The Razzies: Lampooning Hollywood for 35 years
Sylvester Stallone has been nominated for 30 Golden Raspberry Awards and won four. He’s not a fan. Neither is Michael Caine, who called the awards “the pustule on the butt of Hollywood” when he was nominated in 1980 for both “Dressed to Kill” and “The Island.”
This celebrity aggravation wouldn’t be possible without John Wilson.
Wilson started the awards, which honor the worst of the worst in film each year, 35 years ago in his Los Angeles living room. The nominees and winners are now reported on throughout the world.
In his interview with Kai, Wilson shares the origin story of the awards and talks about the time Sandra Bullock showed up to accept her Razzie in person (Halle Berry did too).
Here are two tidbits that didn’t make the radio broadcast. First, we asked Wilson if the Razzies have ever been used to promote a film:
It’s interesting. The ultimate Razzie movie is probably “Showgirls,” the one that Paul Verhoeven did. I loved the quote, “It’s the only movie about Las Vegas that’s actually more tasteless than Las Vegas.” [Wilson lives in Las Vegas] He showed up at the ceremony and accepted his award, but MGM, when they saw the reaction to it they tried to rerelease it and turn it into another “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and make it an interactive bad movie where you would come dressed as one of the dancing [strippers] and yell. It didn’t work, but yeah, I actually have in my storage a poster that says “Winner of an unprecedented seven Razzie Awards.”
We also asked Wilson if he views the Academy Awards differently after the Razzies have been the anti-Oscars for 35 years:
I’m way more cynical. I grew up with two parents who were Depression-era kids who loved movies and they passed that on to me. I actually as a child used to stay up and watch the Oscars in Chicago when I was very young, and I do love the Oscars. But they’ve gotten to the point where they’re so huge and so self-involved and so smug and so … all of the things that an award that means something probably shouldn’t be. And we’re still down here with our peashooter going: [Wilson blows a raspberry.]
This year’s Razzie Award nominations:
Worst Picture
- “Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas”
- “Left Behind”
- “The Legend of Hercules”
- “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”
- “Transformers: Age of Extinction”
Worst Actor
- Nicolas Cage, “Left Behind”
- Kirk Cameron, “Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas”
- Kellan Lutz, “The Legend of Hercules”
- Seth MacFarlane, “A Million Ways to Die in the West”
- Adam Sandler, “Blended”
Worst Actress
- Drew Barrymore, “Blended”
- Cameron Diaz, “The Other Woman,” “Sex Tape”
- Melissa McCarthy, “Tammy”
- Charlize Theron, “A Million Ways to Die in the West”
- Gaia Weiss, “The Legend of Hercules”
Worst Supporting Actress
- Cameron Diaz, “Annie”
- Megan Fox, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”
- Nicola Peltz, “Transformers: Age of Extinction”
- Brigitte Ridenour, “Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas”
- Susan Sarandon, “Tammy”
Razzie Redeemer Award
- Ben Affleck
- Jennifer Aniston
- Mike Myers
- Keanu Reeves
- Kristen Stewart
Worst Supporting Actor
- Mel Gibson, “The Expendables 3”
- Kelsey Grammer, “The Expendables 3,” “Legends of Oz,” “Think Like a Man Too,” “Transformers: Age of Extinction”
- Shaquille O’Neal, “Blended”
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, “The Expendables 3”
- Kiefer Sutherland, “Pompeii”
Worst Director
- Michael Bay, “Transformers: Age of Extinction”
- Darren Doane, “Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas”
- Renny Harlin, “The Legend of Hercules”
- Jonathan Liebesman, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”
- Seth MacFarlane, “A Million Ways To Die in the West”
Worst Screen Combo
- Kirk Cameron and his ego, “Saving Christmas”
- Seth MacFarlane and Charlize Theron, “A Million Ways to Die in the West”
- Any two robots, actors (or robotic actors), “Transformers”
- Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel, “Sex Tape”
- Kellan Lutz and either his abs, pecs or glutes, “Legend of Hercules”
Worst Screenplay
- “Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas”
- “Left Behind”
- “Sex Tape”
- “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”
- “Transformers: Age of Extinction”
Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel
- “Annie”
- “Atlas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt?”
- “The Legend of Hercules”
- “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”
Stories You Might Like
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
