The nominees for the 29th annual Golden Raspberry Awards, populary known as the Razzies, were announced Monday. The Razzies are “a logical antidote to Tinsel Town’s annual glut of self-congratulations [created] by John Wilson, author of Everything I Know I Learned at the Movies.” The awards ceremony—at which the organizers expect none of the nominees to appear (though they have been surprised in the past, most notably by Halle Berry accepting her Razzie for Catwoman)—will be in the evening on Saturday 21 February at Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in Hollywood (as is traditional, the nominees were announced a day before the Academy Award nominees are to be announced, and the award ceremony will be the day before the Academy Awards).
In announcing the nominees, The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation said “It wasn’t just the American economy that took a disastrous downturn in 2008—so did the quality of Hollywood movie-making. Of the 573 films released last year a record 75 rated forum discussions on the official Razzie Awards web site. This plethora of putrid motion pictures proved a double-edged sword—it meant Golden Raspberry Award voters had plenty to choose from—but it also made their task of culling the crud down to a mere five contenders each in nine categories berry complicated.”
This year’s genre nominees include:
The Day the Earth Blowed Up Real Good: nominated for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel
The Eye: nominated for Worst Actress (Jessica Alba—her nomination also mentions her work in The Love Guru)
The Happening: nominated for Worst Picture; nominated for Worst Actor (Mark Wahlberg—his nomination also mentions his work in Max Payne); nominated for Worst Director (M. Night Shyamalan); nominated for Worst Screenplay (M. Night Shyamalan)
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale: nominated for Worst Picture; nominated for Worst Supporting Actor (Burt Reynolds—his nomination also mentions his work in Deal); nominated for Worst Supporting Actress (Leelee Sobieski—her nomination also mentions her work in 88 Minutes); nominated for Worst Director (Uwe Boll—his nomination also mentions his work on 1968: Tunnel Rats and Postal [see below]); nominated for Worst Screenplay (Doug Taylor)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: nominated for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel
Meet Dave: nominated for Worst Actor (Eddie Murphy); nominated for Worst Screen Couple (Eddie Murphy IN Eddie Murphy)
Postal: nominated for Worst Supporting Actor (Uwe Boll); nominated for Worst Supporting Actor (Verne Troyer—his nomination also mentions his work in The Love Guru)
Repo: The Genetic Opera: nominated for Worst Supporting Actress (Paris Hilton)
Speed Racer: nominated for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: nominated for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel
In addition to the above nominations, as well as all the others (available from links from this page), there is a special category this year: Worst Career Achievement, for which Uwe Boll (“Germany’s Answer to Ed Wood”) is the only nominee. And for Worst Screen Couple, the only non-film specific nominee is “Uwe Boll & ANY Actor, Camera, or Screenplay.” The main press release estimates his In the Name of the King earned $4.8 million at the box office, after being made for an estimated budget of $60 million.