Every year, the Oscars award the very best in filmmaking, and every year the Razzies offer a counterpoint by highlighting the very worst films of the year. Just as often as the Oscars fail to actually recognize the best picture/actress/screenplay, the Razzies go for the low blow rather than actually singling out the worst of the worst. More often than not, the Razzies simply jump on the biggest target rather than taking a good hard look at the year in film and highlighting filmmaking that’s genuinely lazy or uninspired. Moreover, what does reiterating “this movie is bad” possibly add to anything whatsoever?
Case in point: this year’s Razzie nominees are topped by Fifty Shades of Grey, a film that actually has some interesting ideas in it thanks to director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s artistic vision, which unfortunately was restrained in the name of faithfulness to the source material. Most strikingly, Dakota Johnson landed a “Worst Actress” nomination for the movie, which is laughable considering she turns in a genuinely nuanced performance. Elsewhere Rooney Mara secured a “Worst Supporting Actress” nomination for Pan, another puzzling choice considering she’s the best thing about the movie, and Andy and Lana Wachowski were singled out as “Worst Directors” for Jupiter Ascending. Listen, Jupiter Ascending is a lot of things, but poorly directed it is not.
Fantastic Four, not so surprisingly, was also a big “winner” in terms of nominations, which I guess is edgy and cool because we’re still celebrating its failure?
I’m not really sure why the Razzies still exist beyond continuing to fuel the snark and cynicism machine. I’d much rather talk about movies that are great than reminisce about some of the year’s biggest disappointments in a manner that adds nothing to the conversation, but hey, that’s just me.
Anyway, take a look at the year’s Razzie Nominations below if you so desire. The “awards” will be handed out the day before the Oscars, on February 27th.
WORST PICTURE
Fantastic Four
Fifty Shades of Grey
Jupiter Ascending
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2
Pixels
WORST ACTOR
Johnny Depp, Mortdecai
Jamie Dornan, Fifty Shades of Grey
Kevin James, Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Adam Sandler, The Cobbler and Pixels
Channing Tatum, Jupiter Ascending
WORST ACTRESS
Katherine Heigl, Home Sweet Hell
Dakota Johnson, Fifty Shades of Grey
Mila Kunis, Jupiter Ascending
Jennifer Lopez, The Boy Next Door
Gwyneth Paltrow, Mortdecai
WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Chevy Chase, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 and Vacation
Josh Gad, Pixels and The Wedding Ringer
Kevin James, Pixels
Jason Lee, Alvin & The Chipmunks: Road Chip
Eddie Redmayne, Jupiter Ascending
WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Alvin & The Chipmunks: Road Chip and The Wedding Ringer
Rooney Mara, Pan
Michelle Monaghan, Pixels
Julianne Moore, Seventh Son
Amanda Seyfried, Love the Coopers and Pan
WORST REMAKE/RIP-OFF/SEQUEL
Alvin & The Chipmunks: Road Chip
Fantastic Four
Hot Tub Time Machine 2
Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence)
Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
WORST SCREEN COMBO
All Four “Fantastics,” Fantastic Four
Johnny Depp and His Glued-On Moustache, Mortdecai
Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, Fifty Shades of Grey
Kevin James and EITHER His Segue OR His Glued-On Moustache,Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Adam Sandler and Any Pair of Shoes, The Cobbler
WORST DIRECTOR
Andy Fickman, Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Tom Six, Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence)
Sam Taylor-Johnson, Fifty Shades of Grey
Josh Trank, Fantastic Four
Andy and Lana Wachowski, Jupiter Ascending
WORST SCREENPLAY
Fantastic Four (screenplay by Simon Kinberg, Jeremy Slater and Josh Trank, Based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)
Fifty Shades of Grey (screenplay by Kelly Marcel, Based on the Novel by E.L. James)
Jupiter Ascending (written by Andy and Lana Wachowski)
Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 (screenplay by Kevin James & Nick Bakay)
Pixels (screenplay by Tim Herlihy and Timothy Dowling, Story by Herlihy, Based on a Work by Patrick Jean)
RAZZIE REDEEMER AWARD
Elizabeth Banks
M. Night Shyamalan
Will Smith
Sylvester Stallone
