The Razzies are in the midst of an identity crisis. Are they a force for punny populism, standing up to the self-important fart-sniffers in the Hollywood establishment? Or are they ivory-tower jesters, skewering the laziest Hollywood has to offer in the name of elevating the popular discourse? Honestly, given that they failed to nominate either Twitter punching bag The Snowman or The A.V. Club’s worst movie of the year, The Last Face, for Razzie awards this year, we’re going to go with option C: “out-of-touch middlebrow joke writers.”
Instead, the Razzies decided to continue their tradition of picking on the Transformers and Fifty Shades movies—neither of which are very good, to be fair, but they’re also the easiest choices this side of an Adam Sandler movie. (We’re a bit surprised Sandy Wexler wasn’t represented, honestly, given the Razzies’ ongoing fixation on all things Sandler.) Speaking of easy choices: Boo 2! A Madea Halloween seems to have taken the Sandler slot this year, with most of the ostensible humor in the nod stemming from the fact that Tyler Perry wears a wig in the film. That being said, we can’t argue too much with the hate for The Emoji Movie, our No. 3 worst movie of last year. It was nominated for four Razzies, including “Any Two Obnoxious Emojis” for Worst Onscreen Combo, a nomination that raises more questions than it answers. (For example: Is there such a thing as a non-obnoxious emoji in this particular context? Why even have this category if you’re not going to put any effort into it?)
But the most eye-roll-inducing, fence-straddling pick would have to be Mother!’s dual nominations, which include an entirely unwarranted nod to Jennifer Lawrence for Worst Actress and a similarly baseless nomination for Darren Aronofsky for Worst Director. Whether you love it or hate it—we’re team Mother! here at The A.V. Club, for what it’s worth—you have to acknowledge that Aronofsky pulled off something extremely audacious (and, yes, competent) with that film, and Lawrence acted her heart out in it. In other words: Give it up, guys. She’s not going to show up to accept the “award.”
Worst Picture
The Emoji Movie
Transformers: The Last Knight
Fifty Shades Darker
The Mummy
Baywatch