Razzie Dazzle

By Thomas Willett

The first week of April is foreshadowing a great month. Not only do we finally see the release of Bobcat Goldthwait’s follow-up to World’s Greatest Dad, the SXSW favorite God Bless America this Friday, but we’ve also seen the release of the new trailer to Woody Allen’s To Rome with Love where Ellen Page says new things to win my heart. We also see our first pictures of show favorite Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained . However, it all had to begin somewhere. What happened on April 1st? The awards season finally came to a close with the 32nd Annual Razzie Awards.

I won’t sugarcoat it. If you were to read about this year’s proceedings, it would seem uneventful. As a fan of awards ceremonies that gets amped up every February and March, I plan to overdose on pointless speeches and new disagreement fodder. This is all capped with the Oscars.

That’s usually the case, but by moving the Razzie ceremony to April 1st in order to parlay a dream of creator John Wilson’s of having it on National Prank Day, it took its first step into troubled territory. There was more than a whole month between the Oscars and their show. To me, all the time did was make the ceremony drift into a forgotten abyss. It didn’t rely on hype and for lacking promotion for most of March; I bet many people were surprised to see that the show actually was still happening. When it was capped with the 100% victory of Adam Sandler’s Jack and Jill, I felt that it only made them seem cheaper and narrow minded.

That’s how I feel that anyone who is just reading will perceive it. What other reason would you have to think otherwise? While it boils down to opinion, those who find the Razzies’ desire to make fun of bad cinema always look forward to hearing the results. It creates a nice break from the award shows of good merit, such as the Oscars and the Spirit Awards. In fact, the reason that the Razzies are even touted over other mock awards is because of the 32 years of satirizing the Oscars. What better night to satirize them than the day before? It may seem like it’ll be overshadowed, but it works as a great secondary story come Monday when Oscar talk hits tedium.

I am a member of the Razzies. I have been active (meaning I have attended events) for four years and a paying member for the last three. It isn’t hard to become a member. All you have to do is pay $40 to start with $25 for annual renewal on their website . This gives you access to important e-mails regarding events, attending their Pre-Vue Night (where nominee clips are shown plus a feature film), and attend the actual ceremony. They also have a message board to discuss the worst in films on a weekly basis. For those interested in mocking bad cinema, it’s a worthy investment.

What I feel is the biggest draw is that it’s voted by members. Since membership is cheap, it makes it more accessible and thus making it feel like a community. Anyone accusing them of only voting for the big budget flops must take into consideration that these votes came from the members. The winners generally will reflect what they think is the worst. Since the majority isn’t the Hollywood elite, this aptly reflects what the general public thinks. While it isn’t always parallel to my thoughts, the results at least feel honest that way.

The previous three ceremonies have been held in Hollywood a few miles from the Kodak Theater. I feel that the venue is also fitting not only in location, but because the ambience creates the feeling of a college production of the Oscars while overlooking the city below it. Despite Santa Monica’s Magicopolis not featuring as much of that charm, it’s a venue. It doesn’t feel as exclusive and standing in line feels more like waiting for a rock show to start at the Roxy while loud cars and weirdo bohemians walk by. The change is understandable with everything that happened, but I hope things go back to the way they were in Hollywood.

If you asked me around mid-March if I was excited for the Razzie Awards, I would have said no. I had been to two events prior, but the steam was just too deflated to care. The reason that I held out optimism is because the shows are actually worth the $25 renewal fee. It is an awards show that cheaply makes fun of the Oscars with cheap laughs (such as blowing their namesake raspberries) and a cast of presenters with bad stage routines based on the category that they are presenting. What it lacks in spectacle it makes up for in sheer energy and the fact that it rarely works perfectly or go over an hour: the perfect antithesis.

Like every year, the most energy goes into a fun opening musical number. This year’s number was a parody of the Chordette’s “Mr. Sandman,” which while riffing on every nominee, was at the core a big insult to a “Mr. Sandler” (not a stretch, but I like to think they knew his nickname was the Sandman) who released the big winner Jack and Jill along with other nominees Just Go With It, Bucky Larson, and Zookeeper (almost completely forgotten if not for a Ken Jeong nomination). Of the three opening numbers that I have seen, this was easily my favorite, if just for the simplicity.

Another thing that makes the shows great is the videos that they splice in. While very light this year, they have had videos featuring people from Malcolm McDowell and Paula Poundstone to Uwe Boll addressing the Razzies personally. The joke works mostly because it is never expected and just plays well into the comically degrading atmosphere. These original videos are enough to give the rest of the production an extra boost.

One of my favorite touches is the use of critic’s reviews. For every nominee in every category, a funny line from a Rotten Tomatoes-submitted review accompanied it. The literary prose of saying that “Rosie Huntington-Whitely makes Megan Fox look like Meryl Streep” (Lou Lumenick of the New Yourk Post) for her acting in Transformers: Dark of the Moon is enough to make me wonder why I cannot write that clever. After announcing each winner, they present a clip demonstrating their highlighted failure. It often works because when out of context it’s absurd.

Finally, the great thing about Razzie Ceremonies is that they often feature guests. While I missed out on the Sandra Bullock year , I have been privy to seeing Russell Peters (who I didn’t know until Source Code) accept the Razzie when the Last Airbender won worst picture . This year featured two relatively surprising faces. First was the introduction of new member Thushari Jayasekera , whose resume includes work on Outsourced and Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23. It’s nice to see diversity. However, the big name this year was Matt Atchity, the editor for Rotten Tomatoes. Since a lot of the substance that goes into this show comes from that website, it was a nice treat for them to be represented.

Overall, the vibe gave strong implications that Jack and Jill was going to win everything. Envelopes were often presented stating alterations on the phrasing “What do you think?” Truthfully, I felt the obvious nature worked to unite us against a single force, but it still was obvious. I agree that the film was bad, but so were Bucky Larson and the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (which I felt deserved to win something for this scene alone). Still, I think it now makes this scene of Adam Sandler crushing Al Pacino’s Oscar one of the greatest meta jokes of all time.

I will admit that this year’s overall process wasn’t as fun because of all the changes. Even the narrow group of winners kept me from calling this a good year. Where last year saw the Last Airbender and Sex and the City 2 split trophies, giving it all to one just felt uninspired, even by their standards. However, this is supposed to recognize the worst in cinema, and I think that Jack and Jill more represents Adam Sandler’s repertoire from the past few years (minus Funny People). This feels like more of an honorary year than anything else.

Will this stop me from coming back? No. I love being a member of the Razzies. Ever since I took up my jobs as a critic and show host, I’ve needed an outlet for recognizing the worst. It’s true that the worst looked different than my list (I lobby that the Human Centipede II is the worst movie of the past few years), but it’s about making fun of the big names; the ones who need to be taken down a peg. It also gave me a reason to rush out and see the Last Airbender. I knew it was bad, but because of the Razzies, it felt monumental and important to the conversation. This all wouldn’t work if I didn’t feel that there was a community vibe to it. It may be all over the movie news websites, but it all comes down to the movie lovers who I’ve seen at different events. We aren’t preparing for an expensive, fancy shindig. We’re just having fun. Look no further than this video for proof. If you care to join, I’ll have an extra ticket waiting for you next year.

You can read Thom’s blog every Wednesday and hear him on Nerd’s Eye View every Tuesday and Thursday at nevpodcast.com . Send your thoughts to nevpodcast@gmail.com. You can also read Thom’s movie reviews for Cinema Beach at cinemabeach.com