Razzie Nominations Announced

Peter Sloniewsky, Staff Writer

Each year, the night before the famed Academy Awards, a different sort of celebration occurs in the Golden Raspberry Awards. The Razzies, as they are commonly referred to, celebrate the worst of the movie industry each year. In a ceremony specifically designed to be as tacky and satirical as possible, members of the Golden Raspberry Foundation award performances in the industry such as Worst Picture, Worst Actor, and Worst Supporting Actor, often with a sarcastic twist in the nominations. The prizes awarded are statuettes spray-painted gold, valued at $4.97, although it is a rarity that the nominees arrive to accept their awards at all. Overall, the Razzies are a caricature of awards shows; they celebrate what they describe as “saving” us from “heinous” crimes of filmmaking.
The 2021 Razzies are objectively star-studded and lined with talent, including Robert Downey, Jr. for his exceptionally bad performance in “Doolittle,” Sia’s film “Music,” which is widely considered to be offensive to mentally disabled people, and actress Anne Hathaway for not one, but two performances this year. However, they also include another type of star: Rudy Giuliani is up for Worst Supporting Actor and Worst Screen Combo from his “performance” in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” in combination with Maria Bakalova. In the scene that the award references, Giuliani was baited into making sexual movements onto a girl he knew to be underage, played by Bakalova, in a hotel room before Borat barged in. MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is also up for Worst Film due to his movie “Absolute Proof,” describing the nonexistent fraud in the United States elections. This is not the first time that the Razzies have made political commentary, however. Ronald Reagan was awarded the Razzie for Worst Career Achievement in 1981 after the Oscars were delayed for his assassination attempt, and George W. Bush was awarded a Razzie in 2005.
In addition to slight political commentary, the charm of the Razzies truly lies in their sarcastic and lenient nature. In the 2021 awards, the category of Worst Screen Combo is truly one to behold. Robert Downey Jr. is up in combination with his “Utterly Unconvincing Welsh Accent,” Harrison Ford with “That Totally Fake-Looking CGI ‘Dog,’” and Adam Sandler and his “Grating Simpleton Voice.” Additionally, all three Barbie and Kendra movies are up for Worst Screenplay. The Foundation will also be awarding the year 2020 with a special Governor’s Award for the Worst Calendar Year Ever.
The Razzies will be streamed on YouTube on April 24.