The Razzie nominees recognize 'the worst of cinematic under-achievements' from 2022

It's time for this year's Razzie nominations. Watch 43rd Razzie© Nominations.

Leading the pack of cinematic mongrels with 8 nominations for the 43rd Annual Razzie® Awards is Blonde, which movie-goers liked even less than critics did. Called a “biopic that’s not a biopic,” by its makers, it “explores” the exploitation of Marilyn Monroe…by continuing to exploit her posthumously. In addition to Worst Picture, it’s up for Worst Screenplay and Worst Director, both by Andrew Dominik, whose work here says more about him than it does about his subject.

Copping 7 dings is Good Mourning, a laugh-free stoner comedy achieving the rare feat of scoring a perfect ZERO on Rotten Tomatoes. The year’s most ridiculed movie, Morbius (with Worst Actor nominee Jared Leto in the title role) collected five nods. Disney’s wholly unnecessary (and oddly creepy) live action/CGI remake of Pinocchio pulled our voters’ strings to make it into six categories. Taking the pole position for Worst Supporting Actor is 2022’s most widely derided performance, Tom Hanks’ latex-laden, ludicrously accented portrayal of Col. Tom Parker in the otherwise critically acclaimed Elvis.

The 43rd Annual Razzie “Winners” will be unveiled, as is now Hollywood tradition, on “Oscar Eve” - Saturday, March 11.

The Razzies "helpfully" provided the following list of nominations per film in its press release.

NOMINATIONS PER PICTURE
Blonde = 8
Picture, 2 Supporting Actors, 2 Screen Couples, Remake, Director and Screenplay

Good Mourning = 7
Picture, Actor, 2 Supporting Actors, Screen Couple, Director and Screenplay

Disney’s Pinocchio = 6
Picture, Actor, Supporting Actress, Remake, Director and Screenplay

Morbius = 5
Picture, Actor, Supporting Actress, Director and Screenplay

The King’s Daughter = 3
Picture, Actress and Supporting Actress

As I noted last year, "the people behind the Razzies do not have the best math skills and attention to detail, so they make mistakes when counting nominations. This year was no exception..." For starters, "The King's Daughter" was not the only movie with three nominations. So is "Jurassic World: Dominion" with Worst Remake/Ripoff/Sequel, Worst Actress for Bryce Dallas Howard, and Worst Screenplay. Speaking of "The King's Daughter," the video misspelled Kaya Scodelario's name as Kaya Scoldelario, although the press release spelled her name correctly. I don't know if that was a mistake or an attempt at a bad punny joke. Either is possible, but given their track record of not paying a lot of attention to detail, I vote for mistake. Oops.

Just the same, I pay attention to the Razzies because they usually recognize the worst big-budget genre films and sniff out bad political films. They didn't disappoint me this year, as they recognized some poorly done genre films. Oddly enough, "Morbius" wasn't the most recognized, although I could see the nominations for the film and for its star Jared Leto coming a year ago.

Speaking of speculative fiction, Jared Leto will be starring in "Morbius," which premieres on April 1st — no fooling. His award fits a pattern I noticed six years ago.

In addition to the covert misogyny I suspect among the voters, there is overt Schadenfreude; the voters seem to delight in finding bad performances by big name performers and creators and using them to bring the highest low. I don't have a problem with that, so I find it to be a useful role for the Razzies.

I just hope his Razzie win doesn't ruin his reception as Marvel's "living vampire." Instead, I hope it helps for making people prepared for the comic, pun intended, dimensions of his anti-heroic character, which just might make the movie succeed.

That didn't happen, as I wrote last month.

"Morbius" took itself way too seriously. Its creators shot and acted it as a dramatic character study, not a comic book movie. That wasn't what the audience wanted, except to laugh at it.

That "Morbius" received five nominations doesn't surprise me. That "Disney’s Pinocchio" beat it with six nominations does, although I heard very soon after its release that it was disappointing. That it looks even worse compared to the Oscar-nominated "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio" probably helped put it in first place among speculative fiction films.

"Jurassic World: Dominion" and "The King's Daughter" tied for third-worst speculative fiction films with three each. Both also qualify as bad political films, although just barely in the case of "Jurassic World: Dominion" Its satirical look at tech billionaires isn't as deft as "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" and government agencies barely make cameos. On the other hand, Louis XIV plays a major role in "The King's Daughter," which is also a fantasy involving mermaids and the search for immortality. Hmm, that sounds familiar, even more so since Scodelario starred in the next installment of the franchise.

The other speculative fiction nominees are "Firestarter" with two nominations and "Marmaduke," "Samaritan," and "The Requin" with one each. Eight bad fantasy, horror, superhero, and science fiction films! Add in two nominations for "The 355," a badly executed action movie with an interesting concept and the Razzies found nine genre films worth mocking.

None of these were the big losers. That goes to a historical drama, "Blonde" about Marylin Monroe, and a contemporary comedy, "Good Mourning." The latter's nominations can easily be explained by "there is nothing unfunnier than a bad comedy." I'm turning to John Campea's The 2023 Razzie Nominations Are Here to explain why "Blonde" earned eight nominations.

The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements.

First, "Blonde" is an unpleasant film, even if it's technically proficient and Ana de Armas, who is nominated for a BAFTA Award and was nominated for an Oscar this morning, acted brilliantly. At least the Razzies indirectly addressed its misogynistic tendencies by nominating Andrew Dominik & His Issues with Women for Worst Screen Couple. Second, people shouldn't take the Razzies seriously; they are intentionally a joke.

While my prediction for "Morbius" came true, another did not.

As for "2000 Mules," I fully expect it to be nominated for several Razzies and it will deserve every nomination.

Nope, completely ignored. Maybe that's for the best. Being completely ignored is what that bad documentary and its creator deserve.