HOLLYWOOD — Voters for 2008’s worst movies love Mike Myers. They really love him.
Myers’ comedy flop “The Love Guru” led the field Wednesday for the Razzies with seven nominations, among them worst picture and worst-acting slots for Myers, Jessica Alba, Verne Troyer and Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley.
The number of nominations for “Love Guru” was appropriate given what a personal project it was for Myers, who not only starred but also co-wrote and produced the movie, said John Wilson, founder of the Razzies, an Oscar spoof that dishes out “dis-honors” for the lousiest stuff Hollywood dredged up the previous year.
“This is one of those auteur-of-the-awful situations,” Wilson said. “I think people are tired of him in general. He hasn’t really made a good movie in quite some time.”
The other worst-picture contenders were “Disaster Movie” and “Meet the Spartans,” Hollywood spoofs that shared a nomination for a “badly beaten dead horse of a concept”; the fright flick “The Happening”; Paris Hilton’s romantic comedy bomb “The Hottie & the Nottie”; and the sword-and-sorcery fantasy “In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale.”
Razzie “winners” will be announced Feb. 21, the day before the Oscars.
Hilton had three nominations, worst actress and worst screen couple alongside her co-stars in “The Hottie & the Nottie,” plus worst supporting actress for “Repo! The Genetic Opera.”
Eddie Murphy, named worst actor, supporting actor and supporting actress last year for multiple roles in “Norbit,” has two nominations this time, as worst actor and screen couple alongside himself for dual roles in his sci-fi comedy dud “Meet Dave.”
Cameron Diaz also picked up two Razzie nominations for the romance “What Happens in Vegas,” as worst actress and worst screen couple alongside co-star Ashton Kutcher.
Along with Kingsley, Oscar winner Al Pacino had a worst-actor nomination for his crime thrillers “88 Minutes” and “Righteous Kill.”
The stars of the remake “The Women” — Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith and Meg Ryan — shared a worst-actress nomination. Joining them, Alba, Diaz and Hilton in the worst-actress category was Kate Hudson for “Fool’s Gold” and “My Best Friend’s Girl.”
Besides Murphy, Myers and Pacino, worst-actor nominees were Larry the Cable Guy for “Witless Protection” and Mark Wahlberg for “The Happening” and “Max Payne.”
“In the Name of the King” filmmaker Uwe Boll had three nominations for 2008 movies, worst director for that flick and “1968: Tunnel Rats” and “Postal,” supporting actor for playing himself in “Postal” and screen couple alongside “any actor, camera or screenplay.”
Boll — whose movies include such horror or action tales as “Bloodrayne,” “Alone in the Dark” and “House of the Dead” — also was selected by Razzies voters to receive a special prize for worst career achievement as “Germany’s answer to Ed Wood,” the legendary bad filmmaker responsible for “Plan 9 From Outer Space.”
“It’s pretty insulting to Ed Wood. Although Wood didn’t understand how to splice two frames together, there was a joy of incompetence in his work,” Wilson said. “Uwe Boll’s like our Meryl Streep. As long as he continues to work, he will get nominated, just like Meryl Streep does with those other awards.”
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January 21, 2009
Mike Myers’ ‘Love Guru’ proves endearing at Razzies
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