The Golden Raspberry Awards is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic “failures.” Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, the Razzie Awards' satirical annual ceremony has preceded its opposite, the Academy Awards, for four decades. The term raspberry is used in its irreverent sense, as in "blowing a raspberry". The statuette itself is a golf ball-sized raspberry atop a Super 8mm film reel spray-painted gold, with an estimated street value of $4.97. The Golden Raspberry Foundation has claimed that the award "encourages well-known filmmakers and top-notch performers to own their bad."
Pia Zadora is an American actress and singer. After working as a child actress on Broadway, in regional theater, and in the film Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964), she came to national attention in 1981 when, following her starring role in the highly criticized Butterfly, she won a Golden Globe Award as New Star of the Year while simultaneously winning the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress and the Worst New Star for the same performance.
Cocktail is a 1988 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Roger Donaldson from a screenplay by Heywood Gould, and based on Gould's book of the same name. It stars Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown and Elisabeth Shue. It tells the story of a young New York City business student, who takes up bartending in order to make ends meet.
Shanghai Surprise is a 1986 adventure comedy film directed by Jim Goddard and starring then-newlyweds Sean Penn and Madonna. The screenplay was adapted by John Kohn and Robert Bentley from Tony Kenrick's 1978 novel Faraday's Flowers.
Two of a Kind is a 1983 American romantic fantasy crime comedy-drama film directed by John Herzfeld and starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The film reunited Travolta and Newton-John who had appeared together in 1978's Grease. The original musical score was composed by Patrick Williams. Travolta plays a cash-strapped inventor while Newton-John plays the bank teller whom he attempts to rob. They must come to show compassion for one another in order to delay God's judgment upon the Earth. Despite being a critical failure, the film's soundtrack was a commercial success, yielding three hit singles for Newton-John and being certified Platinum.
Basic Instinct 2 is a 2006 erotic thriller film and the sequel to 1992's Basic Instinct. The film was directed by Michael Caton-Jones and produced by Mario Kassar, Joel B. Michaels, and Andrew G. Vajna. The screenplay was by Leora Barish and Henry Bean. It stars Sharon Stone, who reprises her role of crime mystery author Catherine Tramell, and David Morrissey. The film is an international co-production of German, British, American, and Spanish production companies.
BloodRayne is a 2005 vampire action film directed by Uwe Boll, from a screenplay written by Guinevere Turner. It is based on the video game franchise of the same name, from Majesco Entertainment and game developer Terminal Reality, of which it acts as a loose prequel to the first game. It is also the third video game film adaptation made by Boll, who previously made House of the Dead and Alone in the Dark. The film stars Kristanna Loken, Michael Madsen, Matthew Davis, Will Sanderson, Billy Zane, Udo Kier, Michael Paré, Meat Loaf, Michelle Rodriguez, Ben Kingsley, and Geraldine Chaplin.
Butterfly is a 1982 American independent crime drama film co-written and directed by Matt Cimber, based on the 1947 novel The Butterfly by James M. Cain. The starring cast includes Stacy Keach, Pia Zadora, Lois Nettleton, Ed McMahon, James Franciscus, Edward Albert, and Orson Welles. The original music score was composed by Ennio Morricone. The film was financed by Zadora's husband, Israeli multimillionaire Meshulam Riklis, at an estimated cost of US$3.5 million. The film follows a silver mine caretaker whose is reunited with his estranged teenaged daughter who wants to take silver from the mine.
The Specialist is a 1994 American action thriller film directed by Luis Llosa and starring Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, James Woods, Eric Roberts, and Rod Steiger. It is loosely based on "The Specialist" series of novels by John Shirley. The film met with negative critical response, but became a box office success, and Gloria Estefan's version of "Turn the Beat Around" became a dance sensation.
Ghosts Can't Do It is a 1989 American romantic crime fantasy comedy film, the last film written and directed by John Derek, and starring Bo Derek with Anthony Quinn.
Meshulam Riklis was an Israeli financier and businessman.
Bolero is a 1984 American romantic drama film written and directed by John Derek and starring Bo Derek. The film centers on the protagonist's sexual awakening and her journey around the world to pursue an ideal first lover who will take her virginity.
The Mod Squad is a 1999 American action thriller film directed by Scott Silver and starring Claire Danes, Omar Epps and Giovanni Ribisi. Based on the television show of the same name, actors Peggy Lipton and Clarence Williams III make cameo appearances.
Perfect is a 1985 American romantic drama film directed by James Bridges and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was written by Aaron Latham and James Bridges and is based on a series of articles that appeared in Rolling Stone magazine in the late 1970s, chronicling the popularity of Los Angeles health clubs among single people. Its story follows journalist Adam Lawrence, who is assigned to interview a successful entrepreneur accused of dealing drugs. He is then assigned to cover a second story and decides to do an exposé on fitness clubs, where he meets an aerobics instructor named Jessie Wilson, who does not have a great deal of trust in journalists. It stars John Travolta, Jamie Lee Curtis, Anne De Salvo, Marilu Henner, Laraine Newman, Matthew Reed, and Jann Wenner.
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards was a Los Angeles-based group of film buffs and film critics devoted to honoring the worst films of the year.
The 29th Golden Raspberry Awards, or Razzies, ceremony was held by the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation to honor the worst films the film industry had to offer in 2008. The ceremony was held at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in Hollywood, California on February 21, 2009. Nominations were announced on January 21, 2009. The Love Guru was the most nominated film of 2008, with seven. Award results were based on votes from approximately 650 journalists, cinema fans and film professionals from 20 countries. Awards were presented by John Wilson, the ceremony's founder. The Love Guru received the most awards, winning Worst Picture, Worst Actor, and Worst Screenplay. Paris Hilton received three awards, including Worst Actress for her work in The Hottie & the Nottie and Worst Supporting Actress for Repo! The Genetic Opera. Hilton matched the record number of awards received by an actor in a single year, set by Eddie Murphy the previous year at the 28th Golden Raspberry Awards for his roles in Norbit.
The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst is a book about the booby prize award show the Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies), written by John Wilson, founder of the awards ceremony. The book was published in 2005 by Warner Books, the same year as the 25th Golden Raspberry Awards.
John Hugh d'Allenger Kershaw was a British screenwriter and script editor. He edited the entire first season of the television program Bergerac, and contributed to others including The Bill and Armchair Theatre.
Fake-Out is a 1982 American crime comedy film directed by Matt Cimber, written by Cimber and John F. Goff, and starring Pia Zadora, Telly Savalas, Desi Arnaz Jr., and Larry Storch.
