As is tradition, the day before the Oscar nominees are announced, the Razzie Awards’ annual nominations are announced as well, “honoring” the worst in the cinema for the calendar year.
This year’s nominees are dominated by some very worthy “contenders,” including my own pick for the worst film of 2023: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood & Honey. Other “top” nominees include the quite terrible Expend4bles (leading all films with seven nominations) and The Exorcist: Believer (five nominations).
Of course, this being the Razzies, though, there were some odd choices and some very cheap shots. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny got two nominations and in both cases in their official release, the Razzies made fun of its title for some inexplicable reason, calling it Indiana Jones and The Dial of…Still Beating a Dead Horse once and Indiana Jones and the Dial of…Can I go home now? another time.
Now, I liked Dial of Destiny; it was no Raiders of the Lost Ark but it also wasn’t Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But some people didn’t like it; I guess enough people who vote on the Razzies didn’t like it, because they nominated it. But why make fun of its title? It’s a perfectly fine title.
I’m also confused why Meg 2: The Trench and Shazam! Fury of the Gods would be nominated for Worst Picture of the year but not nominated for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel? They’re both sequels and they’re both one of the worst movies of the year … so doesn’t that automatically make them one of the worst prequels/remakes/rip-offs/sequels of the year too? That doesn’t make any sense. (The Razzies nominated Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the aforementioned Indiana Jones in that category in their place.)
That’s the Razzies for you, I guess. As always, I continue to feel like bad movies deserve better awards. Here’s the full list of this year’s Razzie nominees. The “winners” will be announced the night before the Academy Awards, Saturday March 9.
Worst PictureThe Exorcist: Believer Expend4bles Meg 2: The Trench Shazam! Fury of the Gods Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
Worst ActorRussell Crowe, The Pope’s ExorcistVin Diesel, Fast XChris Evans, GhostedJason Statham, Meg 2: The TrenchJon Voight, Mercy
Worst ActressAna de Armas, GhostedMegan Fox, Johnny & ClydeSalma Hayek, Magic Mike’s Last DanceJennifer Lopez, The MotherHelen Mirren, Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Worst Supporting ActressKim Cattrall, About My FatherMegan Fox, Expend4blesBai Ling, Johnny & ClydeLucy Liu, Shazam! Fury of the GodsMary Stuart Masterson, Five Nights at Freddy’s
Worst Supporting ActorMichael Douglas, Ant Man & The Wasp: QuantumaniaMel Gibson, Confidential InformantBill Murray, Ant Man & The Wasp: QuantumaniaFranco Nero, The Pope’s ExorcistSylvester Stallone, Expend4ables
Worst Screen CoupleAny 2 “Merciless Mercenaries,” Expend4blesAny 2 Money-Grubbing Investors Who Donated to the $400 Millionfor Remake Rights to The ExorcistAna de Armas & Chris Evans (who flunked Screen Chemistry), GhostedSalma Hayek & Channing Tatum, Magic Mike’s Last DancePooh & Piglet as Blood-Thirsty Slasher/Killers (!) in Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or SequelAnt Man & The Wasp: Quantumania The Exorcist: Believer Expend4blesIndiana Jones and The Dial of…Still Beating a Dead Horse Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
Worst DirectorRhys Frake-Waterfield, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and HoneyDavid Gordon Green, The Exorcist: BelieverPeyton Reed, Ant Man & the Wasp: QuantumaniaScott Waugh, Expend4blesBen Wheatley, Meg 2: The Trench
Worst ScreenplayThe Exorcist: Believer Expend4bles Indiana Jones and the Dial of…Can I go home now? Shazam! Fury of the Gods Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey
The Worst Razzie Nominees in History
The Razzies honor the worst in movies. But sometimes, their picks are even worse.
