Razzie Award nominations seem lazy, 'Twilight' is nominated for every category

For more than thirty years now, the Golden Raspberry Awards, better known as the Razzies have acted as the antithesis to the Oscars and have been “awarded” to the worst films, actors, and screenplays in the industry. The 33rd annual Razzie Award nominations for the worst achievements in cinema have been announced today, January 8, 2013, and in all honesty, they feel as though they were lazily tossed together.

The final chapter in the immensely popular, though largely detested “Twilight” series led the nominations with nominations in every single category, including worst picture, worst director, worst screenplay and worst acting for the stars, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Ashley Greene and Taylor Launtner.

“Twilight” is competing with “Battleship,” “The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure,” “That's My Boy,” and “A Thousand Words” for the “Worst Picture” category. The stars of “That’s My Boy” and “A Thousand Words,” Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy, respectively, were also nominated for “Worst Actor” Razzies, joining other Razzie-nominated actors including Oscar winners Barbra Streisand and Nicolas Cage.

I believe that the Razzies have run their course – after more than thirty years, the joke is now stale, and they have become lazy in their nominations, in fact, I believe they made mistakes in nearly every category. The full list of nominations is below, with my comments on the decisions.

Worst Picture
Battleship
The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure
That's My Boy
A Thousand Words
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II

- Comments: Most of the choices here are perfectly respectable, though I don’t think that “That’s My Boy” deserves to be on the list. Although the film was far from great, it had charming moments and was significantly more humorous than anyone had anticipated. This nomination seems like it was simply included because Sandler has had so many recent failures, like “Jack and Jill” and “Zookeeper.” I don’t believe they gave the film a fair chance.

Worst Director
Sean Anders - That's My Boy
Peter Berg - Battleship
Bill Condon - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Tyler Perry - Good Deeds / Madea's Witness Protection
John Putch - Atlas Shrugged: Part II

- Comments: I agree with the underlying notion that “Battleship” was a terrible film, though I disagree with their nomination of the director Peter Berg. It seems as though Berg did the best job possible with the script he had been given, this nomination belongs in the “Worst Screenplay” category.

Worst Actress
Katherine Heigl - One for the Money
Milla Jovovich - Resident Evil: Retribution
Tyler Perry - Madea's Witness Protection
Kristen Stewart - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II / Snow White and the Huntsman
Barbra Streisand - The Guilt Trip

- Comments: They actually did a good job with this category, though I don’t think that Kristen Stewart’s performances were equally bad. I’m not much of a fan of Stewart, but there’s no question that she was better in her role as Snow White than she was as Bella. Once again, the nomination seems lazy – there was no need to lump Stewart’s films together in this fashion.

Worst Actor
Nicolas Cage - Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance / Seeking Justice
Eddie Murphy - A Thousand Words
Robert Pattinson - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Tyler Perry - Alex Cross / Good Deeds
Adam Sandler - That's My Boy

- Comments: Once again I disagree with the “That’s My Boy” inclusion. Sandler did a fine job in this role, and certainly out-acted Matt Bush in “Piranha 3DD.” Once again, I disagree with their decision to lump films together – Nicolas Cage was undoubtedly better in “Seeking Justice” than he was in “Ghost Rider,” and “Seeking Justice” really shouldn’t make an appearance on this list in any capacity.

Worst Supporting Actress
Jessica Biel - Playing For Keeps / Total Recall
Brooklyn Decker - Battleship / What to Expect When You're Expecting
Ashley Greene - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Jennifer Lopez - What to Expect When You're Expecting
Rihanna – Battleship

- Comments: Once again, they shouldn’t have lumped films together, seeing as Brooklyn Decker did a fine job in “Battleship” (though the film was atrocious), though her performance in “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” certainly could have been approved. Additionally, Jessica Biel did a great job in “Total Recall,” which I suspect was only included because it lacked Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Worst Supporting Actor
David Hasselhoff - Piranha 3-DD
Taylor Lautner - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Liam Neeson - Battleship / Wrath of the Titans
Nick Swardson - That's My Boy
Vanilla Ice - That's My Boy

- Comments: This category is abysmal. Liam Neeson’s performance in “Battleship” was impressive, despite the poorly constructed role, and the voters clearly didn’t understand “That’s My Boy” – both Vanilla Ice and Nick Swardson were hysterical in their supporting roles. They weren’t supposed to deliver Oscar-worthy performances, they were added to give the already humorous film an extra comedic edge – neither actor deserves to be on this list of nominees.

Worst Screen Ensemble
Battleship
The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure
That's My Boy
The Twilight Saga: Eclipsed Part II
Madea's Witness Protection

- Comments: I’ve covered what’s wrong with this category in my previous comments – “Battleship” doesn’t deserve to be here, because it was the script and structure of the film that was lacking, not the performances. Additionally, “That’s My Boy” shouldn’t be on the list, because, for the most point, the actors did a great job creating a comedy out of a seemingly weak idea.

Worst Screenplay
Atlas Shrugged Part II
Battleship
That's My Boy
A Thousand Words
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II

- Comments: This category is probably the easiest to determine, and they did a pretty good job – I’m not a big fan of the “Twilight” inclusion here – how great can a screenplay be when it’s based off of such a poorly written novel? I think that “Twilight” was included in this category just so it could have a full sweep in the nominations.

Worst Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel
Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance
Piranha 3-DD
Red Dawn
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Madea's Witness Protection

- Comments: This is their best category – I can’t argue with any of their decisions here – there were plenty of films to choose from, but there’s nothing particularly wrong with their nominations.

Worst Screen Couple
Any two cast members from Jersey Shore in The Three Stooges
Mackenzie Foy and Taylor Lautner in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Tyler Perry and his drag in Madea's Witness Protection
Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg, Leighton Meester, or Susan Sarandon in That's My Boy

- Comments: This is the category that best demonstrates the voters’ laziness. “Any two cast members?” By generalizing in this way it’s pretty difficult to argue that it’s a “couple” – it’s really just two actors in a film who have no relation to one another, and it’s obviously a lazy way for the Razzies to take a jab at “Jersey Shore.” Additionally, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are by no means good actors, but as a couple they have strong chemistry and work well together – simply put, they aren’t one of the worst screen couples. Furthermore, once again, they’ve attacked “That’s My Boy” unfairly, once again doing so in a lazy fashion, which now generalizes with minimal effort.

This year’s Razzie award nominations have shown, without a doubt, that Hollywood’s long-running mockery of an “Awards” show has run its course. The awards no longer provide any comedic value, and now mock not only the film industry, but the history of the awards themselves. In past years the Razzies have arguably helped the industry advance by consistently providing a level of “constructive criticism” that showed the industry’s filmmakers the key things to avoid when making a film. However, this year the Razzies have shown that they are a joke of an awards show, and from this point on they are not to be taken seriously, or given any attention.