As terribly easy as it is to hate on the Twilight films, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II was the best of the series. (Not that it was without its share of WTFery — imprinting and vampire fistfights and every second of Michael Sheen onscreen, anyone?) But with Breaking Dawn - Part II nominated for 11 Razzie Awards in just ten categories, up against the likes of Adam Sandler's That's My Boy, Eddie Murphy's A Thousand Words, and the bizarro pop culture sensation/box office bomb The Oogieloves In Big Balloon Adventure, let's be real: Does Twilight truly deserve to win all the Razzies?
2012 was rife with bigger targets for stinkbomb honors. Take the Worst Actor category, for example: Murphy's turn in A Thousand Words as a man with a finite number of words to utter before death should give four-time nominee Robert Pattinson a run for his money, but Tyler Perry just might take it — and the Worst Actress prize, for which he's also nominated for Madea's Witness Protection.
The pictures earning repeat scorn at the Razzies this year include blockbuster Battleship, which sucked Liam Neeson into the race to the bottom for his turn as a stern Navy officer and also earned Rihanna and Brooklyn Decker nods for their supporting work in the film. (If Decker doesn't win, somebody get her a chicken burrito! Within five minutes!)
It seems unfair to nominate performers who are playing themselves in obviously cheesy comedies, which is why David Hasselhoff in Piranha 3DD and Vanilla Ice in That's My Boy cancel out of the Supporting Actor contest in my book. Meanwhile, the only nominee in this year's crop who might actually take the Razzie honor as a warning sign to get a new agent is The Guilt Trip's Barbra Streisand, who has been nominated thrice before — last year for Little Fockers, and three decades ago for 1981's All Night Long and 1984's Yentl.
But let's bring it back to the Worst Picture race. Battleship had its defenders, and Breaking Dawn - Part II was the best of the series. That's My Boy scored worse the G-rated gyrations of Oogieloves on Rotten Tomatoes, but even Sandler shenanigans and dancing in the aisles to the sad sight and sound of C-list celebrities cashing paychecks didn't hold a candle to the universally loathed A Thousand Words, which still stands at the elusive, ever-impressive 00 percent snake eyes on the Tomatometer.
So which films and performances of 2012 really deserve that golden statuette?
(Allow me to remind you what 00% on the Tomatometer looks like...)
Full list of nominees:
Worst Picture
Battleship
The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure
That's My Boy
A Thousand Words
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Worst Director
Sean Anders - That's My Boy
Peter Berg - Battleship
Bill Condon - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Tyler Perry - Good Deeds / Madea's Witness Protection
John Putch - Atlas Shrugged: Part II
Worst Actress
Katherine Heigl - One for the Money
Milla Jovovich - Resident Evil: Retribution
Tyler Perry - Madea's Witness Protection
Kristen Stewart - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II / Snow White and the Huntsman
Barbra Streisand - The Guilt Trip
Worst Actor
Nicolas Cage - Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance / Seeking Justice
Eddie Murphy - A Thousand Words
Robert Pattinson - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Tyler Perry - Alex Cross / Good Deeds
Adam Sandler - That's My Boy
Worst Supporting Actress
Jessica Biel - Playing For Keeps / Total Recall
Brooklyn Decker - Battleship / What to Expect When You're Expecting
Ashley Greene - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Jennifer Lopez - What to Expect When You're Expecting
Rihanna - Battleship
Worst Supporting Actor
David Hasselhoff - Pirannha 3-DD
Taylor Lautner - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Liam Neeson - Battleship / Wrath of the Titans
Nick Swardson - That's My Boy
Vanilla Ice - That's My Boy
Worst Screen Ensemble
Battleship
The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure
That's My Boy
The Twilight Saga: Eclipsed Part II
Madea's Witness Protection
Worst Screenplay
Atlas Shrugged Part II
Battleship
That's My Boy
A Thousand Words
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Worst Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel
Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance
Pirannha 3-DD
Red Dawn
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Madea's Witness Protection
Worst Screen Couple
Any two cast members from Jersy Shore in The Three Stooges
Mackenzie Foy and Taylor Lautner in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II
Tyler Perry and his drag in Madea's Witness Protection
Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg, Leighton Meester, or Susan Sarandon in That's My Boy
[via Indiewire]