'The Love Guru,' 'Crystal Skull' Among Piles of Shit Recognized By Razzies
The Razzie nominees—recognized for singular achievements in filling theaters with fetid bad-cinema stink—were announced today, with Mike Myers's spiritual passion project The Love Guru most singled out for its unfathomable crimes against good filmmaking.
As we learned in our interview with founder John Wilson, the Razzies balloting process is hardly a tossed-off affair involving copious amounts of alcohol and a dartboard with M. Night Shyamalan's face on it. Rigid, pre-Christmas deadlines squeezed late write-in favorite The Spirit out of the race—but Hollywood produced enough steaming turds in 2008 to ensure the awards ceremony would be a gripping affair nonetheless.
The spoof-making team of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer are competing against themselves in the Worst Picture for 9/11 tie-in Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans. Rounding out the category: M. Night Shyamalan's Attack of the Killer Ferns, Paris Hilton's The Hottie and the Nottie, Guru, and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, the latest videogame adaptation from the Cecil B. DeMille of bad, Uwe Boll.
In the acting categories, Chihuahua-mill-matron Hilton was a double-nominee for her starring work in Nottie and supporting work in Repo: The Genetic Opera, making her the Kate Winslet of this year's race. The stars of The Women — Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith and Meg Ryan — share a nomination. Cameron Diaz earned two nominations: one as Worst Actress in What Happens in Vegas, and another as one-half of Worst Screen Couple for the same picture. Eddie Murphy, Al Pacino , Jessica Alba, Verne Troyer and even Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley (one of Guru's seven nominations) were also recognized for either knowing better, or not.
And in the Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel category, dark horse candidate Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull pulled a stunning upset, Razzie voters apparently agreeing with the South Park guys' assessment that the botched and completely unnecessary sequel amounted to a Spielberg/Lucas-perpetrated gang rape of a beloved screen icon.
Winners are announced Feb. 21. The full list of nominees follows:
WORST PICTURE
* Disaster Movie
* The Happening
* The Hottie and the Nottie
* In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
* The Love Guru
* Meet the Spartans
WORST ACTOR
* Larry the Cable Guy, Witless Protection
* Eddie Murphy, Meet Dave
* Mike Myers, The Love Guru
* Al Pacino, 88 Minutes and Righteous Kill
* Mark Wahlberg, The Happening and Max Payne
WORST ACTRESS
* Jessica Alba, The Eye and The Love Guru
* The cast of The Women (Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Meg Ryan)
* Cameron Diaz, What Happens in Vegas
* Paris Hilton, The Hottie and the Nottie
* Kate Hudson, Fools' Gold and My Best Friend's Girl
WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
* Uwe Boll (as himself), Uwe Boll's Postal
* Pierce Brosnan, Mamma Mia!
* Ben Kingsley, The Love Guru and The Wackness
* Burt Reynolds, Deal and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
* Verne Troyer, The Love Guru and Uwe Boll's Postal
WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
* Carmen Electra, Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans
* Paris Hilton, Repo: The Genetic Opera
* Kim Kardashian, Disaster Movie
* Jenny McCarthy, Witless Protection
* Leelee Sobieski, 88 Minutes and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
WORST SCREEN COUPLE
* Uwe Boll and Any Actor, Camera or Screenplay
* Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher, What Happens in Vegas
* Paris Hilton and either Christin Lakin or Joel David Moore, The Hottie and the Nottie
* Larry the Cable Guy and Jenny McCarthy, Witless Protection
* Eddie Murphy and Eddie Murphy, Meet Dave
WORST PREQUEL, REMAKE, RIP-OFF OR SEQUEL
* The Day the Earth Blowed Up Real Good
* Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans
* Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
* Speed Racer
* Star Wars: The Clone Wars
WORST DIRECTOR
* Uwe Boll, 1968: Tunnel Rats, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale and Uwe Boll's Postal
* Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans
* Tom Putnam, The Hottie and the Nottie
* Marco Schnabel, The Love Guru
* M. Night Shyamalan, The Happening
WORST SCREENPLAY
* Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans
* The Happening
* The Hottie and the Nottie
* In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
* The Love Guru
WORST CAREER ACHIEVEMENT
* Uwe Boll