March is here and so are the Razzies awards for this year! As soon as the nominees lineup was announced on the 22nd January, I got to work on writing this blog post, only making further extreme edits once the "winners" were announced.
This was one of the more surprising lineups I've encountered in the history of this awards show. There were the nominees I expected to be on the list, but then there were some surprises as well. Some made sense and some I feel were being given too much flack. And then there were the ones that I expected to make the list but didn't.
Real life issues such as a boiler problem at home and getting distracted by my newfound mood board obsession meant that I wasn't able to finish this blog post earlier on. However, I feel April Fool's Day is a good time to release it, as the Razzies did host their award ceremony on that day in 2012, before deciding to stick with Oscar's Eve.
Anyway, here are the categories for this year, where I will discuss the nominations and winners, as well as my thoughts on some of the choices made and films or roles I feel could have made the lists as well. I'll even mention some of the predictions that I had for who would take the "wins" in each category.
Alright, here are the categories!
Worst Picture - Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.
Three films nominated for this category were ones that I expected. The Exorcist: Believer was a remake nobody asked for and I remember being completed flabbergasted when I first saw the poster for it on a bus somewhere. Expend4bles (that stupid title pun reminds me too much of the equally appalling Fant4stic) was a sequel that was doomed to fail anyway, especially considering that The Expendables 3 was a critical flop and Sylvester Stallone is a Razzie veteran anyway. And practically EVERYBODY expected Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (the Razzies wonders whether it should have been spelled "Hunny") to be nominated - some people were initially fascinated by the concept of a beloved children's character becoming a serial killer, but the film ultimately turned out to be more exploitative horror than anything interesting.
I was a bit surprised by the nomination of Shazam! Fury of the Gods, though to be fair, it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. It was a disappointing sequel to an otherwise fantastic movie from 2019, and it was ultimately between this and Ant-Man: Quantumania with regard to being the suckiest superhero movie of 2023. The lead actors trying to defend it after the film failed actually made matters worse in my mind, as it was as if they truly couldn't understand what went wrong with it (similar to Jason Derulo being completely ignorant as to how bad the Cats film truly was). Sure, there are many fans out there who have defended it too, but the fact is that the whole production behind it was a mess, especially with the whole Black Adam debacle linked with it.
What was more of a surprise for me was the nomination of Meg 2: The Trench, because honestly it isn't that bad. Okay, it's kind of stupid, but in a fun way and at least it seems to know how silly it is. Also they claimed that it "flopped across all seven seas", but clearly they're only talking critically as it did really well at the box office otherwise and reviews were more mixed than outright negative. Honestly, there were worst movies that could have been nominated instead like Ghosted and You People (which many people were banking on to be nominated in this category).
I highly expected (and hoped) this award would go to either the Exorcist remake, Expend4bles or Blood and Honey. In fact, I placed most of my bets on Blood and Honey because of how notable the bad press it received was. To my delight, and definitely NOT surprise, that was the film that took the win. It's not even "so bad it's good", it's just incredibly dumb. It's one of those films that you cannot believe exists in the first place and you wish that it never existed at all. Please...just don't watch it at all.
Worst Actor - Jon Voight as Patrick Quinn in Mercy.
I said that Ghosted should have been nominated for Worst Picture, but fortunately it has its first nomination here, with Chris Evans being nominated for his role as Cole Turner. Other nominees include Oscar winners Russell Crowe and Jon Voight for their respective roles as Father Gabriele Amorth in The Pope's Exorcist and Patrick Quinn in Mercy, and famed action stars Vin Diesel and Jason Statham for their respective roles as Dominic Toretto in Fast X and Jonas Taylor in Meg 2: The Trench.
My initial prediction was that Chris Evans would take the "win" here for Ghosted. However, much to my surprise, it was Voight who took it instead for what the Razzies described as a "Lucky Charm Leprechaun" Irish accent. Interesting that this was the only nomination the film received, as it received a whopping 0% on Rotten Tomatoes - they really should have nominated this film for Worst Picture as well.
This isn't the first time that Voight has been nominated, as he was nominated for Anaconda in 1998, Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 in 2005 and Bratz: The Movie in 2009 (oh god, these latter two films DO exist, burn them from my memory), but it is his first win. Also, the Stinker Awards (a long gone award ceremony that also honoured bad films like the Razzies do) put him up for nominations and awards for his terrible fake accents in two of these movies, so I guess he was bound to fail with his Irish accent in this recent film anyway. Which is a pity, because he started out really well with Midnight Cowboy and has been in some other successful roles such as in Coming Home.
Worst Actress - Megan Fox as Alana Hart in Johnny & Clyde.
Previously, the Razzies themselves took the win here for their absolute cock-up with regard to putting a child actress up for nomination. Fortunately for them this year, they have not repeated the same mistake as all of the nominations here are grown women.
Last year was not the first time that Ana de Armas starred in a terrible movie (you'll remember that she started in Razzie-winner Blonde right before that), but she has gained her first Razzie nomination for her role as Sadie Rhodes in Ghosted. It's a pity really, because before Blonde she was in some really good films such as Blade Runner 2049 and No Time to Die, with my favourite role of hers being Marta in Knives Out.
Other nominations include Razzie veterans Megan Fox as Alana Hart in Johnny & Clyde and Jennifer Lopez as the Mother in...The Mother. Salma Hayek, who has been nominated a few times before but never "won" has also been nominated for her role as Maxandra Mendoza in Magic Mike's Last Dance. In a very shocking swerve, Oscar-winning star Dame Helen Mirren of all people has been nominated for her role as Hespera in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, in a rare blunder for her. Even she admits that she still had no idea what the script was about during an interview meant to promote the movie.
Possibly to nobody's surprise, Megan Fox won this award. Though she has been nominated for this category several times in the past, this is the first time she has won this particular award. Her fall into Razzie "stardom" has been an interesting one - the Transformers movies that made her famous were never a hit with critics, but Jennifer's Body was her first major fumble, and it seems that she hasn't been able to recover since then.
Worst Supporting Actor - Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross in Expend4bles.
Two Razzie veterans have made the list here - Mel Gibson for his role as Kevin Hickey in Confidential Informant and Sylvester Stallone for his role as Barney Ross in Expend4bles. Franco Nero has also been nominated for his role as the Pope in The Pope's Exorcist. And two actors from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania have made the list too - Bill Murray for his role as Lord Krylar and Oscar-winner Michael Douglas of all people for his role as Hank Pym. The latter actor is a particularly sad case, as he was in the previous Ant-Man films in the same role and really good in it.
My main guess for the "win" in this category was Stallone, given his abysmal track record with the Razzies in the past. Ultimately, I was proven correct, as he did take the "award". This now makes it his twelfth "win" overall, with the majority being for his acting roles but some being for directing and screenwriting. It's likely going to be some time before any other actor overtakes him as the most decorated Razzie nominee and winner, considering the staggering amount of nominations and wins he's had over the decades.
Worst Supporting Actress - Megan Fox as Gina in Expend4bles.
Megan Fox receives another nomination this year, this time for her role as Gina in Expend4bles. Johnny & Clyde and Shazam! Fury of the Gods, already mentioned in the Worst Leader Actress section, have received nominations here as well, with Bai Ling being nominated for her role as Zhang in the former movie and Lucy Liu for her role as Kalypso in the latter movie. The other two nominations are Kim Cattrall for her role as Tigger in About My Father and Mary Stuart Masterson for her role as Aunt Jane in Five Nights at Freddy's (in the film's only nomination for the night, surprisingly enough).
Once again, Megan Fox wins an "award" at this year's Razzies, making it her second win in this category - her first "win" (and first win overall) was as April O'Neil in the hideous-looking 2015 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animation/live-action hybrid film. Overall, she's been nominated a total of nine times for different awards, ultimately winning three. Fortunately for her though, the actual woman to be nominated most times for the Razzies is Madonna for a whopping sixteen, ultimately winning eight, so at least Fox gets a one-up over Stallone in that regard.
Worst Screen Couple.
Ah, the screen couple category, best category as always. Two "normal" nominations popped up this year, that being Ana de Armas and Chris Evans in Ghosted (not a surprise there) and Channing Tatum and Salma Hayek in Magic Mike's Last Dance. However, on the more tongue-and-cheek side, you have any two "merciless mercenaries" in Expend4bles and Pooh and Piglet as blood-thirsty slasher/killers(!) in Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey - BTW, the Razzies added that exclamation mark there. And then there's my favourite nomination of all - any two money-grubbing investors who donated to the $400 million for remake rights to The Exorcist. I mean seriously?! What greedy idiots thought it was a good idea to remake it in the first place?!
Given the amusement factor of that nomination, I highly hoped that the investors would take the "win" here, just so they could be punished for their sheer greed. The sad news was that they didn't, but the good news was that it went to Pooh and Piglet instead. It's not just bad enough that Pooh is a serial killer in the film - Piglet has to be one too. What's next? Serial killer versions of other A.A. Milne characters? Serial killer versions of the Wind in the Willows cast, since Milne also did a stage adaptation of that book? Bet they're also the type of scumbags who'd be willing to invest in the Exorcist remake.
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off Or Sequel - Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.
Three movies from the Worst Picture category are in this one - The Exorcist: Believer, Expend4bles and Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. Actually, the fact that ALL of the movies nominated for Worst Picture could be placed here too says an awful lot about the saturation of sequels and remakes in the film market today. Ant Man & The Wasp: Quantumania takes Shazam! Fury of the Gods' place as the superhero dud in this category though.
Of course, like with the Worst Picture category, there had to be a surprise choice, and in this case it was Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny. Or, as the Razzies put it themselves, Indiana Jones and The Dial of...Still Beating a Dead Horse. To be fair, I agree the franchise is sort of beating a dead horse at this point, but it isn't actually a bad movie, just meh. Critics and audiences were more mixed than anything, and it was mainly the box office reception that was so negative. It's certainly better than Temple of Doom and Crystal Skull, I can tell you that. Out of all the remakes and sequels put out by Disney last year, I would have nominated The Haunted Mansion instead - the only positive thing I can say about it is that at least it's slightly more accurate to the original theme park ride than the Eddie Murphy version. "Slightly" being the key term here - for starters, why the hell did they make Razzie veteran Jared Leto's character the main bad guy rather than Constance the axe-wielding bride, the BEST Haunted Mansion character by far?!
Fortunately, the actual win went to Blood and Honey, which truly deserved this "award". The main reason this film exists is because Winnie the Pooh is now public-domain as of 2023. That said, maybe they should introduce some conditions to those rules so that we don't get anything poor quality like this again. The only good news is that it seems to be based more on the Disney films than the original book, but even that isn't much of a reassurance.
Worst Director -Rhys Frake-Waterfield for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.
We have a second switch-out scenario here. Nearly all the Worst Picture nominees have had their directors nominated for their output - Rhys Frake-Waterfield for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (no surprise there), David Gordon Green for The Exorcist: Believer, Scott Waugh for Expend4bles and Ben Wheatley for Meg 2: The Trench. Shazam! Fury of the Gods however has been swapped out with Ant Man & the Wasp: Quantumania, with its director Peyton Reed being up for the "award" instead. He's the name I recognise most on this list, as he worked on the previous Ant Man movies, a bunch of rom-coms and Bring it On (surprisingly enough). Looking at his Rotten Tomatoes scores, his films tend to vary in critical reception, with the first Ant Man movies receiving very positive reception and everything else receiving mixed or negative.
My top two predictions for the "win" in this category were Frake-Waterfield and Green, with Waugh being my third guess. Ultimately, Frake-Waterfield took the win here, which he truly deserved due to the abysmal direction his film took. The most tragic thing is that he still plans to make more exploitative slashers based on Disney properties such as Steamboat Willy, Peter Pan and even Bambi. REALLY? Despite all the backlash from audiences as well as critics? Then again, some creators can be outright trolls at times.
Worst Screenplay - Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.
Another switch-out scenario. Every single film in the Worst Picture category has been nominated for this one, except for Meg 2: The Trench. This was replaced with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, or as the Razzies put it, Indiana Jones and the Dial of...Can I got home now?. Again, as funny as the joke titles are, I'm surprised that it made the list as there were worst remakes and sequels this year. I guess the reason it got two nominations is because it is a fifth installment in a franchise that is losing steam anyway and its lead actor is getting a bit too old to be a convincing action hero anymore (the poor box office intakes don't help either).
Once again, Blood and Honey takes the win. This essentially means that it has won all of the Razzies it was nominated for, making it a clean sweep. I can only think of a few other films such as that horrendous Jack & Jill movie with Adam Sandler that have "achieved" anything similar. In fact, Jack & Jill won EVERY SINGLE RAZZIE that time round. At least Blood & Honey can boast about avoiding the same pitfall due to it not being nominated for the acting categories.
The Razzie Redeemer award - Fran Drescher, for her brilliant shepherding of the actors’ guild through a prolonged 2023 strike with a successful conclusion.
Now for the return of the only award in this ceremony that actually praises the winner rather than criticise them. This time, it went to The Nanny star Fran Drescher, previously nominated for Worst Actress in The Beautician and the Beast, for leading the SAG-AFRA strikes in 2023. I remember reading all of the articles about the strike while it was happening, and she was pretty much on fire when it came to rallying all the actors together. The way she called out Bill Iger for his ridiculous comments on actors being "unrealistic" when it comes to strikes was also downright epic. Ultimately, the strike succeeded, with only a few objectives not being met, and the fact that most of the general public were on the side of the actors throughout it all really says a lot about Drescher's leadership and what the actors were going through. As well as how corrupt the Hollywood system is in general.
That's it for the awards that were actually handed out this year. However, I have decided for the sake of this blog post to hand out two more awards.
The Barry L. Bumstead award - Walt Disney and the DCEU.
The first "award" I will mention is one that I genuinely thought was going to be handed out this year. The Razzies did a really good blog post in August last year on Disney's abysmal 100th birthday (you can find it here) and were concerned that if they continued on their downward spiral for the rest of the year, they would likely be the first studio to win the Barry L. Bumstead award for financial failure. The rest of the year proved to be even worse for Disney with their vanity project Wish flopping critically and financially and The Marvels becoming one of the biggest MCU flops of all time.
However, come the Razzies themselves and this award was not handed out to anyone at all. This was probably the only major disappointment I had from this year's ceremony, as I really felt that Disney deserved it. Only one of their films did not flop in 2023, with everything else failing to achieve box office success or outstanding critical praise. In fact, I plan to do a whole "Oh Disney!" retrospective of Disney's abysmal anniversary at some point, hopefully later this month. I'm still working on it, but I have a good idea of what I want to include.
However, I am also aware that the DCEU also had a horrible year, with ALL of its released films flopping. Blue Beetle was probably the most successful of the bunch, but even then it failed turn in a profit. As for The Flash, a film marred in controversy surrounding its lead actor Ezra Miller, it is currently the BIGGEST superhero flop of all time. Even moreso than The Marvels, which cancelled reports of its box office numbers after a while due to how poor they were. At least The MCU had some success last year with the stunning Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a brilliant way to end what was already a great trilogy.
So ultimately, I feel that this should be a tie, with both Disney and the DCEU receiving this "prize" together. Hopefully the MCU's new strategy of only releasing one film a year should help to avoid problems like this again while the DCU that is set to replace the DCEU manages to avoid falling into the same pitfalls that its predecessor did throughout its ten year run. Of course, the first DCU film Superman: Legacy won't be released until next year, so who knows?
Worst Excuse for an Actual Movie (All Concept/No Content) - Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey.
And finally, here's an old "award" category from the past that didn't make its return this year but I will mention anyway and give out myself for my own amusement, since I felt a few films last year could have "won" it if it was still around.
This "award" was given out at the 24th Golden Raspberry Awards held in 2004. Nominations that year included From Justin to Kelly (a project that American Idol finalists Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini were forced to star in as part of their contract), 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and The Real Cancun (a movie I hadn't heard of until writing this blog post). However, the overall winner was the horrific Dr. Seuss bastardisation The Cat in the Hat, which is an absolute insult to the original book and should never have been made in the first place. In fact, it was so bad that Dr. Seuss' widow Audrey Geisel actually BANNED all future live-action adaptations of his stories. It also says an awful lot about some of the people I was at high school with that they actually liked this movie (they also liked other lo-brow "comedies" such as the Grown Ups films and Jack & Jill). In case you're wondering, I don't keep in contact with those people.
Though this award did not pop up again at this year's ceremony, if it had, I would choose to give this to Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey. Though the concept of Winnie the Pooh becoming a bloodthirsty serial killer and cannibal did interest people at first, the actual execution was appalling and just an excuse for violence and bloodshed as well as corrupting everybody's childhoods in a mean-spirited manner. My other two nominations would be The Exorcist: Believer, due to it being a remake that we never wanted OR needed, and Disney's 2023 vanity project Wish - though the latter film is more mediocre than downright horrible, it ultimately becomes an excuse for Disney to gloat about their past 100 years and shove in as many references to their past projects as possible. The latter film is definitely getting a mention on my "Oh Disney!" blog post.
Now it just leaves the following question to answer - is The Cat in the Hat or Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey the most terrifying thing to have been released so far this century? Personally myself, I would pick the former.
Anyway, that's it for my retrospective on this year's Razzies. Overall, I had mixed views about the inclusion of some of the nominations (as well as the absence of certain movies), but I highly agree with the winner choices, ESPECIALLY with Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey sweeping the board. I look forward to a similar selection of winners next year, and Disney is probably hoping not to land any nominees that time round too. Who knows? Maybe next year's list will include Frake-Waterfield's Mickey Mouse slasher movie?
