‘The Interview,’ ‘Sex Tape’ Lead Razzies’ Worst Film Shortlist
Award season is once again upon us, a time when we celebrate all the best films of 2014… and all the movies we never want to see again. The annual Golden Raspberry Awards have announced their shortlist of contenders, with Seth McFarlane’s western-comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West leading the charge with eight potential nominations on the Razzies shortlist. The Cameron Diaz comedy Sex Tape also pops up in five shortlisted categories ranging from Worst Picture to Worst Screenplay to Worst Screen Combo for Diaz and Jason Segel.
The Interview was shortlisted in four Razzie categories including Worst Picture and Worst Actor for Seth Rogen and James Franco. The Razzies really didn’t like Franco’s performance in The Interview, listing him primarily in the Worst Screen Combo category alongside either Rogen or actor Randall Park, who played Kim Jong-un in the comedy.
Other movies competing for an esteemed Worst Picture nomination are the Kirk Cameron epic Saving Christmas, the Johnny Depp techno-thriller Transcendence, the unnecessary Mary Shelley remake I, Frankenstein, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot, horror spoof A Haunted House 2, Nicolas Cage’s apocalypse drama Left Behind, plus Atlas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt? – which scored a remarkable 0% on Rotten Tomatoes – and The Legend of Hercules.
While organizers behind most awards shows don’t tip their hand toward favorites when announcing nominees, Razzie producers took special aim at Transformers: Age of Extinction. They call the film Transformers: Age of Ex-Stink-Tion in the Worst Picture category – the only one of the shortlisted nominees to have their movie title lampooned – and all other references to the series’ fourth installment are simply Trannies #4. The Michael Bay blockbuster also topped Rolling Stone movie critic Peter Travers’ list of the Worst Films of 2014.
The Razzies note that they’ve given Adam Sandler a slight reprieve in 2014: While his film Blended isn’t up for Worst Picture, the actor’s latest comedy still scored three potential nods, including Worst Actor. Sandler has “earned” five Razzies in the past few years.
Fans, or haters, can vote now over at the Razzies site for which films make it from the shortlist to the final nominations. Voting ends January 10th; the nominees will be revealed January 14th, a day before the Academy Awards organizers reveal their Oscar hopefuls.