The Golden Raspberries started off as an informal joke. Something for a publicist and his friends to do after the Oscars had ended. Over time, it has become and enduring and irreverent tradition. In theory, The Razzies poke fun at the worst movies of the year. But like any awards ceremony, the Razzies frequently make the wrong call. We’re going back and looking at the history of the Golden Raspberry Awards one year at a time.
The sixteenth annual Razzies nominated the movies of 1995. Toy Story and Batman Forever were the highest-grossing movies that year. Braveheart won Best Picture and Mel Gibson took home the Best Director statue. Nicholas Cage won Best Actor for Leaving Las Vegas and Mira Sorvino won Best Supporting Actress for playing a prostitute in Mighty Aphrodite. The Razzies were more interested in strippers than prostitutes as Showgirls dominated the awards.
Worst Original Song
- “(Feel the) Spirit of Africa” from Congo, music by Jerry Goldsmith, lyrics by Lebo M
- “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” from Batman Forever, music by U2, lyrics by Bono (also nominated for a Golden Globe)
- “Walk into the Wind” (also known as Love Theme from the Rape Scene) from Showgirls, written by David A. Stewart and Terry Hall
Winner: “Walk into the Wind”
As usual, we’ll start off by listening to the nominees for Worst Original Song. All three are from lousy movies. But as for the songs themselves, are they really bad?
I’m no expert on international music or anything, but that sounded all right to me. I’m not sure what else you would expect from the Congo soundtrack.
Next we have a big rock band contributing to the soundtrack of the second biggest movie of the year.
U2 was in a transitional period in the middle of the decade. Their last album was 1993’s Zooropa after which they took some time off to reassess the direction they wanted to take. When they returned, it was with this single from the Batman Forever soundtrack which had been one of the session recording from Zooropa. Is it their best song? No. That’s why it wasn’t included on the album and was instead released as part of a movie soundtrack two years later. But is it a bad song? Nope.
The winner came from the Showgirls soundtrack. The song was credited to the fictional character, Andrew Carver and cowritten by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics.
In the movie, Andrew Carver is a singer who brutally beats and rapes a Vegas showgirl. Thus the Razzies calling the song “Love Theme from the Rape Scene from Showgirls.”
Those guys at the Razzies are such cards!
Worst Remake Or Sequel
- Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (Warner Bros.)
- Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (Savoy Pictures)
- The Scarlet Letter (Hollywood Pictures)
- Showgirls (MGM/UA) (remake of both All About Eve and The Lonely Lady)
- Village of the Damned (Universal)
Winner: The Scarlet Letter
As usual, the Razzies are playing fast and loose with their definition of what constitutes a remake. Yes, there had been previous movies based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter. There were actually quite a few of them. The most recent was Wim Wenders’ German adaptation in 1973. The last American version of The Scarlet Letter was released in 1934. I think it’s pretty safe to say no one viewed the 1995 adaptation as a remake of any of those previous films.
Showgirls certainly borrowed a lot from All About Eve. Director Paul Verhoeven intended it as an homage. But that doesn’t make it a remake. And it certainly wasn’t a remake of the Pia Zadora movie, The Lonely Lady. Everyone who wasn’t a Razzie voter had long since forgotten about Zadora and her filmography.
Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde was less a remake than a spoof. A terrible, unfunny spoof, I will grant you. But it was hardly a remake of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel or any of the previous film adaptations. The reason it was included here has less to do with its source material than its leading lady who was a Razzie regular.
Village of the Damned was an actual, honest to goodness remake. So it definitely qualifies for this category. Well done, Razzies. The original was a British cult film from 1960 adapted from the novel The Midwich Cuckoos. Director John Carpenter’s earlier remake, The Thing, has become a sci-fi horror classic. But Village of the Damned is Carpenter in his 90’s slump. It tries to be both scary and clever, but falls short of either. It’s not terrible, it’s just not very good.
The final nominee was Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, the sequel to Jim Carrey’s star-making comedy, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Carrey had starred in movies prior to the original Ace Ventura. But that movie kicked off a streak of box office hits such that when he starred in a quickie sequel the following year, it felt like he was already too big of a star for the series. If you didn’t like Pet Detective, there was virtually no chance you would enjoy the sequel. I personally had no strong opinion either way. But some people really hated Carrey’s brand of broad comedy. Others thought he was the new king of comedy. Although even among fans, When Nature Calls was generally considered a weak follow-up.
The winner was The Scarlet Letter which was a bad movie to be sure. In an ill-advised attempt to update the source material, the producers of the new Scarlet Letter decided to try to work in political correctness and a happy ending which essentially misses the point of Hawthorne’s novel. If the award was for Worst Literary Adaptation, absolutely The Scarlet Letter would be a deserving winner. But really, the award should have been called Worst Remake, Sequel or Adaptation Starring Demi Moore, because the deciding factor was clearly the movie’s leading lady.
Before we move on to the next category, let’s take a look at some of the other sequels and remakes from 1995. The Razzies passed up Highlander III, Major Payne (a Damon Wayans comedy which was a remake of the 1955 war film The Private War of Major Benson, starring Charlton Heston), Tank Girl and Judge Dredd (comic book adaptations, but fair game by Razzie standards), Under Siege 2, Free Willy 2 and Grumpier Old Men.
Worst New Star
- Amy the Talking Gorilla in Congo
- Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls as Nomi Malone
- David Caruso in Jade and Kiss of Death as David Corelli and Jimmy Kilmartin (respectively)
- Cindy Crawford in Fair Game as Kate McQuean
- Julia Sweeney in It’s Pat: The Movie and Stuart Saves His Family as Pat Riley and Mea C. (respectively)
Winner: Elizabeth Berkley
Regular readers know that Worst New Star is a troublesome category. But this year worked out pretty well. You could ask for a better winner than Berkley. She was being set up for super stardom that was not meant to be. Instead, her career came crashing down around her. You could write an entire article on Worst New Star Winner, Elizabeth Berkley. In fact, I did.
The short version of her story is that she was a child actress on a squeaky clean kid’s show. Not surprisingly, she was looking forward to shedding her Saved by the Bell image. Showgirls seemed like the perfect opportunity to do exactly that. It was written by the highest-paid scribe in Hollywood, Joe Eszterhas and directed by Paul Verhoeven. Their last collaboration made Sharon Stone an international star and perpetual Razzie nominee. Naturally, Berkley hoped Showgirls would do for her what Basic Instinct had done for Stone.
Because of those expectations, Berkley worked for next to no money (in Hollywood terms). While she was filming her dance scenes, she worked 16 hour days in high heels and was only paid $100,000. Eszterhas, on the other hand, was paid nearly $4 million dollars for the script. While the movie was not a hit in theaters, it was a smash on video. Its sales grossed over $100 million dollars and it became a best-seller for MGM. Despite the brisk sales, when Berkley requested $2,500 to record a commentary track for an anniversary video release, she was denied.
When Showgirls bombed, it hampered the careers of all involved. But it basically crushed Berkley. She was unhirable once she had the Showgirls stigma on her. Berkley compared herself to “that woman in The Scarlet Letter“. Demi Moore? Oh no. I think she meant Hester Prynne. Berkley clarified, “Instead of having to wear the letter ‘A’ for adulteress, I was condemned to wear an ‘S’ for showgirl.” Or Supergirl. But that didn’t work out so well for Helen Slater either. Ironically, Demi Moore also auditioned for the part of Supergirl. While Showgirls was flopping, Moore was being paid beaucoup dollars to star in her own stripper movie. But we’ll talk about that one next week.
The rest of the nominees are pretty reasonable as well once you get past the gag nomination of an animatronic gorilla. But, that’s the Razzies for ya.
David Caruso was not new to movies. He made his movie debut in 1980 and appeared in An Officer and a Gentleman in 1982. Despite having appeared in several movies in the eighties and early nineties, Caruso made a bid for stardom in 1995. During the first season of NYPD Blue, Caruso finally became a movie star. It may be hard to remember this now, but he was quite the hot property at the time. After years of trying to get a foothold in the business, Caruso was eager to make the jump to the big screen. In retrospect, a little too eager.
Caruso ditched NYPD Blue after appearing in only four episodes of the second season. In 1995, he starred in two crime dramas either one of which could have made him a movie star. One was Jade, an erotic thriller written by none other than Joe Eszterhas. The other was Kiss of Death which proved to be exactly that for Caruso. After that one-two punch, Caruso’s bid for movie stardom was done. Any other year and he would have won Worst New Star.
Although you can’t discount super-model turned-would-be-actress, Cindy Crawford. Crawford was by far the most famous model of the decade. So it made sense that she would try her hand at acting. Generally speaking, it’s a good idea for models to get their feet wet before diving into Hollywood. But Crawford dove right in anyway. In 1995, she played herself in a couple of little movies and starred alongside one of the Baldwins in the action movie, Fair Game. Turns out, Crawford wasn’t cut out for acting.
Julia Sweeney was best known for playing the androgynous character Pat on Saturday Night Live. The sketch was a little thin, so naturally they decided to expand it to a full ninety minutes. It’s hard to think of a sketch that was less fit for the big screen, but back then Lorne Michaels was desperately searching for the next Wayne’s World.
Worst Screenplay
- Congo, screenplay by John Patrick Shanley, from the novel by Michael Crichton
- It’s Pat: The Movie, written by Jim Emerson & Stephen Hibbert & Julia Sweeney, based on characters created by Sweeney
- Jade, written by Joe Eszterhas
- The Scarlet Letter, screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart, freely adapted from the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Showgirls, written by Joe Eszterhas
Winner: Showgirls
It is a truism that the writer is the low man on the Hollywood totem pole. Considering that the script is the foundation for any movie, this may seem counterintuitive, but it is true. No matter how good a script may be, just about anyone can come along and tinker with it. From the director to the star to script doctors to studio guys, everyone tosses in their two cents. A lot of times, the final screenplay may not resemble the original writer’s work. Writing credits are often sorted out after the fact and have more to do with what’s written in contracts than the actual script.
In the mid-nineties, no screenwriter was more powerful than Joe Eszterhas. He was the superstar of screenwriters. Eszterhas made a name for himself in the eighties writing hits like Flashdance and Jagged Edge. But after the success of Basic Instinct, Eszterhas was in a position to write his own ticket. He ended up writing it on a napkin. Eszterhas wrote his original idea for Showgirls on a napkin. A bidding war erupted and the writer was given a $2 million dollar advance by Carolco Pictures. Eszterhas collected another $1.7 million dollars when Showgirls went into production.
Ironically, director Paul Verhoeven didn’t like Eszterhas’ expensive script, so he had it rewritten. The director looked to All About Eve for inspiration. As is often the case with Verhoeven, it’s hard to tell if the movie is intentionally funny or not. If it’s not, well then, it’s awful. But if you have seen enough of Verhoeven’s work to give him the benefit of the doubt, it’s possible that Showgirls is actually a work of comic genius. Critics have come around to reevaluate Showgirls in a positive light over the last couple of decades. Most credit Verhoeven with whatever merit the movie may have. But Eszterhas’ name was on the screenplay.
Eszterhas was also nominated for writing the thriller Jade. Ironically, that movie was also extensively rewritten by the director. In the case of Jade, William Friedkin changed the script so extensively that Eszterhas asked to have his name taken off the final film. Believing that the writer’s name had value, Paramount offered him a deal worth another “$2-4 million dollar”. Faced with a large pile of money, Eszterhas decided to let Friedkin have his way with the script.
So it turns out, Eszterhas was nominated for two scripts both of which were extensively rewritten. But the writer was likely laughing all the way to the bank.
John Patrick Shanley was another well-known writer of the day. Outside of movies, Shanley is a a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award–winning playwright. His first screenplay was for the comedy Moonstruck for which he won an Oscar. But after an impressive start, Shanley’s career as a screenwriter took a nose dive. He wrote The January Man and wrote and directed the criminally underrated Joe Vs. the Volcano. Shanley himself was less than enthusiastic about adapting Michael Crichton’s novel. Producer Kathleen Kennedy and director Frank Marshall sent Shanley the book and asked him what he thought. He said, “I like the title.” When Shanley saw the movie and realized that Kennedy and Marshall had used guys in hair suits to play the gorillas, he assumed the movie would flop. When it turned out to be a hit, Shanley decided to go back to theater which for the most part is where he has stayed.
Was Congo one of the worst screenplays of the year? No. It wasn’t good. I don’t think Shanley would say it was good. But it wasn’t one of the worst either. It was nominated because Congo was a bad movie that made a lot of money and because Shanley had a shelf with a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony and an Oscar on it.
The Scarlet Letter earned its nomination for changing the ending of a book school children are forced to read. The new ending angered high school teachers everywhere. But even with the happier ending, if the movie hadn’t starred a Razzie favorite like Demi Moore, it probably wouldn’t have been nominated over Judge Dredd, Johnny Mnemonic, Mortal Kombat or Species.
Worst Director
- Renny Harlin for Cutthroat Island
- Roland Joffé for The Scarlet Letter
- Frank Marshall for Congo
- Kevin Reynolds (with More Than a Little Un-Asked Assistance from Kevin Costner) for Waterworld
- Paul Verhoeven for Showgirls
Winner: Paul Verhoeven
As I indicated in the Worst Screenplay write-up, Showgirls has benefitted from at least twenty years of reevaluation. If you’re one of the many who views Showgirls as a subversive work of genius or at least a guilty pleasure, you probably have Verhoeven to thank for that. Does he deserve his Razzie for Worst Director? Only if you believe Showgirls is really the Worst Picture of 1995.
While Verhoeven has always defended Showgirls, he blames it for ruining his career in Hollywood. In a case of no good deed goes unpunished, Verhoeven took the job as a favor to producer Mario Kassar. Kassar had been on a spending spree and as a result Carolco Pictures was in danger of filing for bankruptcy. A lot of that money had been spent on Eszterhaus’ script for Showgirls and preproduction on Verhoeven’s unproduced movie about the crusades. Eventually, Carolco pulled the plug on The Crusades because it current afford to produce it along with the pirate movie, Cutthroat Island. Since Kassar already had a lot of money invested in Showgirls, Verhoeven decided to try to make the best of it. Instead, both Showgirls and Cutthroat Island flopped which lead Carolco to declare bankruptcy.
Speaking of Cutthroat Island, that film’s director, Renny Harlin, was also nominated. Harlin had been a hot up-and-coming director in the late eighties and early nineties. His Nightmare on Elm Street movie, The Dream Master, was the most financially successful of the entire series. The lead to him directing (and being nominated for a Razzie for) The Adventures of Ford Fairlane in 1990. Fortunately for Harlin, he also directed Die Hard 2 which was a box office success. In 1993, Harlin directed Cliffhanger which was a rare box office hit for Sylvester Stallone. All of that success lead to Harlin being allowed to direct his wife in an expensive pirate picture.
Originally, Cutthroat Island was set to star Michael Douglas and Geena Davis. But Douglas backed out after complaints that his costar’s part was being beefed up at his expense. When Douglas backed out, the studio went into a panic. Conventional wisdom stated that you can’t open an action movie with a female lead. So the hunt was on for a suitable star to anchor the movie (pun totally intended). Just about every single actor in Hollywood passed on the opportunity to be upstaged by the director’s wife. Eventually, they had to settle for Matthew Modine – a sure sign the movie was doomed.
The movie was a notorious flop. The kind that usually scores loads of Razzie nominations. If it had starred Demi Moore or Sylvester Stallone, you can bet your ass it would have been nominated in every single category. But since the Razzies didn’t have a bone to pick with Davis and didn’t know who Modine was, they let Cutthroat Island slide with a nomination for Worst Director. I think that bears repeating. The Golden Raspberries let Cutthroat Island by with one lousy nomination! I would have bet against that and I would have lost. But then, 1995 was also the year of Showgirls and Waterworld, so I guess it was kind of packed to the gills already (pun 100% intentional).
Speaking of Waterworld, it was also nominated for Worst Director. Kevin Reynolds was credited as the director but the Razzie nomination makes mention of star Kevin Costner as well. Costner and Reynolds were friends and frequent collaborators. Reynolds had directed Costner in two previous movies, Fandango and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. But as Costner’s star rose and he himself became an Oscar-winning director, he began demanding more and more control. The two Kevins had publically butted heads over Robin Hood.
Things got even more heated on Waterworld. Reportedly, Reynolds walked away from the project leaving Costner in charge. Reynolds griped to the press, “Kevin should only star in movies he directs. That way he can work with his favorite actor and director.” Surprisingly, their friendship survived… eventually. The two Kevins collaborated again on the Hatfields and McCoys TV mini-series.
Warning: This clip is unsuitable for the workplace, a classroom setting or any place where people may be offended by Joe Eszterhas’ dialogue.
Worst Screen Couple
- Any combination of two people (or two body parts!) in Showgirls
- William Baldwin and Cindy Crawford in Fair Game
- Tim Daly and Sean Young in Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde
- Dave Foley and Julia Sweeney in It’s Pat: The Movie
- Demi Moore and either Robert Duvall or Gary Oldman in The Scarlet Letter
Winner: Showgirls
William Baldwin! I knew it would come to me eventually. No surprise to see Not Alec and Cindy Crawford nominated for Worst Screen Couple. Pretty much any actor you cast opposite The Mole is going to have to do all the heavy lifting. Casting Crawford opposite a minor Baldwin is a surefire way to generate zero onscreen chemistry.
Nominating Tim Daly and Sean Young for Worst Screen Couple is an interesting decision in the sense that they share relatively little time onscreen together. The movie takes its cues from the classic Dr. Jekyll story. In a hi-larious twist, Daly turns into a hot, evil chick instead of a nasty brute. Since Daly’s character transforms into Young, they are very rarely on the screen at the same time. When they are, it is usually in the form of taped messages. Does that qualify as a screen couple? I don’t know. But the movie is truly awful, so I will allow it. As I said under the Worst Remake category, Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde would have been beneath Razzie recognition if it weren’t for Sean Young’s involvement.
Of course Showgirls is nominated. I’m a bit disappointed to see it was a gag nomination. Be specific and pick a Worst Couple! Nominating “body parts” every time a movie has nudity is a huge cop out. Obviously, the Worst Couple is going to include Berkley. But is the other half Kyle MacLachlan or Gina Gershon? I doubt MacLachlan would argue against being considered one half of the year’s worst on-screen couple. The actor recalled his reaction at the movie’s premiere:
I was absolutely gobsmacked. I said, “This is horrible. Horrible!” And it’s a very slow, sinking feeling when you’re watching the movie, and the first scene comes out, and you’re like, “Oh, that’s a really bad scene.” But you say, “Well, that’s okay, the next one’ll be better.” And you somehow try to convince yourself that it’s going to get better… and it just gets worse. And I was like, “Wow. That was crazy.” I mean, I really didn’t see that coming. So at that point, I distanced myself from the movie. Now, of course, it has a whole other life as a sort of inadvertent… satire. No, “satire” isn’t the right word. But it’s inadvertently funny. So it’s found its place. It provides entertainment, though not in the way I think it was originally intended. It was just… maybe the wrong material with the wrong director and the wrong cast.
The nomination for The Scarlet Letter is another cop-out. The category isn’t Worst Ensemble, it’s Worst Couple. Do you like Demi Moore less with Robert Duvall or Gary Oldman? My guess is that the Razzies didn’t really care who was on-screen with Moore. This was another way to nominate Moore for a Razzie. Duvall and Oldman just happened to be her costars so they got caught up in the carnage.
Here are some other movie duos who were overlooked:
- Pauly Shore and Tia Carrere for Jury Duty
- Chuck Norris and Reno the Dog in Top Dog
- Keanu Reeves and Dina Meyer in Johnny Mnemonic
- Sylvester Stallone and Diane Lane in Judge Dredd
- Kirstie Alley and Steve Guttenberg in It Takes Two
- The Olsen Twins in It Takes Two
And that’s not even including oddball pairings like Dustin Hoffman and Renee Russo in Outbreak, Billy Crystal and Debra Winger in Forget Paris or Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond in Sabrina or for that matter Sean Connery and Julia Ormond in First Knight.
Worst Supporting Actress
- Amy the Talking Gorilla in Congo
- Bo Derek in Tommy Boy as Beverly Barish
- Gina Gershon in Showgirls as Cristal Connors
- Madonna in Four Rooms as Elspeth
- Lin Tucci in Showgirls as Henrietta Bazoom
Winner: Madonna
We’ve got some old favorites back. Bo Derek was nominated for Worst Actress three times between 1981 and 1990. She won every single time she was nominated. In between her last win for Ghost Can’t Do It and her nomination for Tommy Boy, Derek appeared in the movie Woman of Desire which I haven’t seen but I’m sure it was a family film based on the title and Derek’s involvement. Woman of Desire went direct to video, so it wasn’t eligible for Razzie consideration.
With Tommy Boy, two things happened. Derek shifted into supporting roles and she became eligible for Razzie nominations. She also kept her clothes on which I suppose is worth mentioning considering her output for the last decade. Anyway, as soon as Derek shows up in a movie that is actually released in theaters, up she goes. This is the first time she has ever been nominated and NOT won. It probably goes without saying that if any other actress (other than Brooke Shields or Faye Dunaway) had played that part, they would not have been nominated.
The same goes for Madonna who won for Four Rooms. The Material Girl was nominated for Worst Actress four times between 1986 and 1993 with a total of three wins in eight years. Lead roles almost never went well for Madonna, but she had a decent track record with supporting parts. The Razzies even let her go unnominated for parts in Dick Tracy and A League of Their Own. But when she popped up in the indie comedy, Four Rooms, the Razzies decided enough was enough. It was time to nominate Madonna in the support category.
The fact that the Razzies repeated their gag nomination for Amy the Gorilla from Congo suggests to me that it was a pretty good year for Supporting Actresses. That or very few Razzie targets played supporting parts in 1995. Kind of surprised not to see Farrah Fawcett nominated for the comedy Man of the House. Faye Dunaway went unnominated for Don Juan DeMarco somehow. Maybe the Razzies were too distracted by Johnny Depp.
Gina Gershon and Lin Tucci were nominated just for being in Showgirls. If Tucci’s name doesn’t ring a bell, she played Henrietta “Mama” Bazoom. Still doesn’t ring a bell? She was the overweight woman who flashed the audience. So, yeah, the Razzies nominated the one supporting actress in the movie that wasn’t wearing a G-string. Gershon seemed like the only person in the movie who was in on the joke. She’s actually kind of awesome in Showgirls.
Worst Supporting Actor
- Tim Curry in Congo as Herkermer Homolka
- Robert Davi in Showgirls as Al Torres
- Robert Duvall in The Scarlet Letter as Roger Chillingworth
- Dennis Hopper in Waterworld as The Deacon
- Alan Rachins in Showgirls as Tony Moss
Winner: Dennis Hopper
Once again, we have a couple of nominations for Showgirls that are just there to up the movie’s nomination count. Does anyone even remember Alan Rachins’ character? He didn’t even flash anybody.
This is, believe it or not, Robert Duvall’s second nomination for Worst Supporting Actor! His first was in 1992 for Newsies. He still has more Oscar nominations than he does at the Razzies. So, that’s good.
The other two nominees are both terrific actors. Who doesn’t love Tim Curry and Dennis Hopper? But let’s face it, both of these guys are guilty of chewing scenery. That’s why I’m okay with both of these nominations. Curry was clearly cashing a paycheck in Congo as he often did. And Hopper sure did give a big performance in Waterworld. I could argue that the part kind of called for it. I suspect Hopper’s nomination had less to do with his performance than it did the movie’s toxic reputation. But at the end of the day, it was still a hammy performance.
I will say that the fact that Rob Schneider wasn’t nominated for Judge Dredd is a miscarriage of justice. You’re seriously going to nominate Robert Duvall and not Rob Schneider?!?
Worst Actress
- Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls as Nomi Malone
- Cindy Crawford in Fair Game as Kate McQuean
- Demi Moore in The Scarlet Letter as Hester Prynne
- Julia Sweeney in It’s Pat: The Movie as Pat Riley
- Sean Young in Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde as Helen Hyde
Winner: Elizabeth Berkley
Obviously, Elizabeth Berkley is going to win Worst Actress. 1995 was the year of Showgirls. Berkley couldn’t NOT win. The thing about Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls is that she is really going for it. She gives absolutely no indication that the movie is a piece of crap. She’s acting her little heart out. I mean, if nothing else, Berkley deserves an A for effort. And let’s face facts, her oblivious performance gives Showgirls its cheesy charm. Without Berkley, we wouldn’t be talking about the movie two decades later. So yeah, she gave a bad performance. But it was awesomely bad. That’s more than can be said for Cindy Crawford.
It’s Pat was a bad movie. As the star, I suppose Sweeney deserves her nomination. But I can’t help feeling like It’s Pat is taking the fall for all the lousy SNL movies that followed Wayne’s World. I can’t mount much of a defense though. It really was the worst of the bunch.
Nominating Sean Young is just kicking her while she is down. By this point, Hollywood had more or less lost Young’s number. After Dr. Jekyll, even the Razzies stopped caring. This is the end of the road for Young at the Razzies. Although she probably still showed up drunk at the after-parties.
Was Demi Moore bad in The Scarlet Letter? I don’t know. The role was rewritten to fit Moore’s public personae at the time. She was a feminist icon who would take her top off. A strong woman who was also kind of a victim but not. The Razzies just didn’t like her, so any performance by Moore was a bad performance in their eyes. No doubt the 1995 Scarlet Letter was a bad adaptation of the source material. But I don’t know that Moore was all that bad in it.
Who did the Razzies miss in 1995? Believe it or not, Sharon Stone went unnominated for The Quick and the Dead. Another Basic Instinct actor, Jeanne Tripplehorn, could have been nominated for Waterworld. Natasha Henstridge seemed like Razzie bait for Worst Actress and Worst New Star for Species. Perhaps most shockingly, the Razzies didn’t nominate any of the men in drag from To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar. I am impressed by their restraint.
Worst Actor
- Kevin Costner in Waterworld as The Mariner
- Kyle MacLachlan in Showgirls as Zack Carey
- Keanu Reeves in Johnny Mnemonic and A Walk in the Clouds as Johnny Mnemonic and Paul Sutton (respectively)
- Pauly Shore in Jury Duty as Tommy Collins
- Sylvester Stallone in Assassins and Judge Dredd as Robert Rath and Judge Joseph Dredd (respectively)
Winner: Pauly Shore
In the 90’s, it seemed like Pauly Shore just wouldn’t go away. From 1992-1996, Shore starred in one crappy comedy after another. In retrospect, the actor’s fifteen minutes was almost up. But in 1995, there was no light at the end of the tunnel. It felt like we were going to be subjected to an annual cinematic turd from The Weasel. Something needed to be done. The Razzies stepped up.
The rest of the nominations all make sense. Costner had been too successful for too long. Hollywood was ready for him to fail. Waterworld wasn’t the abject failure its reputation would suggest, but it was close enough.
MacLachlan probably knew a Razzie nomination was imminent when he left the Showgirls premiere screening.
In the right part, Keanu Reeves can be great. Think The Matrix or John Wick. Johnny Mnemonic wasn’t the right part for anyone. It’s among the worst movies on Reeves’ filmography.
And then there’s Stallone. The Razzies always nominate him anyway. But Judge Dredd is just begging for Razzie nominations, so this year it was well-deserved.
Worst Picture
- Congo (Paramount)
- It’s Pat: The Movie (Touchstone)
- The Scarlet Letter (Hollywood Pictures)
- Showgirls (MGM/UA)
- Waterworld (Universal)
Winner: Showgirls
Raise your hand if you are surprised Showgirls won Worst Picture. Anyone? Bueller? No. It’s almost anticlimactic at this point. Showgirls won a then-record-breaking seven Golden Raspberry Awards. Paul Verhoeven became the first person in the ceremony’s history to show up and collect his award in person. The director quipped, “I got seven awards for being the worst, and it was more fun than reading the reviews.”
Eventually, Showgirls record of seven wins was tied by Battlefield Earth. The record for most wins would stand until 2008. But Showgirls still holds the record for most nominations with thirteen. Of course those numbers were padded with a lot of silly nominations in the support categories.
At the end of the day, if you look at all the Worst Picture winners in Razzie history, Showgirls has endured surprisingly well. It’s become a true cult classic. While it sucks for someone like Elizabeth Berkley who expected the movie to make her a star only to watch her career go down the toilet, ultimately Showgirls is a winner.
Most of the other nominees have been forgotten. Congo wasn’t bad enough for all the Razzie attention it received. It was just forgettably mediocre. Now that Demi Moore isn’t doing controversial magazine covers, no one is all that worked up about her revisionist adaptation of The Scarlet Letter. And It’s Pat is just one of dozens of lousy Saturday Night Live movies.
We all still remember Waterworld. It has a reputation of a legendary flop. At the time, the movie made headlines for going way overbudget. When the movie’s sets sunk into the ocean, it seemed like an ill omen. The press dubbed the movie Fishtar and Kevin’s Gate in a punny play on previous box office failures. But Waterworld wasn’t quite the box office disaster people remember it as. Counting international grosses, the movie actually did turn a profit.
Movies that could have been nominated and weren’t include Cutthroat Island, Jury Duty, Species, Johnny Mnemonic, Mortal Kombat, Jade and Judge Dredd.
Nostalgia Critic: Congo (1995)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxixmxK6480
I just don’t understand how CUTTHROAT ISLAND escaped a Worst Picture nomination. It boggles the mind.
It boggles the mind, does it not?
Cutthroat Island is the sort of movie that you’d expect would get a lot of Razzie attention–it was a pretty blatant attempt by a director to promote the career of his actress-wife, it was a famously troubled production that went quite a bit over budget, it was a big box office flop. But, it really isn’t that bad a movie. As Roger Ebert (I think) said, it pretty much gives you everything you’d reasonably expect from a pirate movie.
Yep, that is a good paraphrasing of Ebert’s review. If the Razzies hadn’t been so focused on Showgirls, you can bet Cutthorat Island would have gotten more attention. But with a couple other big budget, high profile flops, it somehow managed to slip by mostly unnoticed. It probably helped matters that the movie is watchable.
Yeah aside from Pat and to a certain extent Scarlet Letter, none of the 1995 Worst Picture nominees were truly awful. Most were aggressively mediocre. Same with Cuthtroat Island. It’s far from good. But it’s not painful to watch. Now aggressively mediocre is different from aggressively awful in that the latter are often more memorable. Some of the latter can even be fun in that they’re so bad they’re funny. Most of the aggressively mediocre ones are just boring and fade form the memory faster than what I had for lunch two days ago. The thing about It’s Pat: The… Read more »
I’ve never seen It’s Pat, and going by your comments I now know I never will. My curiousity has been sated. Amazingly Wikipedia says that It’s Pat only took in a barely-existent $60,822 at the box office in ’95. No matter how many more SNL movies we get down the road I can’t imagine an SNL movie ever earning less than that. Hell, MacGruber was a huge bomb a few years ago and even that earned a couple million at the box office!
I was working in a theater at the time. We had a poster for It’s Pat which I kept having to take down because they kept kicking the release date further and further down the road. I don’t remember if we ever actually got a print. If we did, it didn’t last for more than a single weekend. At it’s widest release, it played in 33 theaters.
Awesome overview lebeau, very funny and hard to disagree with any of it! I especially loved your description of Pauley Shore’s career. Mercifully many of his efforts went straight to video this side of the Atlantic! Maybe it is my abiding love for Saved By the Bell but I do feel kind of sorry for Elizabeth Berkley. Still as you say it could hardly have been anyone else or any other film. Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde is one of the strangest films I’ve ever seen. Not even so much for the gender swap – Hollywood has done that before… Read more »
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. When I saw that 1995 included Showgirls and Waterworld I was pretty excited. It was such a good year that even the bad movies are memorable. The Razzies had so many movies to choose from that they couldn’t even give Cutthroat Island a proper roasting. I haven’t seen Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde since it was in theaters. Yes, I actually saw it in a theater. That’s how much I loved Sean Young. I don’t really remember much except that it was bad and as you said just plain weird. Young just tears it up… Read more »
Really have to thank you for the NSFW warnings. As it was I had to scroll through the pictures rather hurriedly as well. Always fun to read about the exploits of the Razzie voters.
Lol. I thought about you when I included those warnings. But if you see a clip from Showgirls, it’s probably not suitable for work. That or it’s been heavily edited.
I think it’s too bad that Showgirls received so much criticism when it was released and until it evolved into a cult classic. Is it a good movie? Of course not. Is it terrible? I don’t think so either. Even when I saw it at age 19 I knew not to expect too much from it. I can think of other movies that I was much more disappointed with or thought were terrible. I have a lot of sympathy for Elizabeth Berkley who seemed to be blamed for the movie bombing. It’s not as if she was the only actor… Read more »
A video of Paul Verhoeven accepting his Worst Director trophy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO7_6lAtoo8
Thanks for posting that Leo, that was a treat to watch! Verhoeven looks like he’s having a great time and is in on the joke at the Razzie reception. Showgirls is one of those so-bad-it’s-good type of movies, and its mindboggling that a major movie studio would spend so much money to make this kind of film. I read an article not too long ago stating that Showgirls was the best-selling DVD in MGM/UA’s history, and that even includes the Bond films, amazingly.
It is one of the best-selling. I’m not sure about THE best selling, but I know it has grossed more than $100 million in home video sales. You’d think they could spare two grand for a commentary track by Berkley given that the video sales have been raking in the dough for twenty years.
That’s exactly what I thought Lebeau, considering MGM/UA made a mint on Showgirls and a new DVD set would bring in more, why be so stingy? That one bothers me more than a bit to be honest. Poor Berkley….
In the same package, they included a naked picture of Berkley with pasties that you could apply.
Given the degree to which Berkley was exploited, the obvious negative impact the movie had on her career, the fact that she was paid peanuts to begin with and the amount of money MGM made off of video sales, just give her $2K. Don’t even make her work for it. Just give it to her.
You would never make it far in the movie business, Lebeau. You seem to have a heart. ha ha. But yeah I share the exact same thought process. She was paid peanuts originally for her role and over time it has made everybody else rich, so why not throw Berkley a few crumbs for something that will add a touch more value to another DVD variation anyway? If I were in charge I’d get out my stamper that says APPROVED.
You know, I know it’s a cutthroat business. But I really do believe that if you do the right thing, you will be rewarded. If you’re a scumbag, people are going to treat you like a scumbag. But if you show that you are loyal and you take care of people who work for you, yeah, you’re still gonna have some jerks try to screw you over. But sometimes you will get back loyalty when it matters. I’m specifically thinking of former Disney studio head Dick Cook. Cook had a reputation for being a good guy who inspired loyalty. In… Read more »
I know very little about Dick Cook. I’m just curious, does the book Disney War explain a lot of what you mention? I have not bought the book yet as I’ve been reading several other books over the past few months, but I have not forgotten it and still have it on my list of must read books. I do remember you giving a glowing review at one point last year, which is why I’m still intrigued to read it.
No, Dick Cook was appointed by Eisner in 2002. Disney War was written in 2005, so he wouldn’t have much of a presence in the book. The book ends before Eisner was forced out. Iger is made to look like an Eisner toadie and his likely heir, but the book doesn’t cover Iger’s tenure as CEO at all.
If you are interested, here is a story from 2009 when Iger fired Dick Cook. And three years later, this is the story that ran when Iger followed Cook’s replacement, Rich Ross.
Happy reading.
David Caruso made a terrible career decision by leaving NYPD Blue so quickly to become a movie star. He ditched the hit series after only one season for his movie star dreams! I gotta say this, his actions signal that he sure as hell believed he was about to become the next major movie star. When Jade and Kiss of Death underperformed, Caruso had egg on his face. It’s completely understandable then that Caruso got a Razzie nom for Worst New Star. Having said that, I thought Kiss of Death was a pretty good movie. I haven’t seen it in… Read more »
Biggest quitting a TV show boneheaded move. http://officialfan.proboards.com/thread/537502/biggest-quitting-show-boneheaded-move?page=3 Post by codename: knapp on Jan 25, 2016 at 12:36pm I think a few have touched on this already — a real boneheaded move is when someone leaves a show and then……..never has another big role again. Caruso is the legendary example, for having left NYPD Blue so early on, but the big success of CSI Miami several years later I think wipes that older move out completely. Sherry Stringfield’s a much better example – left ER, breaking her contract to do so (which led to her being prohibited from doing anything… Read more »
The real reason we don’t hear from David Caruso anymore http://www.looper.com/60766/real-reason-dont-hear-david-caruso-anymore/ His post-NYPD Blue movie career was not much to write home about After just one season (1993-94) on the critically acclaimed police drama NYPD Blue—for which he earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series—Caruso shocked the TV world by quitting the show to pursue a film career. In 1995, he starred in his first two movies, Kiss of Death and Jade; the latter was a massive box office bomb, raking in around $14 million, and Jade fared worse, grossing a mere $9 million. Caruso’s… Read more »
Yeah, pretty much.
I didn’t even watch NYPD Blue, but I recall how betrayed everyone felt by Caruso jumping ship so quickly. The thing a lot of people didn’t realize was that Caruso had been in the business for a long time before NYPD Blue made him a star. To all of us, he seemed impatient and ungrateful. But from his point of view, I’m sure this level of success seemed long overdue. It makes a certain kind of sense to strike while the iron is hot. Obviously, that didn’t work out for Caruso though. If you are a TV star, there is… Read more »
I viewed “Kiss of Death” on HBO about a decade ago, and I liked it. I think the fact that David Caruso offended people by ditching “NYPD Blue” clouded critics and audience perception of the film (now “Jade” is kind of a floater though) . I thought Caruso did a good job in it, and that goes for Samuel L. Jackson and Stanley Tucci (I especially liked his delivery of the “What is he, a matador?” line) as well. Nic Cage’s villain? Meh, I thought he was only okay.
Steven Bochco on David Caruso’s Insane Demands and “Cancerous Behavior” in New Memoir http://tvline.com/2016/08/18/david-caruso-nypd-blue-exit-controversy-steven-bochco-memoir/ “NYPD Blue” Bombshell: David Caruso’s “Cancerous” Behavior, Insane Demands Recounted in New Memoir by Michael Ausiello August 18, 2016 Hey, Steven Bochco, tell us how you really feel about David Caruso! In the überproducer’s new memoir, Truth Is a Total Defense, the “NYPD Blue” co-creator chronicles the events that led up to the controversial departure of Caruso in Season 2. And it ain’t pretty. By the end of the cop drama’s breakout first season, “David Caruso had become impossible,” Bocho writes in the book. “Caruso’s behavior… Read more »
Funny, I was just thinking about this guy’s career last night: I’m not surprised that David Caruso made all those outrageous demands and and did everything but steal scripts to give out of “NYPD Blue”. He toiled on the periphery of Hollywood for years (heck, he was in 1982’s “First Blood” and bombs like 1986’s “Blue City”), and he thought he saw an opening to reach the big time. It didn’t work out, and I can’t agree with the method of causing a caustic environment, but I understand his intention. He won’t get fooled again (nor will I, thinking a… Read more »
I feel sorry for Elizabeth Berkley, she didn’t deserve the level of vitriol she received from Showgirls. I feel even worse for Amy the Talking Gorilla from Congo, The Razzies ruthlessly cut her down to the point where the animatronic gorilla never worked in Hollywood again, and had to settle for part-time work at Chuck E. Cheese to make ends meet. You guys are jerks, Razzie voters!
You know, I’m surprised this hasn’t come up before. One of the criticisms of the Razzies is that anyone can become a Razzie voter for a nominal fee.
And to think, I let people vote for free!
Seriously, I never knew that a complete worthless nobody like me could join the Razzies for just the price of 40 cups of coffee! I like how they sell me on the prospect of becoming an “esteemed” member of the Razzies, like yeah sure, that will surely impress the social elite! I had no idea I could rise up the social ladder so quickly…
Just one of the many benefits of being a reader here at Le Blog. We let you in on the secret handshake and everything.
When the last Razzies were announced on Reddit a few people talked about it as if it were on the same level as the Oscars. Breaking the news was entertaining.
I can imagine. Reddit is an interesting place to visit. Like a war zone.
Free Netflix for a year, free this-and-that movie channel for 3 months – I’m starting to fill in some missing pop culture gaps. Enjoying “How I met your mother.” Showgirls is a horrible movie. Really awful. I can say that now- having endured it. If there’s something worse than a Razzie, then it should have gotten that as well. What does it have? First I’ll tell you what it doesn’t have. Acting or writing. Plot and dialogue are just painfully bad. Berkley and the other dancers danced their asses off, yes. There is also not one sympathetic redeemable or otherwise… Read more »
Complaining about the writing and acting in Showgirls is kind of missing the point though. No one will argue that Showgirls is a good movie. It was never intended to be a good movie. The reason to watch Showgirls is specifically because it is a “so bad it’s good” crapfest. That’s why it endures.
Infamous Sphere: It’s Pat (1995)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjCRm-3vUGg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO5laW1TwTQ Just because these models are the best on the catwalk and in photo shoots, doesn’t mean that they are just as great at acting on the silver screen or the TV screen. Models such as Cara Delevingne, Kathy Ireland, and Claudia Schiffer have all tried their hand at acting, and have all bombed equally. Playboy model Carmen Elektra has become a parody of herself, after appearing in parody movies such as ‘Scary Movie’ and ‘Meet The Spartans’, while Cindy Crawford delivered an absolute stinker of a movie in ‘Fair Game’. Tyra Banks had a successful TV career as the… Read more »