The Razzie Award nominees were announced on January 8th, but does anyone really care about a group that selects the most clearly awful films that weren’t trying to be good anyway? There is nothing like staying as close to the tree trunk as possible by picking an
Adam Sandler-produced movie (which they did) or an Eddie Murphy joint (also did).
The Razzies might just become more relevant if they grew a spine and called out those films that really believed – or portended to believe – that they were going to be good, the films that played on a gimmick long since played out, the films that don a shroud of poignancy only to be exposed as diaphanously veiled metaphors, and the films that pack themselves full of stars only to remind us that names on a marquee do not cohesion make.
A few suggestions that could make a “worst list” or two that fits that criteria would be:
This is 40
Deadfall
Red Tails
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
W.E.
Safe House
John Carter
Project X
The Raven
Dark Shadows
Savages
The Watch
Hyde Park on Hudson
Admittedly, I can’t say that any of these – perhaps with the exception of W.E – are as bad or as silly as a film like That’s My Boy, but do we expect anything more from it, or a film like Bucky Larson, than the garbage that pervades the trailer?
To be honest, I am much less hate-filled over a film that looks like it’s going to suck from the very first second of the trailer. That’s My Boy doesn’t look good. Not sure how anyone could spin the premise in such a way that says, Watch me and look at future Oscar glory. Battleship might be considered deceptive – unless you’ve played the board game. But the same assessment of That’s My Boy follows films like A Thousand Words and the most recent Twilight incarnation. If you pay for, rent, or stream a film like this, you’ve already agreed to consume it at your own risk.
On the other hand, a film like This is 40 that plays on the success of Knocked Up, combines a crew of decent comedic talents, and has a reputable director at the helm disappoints much more because the results of this equation is highly-mediocre-at-best.
These are the films that most need to be singled out by the Razzies. It’s hard to believe that an organization that picks on the most blatantly schlocky films could be in existence since 1981, but I guess safety in conformity is the best way to dole out awards.
