The 44th Annual Golden Raspberry Awards

By Hours

No doubt you’ve heard of the Oscars, but have you heard of the Razzies? 

The Golden Raspberry Foundation has plenty of thoughts on the industry’s year of “Barb-enhemier,” and the 2023 nominations within the year’s elected award categories reflect their ongoing and festering feelings towards it. 

The Golden Raspberry Awards are an award show that celebrates and highlights the year’s awful, yet entertaining, performances on screen. They have something for everyone, featuring outlandish categories for both actors and crew members like Worst Excuse for Family Entertainment and Most Flatulent Teen-Targeted Movie. Often choosing to rid off, rotate or reinstate categories due to their timeliness, such as the Worst Actor of the Decade, audiences look forward to both the announcement of the categories themselves and the nominations within those categories. This year holds many of the traditionally celebrated categories, including Worst Picture; Worst Actor; Worst Actress; Worst Supporting Actress; Worst Supporting Actor; Worst on-Screen Couple; Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel; Worst Screenplay and Worst Director. 

Filled with a variety of nominations in unheard-of categories for actors and industry members you definitely have heard of, the 44th annual Golden Raspberry Awards are an event you don’t want to miss. For over four decades, the Razzies ceremony has taken place the night prior to the Academy Awards, taking advantage of the attention already on the industry because of  the Oscar buzz. Increasing its viewership, popularity and attendance over the years, the Razzies’ satirical stance against big Hollywood has never garnered more attention, and is reaching a cult-like status. 

Taking place March 9, the Razzies can be watched on their YouTube channel or through their website. Many film industry members dream of receiving that highly-coveted, small golden figure, yet the vision of a golden raspberry doesn’t cross their minds. The award nominations and winners of each category are decided upon by the Golden Raspberry Foundation, headed by their founder John JB Wilson. Yet, becoming a member of this prestigious organization is as simple as filling out the available online form on their website. With a history of releasing their nominations in a gaudily edited, yet alluring, YouTube video, the Razzies have maintained their kitschy appeal since 1981. There, John JB Wilson hosted the first Razzies at a cardboard podium with a broomstick as a microphone. 

While nominations for independent films and those working on independent films don’t warrant a lot of attention from the Raspberries, they feel passionately about the fact that “only the best own their bad.” On the other hand, “Blood and Honey” has received a whopping five nominations. one for Worst Picture; one for Worst on Screen Couple (in reference to Pooh and Piglet as murderous villains); Worst Screenplay; Worst Prequel, Sequel or Rip-off (presumably in the “Rip-off category”); and last but not least Worst Director. It isn’t often that the Foundation has an opportunity to comment on independently made films, but it also isn’t often that a “trail of Pooh” makes its way through production. 

Be sure to tune into the Golden Raspberry Awards this Saturday night to see if your favorite flop film of 2023 is honored! 

About :

Virginia Sipiora is an undergraduate student from San Diego, CA currently living in Boston, MA. She is working as a section editor and the media manager for The Independent Magazine, and the head style section editor for Your Magazine.