2023 RAZZIES: “Blonde”, “Elvis”
Film Review by Marlene Ardoin
The Razzie phenomenon began in 1980, but with as much as we now know about bullying and harrassment, I think it is time to pop the razzie balloon.
Recently, the films they make fun of, are also up for major film awards like “Blonde” and “Elvis.”
It is so easy to hurl insults at a vulnerable individual.
In the past, The Razzies have picked on easy, publically vulnerable targets.
They love to make fun of couples who are in love, ” Fifty Shades of Grey,” “Breaking Dawn,” and “Gigli,” come to mind.
Their picks are also cruelly sexist, racist, and even make fun of the newbie and the underage target, like Macaulay Culkin.
Why don’t they go after films, that are unapologetically violent, racist, sexist or cause irredeemable harm?
If they cannot do this, then this should be the last year of the Golden Raspberry Awards, as their powerful enemies keep getting heftier and heftier.
The Razzie winners will be announced on Oscar’s eve on March 11, 2023.
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Full list of 2023 Razzie award nominations:
https://en.as.com/entertainment/2023-razzie-award-nominations-the-full-list-n/
Every Razzie Worst Picture winner by year:
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BLONDE
BLONDE
Film Review by Marlene Ardoin
It seems that no matter how many times Marilyn Monroe’s story is attempted, she gets a Razzie nomination, because everyone just sees one thing, Marilyn’s naked body.
Producer, Brad Pitt, tries to illustrate the pathos of her situation in multiple ways, from childhood to her last breathe, but we still just see Marilyn’s naked body.
The film script for “Blonde” skips over her years in foster care and her first marriage to James Dougherty at age sixteen.
The Fictional novel, Blonde, by Joyce Carol Oates (The Ecco Press/HarperCollins) was a finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize, but the story in this film is wildly fictional and scantily symbolic.
Nowhere in Marilyn’s biography does she get involved with the eldest son of Charlie Chaplin.
Though Marilyn is compared to Charlie Chaplin in her “ability to blend comedy and tragedy.”
Marilyn was looking for the missing father figure in her life, which explains her attraction to and idolatry of men in authority positions, which “Blonde” does point out correctly.
Unfortunately, men in authority positions at that time, did take advantage of beautiful women and used their lack of money as leverage.
The real Marilyn Monroe had to fight for her opportunities and for her money, until she just did not have the ability to fight anymore.
Ana de Armas does a great job of capturing Marilyn’s perception, innocence, and emotional nakedness.
This time, the Razzie creators do not get to exploit her in the cruelest way yet.
They do not get to pin her up for ridicule as a symbol of their own desire and self-loathing.
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Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Monroe
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ELVIS
ELVIS
Film Review by Marlene Ardoin
The Razzies go after Tom Hanks, of all people, for playing Elvis’s manager. why?
I think Hanks should be congratulated for having the courage to play what appears to be an unattractive, flawed character in the film.
The Colonel had secrets, but on the other hand, he stood beside Elvis during the good times and the bad. He was not a fair weather friend.
Even Elvis’s family felt Colonel Tom Parker deserved every penny for his services.
I feel this is a clear Razzie case of a younger generation bullying and making fun of the values of an older generation as depicted in the film,”Elvis.”
Elvis clearly respected the Colonel as a manager and as a friend.
Elvis did not judge people by their age or appearance, which was part of his appeal to the masses.
And, that is why Elvis was loved and why the Razzies are not loved.
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Trailer: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x87zl7
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_Tom_Parker
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2/25/23 # 2023 RAZZIES: “Blonde”, “Elvis”
