Razzies are back

Ten days ago, Australian actor Chris Hemsworth and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced the nominees for the 86th annual Academy Awards (better known as the Oscars). The nominations came a day after the nominees for the 34th annual Golden Raspberry Awards (better known as the Razzies).

While on a much smaller scale than the ceremony they make fun of, the Razzies – which blow a metaphorical raspberry at the worst of Hollywood’s output – have grown from strength to strength over the years to become what entertainment news website E! Online has recently called “the foremost authority on all things that suck on the big screen”.

The Razzies started life in 1981, the brainchild of John Wilson, dedicated film fan, publicist, copywriter and author. He hosted the first Razzies ceremony in his living room among friends, as an impromptu game just after the televised ceremony of that year’s Oscars came to an end.

In its 33-year history, Razzies have been awarded in usual categories – Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Actress etc, plus some other fun categories which differ year by year. Some examples of these include Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property – won by Con Air in 1997; Most Flatulent Teen-Targeted Movie - Jackass: The Movie (2002); Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3D - The Last Airbender (2010).

This year, the 34th Annual Golden Raspberry Award winners are set to be an­nounced on Saturday, a day before the Oscars, in keeping with tradition.

The foremost authority on all things that suck on the big screen

The Worst Actor nominees include Johnny Depp for The Lone Ranger, Ashton Kutcher for Jobs; Adam Sandler for Grown-Ups 2, Jaden Smith for After Earth, and Sylvester Stallone for pretty much everything he did in 2013, including Bullet To The Head, Escape Plan and Grudge Match.

The Worst Actresses for 2013 are Halle Berry for The Call and Movie 43, Selena Gomez for Getaway, Lindsay Lohan for The Canyons; Actor Tyler Perry for A Madea Christmas and Naomi Watts for Diana and Movie 43.

And slugging it out for the Worst Picture of the year are After Earth, Grown-Ups 2, The Lone Ranger, A Madea Christmas and Movie 43.

The Razzies are voted for by around 750 members of The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation across the US and some foreign countries. Voters include film practitioners, journalists and fans (and, according to Wilson in an interview he gave the Guardian newspaper in 2009, some celebrities who he did not name).

Some claim the Razzies actually help the films nominated, others are offended by them, while many embrace them for the silliness they bring to an industry that sometimes takes itself too seriously.

Regardless, there is no denying that the Razzies have now become an integral part of the film award calendar, and their popularity is so strong that the Foundation is about to embark on a fundraising venture in order to produce the first ever Razzie TV broadcast in 2015.