The Razzie Award nominations are out

Ah, what is January without the annual Razzie Award nominations. Not that 2008 was a year lacking actors, actresses, and films aplenty for the nominations. In fact I’m sure the judges had quite the time trying to narrow the field.

But the Razzies generally pick the top of the worst of any given year. And unlike the Oscars, the film nominated here you have definitely heard of, and sadly might have seen. Such is the shame of Hollywood year after year.

For 2009 we have the following, with my comments included:

Worst Picture:

Disaster Movie
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
Meet the Spartans
The Happening - boring
The Hottie & the Nottie – any movie that would have Paris Hilton in it should automatically be nominated, if not win.
**Why is The Day The Earth Stood Still not in this?**

Worst Actor

Mike Myers - The Love Guru
Eddie Murphy - Meet Dave - What is wrong with Murphy these days. He can be so much better than this.
Al Pacino - 88 Minutes and Righteous Kill
Mark Wahlberg - The Happening and Max Payne - Neither film was worth the money
Larry the Cable Guy - Witless Protection - How he cannot win I can’t imagine.
**I know everyone seems to disagree, because he is dead, but Heath Ledger’s Joker sucked.**
***And Keanu Reeves deserves to be in this group more than Wahlberg does, for his work in The Day The Earth Stood Still***

Worst Actress

Jessica Alba - The Love Guru and The Eye - She is just really bad.
Cameron Diaz - What Happens in Vegas - Embarrassing
Paris Hilton - The Hottie & the Nottie - The must win choice. The other ladies may have tried but they all have far more talent in their sleep than Hilton at her best (if such a moment exists).
Kate Hudson - Fool's Gold and My Best Friend's Girl
The Entire Cast of "The Women" - Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Meg Ryan.

Worst Supporting Actor

Uwe Boll, Postal
Pierce Brosnan - Mamma Mia! - How far we have fallen since The Matador and Bond.
Ben Kingsley, The Love Guru, War, Inc., The Wackness - I like him, but War, Inc. just puts him over the top in this one.
Burt Reynolds, Deal and In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
Verne Troyer, The Love Guru and Postal.

Worst Supporting Actress

Carmen Electra - Disaster Movie, Meet The Spartans - Hey, be nice she can’t do better.
Paris Hilton - Repo! The Genetic Opera; - Yet another film proving that were it not for money she would have nothing to justify her life
Kim Kardashian - Disaster Movie
Jenny Mccarthy, Witless Protection; - She deserves it just for appearing in the film
Leelee Sobieski - 88 Minutes, In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

Worst Screen Couple

Uwe Boll and Any Actor, Camera and Screenplay
Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher, What Happens In Vegas - The only words I have are, I understand why they got a Razzie
Paris Hilton and either Christine Lakin or Jorel David Moore, The Hottie And The Nottie - Again the queen of too much money and no talent stands out.
Larry The Cable Guy and Jenny Mccarthy, Witless Protection; - Giving Paris Hilton the only kind of competition she deserves.
Eddie Murphy In Eddie Murphy, Meet Dave. – Not really a couple now is it?

Worst Prequel, Sequel, Remake Or Rip-Off

The Day The Earth Stood Still - Horrendous remake, the writer should be slapped.
Disaster Movie
Meet The Spartans
Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
Speed Racer - Someone was on drugs when they filmed this. Give me the original cartoon anytime.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - George Lucas can’t need the money that bad, can he?
**Max Payne fits this category, as it is a ripoff of the video game. And a bad ripoff at that.**
***Again in the ripoff, a film that stole from at least 3 other films - Doomsday. If you missed it, be happy.***

Worst Director

Uwe Boll - Tunnel Rats, In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale And Postal
Jason Friedberg And Aaron Seltzer - Disaster Movie And Meet The Spartans - And anyone expected better in these ripoff ideas?
Tom Putnam - The Hottie And The Nottie - Paris Hilton, do I need to say anything more?
Marco Schnabel - The Love Guru
M. Night Shyamalan, The Happening. – The best film to put you to sleep.

Worst Screenplay

Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer - Disaster Movie And Meet The Spartans - The obvious favorites to win.
M. Night Shyamalan - The Happening
Heidi Ferrer - The Hottie And The Nottie
Doug Taylor - In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
Mike Myers and Graham Gordy, The Love Guru
**Actually I don’t understand how The Day The Earth Stood Still missed this category**

Worst Career Achievement

Uwe Boll - "Germany's answer to Ed Wood" - Ed Wood was funny at least.

Such are my thoughts of the films worth of Razzie’s in 2008. Perhaps you know of a film that deserved to be on this list? Let me know because no one should need to own a DVD of films of this quality. Even if you need a Frisbee in an emergency.

Oh and here is an early prediction for 2009, Notorious will top a few of the categories here.

Movie preview alert: Bill O'Reilly in An American Carol

Well the ultra-liberal fanatics will surely be up in arms about the latest item to be presented on the O’Reilly Factor last night. It seems that Bill O’Reilly has landed a small roll in an up-coming film. The film is a satirical look at people like Michael Moore, and many of the Hollywood Liberals that are just one step from Hanoi Jane Fonda.

Here is the video of the film



So what do you think of it? I found it to be very funny.

Michael Moore and many of the far-left nuts need a bit of air taken out of their blustering. And I think the concept of using A Christmas Carol as a format is original. Considering one of the writers and director here is the same man, David Zucker, responsible for Airplane, Top Secret, and the Naked Gun series, I expect the jokes to be pretty good.

The cast is filled with notable actors, including Kelsey Grammer, Robert Davi, Jon Voight, James Woods, Leslie Nielsen, Dennis Hopper, Kevin Sorbo, Travis Schuldt, and Trace Adkins.

That’s a lot of talent. I should mention that Kelsey Grammer and Dennis Hopper were previously paired in a movie that just came out – Swing Vote. I already panned the film in my preview of the film. Reviews by Rotten Tomatoes give it a 39% negative approval rating, and most reviews believe its ok to bad and a DVD pick at best. No surprise to me.

But Grammer and Hopper should redeem themselves in this film. Not that the liberals aren’t complaining already

“This is just more of the right wing believing their own BS to make themselves feel better. They know their time is almost up. A great deal of effort is put forth daily to keep morale up (see talk radio, right wing blogs/forums, Fox News) among the true believers. This film is another example…

Come October, the film may do well, if a campaign like the one for "Passion of the Christ", along with a "let's stick it to the liberals" message is ginned up via the usual outlets.

So go and have fun liberal-haters, laugh all the way into the political graveyard, you are proud to be part of an ugly history which will not be judged mercifully.”

I’m sorry, the self-important and more-righteous-than-thou attitude of Moore needs a pin to pop his balloon. In fact most on the far-left need a hit as well. Not that they haven’t been trying to, unsuccessfully, sell the “horrors” of America in films for the last few years.

I expect this film will be decent, based on the writer and actors involved. And America will likely flock to a film that pokes fun at the groups that are so serious and so sure they know what’s best for everyone. My bet is that the film makes more money than Redacted, Swing Vote, Lions for Lambs, and War Inc. combined. Actually since that isn’t much of a number to beat (Swing Vote is the big winner of the group having made about $13 million, still less than what it cost to make the film) I will say it makes $20 - $25 million it’s first week and nets a total of $40 million at least.

Do you agree?

Even more 2008 summer film previews

I’ve been writing about the summer movies of 2008 for some time now. I’ve covered everything from The Andromeda Strain remake on A&E, to Iron Man, to The Incredible Hulk. I’ve given previews of movies I’m looking forward to like Hancock and Wanted and movies that I think are, or will be, dreadful like Batman: The Dark Knight, What happens in Vegas, and Speed Racer. But there are a few films that I have failed to mention. So here I go.

Get Smart is a remake of a television show that first ran in the 1960’s. Don Adams, a former Marine, took a more comedic and slapstick approach to the suave spy theme in this show and made it work well. It’s a funny show that is known for its wacky and partially functional secret weapons as the leads instantly recognizable voice (used for equal success in the children’s cartoon Inspector Gadget).

This movie looks to have none of these sparks. Yes it is more flashy, with explosions and special effects that the original television program could only dream of. But the focus on all the glitz will detract from the actual comedy that is the Clouseau-esque lead. Lots of popular stars, big budget, and not a single reason not to wait for this to hit cable. Yet another movie version of a great television show that reveals Hollywood has no idea what makes a show work, or that they ever watched the program in the first place.



The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. And you thought all the mummies were done. This is the 3rd film of the series and lives in the same continuity. Our favorite mummy fighting dad, Brendan Frasier is back again alongside his son (now grown up) and his nar-do-well Brother-in-law.

Put the blame of the latest threat on the son this time as he releases Jet Li from his slumbers. The CGI looks to be good, and the clips give good reason to believe the unique blend of humor and action that made the first 2 films work well are still in place. If it’s half as good as previous movies in the series then this is worth going to the theatre.



Hellboy 2 has gotten a boost in the form of the director of Pan’s Labyrinth, Guillermo Del Toro. And its obvious that he had a major influence on the movie. The characters are right out of his mind to the screen. Which may help give more credibility to the story. The first film lacked believability, even for the subject it was dealing with. This one looks far more committed to the otherworldly essence that is the base of the story. Now if they can plug up the plot holes that plagued the first film it could be quite good. Either way it should be a better experience than Batman or Get Smart. If you have the extra cash it could be worth the money.



War, Inc. has several good things working for it. John Cusack is sort of reprising his role as an assassin that he played in Grosse Point Blank, along with his sister as his secretary. The film is absurd, dealing with a war that is farmed out to a corporation. That absurdity works with the way the film seems to be portrayed. And for the far-left there is a healthy dose of anti-war meaning that Hollywood seems to want to flood the theaters with.

At least this film seems to present that concept with a laugh instead of the usual sledgehammer seen in prior big budget flops (that deserved to never be seen).



Meet Dave, Space Chimps, Step Brothers, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, and Mamma Mia all seem like great films for the discount DVD bin. If I were to be paid to see them I’d still just stick with an edited trailer instead.

Could I be wrong? Sure, and the Dukes of Hazzard was a film worthy of an Oscar. Honestly I’m sure some would like any of the films I don’t, just as some people think huffing paint is worth the holes in the brain it causes.

The only really big question in the near future is Batman. From what I’ve seen the Joker is horrible, and if he is the film fails. Not to worry though, there will be another Batman, likely a Hellboy 3, and several other superhero and videogame movies to come. They might even make a movie about Good Times or All in the Family. But that will be another post.