Pictured above: Sandra Bullock with her Razzie. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress the very next night. And I am now officially naming Sandra as the Patron Saint of This List. Oh, holy St. Sandra of the Raspberry, please lend your wisdom and guide us through this list, amen hallelujah.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Personally, I don't think The Lost World was all that bad. I mean, yeah, it's bad... but is it really that bad? 🤔
Anyway, the Razzies seemed to think so. At the 18th Golden Raspberries, The Lost World was up for Worst Remake or Sequel (lost to Speed 2), Worst Screenplay (lost to The Postman), and Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property (lost to Con Air). At the Oscars, it was up for Best Visual Effects, and lost to Titanic. And are you beginning to see a pattern here? For like 95% of the movies I'm listing, the Oscar nominations are for visual effects or sound mixing. Weird. Maybe movies with great visuals are destined to be bad?
The Fifth Element (1997)
Pretty much the same deal as above. The Fifth Element, 1997's sci-fi cult film that inspired a million scandalous Halloween costumes, was nominated for Best Sound Editing at the Oscars. It lost to Titanic. (And Face/Off was also nominated? Face/Off was nominated for an Oscar???? Am I the only human being alive who thinks that Face/Off was really, really bad? Like, Razzie-worthy bad?)
Anyway, at the Razzies, The Fifth Element was nominated for 2 acting-related awards: Worst Supporting Actress for Milla Jovovich and Worst New Star for Chris Tucker. It didn't "win" either nomination, but in Chris Tucker's case....I don't know why it didn't. The most utterly satisfying moment of The Fifth Element is when Bruce Willis's character chokes Chris Tucker's character into shutting the fuck up.
Twister (1996)
Sure, there may have been other films with tornadoes in them, but Twister, even today 20 years later, is THE tornado movie. And yet, it had its problems.
At the Academy Awards, Twister got nominated for Best Effects and Best Sound Mixing, losing both. At the Razzies, it was up for Worst Written Film Grossing Over $100 Million, which it won. Also nominated were... Independence Day? Mission: Impossible??? And... Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame???? Who in the FUCK was in charge of nominations that year?????? And did that person ever win a Guinness World Record for Most Crack Snorted in a Single Evening????????
Anyway, Twister was also nominated for Worst Supporting Actress for Jami Gertz, who, if you've never heard of her, is best-known for...being in Twister. And, I guess, being the lead in The Neighbors, some weird sitcom about aliens living among us. In Twister, she played Bill Paxton's annoying new girlfriend. But honestly, how can she be nominated for a Razzie when she got the honor of delivering the film's most memorable line by far?
"I gotta go, Julia! We got cows!"
And bearing this entry in mind, let's move on...
The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Independence Day (1996)
I'm including these two as a package deal because, well, you read what I wrote above. They were nominated in the same category at the Razzies, Worst Written Film Grossing Over $100 Million. Mission: Impossible and A Time to Kill were also nominated. The Hunchback was nominated for Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score at the Oscars, while Independence Day was nominated for Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects, and won the latter.
I am honestly dumbfounded. The "Worst Written Film" category has some of the most ridiculous nominations I've ever seen I mean, Independence Day wasn't exactly a cinematic masterpiece, so I kind of get it.... but The Hunchback? Mission: Impossible?? Both of those movies are well-respected classics. And, uh, I guess A Time to Kill was okay too. The Razzies got it wrong.
Waterworld (1995)
Remember in the 90s when Kevin Costner made a bunch of very, very bad choices? One after another after another. Wyatt Earp, Waterworld, The Postman, Message in a Bottle...
Anyway, Waterworld was probably the worst of the bunch. If you haven't heard of this snooze-fest, you can probably guess what it's about. A world made of water. How imaginative! For a while, Waterworld was the most expensive movie ever made; to this day, it's still #10. It barely managed to turn a profit. It also sucked. Oh, and fun fact: did you know that Kevin Costner dominated the production of this movie and backseat-drove until the director was forced to leave, and Costner took over for him??? (Shockingly, the two worked together again on the miniseries Hatfields & McCoys almost 20 years later.)
At the Oscars, Waterworld was nominated for Best Sound Mixing. At the Razzies, it got nods for Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Supporting Actor (Dennis Hopper, who won), and Worst Director. And if you need any more proof of how extensive Costner's bullying was on the set of this movie, the Worst Director nomination was for "Kevin Reynolds (with More Than a Little Un-Asked Assistance from Kevin Costner) for Waterworld." What a trainwreck.
Wyatt Earp (1994)
Wow, let's hear it for Kevin Costner, cause here he is again! Wyatt Earp is one of several notable pieces of entertainment that have been made about Wyatt Earp, which also includes Tombstone (a MUCH better movie released in the same year), and...Wynonna Earp, a cheap-ass western fantasy show about a lady who fights demons??? Okay. (Fun fact: I tried to watch Wynonna Earp, but the lead character... I mean, the plot.... I mean, the special effects... I mean, guys, it was so fucking bad.)
At the Oscars, Wyatt Earp was nominated for Best Cinematography. It was also nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Kevin Costner - won), Worst Screen Couple ("Kevin Costner and any of his three wives"), Worst Director, and Worst Remake or Sequel (won).
Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Interview with the Vampire is supposed to be this crazy, horrifying scare-fest, but every time I think about it, I get this strange feeling of...comedy. Laughter. So-bad-it's-good. And so forth. It doesn't help that the vampires have stupid fucking names.
Another thing you should know: there are only two film adaptations of Anne Rice's work. One is this one. The other one is called Queen of the Damned, came out in 2002, starred Aaliyah, and its plot starts like this, according to Wikipedia:
"The vampire Lestat is awakened from decades of slumber by the sound of a heavy metal band which he proceeds to take over as the lead singer. Achieving international success and planning a massive live concert, Lestat is approached by Marius, who warns him that the vampires of the world will not tolerate his flamboyant public profile."
I love the movies.
The Mask (1994)
Remember in 1994-2004 when Jim Carrey was the hottest shit ever, was in 2,000,000 movies a year, and got paid like $50 million for each of them? What's he doing nowadays?
Oh.
Anyway, The Mask got nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects, and lost to Forrest Gump. At the Razzies, however, Carrey was nominated for Worst New Star for The Mask, Ace Ventura, and Dumb and Dumber. He didn't win, because Anna Nicole Smith won. (Worst New Star? When was she in anything else, literally ever?)
Addams Family Values (1993)
Look, I am the first to admit that I love Addams Family Values, I think everything about it is simply iconic, and it's one of the funniest movies of the 1990s. That being said... nominated for an Oscar?? Okay, whatever. This movie was nominated for Best Art Direction, and lost to Schindler's List. Yes, that's right, Addams Family Values and Schindler's List were up against each other for an Oscar. I love the 90s.
At the Razzies, this movie was nominated for Worst Original Song - and won. For what song, you ask? Well, for some reason, "Whoomp! There It Is" was remade for this movie into a song called "Addams Family Whoomp." Need I say more?
There it is.
Poetic Justice (1993)
Here it is: the first movie on either of these lists that I have never heard of in my life. Poetic Justice is...exactly what it says on the tin. It's about a character named Justice (played by Janet Jackson) who writes poems. Yay for being blandly literal?
This movie got a nomination at the Oscars for Best Original Song ("Again," of which I have never heard). At the Razzies, Janet Jackson (who has only been in 4 other movies, by the way) got nominated for Worst Actress, losing to Madonna, and Worst New Star, which she won against the likes of...a bunch of people I've never heard of. Wow, the 1993 Razzies were like an orgy of things I have never heard of. (Except for Body of Evidence. Which, unfortunately, I have heard of.)
Oh, and I learned something new from this movie: there is a rapper out there who is named Q-Tip. I love learning new things!
The Bodyguard (1992)
Kevin Costner was just getting nominated for Razzies left and freakin' right in the 90s. You're probably familiar with The Bodyguard, and if not, AND IIIIIIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOOOOOOOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU. Now you're familiar.
Did you know that The Bodyguard's soundtrack is still the 4th best-selling album of all time? This movie got nominated for two Oscars for Best Original Song: for "Run to You" and "I Have Nothing" - but bizarrely, not for "I Will Always Love You," the movie's most iconic feature and probably the best-known song of Whitney Houston's career. Both nominations lost to "A Whole New World," the most mediocre song from Aladdin. (Seriously. The spectacular "Friend Like Me" didn't deserve that win? My ass.)
At the Razzies, however, The Bodyguard got the distinction of being the most-nominated movie that year. It was up for Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Kevin Costner, who else?), Worst Actress (Whitney Houston), Worst New Star (nominated twice, for Whitney Houston and for "Kevin Costner's crew cut"), Worst Original Song ("Queen of the Night"), and Worst Screenplay (written by the same guy who wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark, if you can believe it. But he also wrote Wyatt Earp, so....). The Bodyguard didn't win any of its nominations.
Sometimes I love the Razzies. I mean, "Kevin Costner's crew cut?" Had me in stitches for like 5 full minutes.
Basic Instict (1992)
Sometimes, when I'm reading through the lists of Razzie-nominated movies to check if they're also Oscar nominees...I just don't click on some of them. Like, I'm not gonna bother checking to see if Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot was nominated for an Oscar. It wasn't. It just... wasn't.
Basic Instinct was almost one of these. I nearly didn't check. "Har! As though Basic Instinct would be nominated for an Oscar. Hogwash!" I said foolishly to myself. And lucky thing I did check, because this movie was nominated for TWO Academy Awards!
This soft-porn mistake, whose most famous moment is when Sharon Stone flashes her hoo-hoo at Newman from Seinfeld, is probably among the worst movies of all time to get nominated for an Oscar. It was up for Best Film Editing and Best Original Score, and won neither, thank god. The Razzies were feeling kind, and Basic Instinct didn't win any of its three nominations: Worst Actor (Michael Douglas), Worst Supporting Actress (Jeanne Tripplehorn, who was also in Waterworld - I hope she fired her agent), and Worst New Star (..."Sharon Stone's tribute to Theodore Cleaver?" I'm positively dying over here).
Man, even though this happened 25 years ago, I have a hankering to find out who the hell made the call to nominate Basic freakin' Instinct for an Oscar, find their house, knock on their door, and give them a very stern look that will pierce their soul for eternity.
Hoffa (1992)
Apparently, they made a movie about Jimmy Hoffa? And by "they" I mean Danny DeVito??? Huh. I wasn't aware. This movie, starring Jack Nicholson as Hoffa, got some mixed reception (55% on Rotten Tomatoes) and was nominated at the Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Makeup. It was also up for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor (Nicholson) and Worst Director (DeVito). It won nothing.
There's really not much else I can say, other than that every time I see the name Jimmy Hoffa, I automatically think of Bruce Almighty. I just simply cannot help it.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
Unfortunately, this is the definitive Robin Hood movie. Well, this and the Disney one with the foxes and bears and such. And why do I remember a Keira Knightley version where she was like, Robin Hood's rebellious daughter or something? Did that really happen or did I dream it up? (And WHY would I dream it up?)
Anyhoo, here we meet the illustrious Mr. Costner once again, for like the fourth or fifth time on this list, I'm too lazy to count. I haven't seen this movie for many years, but I remember strongly disliking it, and since it's a Kevin Costner movie, I'm certainly not going to distrust my 10-year-old judgment. As far as I remember, this was just your standard generic sword-and-sorcery type 1990s thing. Also, it has this weird angle where Maid Marian is supposed to be a virgin sacrifice, or there is a prophecy that her baby will be a king, or something like that. It was weird and bad. That's all I can say.
The film was nominated for 2 Razzies: Worst Actor (Kevin Costner - won!); Worst Supporting Actor (Christian Slater - lost). It was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song, "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" by Bryan Adams, which became one of the best-selling songs ever. Because in the 90s, every movie had to have an original song for some reason. (Come ON, why does a Robin Hood movie need its own song???)
Hook (1991)
Out of the 3 most notable Peter Pan movies, one of them is extremely racist, one of them is one of the biggest box-office failures ever, and the other one is Hook. A lot of people fondly remember Hook from their childhoods, but unfortunately I'm not one of them. Hook just creeped me out as a kid. And Robin Williams is simply a dick in this movie. Just a horrible person.
The movie only got one Razzie nod: Worst Supporting Actress for Julia Roberts as Tinker Bell. And really, I think this is unfair. How does one play Tinker Bell? All you've gotta do is pout, stomp around, and maybe pretend to fly. Julia Roberts checked all the boxes, so what the heck is up with this nomination, is what I want to know. (She lost the award to Sean Young, who won Worst Actress and Worst Supporting Actress for playing twins in the movie A Kiss Before Dying. Harsh.
It was also nominated for 5 Oscars: Best Original Song (yes, Hook had an original song for some reason), Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, Best Costume Design, and Best Visual Effects. It won none. And did you know this movie was directed by Steven Spielberg? But that's not really all that special. Name any one movie from your childhood and there's a 50% chance it was directed by Steven Spielberg.
Harlem Nights (1989)
Guys, I've gotta admit, if it was made before 1990 and grossed less than $100 million, I probably don't know about it. I know absolutely nothing about this movie. Harlem Nights starred Eddie Murphy and apparently it was a black comedy, period piece, and crime movie all in one. Like pretty much every period piece ever made that isn't Wild Wild West, this movie got nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, which it lost to one of the approximately ten billion 80s-90s Shakespeare adaptations that Kenneth Branagh made.
Don't let the nomination fool you: the critical consensus, just like pretty much everything else Eddie Murphy has ever done that isn't called Mulan, was that Harlem Nights sucked. It got a 27% score on Rotten Tomatoes and Razzie nominations for Worst Director (Eddie Murphy himself) and Worst Screenplay (written by...guess who? It won this one).
The most notable thing about Harlem Nights is that the movie sparked controversy due to a shooting spree scene, which apparently inspired a bunch of shooting incidents around movie theatres that were playing the movie. And...well, this information is pretty much irrelevant to everything. Now you know a little bit more about the world, I guess? Yay?
Willow (1988)
The very idea that Willow was nominated for an Oscar is almost more offensive to me than the idea that Basic Instinct was nominated for an Oscar. I am very comfortable saying that Willow is the worst and most depressing fantasy movie I have seen. And I've seen The Black Cauldron, so you should know I don't speak lightly.
Willow was nominated for Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Visual Effects, losing both to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It was also nominated for the Razzie for Worst Supporting Actor (Billy Barty - didn't win), and for Worst Screenplay (didn't win). Honestly, why was it not up for more awards??? Worst Picture? Worst Supporting Actor for the terrible Val Kilmer? I ask you!
Sunset (1988)
Yet another movie about Wyatt Earp makes its way onto this list! This one had Bruce Willis and was a pretty big flop, critically and commercially. It was nominated for 2 awards at the Razzies: Worst Supporting Actress (Mariel Hemingway - didn't win), and Worst Director for Blake Edwards (who won, in a tie with the guy who directed the masterpiece Mac & Me).
Like other period pieces, Sunset was nominated for Best Costume Design at the Oscars, and, again, didn't win. Maybe if it had a less generic name, it would've done better. (But I doubt it.)
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
This movie was from back in the olden times of yore, when filmmakers could make a movie about ancient Israel starring all white people (and...David Bowie as Pontius Pilate?), and no one would say anything. Nowadays, we've got controversies around Noah, Gods of Egypt, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Death Note, Doctor Strange, Ghost in the Shell, and so forth. If you made a movie today with Willem Dafoe as Jesus, hoo boy, you'd regret it. (Why can't we all just watch The Prince of Egypt, is what I want to know?)
Jaws - yes, that Jaws (1975)
I almost didn't include this, because its Razzie nomination is a joke - literally. The first Jaws movie was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Film Editing, Best Original Dramatic Score, Best Sound, and Best Picture - the first three of which it won. The 2nd and 3rd movies were not nominated for Oscars.
But despite all the acclaim, at the 1986 Razzies, there was a special award given out for "Worst Career Achievement." The winner: Bruce, the rubber shark from Jaws, Jaws 2 and Jaws 3D. And I've gotta admit... I don't get this award,. Bruce isn't exactly the worst-looking special effect we moviegoers have been exposed to. He was pretty realistic, for an animatronic rubber shark made in 1975.
These poor people hadn't yet been exposed to 1987's Jaws: The Revenge. Oh, the sweet innocence they had. They knew nothing of bad special effects. NOTHING.
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Yeah, remember what I said earlier about almost not clicking on Basic Instinct? Same deal here with Rambo. Sylvester Stallone has been in SO many Razzie-nominated movies that I'm pretty much desensitized to seeing his name and his movies on these lists. It's like the sky being blue. It just always happens.
But yes, Rambo 2 was nominated for an Oscar. The Academy Award for Best Sound Editing, to be precise. It did not win. It did, however, win FOUR Razzies, including Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Stallone), Worst Screenplay (Stallone also), and Worst Original Song ("Peace in Our Life," performed by Sly's younger brother, Frank). It was also nominated for Worst Supporting Actress/Worst New Star (both for Julia Nickson) and Worst Director (for George Cosmatos, who also directed Leviathan, which you may remember from my twin films list).
Fun fact: did you know that Frank Stallone, Sylvester's more musical brother, has an album called "Let Me Be Frank With You?" You see, it's funny because his name is Frank!
Purple Rain (1984)
Purple Rain is the only movie I saw among the Razzie nominations and immediately thought, "Yup, that's gonna end up on my list." I didn't even think it. I felt it.
The Oscars and the Razzies were in disagreement about this one, much like they disagreed about "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" in 1998. At the Oscars, it won the award for Best Original Song Score (an award that isn't given out anymore - Purple Rain was the last to receive it). At the Razzies, it was nominated for two awards: Worst Original Song ("Sex Shooter") and Worst New Star (Apollonia Kotero, who went on to do absolutely nothing and did not become a new star).
The Cotton Club (1984)
Here is a movie that was critically acclaimed and nominated for Oscars and Golden Globes, but still managed to get a nod at the Razzies.
This star-studded crime drama was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Film Editing, which it didn't win. It was also nominated for Worst Supporting Actress at the Razzies, for Diane Lane (which it also didn't win). You win some, you lose some, I guess. (Here, literally.)
Yentl (1984)
The Barbra Streisand movie Yentl - or, as I like to call it, Jewish Mulan (or, since Yentl came first, maybe Mulan is Chinese Yentl?) - was kind of well-received in the 80s. Kind of. I mean, not super well-received, but people didn't hate it.
Yentl was nominated for tons and tons of awards (inexplicably? I mean, 73% on Rotten Tomatoes isn't awful, but it's not great). The Oscars and Golden Globes were positively flying. At the Academy Awards, Yentl got nominated for Best Adaptation Score (an award they don't have anymore for obvious reasons), which it won; Best Supporting Actress (Amy Irving); and Best Art Direction.
At the Razzies, this movie got nominated for Worst Supporting Actress for the very same Amy Irving, making her one of only TWO actors in all history to be nominated for an Oscar and a Razzie at the same time. That's something special. It was also nominated for Worst Actor (Barbra Streisand) and Worst Musical Score. And although it's not mentioned anywhere, this is probably also the only movie where the score was nominated for an Oscar and a Razzie. This movie is just generally very, very special.
Annie (1982)
Like, 25 Annie reboots have been made over the years. (Okay, six reboots, but that might as well be 25.) This one, released in 1982, was just one of the pack. Not one has ever managed to be great, or even moderately good - not even the version that came out in 2014 and starred Quvenzhané Wallis, the youngest-ever Best Actress nominee. (Which she did not garner for Annie, in case you're wondering. But I bet you weren't wondering.)
It was a hard knock life for 1982's Annie's young star, Aileen Quinn, who A) won a Worst Supporting Actress Razzie; and B) has done nothing of note since then, and went on to become the lead singer of a band called "The Leapin' Lizards." With a name like that, there's a 100% chance they're either bluegrass or country.
They're country. And also, they're really bad.
How did this woman EVER star in Anniewith that voice????
This movie also got nominated for Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay and Worst New Star. But shockingly, it also was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and the now-obsolete award, "Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score." Gee, I wonder why they don't give that one out anymore. What does that even mean???
Side note: does anyone else have false memories that Shirley Temple was in a version of Annie? She wasn't, but she was in Curly Top, which is pretty much the exact same thing.
Yes, Giorgio (1982)
This movie was notable for one reason: being the one and only time that celebrated opera singer Luciano Pavarotti ventured into acting. And no offense to the ghost of Luciano Pavarotti, but this whole thing was a mistake.
Yes, Giorgio stars Pavarotti as... a world-famous opera singer. (And they say Tom Cruise only ever plays one character.) It was not well-received whatsoever, but stll managed to get an Oscar nod for Best Original Song ("If We Were In Love"). It also got Razzie nominations for Worst Screenplay, Worst New Star for Pavarotti, and Worst Actor, the latter of which Pavarotti lost... to Laurence Olivier??????
Anyhow. Moving on.
Only When I Laugh (1981)
Remember how Amy Irving was one of only two people to get nominated for an Oscar and a Razzie for the same role? Yeah, well, here's her better half.
Only When I Laugh was about an alcoholic Broadway actress, and was pretty well-received, getting three nominations at the Oscars: Best Actress in a Leading Role (Marsha Mason), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Joan Hackett), and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (James Coco). However, at the Razzies, it was also nominated for Worst Original Song ("Only When I Laugh") and... wait for it... Worst Supporting Actor for James Coco!
Coco didn't win either of the awards. One academy said his performance was great; the other said his performance sucked. I haven't seen this movie. Who the hell do I believe?!
The Formula (1980)
We're getting near the end here, guys! This movie, a murder mystery starring Marlon Brando, was nominated at the very first Razzies in 1980. It garnered noms for Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Supporting Actor (Brando), and Worst Screenplay. It also was up for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. It won nothing.
And...that's it! I hope you enjoyed this painstakingly-compiled list, which I made while I definitely should have been doing other more important things. Please throw me a comment if I missed anything.
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