psychological mosaic and those who found it a pretentious extravaganza.
Like Blonde before it, some critics were put off by the film's unrelenting violent vision, while others found the actual story tiresome. Others, like Rolling Stone's Peter Travers, who gave the film a positive review, complimented Aronofsky's direction, calling Mother!, "a work of a visionary." The Razzie committee evidently disagreed, nominating Aronofsky for Worst Director.
4 'Body Double' (1984)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77%
The successor to Alfred Hitchcock in many ways, Body Double is Brian De Palma's most overt homage. A commentary on voyeurism and obsession through the jungle of seedy Los Angeles, Body Double is one of De Palma's most expertly staged thrillers. Despite being libidinous in a De Palma sort of way, the film is also one of his funniest.
However, critics at the time failed to appreciate Body Double's flavor, instead criticizing it as pastiche and lewd. Despite some critics noting the film as "the zenith of (De Palma's) cinematic virtuosity," he was still nominated for Worst Director at the Razzies. Since its release, De Palma's stimulating probe of unseemly desires has developed a cult following.
3 'S.O.B.' (1981)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%
Praised and pilloried in almost equal measure, Blake Edwards' directing career in Hollywood was the source of much contention. While many acknowledged his technical skill, many also found his films devoid of sagacity and frustratingly hollow. However, one of the more biting works of The Pink Panther filmmaker was his Hollywood satire S.O.B.
In contrast to many of his widely appraised films, the reception to S.O.B. was much like the reception to Edwards himself, surprisingly mixed. A box office bust, the movie holds the rare distinction of being nominated for both a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen and a Razzie for Worst Screenplay.
2 'Dressed to Kill' (1980)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82%
What does The Razzie Awards have against Brian De Palma? Nothing, of course, but unlike Body Double, Dressed to Kill was well received upon release, which makes it quizzical why it was nominated for 3 Razzies, including Worst Actress, Actor, and Director. Like Body Double, this is a Hitchcockian erotic thriller, but unlike the previously mentioned, Dressed to Kill was a hit, grossing over $30 million.
Questionable gender politics and a facile whodunit element may make Dressed to Kill less exciting on a re-watch, but it still holds some extraordinary scenes, such as a single tracking sequence in a museum that is up there with De Palma's all-time best work. With unmistakable style and a bold structure, Dressed to Kill was proclaimed by David Denby of New York magazine as "the first great American movie of the 80s."
1 'The Shining' (1980)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82%
For a movie falling shy of grossing $50 million, the cultural impact of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is outstanding. Initial reviews for the film were mixed, with Stephen King himself denouncing the movie due to its deviation from his source material. Achieving no BAFTA, Golden Globe, or Oscar nominations, one of the film's few acknowledgments came from the Razzies, which nominated Kubrick for Worst Director in their inaugural show.
By the second half of the '80s, there was already a wave of reevaluation for the film. Now, The Shining is almost universally lauded, ranked 75th in Sight and Sound's 2012 greatest film of all time directors' poll, and 29th on AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills list. Selected for preservation in the National Film Registry, the lesson of The Shining is that it may take time to appreciate some of cinema's more cryptic masterpieces.