A year after his Academy Awards dream went up in smoke, Eddie Murphy has not just one consolation prize, but three: Razzie Awards as worst actor, supporting actor and supporting actress for the comedy Norbit.
The fourth acting ”dis-honour” announced at Saturday’s Golden Raspberry Awards — which honour the worst from Hollywood — went to Lindsay Lohan, who actually was voted two worst-actress trophies for the thriller I Know Who Killed Me, the worst-picture winner in which she played dual roles.
I Know Who Killed Me set a new Razzies record with eight awards, including worst screen couple for Lohan in her double role.
Topping the previous record of seven Razzies for both Showgirls and Battlefield Earth, I Know Who Killed Me also won for worst director (Chris Sivertson), screenplay (Jeff Hammond), horror movie, and remake or rip-off (Razzies organizers viewed it as a cross between torture flicks such as Saw and a twisted update of the 1960s TV comedy The Patty Duke Show).
With his latest exercise in multiple roles, Murphy was the first person ever to win three acting Razzies in one year. He won as worst actor for the geeky title role in Norbit, supporting actress as his tubby, shrewish wife, and supporting actor as a stereotyped Asian man.
Some awards watchers say Norbit cost Murphy an Oscar, landing in theatres shortly before last year’s ceremony and potentially displeasing enough academy voters that the balloting went against him for Dreamgirls, for which he had been the supporting-actor favourite. Murphy lost at the Oscars to Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine.
”Part of why the Razzies exist is to make fun of the academy, which takes itself too seriously,” said Razzies founder John Wilson. ”If you had tried to make something certain to offend the average 90-year-old academy voter, I don’t think you could have done a better job than the foul-mouthed, physically ugly, emotionally ugly movie he unleashed on the world.”
The Razzies ceremony at a magic shop in Santa Monica came a day before Sunday’s Oscars, where Norbit ironically is up for the prize for best make-up against La Vie En Rose and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
Between them, Norbit and I Know Who Killed Me won all but one of the Razzies.
”We’ve never had two films so totally dominate, at least not since the heyday of Sylvester Stallone,” Wilson said.
The remaining prize still had a Murphy connection as worst prequel or sequel went to Cuba Gooding Jnr’s Daddy Day Camp, a follow-up to Murphy’s Daddy Day Care.
Lohan was nominated twice as worst actress, and the Razzie vote wound up in a tie between her separate roles as a small-town girl abducted by a psychopath and an alter-ego, a stripper who’s missing body parts.
”It’s appropriate that it’s a tie, because at the end of the movie, you don’t know if it was one person or two people, or are they twins, or are we as mentally ill as the screenwriter and director?” Wilson said.
Looking ahead to next year’s Razzies, Wilson said he already sees some favourites, including Paris Hilton’s recent bomb The Hottie and the Nottie.
Stallone, the all-time Razzies champ with 30 nominations and 10 wins, dodged being cited at last year’s ceremony after Rocky Balboa turned out far better than people expected. The same is not likely to hold true for Stallone’s latest critically drubbed sequel, Wilson said.
”Without even having to think,” he said, ”I expect Sylvester Stallone to be back with Rambo.” — Sapa-AP
On the net
www.razzies.com