Awards Season 2018: Razzies Winners

It's Oscars weekend, so that means high fashion, overindulgent speeches... and the puncturing of the self-important awards stuff with the announcement of the worst films of the year. So, the 'winners' of the 38th Annual Golden Raspberry Awards were announced today (in their now-traditional Oscars Eve ceremony).

Here's the full 'winners' list:


Worst Picture: The Emoji Movie

Worst Director: Anthony Leonidis (The Emoji Movie)

Worst Actor: Tom Cruise (The Mummy)

Worst Actress: Tyler Perry (Boo! 2: A Madea Halloween)

Worst Supporting Actor: Mel Gibson (Daddy’s Home 2)

Worst Supporting Actress: Kim Basinger (Fifty Shades Darker)

Worst Remake, Sequel Or Rip-Off: Fifty Shades Darker

Worst Screen Combo: Any Two Obnoxious Emojis (The Emoji Movie)

Worst Screenplay: The Emoji Movie

The big 'winner' of the night was The Emoji Movie which 'won' all four categories it was nominated in. Despite multiple nominations, Transformers: The Dark Knight dodged several bullets. Baywatch got a special award- the Rotten Tomatoes Award: Razzie Nominee So Bad You Loved It! There wasn't a Razzie Redeemer award this year - apparently nobody was worth redeeming. 

Later today (3rd March), the Film Independent Spirit Awards will be handed out, so there'll be a post about that probably tomorrow morning (4th March). 

We're almost there, people. Almost there!

Awards Season 2018: Razzies Nominations

For every yin, there must be a yang. For every Best Of... list, there must be a Worst Of... in order to maintain balance. So, thankfully, we have the Golden Raspberry Awards to act as a pin to prick the self-important hoopla of awards season. 

Ever since 1981, the Razzies dishonour the very worst of film in the preceding 12 months. As is traditional, the nominations are announced the day before the Oscar nominations (and the awards handed out the day before the Oscars). 

The nominees for the 38th Annual Razzie Awards are below:

WORST PICTURE

Baywatch

The Emoji Movie

Fifty Shades Darker

The Mummy

Transformers: The Last Knight

WORST ACTRESS

Katherine Heigl (Unforgettable)

Dakota Johnson (Fifty Shades Darker)

Jennifer Lawrence (Mother!)

Tyler Perry (Boo! 2: A Madea Halloween)

Emma Watson (The Circle)

WORST ACTOR

Tom Cruise (The Mummy)

Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales)

Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades Darker)

Zac Efron (Baywatch)

Mark Wahlberg (Daddy’s Home 2 and Transformers: The Last Knight)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Javier Bardem (Mother! and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales)

Russell Crowe (The Mummy)

Josh Duhamel (Transformers: The Last Knight)

Mel Gibson (Daddy’s Home 2)

Anthony Hopkins (Collide and Transformers: The Last Knight)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Kim Basinger (Fifty Shades Darker)

Sofia Boutella (The Mummy)

Laura Haddock (Transformers: The Last Knight)

Goldie Hawn (Snatched)

Susan Sarandon (A Bad Moms Christmas)

WORST SCREEN COMBO

Any Combination of Two Characters, Two Sex Toys or Two Sexual Positions (Fifty Shades Darker)

Any Combination of Two Humans, Two Robots or Two Explosions (Transformers: The Last Knight)

Any Two Obnoxious Emojis (The Emoji Movie)

Johnny Depp & His Worn Out Drunk Routine (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales)

Tyler Perry & Either The Ratty Old Dress or Worn Out Wig (Boo! 2: A Madea Halloween)

WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF, OR SEQUEL

Baywatch

Boo! 2: A Madea Halloween

Fifty Shades Darker

The Mummy

Transformers: The Last Knight

WORST DIRECTOR

Darren Aronofsky (Mother!)

Michael Bay (Transformers: The Last Knight)

James Foley (Fifty Shades Darker)

Alex Kurtzman (The Mummy)

Anthony Leonidis (The Emoji Movie)

WORST SCREENPLAY

Baywatch

The Emoji Movie

Fifty Shades Darker

The Mummy

Transformers: The Last Knight

So it's nine nominations for Transformers: The Last Knight, with Fifty Shades Darker coming second with eight. I'm strangely glad not to see Justice League get a nod. The Razzies voters continue their ongoing contempt for Tyler Perry, Johnny Depp and anything Michael Bay touches. Good to see some things never change. 

So that just leaves tomorrow's announcement of the nominees for the 90th Academy Awards. I'll post my predictions for the main six categories a little later today. 

Awards Season 2017: Independent Spirit Awards and Razzies Winners

 This is the first of two posts today about awards season, as it all comes to the grand finale tonight with the 89th Annual Academy Awards. They can be viewed on a dedicated Sky Movies channel in the UK and on ABC in the US.

I'll post my predictions for who will win at the Oscars tonight in a little bit, but first there's the small matter of a couple of other awards to deal with first.

INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS

Yesterday- Saturday 25th February- saw the handing out of the Independent Spirit Awards, in a ceremony hosted by Nick Kroll (Loving, Sing, Vacation) and John Mulaney (Mayne Street, Saturday Night Live). These honour films made (partly or wholly) outside the major film studio system. Some of the winners are below.

Best Feature: Moonlight

Best Female Lead: Isabelle Huppert (Elle)

Best Male Lead: Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)

Best Supporting Female: Molly Shannon (Other People)

Best Supporting Male: Ben Foster (Hell Or High Water)

Best Director: Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Best Screenplay: Moonlight

Best First Screenplay: The Witch

Best Cinematography: Moonlight

Best First Feature: The Witch

Best International Film: Toni Erdmann

Best Documentary: O.J.: Made In America

John Cassavetes Award: Spa Night

The John Cassavetes Award is given to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $500,000. The full list of winners can be found here.

Moonlight was the big winner of the evening, with six awards (including the prestigious Robert Altman Award) Can it pull off what many would see as an upset by taking home the main prize at tonight's Oscars? That could indeed be a possibility. Casey Affleck adds another trophy to his haul (and almost certainly will add another one tonight), whilst wins for Toni Erdmann and O.J.: Made In America won't do their chances of Oscar glory any harm either. 

RAZZIES

The 37th Annual Golden Raspberry Awards were also handed out yesterday (in their now-traditional Oscars Eve ceremony).

Here's the full 'winners' list:

Worst Picture: Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party 

Worst Director: Dinesh D'Souza & Bruce Schooley (Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party) 

Worst Actor: Dinesh D'Souza [as Himself] (Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party) 

Worst Actress: Becky Turner [as Hillary Clinton]  (Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party) 

Worst Supporting Actor: Jesse Eisenberg (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) 

Worst Supporting Actress: Kristen Wiig (Zoolander No. 2) 

Worst Remake, Sequel Or Rip-Off: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Worst Screen Combo: Ben Affleck & Henry Cavill (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice)

Worst Screenplay: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Razzie Redeemer: Mel Gibson

Whilst I'm not surprised by the kicking that Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice got, at least it can count itself lucky in some respects. Hillary's America 'won' all bar one of its nominations and the co-director/writer/lead actor Dinesh D'Souza has responded to the wins (much in the same way he did to the nominations). This is the first time in the history of the Razzies that a documentary has won Best Picture.

The Razzie Redeemer wasn't voted on by the users of Rotten Tomatoes this year (they instead voted for Worst Screen Combo) but Gibson's work on Hacksaw Ridge does warrant praise. 

This just leaves the Oscars tonight. As promised, my predictions for the big winners will be coming soon.


Tez

Review: Hacksaw Ridge (UK Cert 15)

After a decade since his last stint as director (for the bloody Mayan action-adventure Apocalypto), Mel Gibson makes a triumphant return to the Hollywood fold with Hacksaw Ridge, a mature and unflinching war drama which tells the extraordinary true story of Desmond T. Doss. Doss served as an Army Medic during the Second World War but, due to his religious beliefs (he was a staunch Seventh-Day Adventist), he never carried a rifle and never killed anyone. Instead, he saved over 75 wounded soldiers from Hacksaw Ridge (part of the Battle of Okinawa) and became the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor. 

I'll be honest with you. I didn't expect to like, enjoy and respect this film as much as I did. Whatever you may think of Mel Gibson's past indiscretions (for want of a better word), this is a remarkable film.

It's led from the front by a charismatic and powerful performance by Andrew Garfield as Doss. Garfield has the acting chops and personality to carry a film (see The Amazing Spider-Man films if you want proof of that) but here he's simply superb, embodying Doss' unwavering belief without it ever becoming polemical or one-note. Doss had a real struggle with the Army to be allowed to serve without carrying firearms, which the film shows, and you feel for him every step of the way. Garfield has real chemistry with Teresa Palmer (who plays Doss' girlfriend and later wife Dorothy) which adds an extra dimension to the character. Garfield has been winning award nominations left, right and centre and it's truly deserved. 

Hugo Weaving puts in a great supporting turn as Doss' war-scarred hard-drinking father Tom, who survived the First World War whilst his friends didn't, and returns to town with survivor's guilt and a burning dislike of the military. His disappointment when both sons enlist is palpable but he eventually supports Desmond's decision. Rachel Griffiths has less to do as Doss' mother Bertha but is instrumental in instilling faith into him and is more supportive of his decision. Palmer's performance as Dorothy is quite lovely too; she's not just there as window-dressing, she's a strong and independent woman and a character in her own right.

When Doss gets into the Army, a whole raft of new characters come in but it's to the film's credit that- even if some of them are only broadly sketched out- all the men in the platoon have discernible characters. Vince Vaughn is particularly good as platoon Sergeant Howell, and he gets some good laughs as well as some dramatic moments. Of the platoon men, it's Luke Bracey who gets the most character development as Smitty Ryker, who doesn't believe in Doss' outlook, calling him a coward, yet eventually respecting the man for it. 

Gibson's films have never shied away from showing harrowing and gory violence and Hacksaw Ridge is no different. Once the film shifts to the theatre of war, it's all out as bombs, bullets, blood and body parts start flying around. It never feels gratuitous, never feels exploitative but absolutely in keeping. War is hell and it would be a massive disservice not to show it as such. At times, it's not an easy watch but it's undeniably powerful.

At a running time of 2hrs 20m, it's a long film but the story justifies it. You need to see Doss' early life and his courtship with Dorothy and the travails he went through to be allowed to serve in the Army before seeing him in the hell on Earth that was Hacksaw Ridge. There doesn't feel a part that's indulgent or padding.

The film ends with archive footage of the real Doss, talking about his time in the war and his dedication to helping save lives rather than taking them is truly moving and inspirational. The man was a bona fide hero, even more so for never carrying a gun, and the film is a very fitting tribute to him.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez