The Razzie Awards, Hollywood’s annual celebration of the Worst Movies of the Year, will be held the night before the Oscars, next Saturday, February 21st. Several of the films contending for “top honors” are truly terrible, including “Sex Tape”, “The Legend of Hercules”, “Pompeii” and “Blended”. But I’ve got a problem with many others on this year’s ballot – some with multiple nominations they don’t deserve – and others that were shockingly snubbed.
First of all, it’s ridiculous that “Transformers: Age of Extinction” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” are vying for Worst Picture of 2014. While both weren’t great movies by any means, they were solid, at times quite fun, and included some excellent visuals. Also, Melissa McCarthy did not deserve a Worst Actress nod for “Tammy”. Though the film is disappointing and largely falls flat, McCarthy rises above the script and succeeds at times, in getting genuine laughs.
I was a fan and supporter of the musical remake “Annie”, which I saw in December and practically everyone else either ignored it or didn’t give it a chance. This is a good, clean and enjoyable family film. Cameron Diaz, up for Worst Supporting Actress, actually does a nice job playing Ms. Hannigan. But the worst Razzie mistake of all is having Mel Gibson in the Worst Supporting Actor category for his role as the villain in “The Expendables 3”. If any of the people who vote actually saw this threequel, they would have seen Gibson and fellow nominee Kelsey Grammer give standout performances.
There are also many errors of omission by the Razzie committee. Nowhere to be found are such 2014 gems as: Johnny Depp’s sci-fi bust “Transcendence”, Aaron Eckhart’s lifeless work as the title role in “I, Frankenstein”, Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond knock-off “The November Man”. And THE two worst movies of the year – “Earth to Echo” and “Dumb and Dumber To” – were also completely ignored.
At least The Razzies did get something right with their “Razzie Redeemer Award”, which spotlights five people previously up for bad films/performances who turned things around in ’14. Jennifer Aniston (“Cake”), Mike Myers (director of the documentary “Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon”), Keanu Reeves (“John Wick”) and Kristen Stewart (“Still Alice”) all deserve their nominations. But look for Ben Affleck’s recent string of successes, including this year’s “Gone Girl”, to make him a winner. Just don’t expect him to be there to accept.