The Razzie Nominations Have Been Announced, and We Have a Bone to Pick with One

The Razzie nominations were announced this morning, and to be honest, the Razzies haven’t meant much to anyone since the days when Eddie Murphy used to dominate with the likes of Norbit and Meet Dave. Mostly, the Razzies mean to me that the Oscar nominations are nigh (they will be announced tomorrow morning). I was, however, curious as to what movies would land on the list in the year of our Lord 2022 now that we’re fully in the streaming era.

There are streaming movies among the nominees. In fact, most of the nominations spring forth from the same five movies nominated for Worst Film.

Worst Film
Diana the Musical (The Netflix Version)
Infinite
Karen
Space Jam: A New Legacy
The Woman in the Window

Interestingly, the only theatrical release here was Space Jam: A New Legacy, which was released on HBO Max simultaneously (the film actually did OK at the box office, earning $92 million domestically, and $160 million worldwide, slightly better than its insane $150 million budget). The Woman in the Window and Diana the Musical were released on Netflix, Infinite bypassed theaters and went straight to Paramount+, and Karen was released on demand. If you don’t remember Infinite don’t worry. No one else does, either (it was a Mark Wahlberg film that was originally intended to be released in theaters, but Paramount+ — soon after it was launched — thought it could boost subs. I doubt it moved the needle).

You probably don’t remember immediately Karen, but the trailer will trigger your traumas. Brace yourselves:

I haven’t seen any of those movies, because it’s 2022 and I don’t have time for that sh*t, but I have no doubt that they all deserve their place.

The big losers this year, alas, were Taryn Manning and Amy Adams, both nominated in Worst Actress and Worst Supporting Actress categories:

WORST ACTOR
Scott Eastwood / Dangerous
Roe Hartrampf (As Prince Charles) Diana the Musical
LeBron James / Space Jam: A New Legacy
Ben Platt / Dear Evan Hansen
Mark Wahlberg / Infinite

WORST ACTRESS
Amy Adams / The Woman in the Window
Jeanna de Waal / Diana the Musical
Megan Fox / Midnight in the Switchgrass
Taryn Manning / Karen
Ruby Rose / Vanquish

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams / Dear Evan Hansen
Sophie Cookson / Infinite
Erin Davie (As Camilla) Diana the Musical
Judy Kaye (As BOTH Queen Elizabeth & Barbara Cartland) / Diana the Musical
Taryn Manning / Every Last One of Them

Can you see the first nominee under Worst Actor? It’s just a blank white space for me. Must be a technical glitch. Weird.

Again, I haven’t seen any of those films, although I don’t have a problem with their inclusions. I’d never heard of Every Last One of Them, but it’s worth noting that not only is Taryn Manning in it, but so is Richard Dreyfus, Michael Madsen, and Nick Vallelonga — as an actor. You may remember his name as the Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Green Book.

I do also sort of appreciate that the Razzies, which could’ve easily become a sort of “anti-woke” organization given their historic sense of humor, seems to have remained apolitical. They did, however, create an entirely new category for Bruce Willis:

WORST PERFORMANCE by BRUCE WILLIS in a 2021 MOVIE
Bruce Willis / American Siege
Bruce Willis / Apex
Bruce Willis / Cosmic Sin
Bruce Willis / Deadlock
Bruce Willis / Fortress
Bruce Willis / Midnight in the Switchgrass
Bruce Willis / Out of Death
Bruce Willis / Survive the Game

There’s only one quibble that I have with the Razzies, and it is in the Worst Supporting Actor category:

Worst Supporting Actor
Ben Affleck / The Last Duel
Nick Cannon / The Misfits
Mel Gibson / Dangerous
Gareth Keegan (As James Hewitt, the Muscle-Bound Horse Trainer)/Diana the Musical
Jared Leto / House of Gucci

All of those nominations are fine, except for one: Ben Affleck was fantastic in The Last Duel, and his haircut notwithstanding, I won’t hear otherwise! It’s a strong performance from Affleck, who plays a sort of 14th-century version of his public persona. A lot of people have come to The Last Duel late on HBO Max, but I have seen on social media timelines nothing but universal praise (except for the people who quit before the third act, where Jodie Comer steals the damn movie from everyone).

The Affleck nom was clearly not about the performance, and all about using Affleck’s name to promote itself. I guess it … worked. So, good job?