The Razzies could be a great awards show for the everyman. They could spoof the self congratulatory place that is Hollywood. Bloated films like “The Tree of Life” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” would get their comeuppance.
Instead, the Razzies prefer to act as a confirmation of the wisdom of its Hollywood counterpart, the Oscars. They proved this year that they prefer to nominate people like Gov. Sarah Palin in an effort to suck up to their liberal friends and attack production houses like Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison rather than going after the crap Hollywood attempts to force on the public as “high art.”
The Razzie Awards, which revealed its winners last night, are run by John Wilson and are meant to award the very worst in show business, but that seems to be their last goal lately. This year, Palin nabbed a nomination for Worst Actress for the film “The Undefeated” (she didn’t win). This is clearly nothing more than a political jab meant to alienate those stupid Glenn Beck-loving, Ayn Rand- reading conservatives. Why? Because Palin contributed nothing to the actual film. It was an independent effort completed by director Stephen K. Bannon, and Palin’s narration was from the audio tape of her great memoir, “Going Rogue.”
Yes, I’m sure Wilson and Roger Ebert can now snicker at the elite liberal statement they made with such a move. Palin is nothing but a conservative actress playing to the wants of the extreme right. How very original. Maybe the awards should be aired on HBO next year.
The Razzies also prided themselves this year on giving Adam Sandler a record amount of nominations for his involvement in films like “Jack and Jill,” “Just Go With It” and “Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star.” All were done under Happy Madison Productions, and “Jack and Jill” ended up winning the lion’s share of the “trophies.” Why go after Sandler? Because his films appeal to the everyman. They’re watched by those strange people in flyover country who have probably never heard of Terence Malick or Sacha Baren Cohen.
Obviously, Happy Madison is not above critical bashing, but it seems their films are treated with the same scrutiny from liberal critics as movies such as “The King’s Speech.” It’s like judging softball in the same way you judge baseball. Sandler’s films have one goal, and that is to make people feel good. Quite frankly, they mostly do the job.
Not to become one of those out-of-touch conservatives, but let’s put a different spin on this: “The Tree of Life” had national reports that people were walking out of theaters and demanding their money back, and it only managed to bring in $13.3 million. Not much for what was supposed to be such an artful and life-changing film. Then there are films like “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” Yes, the trilogy of books were written by a communist hero, and the plots suggest a very long and boring journey to a conclusion no one will care about. What a perfect opportunity for liberal “artists” to take advantage and pretend they are more intelligent than the fool who entertains himself with “Happy Gilmore.”
Despite “Girl” having a HUGE marketing push, it barely managed to cross the $100 million mark. That’s probably what they spent on advertising the film. The people wanted none of it.
Happy Madison, meanwhile, brought in $103 million (“Just Go With It”), $74 million (“Jack and Jill”), and $2.5 million (“Bucky Larson”) in 2011. Money is obviously not the sign of whether a film is good or not, but when films are as highly advertised as all of these, it usually means something.
The Razzies could be brave and poke fun at the pretentious nature of every new George Clooney or Brad Pitt film that sweeps the Oscars for no other reason than that they star great leading humanitarian men in movies that claim to be art in their trailers. Instead, they play it safe and just nominate all the “crap” that is popular to attack yet which people accept into their lives.
They pander to their Hollywood friends and nominate the Sandlers, the Stallones and all those other idiots who make movies people actually want to see. They even throw in a Palin here and there for good measure. It’s embarrassing, but at least it’s fun to watch them become more and more irrelevant – just like the Oscars.