With the 2019 Razzies and Oscar award ceremonies quickly approaching, you’re going to have more than your share of chances to cash in with some potentially winning film-related wagers that should have you jumping for joy just before those darned college basketball bettors and their March Madness craziness gets underway.
While the highly-coveted Oscars are handed out annually to the best in the film-making industry, the Golden Raspberry Awards, or Razzies, cover the other end of the spectrum by highlighting the worst films and performances of the past year. The Razzies have been going on every year since 1980 and features several categories, including Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Actress and Worst Director among other selections.
The 39th Razzies award ceremony features nine categories and will get underway on Saturday, February 23 at 8:00 PM ET, live from Los Angeles. A year ago, the widely-beloved Dwayne Johnson accepted the Razzies award with grace for the 2017 bust “Baywatch.”
“We made Baywatch with the best of intentions, it didn’t work out like that, but I humbly and graciously accept my Razzie. And I thank you, critics, and I thank you, fans.”
While the only odds currently being offered are for the worst film, I’m providing some additional analysis on both, the worst actor and actress categories.
2019 Razzie Awards Betting Preview & Picks
Worst Picture
- “Gotti” (+120)
- “The Happytime Murders” (+150)
- “Holmes & Watson” (+450)
- “Robin Hood” (+650)
- “Winchester” (+1000)
Analysis: By all accounts, “Gotti” was completely and utterly awful despite starring the widely-beloved John Travolta. The film was so distressing that New York Post entertainment writer Johnny Oleksinski wrote, “I’d rather wake up next to a severed horse head than ever watch “Gotti” again. While this film has a mind-boggling score of 0% at Rotten Tomatoes, it somehow managed to receive a 49% score from moviegoers.
While I’m a huge Melissa McCarthy fan, “Happytime Murders” got a low, 22% score from Rotten Tomatoes, but a 41% score from audience viewers. I’m personally thinking McCarthy is just too likable to win this award, even if Dwayne Johnson took one home a year ago.
For me though, I’m going with the No. 3 favorite on the board, “Holmes and Watson” to win the worst film award. I have no idea why Columbia Pictures thought doing a comedic take on Sherlock Holmes and Watson would be funny, but it bombed so badly that it had moviegoers leaving theaters inside the first 15 minutes. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 10% and an audience score of 27%, c;ear;y this film is going down as one of the worst comedies of all-time. Thankfully, it’s not showing in any theaters near me.
2019 Razzie Awards Odds Pick: Holmes and WatsonWorst Actor
- Johnny Depp (voice), “Sherlock Gnomes”
- Will Ferrell, “Holmes & Watson”
- John Travolta, “Gotti”
- Donald J. Trump (as himself)“Death of a Nation” “Fahrenheit 11/9”
- Bruce Willis, “Death Wish”
Analysis: John Travolta was awful in Gotti and so was Will Ferrell in Holmes and Watson, but my 2019 award for the worst actor goes to the divisive 45th president of the United States – if you can call him that. Trump’s tenure in the White House has been marked by repeated head-scratching television interviews, even more perplexing Twitter storms and an overall level of incredulity that the best script writers in Hollywood couldn’t dream up. I’m going with ‘The Orange One’ to win this one in a landslide.
2019 Razzie Awards Odds Pick: Donald J. Trump
Worst Actress
- Jennifer Garner, “Peppermint”
- Amber Heard, “London Fields”
- Melissa McCarthy, “The Happytime Murders” and “Life of the Party”
- Helen Mirren, “Winchester”
- Amanda Seyfried, “The Clapper”
Analysis: I have no idea why Jennifer Garner is on this list seeing as how Peppermint was a fantastic ‘revenge’ film that provided tons of action from start to finish. Since Melissa McCarthy is nominated in two categories – and I though “Life of the Party” was completely awful, I’m going with her to win the worst actress award.
2019 Razzie Awards Odds Pick: Melissa McCarthy
Worst Director
- Etan Cohen, “Holmes & Watson”
- Kevin Connolly, “Gotti”
- James Foley, “Fifty Shades Freed”
- Brian Henson, “Happytime Murders”
- The Spierig Brothers (Michael and Peter), “Winchester”
Worst Supporting Actor
- Jamie Foxx, “Robin Hood”
- Ludacris (voice), “Show Dogs”
- Joel McHale, “Happytime Murders”
- John C. Reilly, “Holmes & Watson”
- Justice Smith, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”
Worst Supporting Actress
- Kellyanne Conway (as herself), “Fahrenheit 11/9”
- Marcia Gay Harden, “Fifty Shades Freed”
- Kelly Preston, “Gotti”
- Jaz Sinclair, “Slender Man”
- Melania Trump (as herself), “Fahrenheit 11/9”
Other Razzies categories include, Worst Screenplay, Worst Remake, Ripoff or Sequel and Worst Screen Combo.
