BRUCE, DIANA AND KAREN LEAD 2021 RAZZIE NOMINATIONS

A musical based on the people’s princess, a tone-deaf and toothless social satire and a former global superstar now just in it for the cash are in the critical crosshairs of the voters of 2021 Golden Raspberry Awards, aka ‘The Razzies’.

Leading the nominations with 9 Razzie mentions is director Christopher Ashley’s Diana the Musical (pictured, below), Netflix’s excruciating adaptation of the lambasted Broadway bomb (it shuttered after 40 performances in the wake of brutal reviews). Coke Daniel’s privileged white-woman takedown Karen, a project that seemed like a good idea at the time but which somehow proved more offensive than the ‘Karens’ it portrayed, came in second with 5 nominations.

In a first for the organisers, the 2021 Razzies will honour actor Bruce Willis with his own category, the bald capitalist having released no less than eight films in the last calendar year, each worse than the one before. Once one of international cinema's biggest names, Willis has resigned himself to roles that sometimes take only hours to shoot for projects that are never likely to surface anywhere other than physical media dump-bins in electronic superstores. Nevertheless, such comitment was deemed worthy of mention by the awards body, no doubt due in part to Willis' long Razzie history; he has two trophies to his name (1999 Worst Actor; 1992 Worst Screenplay) and a further five nominations.  

Major Hollywood studios were determined not to miss out, providing such dregs as the Amy Adams potboiler The Woman in the Window, from 20th Century Fox (5 nominations); Stephen Chbosky’s misguided musical effort, Dear Evan Hansen, courtesy of Universal (4 nominations); Warner Bros. product placement extravaganza, Space Jam: A New Legacy (4 nominations); and, Mark Wahlberg’s execrable actioner Infinite (3 nominations), which Paramount pulled from its theatrical schedule and cynically repackaged to launch its own streaming service.

A-listers to feel the Razzie sting include Ben Affleck for his “I’m going to be in my own movie!” performance opposite Matt Damon in Ridley Scott’s dud, The Last Duel; Jared Leto (pictured, left), only recognizable by the brazen, Leto-esque self-belief that he could pull off his ‘jowly Guiseppe’ role in Ridley Scott’s other dud, House of Gucci; and, the once high-flying Amy Adams, who earned two noms, for Dear Evan Hansen and The Woman in the Window. 

The 42nd annual Golden Raspberry award ceremony will be held on March 26, the traditional ‘Oscar’s Eve’ slot that The Razzies have made its own.

Full list of nominees:   

WORST PICTURE
Diana the Musical (The Netflix Version); Infinite; Karen; Space Jam: A New Legacy; The Woman in the Window

WORST ACTOR
Scott Eastwood / Dangerous; Roe Hartrampf (As Prince Charles) / Diana the Musical; LeBron James / Space Jam: A New Legacy; Ben Platt / Dear Evan Hansen; Mark Wahlberg / Infinite

WORST ACTRESS 
Amy Adams / The Woman in the Window; Jeanna de Waal / Diana the Musical; Megan Fox / Midnight in the Switchgrass; Taryn Manning / Karen; Ruby Rose / Vanquish

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams / Dear Evan Hansen; Sophie Cookson / Infinite; Erin Davie (As Camilla) / Diana the Musical; Judy Kaye (As BOTH Queen Elizabeth & Barbara Cartland) / Diana the Musical; Taryn Manning / Every Last One of Them

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ben Affleck / The Last Duel; Nick Cannon / The Misfits; Mel Gibson / Dangerous; Gareth Keegan (As James Hewitt, the Muscle-Bound Horse Trainer) / Diana the Musical; Jared Leto / House of Gucci

WORST PERFORMANCE by BRUCE WILLIS in a 2021 MOVIE (Special Category)
Bruce Willis / American Siege; Bruce Willis / Apex; Bruce Willis / Cosmic Sin; Bruce Willis / Deadlock; Bruce Willis / Fortress; Bruce Willis / Midnight in the Switchgrass; Bruce Willis / Out of Death; Bruce Willis / Survive the Game

WORST SCREEN COUPLE
Diana the Musical - Any Klutzy Cast Member & Any Lamely Lyricized (or Choreographed) Musical Number.
Space Jam: A New Legacy - LeBron James & Any Warner Cartoon Character (or Time-Warner Product) He Dribbles on
House of Gucci - Jared Leto & EITHER His 17-Pound Latex Face, His Geeky Clothes or His Ridiculous Accent
Dear Evan Hansen - Ben Platt & Any Other Character Who Acts Like Platt Singing 24-7 is Normal
Tom & Jerry the Movie - Tom & Jerry (aka Itchy & Scratchy) 

WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF or SEQUEL
Karen (Inadvertent Remake of Cruella deVil); Space Jam: A New Legacy; Tom & Jerry the Movie; Twist (Rap remake of Oliver Twist); The Woman in the Window (Rip-Off of Rear Window)

WORST DIRECTOR 
Christopher Ashley / Diana the Musical; Stephen Chbosky / Dear Evan Hansen; “Coke” Daniels / Karen; Renny Harlin / The Misfits; Joe Wright / The Woman in the Window

WORST SCREENPLAY 
Diana the Musical / Script by Joe DiPietro, Music and Lyrics by DiPietro and David Bryan
Karen / Written by "Coke" Daniels
The Misfits / Screenplay by Kurt Wimmer and Robert Henny, Screen Story by Henny
Twist / Written by John Wrathall & Sally Collett, Additional Material by Matthew Parkhill, Michael Lindley, Tom Grass & Kevin Lehane, from an “Original Idea” by David & Keith Lynch and Simon Thomas
The Woman in the Window / Screenplay by Tracy Letts, from the Novel by A.J. Finn

SHERLOCK HOLMES, DONALD TRUMP DOMINATE 2019 RAZZIES

The ghost of Sherlock Holmes loomed large over the 2019 Golden Raspberry ceremony, with not one but two modern reworkings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary sleuth emerging as the worst films of the year.

Holmes & Watson, the miserable comedy that reteamed the usually reliable Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, was the cause célèbre at this year’s ‘Razzies’, scoring four trophies, including Worst Picture, Worst Director for Etan Cohen, Worst Supporting Actor for Reilly and the competitive Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel.

Also amongst the nominees was the dire animated pic Sherlock Gnomes, with Johnny Depp’s voice enough to qualify him for Worst Actor contention and his career free-fall sufficient for a Worst Screen Combo nomination. As with most other award shows he’s ever attended, Depp left empty-handed. (Pictured, right; Sherlock Gnomes, left, with Depp)

Despite the worst reviews of his career, Ferrell’s Sherlock could not wrestle the Worst Actor trophy from the grasp of one Donald J. Trump. The Commander-in-Chief was singled out for his unconvincing portrayal of a U.S. President in Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9 and Dinesh D’Souza’s Death of a Nation; he also earned the Worst Screen Combo honour, starring alongside ‘His Self Perpetuating Pettiness’. Trump harpie Kellyanne Conway won the Worst Supporting Actress gong for her work in both films.

Worst Actress went to Melissa McCarthy, whose Oscar-nominated turn in Can You Ever Forgive Me? was over-compensated for with two other 2018 performances. Whether as the grizzled cop in Brian Henson’s The Happytime Murders or the sorority house senior in Ben Falcone’s Life of the Party, McCarthy’s undeniable talent could not overcome her choice of material. (Pictured, left; McCarthy in Life of the Party)

Neither President Trump nor Ms. McCarthy were present to collect their Golden Raspberry trophys.

Despite four Razzie nominations, Australian siblings Peter and Michael Spierig’s haunted house claptrap Winchester escaped the Razzie wrath.

The full list of 2019 Golden Raspberry honorees are:

Worst Picture: Holmes & Watson
Nominees – Gotti; The Happytime Murders; Robin Hood; Winchester

Worst Actor: Donald J. Trump (As Himself), Death of a Nation and Fahrenheit 11/9
Nominees - Johnny Depp (Voice Only), Sherlock Gnomes; Will Ferrell, Holmes & Watson; John Travolta, Gotti; Bruce Willis, Death Wish

Worst Actress: Melissa McCarthy, The Happytime Murders and Life of the Party
Nominees - Jennifer Garner, Peppermint; Amber Heard, London Fields; Helen Mirren, Winchester; Amanda Seyfried, The Clapper

Worst Supporting Actor: John C. Reilly, Holmes & Watson
Nominees - Jamie Foxx, Robin Hood; Ludacris (Voice Only), Show Dogs; Joel McHale, The Happytime Murders; Justice Smith, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Worst Supporting Actress: Kellyanne Conway (As Herself), Fahrenheit 11/9
Nominees - Marcia Gay Harden, Fifty Shades Freed; Kelly Preston, Gotti; Jaz Sinclair, Slender Man; Melania Trump (As Herself), Fahrenheit 11/9

Worst Screen Combo: Donald J. Trump & His Self Perpetuating Pettiness, Death of a Nation & Fahrenheit 11/9
Nominees - Any Two Actors or Puppets, The Happytime Murders; Johnny Depp & His Fast-Fading Film Career, Sherlock Gnomes; Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly, Holmes & Watson; Kelly Preston & John Travolta, Gotti

Worst 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 Director: Etan Cohen, Holmes & Watson
Nominees - Kevin Connolly, Gotti; James Foley, Fifty Shades Freed; Brian Henson, The Happytime Murders; The Spierig Brothers, Winchester

Worst Screenplay: Fifty Shades Freed, Screenplay by Niall Leonard, from the Novel by E.L. James
Nominees - Death of a Nation, Written by Dinesh D'Souza & 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

Barry L. Bumstead Award (for a movie that cost a lot and lost a lot): The Billionaire Boys Club

Razzie Redeemer Award: Melissa McCarthy "for following up her dual Razzie winning appearances with her more complex role in Can You Ever Forgive Me?"