LOS ANGELES (AFP) – No fewer than eight new Bruce Willis movies were nominated on Monday for Razzies – the irreverent parody of the Oscars that “honours” the worst in film.
Organisers felt obliged to create an entire new category labelled ‘Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie’ to accommodate all of the former Die Hard star’s questionable output last year.
In the mainly ultra-low-budget action flicks released on streaming, Willis took roles including a washed-up sheriff, an ex-cop, a retired military general and a former CIA spy.
None scored higher than 20 per cent positive reviews on aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Three – American Siege, Apex and Out of Death – scored zero per cent from critics.
Willis, former star of acclaimed hits such as Pulp Fiction and The Sixth Sense, appears prominently in the marketing for his recent movies, but often appears on-screen only very briefly.
The film with the most Razzie nominations on Monday was Netflix’s screen version of Broadway mega-flop Diana: The Musical, panned by the Guardian as “the year’s most hysterically awful hate-watch”.
It earned nine nods, including worst picture. The Broadway show itself lasted just 33 performances.
Elsewhere at the Razzies, Jared Leto’s campy Italian accent and flamboyant performance beneath heavy prosthetics in House of Gucci drew unwanted recognition.
His role as a dim-witted fashion heir has proven divisive, drawing both genuine nominations from his Hollywood peers and widespread Internet mockery.
The Razzies took the latter viewer, including among its “worst screen couple” category: “Jared Leto & EITHER His 17-Pound Latex Face, His Geeky Clothes or His Ridiculous Accent.”
Nonetheless, Leto is expected to be in the running for a best supporting Oscar nomination.
Other prominent Razzie nominees included basketball star LeBron James for Space Jam: A New Legacy.
The Razzies were first awarded in 1981 in a Los Angeles living room, the brainchild of UCLA film graduates and industry veterans, who chose the raspberry as a symbol of derision.
This year’s Razzies “winners” will be unveiled the day before the Oscars, on March 26.
Whether any Hollywood stars will show up to collect their awards remains to be seen.
