Love them or loathe them, the Razzies have ‘honoured’ some the right films for the worst films of the year. Here’s the lowdown.
Every year, it’s the same dance.
The best of the best will be celebrated with the Oscars this weekend. But for every action, there’s an equal reaction. The cosmic scales must be balanced. Enter: The Razzies, the anti-Oscars, celebrating the worst films of the year.
And love them or loathe them, it’s hard to argue with their award picks this year.
Topping this year’s Razzies with three wins, including Worst Picture, is the Spider-Man spin-off movie Madame Web. On top of the ‘top’ gong, the film won Worst Actress for Dakota Johnson, as well as Worst Screenplay.
While punching down is never a good look, it’s hard to argue, as Madame Web is cinematic herpes. And Johnson knows it. She previously went on the record to share with the publication Bustle that she was unlikely to “do anything like it again.”
Worst actor went to Jerry Seinfeld for his work in the Netflix movie, Unfrosted, which he also directed and co-wrote; the dire Joker: Folie à Deux nabbed Worst Sequel and Worst Screen Combo for Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga; while Francis Ford Coppola rightly won Worst Director for his Cannes-premiering epic farce Megalopolis.
Fair play to the director: he accepted his Razzie award, celebrating his “honour” on Instagram.
“I am thrilled to accept the Razzie award in so many important categories for Megalopolis, and for the distinctive honor of being nominated as the worst director, worst screenplay, and worst picture at a time when so few have the courage to go against the prevailing trends of contemporary moviemaking!” he wrote.
Coppola continued: “In this wreck of a world today, where ART is given scores as if it were professional wrestling, I chose to NOT follow the gutless rules laid down by an industry so terrified of risk that despite the enormous pool of young talent at its disposal, may not create pictures that will be relevant and alive 50 years from now.”
“My sincere thanks to all my brilliant colleagues who joined me to make our work of art, MEGALOPOLIS, and let us remind ourselves us that box-office is only about money, and like war, stupidity and politics has no true place in our future,” he concluded.
Fair play, sir. You’re a good sport.
Your film, on the other hand, remains an absolute train crash. Read our full review here.
It’s not all bad new though. Pamela Anderson nabbed the Razzie Redeemer award, given to a former Razzie winner who has turned their career around. Anderson was named worst new star for Barb Wire in 1996, but she received critical acclaim and award recognition for her work in The Last Showgirl.
Here is the full list of this year’s Razzie ‘winners’:
Worst Picture
- Borderlands
- Joker: Folie à Deux
- Madame Web (WINNER)
- Megalopolis
- Reagan
Worst Actor
- Jack Black – Dear Santa
- Zachary Levi – Harold and the Purple Crayon
- Joaquin Phoenix – Joker: Folie à Deux
- Dennis Quaid – Reagan
- Jerry Seinfeld – Unfrosted (WINNER)
Worst Actress
- Cate Blanchett – Borderlands
- Lady Gaga – Joker: Folie à Deux
- Bryce Dallas Howard – Argylle
- Dakota Johnson – Madame Web (WINNER)
- Jennifer Lopez – Atlas
Worst Supporting Actor
- Jack Black (Voice Only) – Borderlands
- Kevin Hart – Borderlands
- Shia LaBeouf (in drag) – Megalopolis
- Tahar Rahim – Madame Web
- Jon Voight – Megalopolis, Reagan, Shadow Land & Strangers (WINNER)
Worst Supporting Actress
- Ariana DeBose – Argylle & Kraven the Hunter
- Leslie Anne Down (as Margaret Thatcher) – Reagan
- Emma Roberts – Madame Web
- Amy Schumer – Unfrosted (WINNER)
- FKA twigs – The Crow
Worst Director
- S.J. Clarkson – Madame Web
- Francis Ford Coppola – Megalopolis (WINNER)
- Todd Phillips – Joker: Folie à Deux
- Eli Roth – Borderlands
- Jerry Seinfeld – Unfrosted
Worst Screen Combo
- Any Two Obnoxious Characters (But Especially Jack Black) – Borderlands
- Any Two Unfunny “Comedic Actors” – Unfrosted
- The Entire Cast of Megalopolis – Megalopolis
- Joaquin Phoenix & Lady Gaga – Joker: Folie à Deux (WINNER)
- Dennis Quaid & Penelope Ann Miller (as “Ronnie and Nancy”) – Reagan
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel
- The Crow
- Joker: Folie à Deux (WINNER)
- Kraven the Hunter
- Mufasa: The Lion King
- Rebel Moon 2: The Scargiver
Worst Screenplay
- Joker: Folie à Deux
- Kraven the Hunter
- Madame Web (WINNER)
- Megalopolis
- Reagan
On the flip side, the 97th Oscars take place on Sunday 2 March (very early on Monday morning for Europe). Stay tuned to Euronews Culture for the full coverage of the ceremony. Check out our predictions here.