Razzie Poe-minations

Remember when I went on and on about the Wachowskis and rhapsodized about how much their films mean to me as a gay science fiction fan?

Jupiter Ascending managed to sweep up a bunch of Razzie nominations last week: Worst Actor (Channing Tatum), Worst Supporting Actor (Eddie Redmayne), Worst Actress (Mila Kunis), Worst Directors, Worst Picture, and Worst Screenplay.

Holy Wach-OUCH-skis! That's pretty bad, although I submit that Kunis and Tatum should have also been nominated for Worst Screen Combo. Seriously, there's more chemistry involved in paint drying than between those two.

"A Razzie? Well fuck you very much."

I do take issue with Eddie Redmayne being a "worst" actor. In 1977, Sir Alec Guiness delivered with commitment, style, and charisma stultifying dialogue like "He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade like your father did," and "Now, that's a name I've not heard in a long time... A long time." And he was nominated for an Oscar for BEST supporting actor in Star Wars. (Peter Cushing and other actors of that generation were the same: it didn't matter if they were in the cheesiest science fiction schlock acting on sets with paper mache boulders. Every line was delivered with the same care and drama as if it were Shakespeare.)

Redmayne did the same thing in Jupiter Ascending. Sure, he spent much of the movie flying into inexplicable rages, posing and hissing and sparkling like a drag queen who is just done with your bullshit. And maybe the reason so much of the final cut's set pieces were digital was because Redmayne chewed up and swallowed all of the original scenery. But I thought he did an amaaaaazing job with the material (and co-stars) he had to work with--he vogued and camped and shrieked his way right into my gay sci-fi fanboy heart. I was genuinely rooting for him by the end of the movie.

Ah well. The good news is that I may get to see Jupiter Ascending again during our annual Razzie viewing party... so, silver lining.