The annual Razzie Awards nominations were just announced, with the biopic “Blonde” leading the pack with the most nods.
The Golden Raspberry Awards, usually referred to as the “Razzies,” celebrate the worst of what Hollywood had to offer in the last year.
In 2022, Andrew Dominik’s controversial drama “Blonde” starring Ana de Armas was the best of the worst. The biography about Marilyn Monroe’s life topped the nominations with eight nods, including Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay. Notably, de Armas was not called out for Worst Actress.
Tom Hanks in a live-action version of “Pinocchio” was also identified as being one of the worst. The Oscar-winning star received Razzie nominations for Worst Actor in “Pinocchio,” Worst Supporting Actor in “Elvis,” and was further accused of having a “ludicrous” accent in “Elvis.”
Performing artist Colson Baker, better known by his stage name Machine Gun Kelly, received four Razzie nominations for his work in the film “Good Mourning.” Former “SNL” cast member and comedian Pete Davidson received two nominations, including one for his voice work in “Marmaduke” and another for “Good Mourning.”
Other nominees include Diane Keaton (“Mack & Rita”), Penelope Cruz (“The 355”), and Sylvester Stallone (“Samaritan”).
The Golden Raspberries show will announce the winners in each category on March 11, the day before the Academy Awards ceremony, as it does every year. Nominees and winners are voted on by roughly 1,000 people, including a mix of moviegoers and film industry professionals.
“Blonde” was reviled by critics from the get-go partly because of how the film dealt with topics such as abortion and female empowerment. Dominik shared his thoughts on why his biopic wasn’t embraced by the Hollywood community.
“Now we’re living in a time where it’s important to present women as empowered, and they want to reinvent Marilyn Monroe as an empowered woman. That’s what they want to see,” he said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “And if you’re not showing them that, it upsets them.”
“Which is kind of strange, because she’s dead,” he continued. “The movie doesn’t make any difference in one way or another.”
The director argued that the miscarriage and abortion scenes, which were criticized for humanizing the unborn child, were only being scrutinized because of the political climate following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“I think the movie is pretty nuanced actually, and I think it’s very complex, but that doesn’t fit — people are obviously concerned with losses of freedoms, obviously they are,” Dominik said following the film’s release.
“They’ve got a certain agenda where they feel like the freedoms of women are being compromised, and they look at ‘Blonde’ and they see a demon, but it’s not really about that,” he went on. “I think it’s very difficult for people to step outside of the stories they carry inside themselves and see things of their own volition.”