If you've seen our most recent Lockdown Special, you'll have seen at the end that we mention the IMDB Bottom 100 films list; there's some dreadful stuff on there that we'll no doubt be exploring soon.
So (you'll have to imagine my best Carrie Bradshaw impersonation) I couldn't help but wonder... what are some of the worst films ever made? Now, as you know, I'm an awards geek (sorrynotsorry) and a film is often judged by its Oscar wins (see Matt's comment about Once Upon A Time In America in the Lockdown Special). And, as regular readers/listeners/viewers will know, the yang to the Oscars yin is... The Golden Raspberry Awards, which also celebrates its 40th year this year.
So I figured I'd do a bit of research and come up with a list of the 10 films with the most Razzie nominations (and wins). This includes any superlatives they may have been nominated for, or won (eg. Worst Film Of The Decade or Worst Of Our First 25 Years).
So, strap yourself in for a quick romp through some of cinema's biggest flops, disappointments, and bizarre ideas. Brace yourselves!
1. Showgirls (1995)
dir. Paul Verhoeven, starring Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan and Gina Gershon
15 nominations, 8 wins
This tawdry tale of a young woman who wants to become a dancer in Las Vegas is widely regarded as one of the worst films ever made, so it's no surprise that the Razzies decided to pile both the nominations and the awards on. At the 1996 awards, it won 7 awards, including Worst Picture; lead actress Elizabeth Berkley was singled out for two awards (Worst Actress and Worst New Star) whilst the rest of the cast escaped unscathed- despite Worst acting nominations for MacLachlan and Gershon, as well as Robert Davi, Alan Rachins and Lin Tucci. Verhoeven actually accepted his Razzie for Worst Director in person! (He was the first person to do so). It also won Worst Picture Of The Decade (for the 1990s) and was nominated for Worst Drama Of Our First 25 Years in 2005.
2. The Lonely Lady (1983)
dir. Peter Sasdy, starring Pia Zadora, Lloyd Bochner, and Bibi Besch
13 nominations, 6 wins
Another torrid tale of an idealistic young woman looking to achieve success and getting exploited along the way (although here, she's a screenwriter wanting to make it big in Hollywood) The Lonely Lady is an adaptation of a Harold Robbins novel and an unmitigated mess. Winning its 6 awards in 1984, including Worst Picture, actress Pia Zadora had already won a Worst Actress Razzie the previous year for Butterfly, so added to that with a second. It's telling that director Peter Sasdy never directed another film; his resume shows a lot of TV work after this blot. It was nominated for Worst Picture Of The Decade (for the 1980s) and was also nominated for Worst Drama Of Our First 25 Years in 2005.
3. Jack And Jill (2011)
dir. Dennis Dugan, starring Adam Sandler, Al Pacino, and Katie Holmes
12 nominations, 10 wins
The Razzies dishonour the worst of cinema, so imagine how bad a film has to be to get a clean sweep of every category. Well, Jack and Jill is that film. It's the first film in Razzies history to win every single category. It had multiple nominations in the Worst Supporting acting categories (Nick Swardson and Katie Holmes being nominated but their co-stars Al Pacino and David Spade taking the awards; yes, David Spade won Worst Supporting Actress; yes, it is that kind of a film; no, I don't get it either). Sandler was reportedly paid a cool $20m dollars to make this utter dreck, so I would imagine he's not particularly bothered.
4. Gigli (2003)
dir. Martin Brest, starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, and Al Pacino
11 nominations, 7 wins
What was originally a mob movie turned into a romantic comedy to capitalise on the real-world relationship between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. Which might explain why there's a sex scene between the two of them, despite Lopez's character being a lesbian. So much to unpack in that statement, so little time... Another film that's universally accepted as one of the worst ever made, it won 6 Razzies in 2004- including the Big Five (Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenplay)- and added a seventh in 2005 as the Worst "Comedy" Of Our First 25 Years. Dropped from UK cinemas after only a week, due to the dreadful reviews it received, Gigli also provided the kiss of death for Brest's career; after films like Beverly Hills Cop, Scent Of A Woman, and Meet Joe Black, the negative experience of making this film meant Brest retired from directing once it was over.
5. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012)
dir. Bill Condon, starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner
11 nominations, 7 wins
The Razzies were always pretty unkind to the Twilight films; all but the first film got at least four nods. However, prior to this, despite all the nominations, the Twilight films had only won one Razzie before, when Jackson Rathbone was named Worst Supporting Actor for Eclipse. Time to make up for lost ground. Here, they pulled a Lord-Of-The-Rings-at-the-Oscars and awarded the final act of the saga the most awards. With seven awards, this soapy, poorly-acted, badly-written and utterly dismal film franchise finally bit the dust. Oh, no, I forgot... their vampires don't turn into dust. They sparkle in the sunlight. Sparkle. Vampires. Shouldn't. Sparkle. Along with Worst Picture and Director, sullen charisma vacuum Kristen Stewart took Worst Actress, with Taylor Lautner as Worst Supporting Actor.
6. Mommie Dearest (1981)
dir. Frank Perry, starring Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid, and Steve Forrest
11 nominations, 6 wins
Faye Dunaway was convinced that this biopic of the late actress Joan Crawford and the tumultuous relationship she had with her adopted children (especially her daughter Christina, who penned the salacious tell-all book the film is based on) would get her another Oscar. Instead, it got her a Razzie. To this day, Dunaway is known to stop interviews if anyone dares mention the film, even though the film is now considered something of a camp cult classic (and was even marketed as such by Paramount once they found out that people were attending out of a morbid curiosity). Along with Dunaway's Worst Actress win, and Worst Picture, it also won two Worst Supporting acting awards for Steve Forrest (as Greg Savitt) and Diana Scarwid (as the older Christine) and Worst Screenplay. It also won Worst Picture of the Decade (1980s) and was nominated for Worst "Drama" Of Our First 25 Years.
7. Batman & Robin (1997)
dir. Joel Schumacher, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, and Chris O'Donnell
11 nominations, 1 win
We've spoken a lot about how much of a guilty pleasure this film is for us, so very little bears repeating, except for this: you know a film is bad when the director apologises for it (which Joel Schumacher did on a couple of occasions). It's certainly not as bad as it's painted; there's some fun to be had if you look for it. Despite 11 nominations (it was nominated for the most Razzies that year)- for everything from Worst Picture to Worst Screen Couple, Worst Original Song and Worst Reckless Disregard For Human Life And Public Property- the film winded up only winning one Razzie: Alicia Silverstone was named Worst Supporting Actress (beating her co-star Uma Thurman). They should be thankful they were nominated in the same year as The Postman...
8. Battlefield Earth (2000)
dir. Roger Christian, starring John Travolta, Barry Pepper, and Forest Whitaker
10 nominations, 9 wins
Based on a work by L. Ron Hubbard, Battlefield Earth was something of a passion project for John Travolta (no surprise there, given the whole Scientology thing...) but something went desperately wrong with the film and it's ended up as this sprawling incoherent, visually muddling mess. Plans for a sequel got quietly shelved. It won in every category it was nominated in at the 2001 awards (with a second Worst Supporting Actor nod for Forest Whitaker), although wasn't nominated in every category. Forest Whitaker has expressed his regret for taking part, and Barry Pepper had said he would have shown up to accept his Worst Supporting Actor Razzie in person had he known about it! Screenwriter J.D. Shapiro actually did show up in person and accepted the Worst Movie Of The Decade (2000s) award, and it won Worst Drama of Our First 25 Years, beating out Mommie Dearest, Showgirls, and The Lonely Lady for the dubious honour.
9. Bolero (1984)
dir. John Derek, starring Bo Derek, George Kennedy, and Andrea Occhipinti
10 nominations, 6 wins
There's a fine line to be walked when it comes to "erotic" movies. You can go too far and end up with a crass exploitative mess verging on actual pornography, or end up not going far enough in which case it's about as sensual as a bucket of cold custard. Bolero veers wildly between the two extremes. Bo Derek stars as a young woman whose sexual awakening leads to a journey around the world to find her ideal lover. Already, things are starting to clench (and not in a good way). But here's where the line gets massively crossed: actress Olivia d'Abo was fourteen (yes, fourteen) and appears in nude scenes throughout the film. Released unrated in the US (wonder why?), d'Abo was one of the six "winners" (getting the Worst New Star award) with the film also winning Worst Picture, Worst Actress, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Musical Score (which included music by celebrated composer Elmer Bernstein). What a sorry state of affairs.
10. An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997)
dir. Arthur Hiller (as Alan Smithee), starring Ryan O'Neal, Coolio, and Eric Idle
10 nominations, 5 wins
A quick lesson. "Alan Smithee" was the official Director's Guild pseudonym used on a film when its director disowns it and doesn't want their name on it. After director Arthur Hiller (who'd previously directed Love Story, The Man In The Glass Booth, and Silver Streak) used the credit for this shambles, the DGA deregistered the name, making this the last Alan Smithee film. Produced and written by Joe Eszterhas (who wrote Showgirls)- and who produced his own cut of the film which was preferred by the production company, over Hiller's (which prompted him to disown the film)- it's a bloated mess, aiming for "satire" and failing miserably. Eszterhas received three Razzies alone for this film- Worst Supporting Actor, Worst New Star, and Worst Screenplay- with Worst Picture and Worst Original Song completing the list of wins. Eric Idle (who plays filmmaker Alan Smithee who wants to disown his film... yeah...) said he was disappointed not to get a Razzie nomination for his performance.
Other films that just fell outside the Top 10 but have still got a shedload of nominations and (in some cases, wins) are:
- Freddy Got Fingered (2001) - 10 nominations, 5 wins
- Butterfly (1982) - 10 nominations, 2 wins
- I Know Who Killed Me (2007) - 9 nominations, 7 wins
- Cats (2019) - 9 nominations, 6 wins
- Rocky IV (1985) - 9 nominations, 5 wins
- Wild Wild West (1999) - 9 nominations, 5 wins
- Swept Away (2002) - 9 nominations, 5 wins
- The Last Airbender (2010) - 9 nominations, 5 wins
What an absolute shower of cinematic atrocities we have here. So much wasted potential. So much wasted money. So much wasted celluloid. But... one thing I hope that you take away from reading this litany of crapulence is this: if films this dire, this dreadful, this irredeemably shit can be made, there's hope for us all.
Tez
