It Was The Best Of Movies, It Was The Worst Of Movies
Every year since 1929, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has awarded a Best Picture Oscar for what they deem the best film released that year (well, the previous year actually). And every year since 1981, the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation has awarded a Worst Picture Razzie to what they deem the worst film released in the previous year.
I thought it would be fun to look at what the "best" and "worst" movies were every year since the two awards have coexisted. What do you think of the "winners"? Who got it right (or wrong)?
Note: I'll be going by the year of the ceremonies—not the year of the film's release (which would obviously be the previous year).
1981
Best Picture Winner: Ordinary People
Worst Picture Winner: Can't Stop the Music
Fun Fact: It was after walking out of a Can't Stop the Music and Xanadu double feature that publicist John JB Wilson got thinking about how those movies deserved an award for how bad they were. This was the impetus for the creation of the Golden Raspberry Awards.
Paramount, Ordinary People (1980)
1982
Best Picture Winner: Chariots of Fire
Worst Picture Winner: Mommie Dearest
Fun Fact: Mommie Dearest was nominated for nine Razzies that year, with Faye Dunaway also taking home the Worst Actress award. It would also go on to win the Razzie for Worst Film of the Decade.
Enigma Productions, Chariots of Fire (1981)
1983
Best Picture Winner: Gandhi
Worst Picture Winner: Inchon
Fun Fact: Gandhi earned 11 nominations and won eight Oscars—while Inchon earned just over 5 million bucks on a $46 million budget and was taken out of theaters soon after its release due to all the negative reviews and financial failure.
Goldcrest Films, Gandhi (1982)
1984
Best Picture Winner: Terms of Endearment
Worst Picture Winner: The Lonely Lady
Fun Fact: The Lonely Lady was another one of the Worst Film of the Decade nominees.
Paramount, Terms of Endearment (1983)
1985
Best Picture Winner: Amadeus
Worst Picture Winner: Bolero
Fun Fact: The star of Bolero, Bo Derek, won the Worst Actress Razzie that year—and would go on to take the Worst Actress of the Decade award a few years later.
The Saul Zaentz Company, Amadeus (1984)
1986
Best Picture Winner: Out of Africa
Worst Picture Winner: Rambo: First Blood Part II
Fun Fact: Rambo: First Blood Part II was a huge blockbuster and is a fan favorite—and while it did win Worst Picture, Razzie founder John Wilson did include the film in his book: The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.
Mirage Enterprises, Out of Africa (1985)
1987
Best Picture Winner: Platoon
Worst Picture Winner: Howard the Duck & Under the Cherry Moon (tie)
Fun Fact: Prince's directorial debut and follow-up to Purple Rain, Under the Cherry Moon has since been re-evaluated by some critics and become a cult classic.
1988
Best Picture Winner: The Last Emperor
Worst Picture Winner: Leonard Part 6
Fun Fact: The Last Emperor was nominated for nine Academy Awards, and it won all nine.
Yanco Films Limited, The Last Emperor (1987)
1989
Best Picture Winner: Rain Man
Worst Picture Winner: Cocktail
Fun Fact: Tom Cruise starred in both films. He was also nominated for Worst Actor for his performance in Cocktail.
United Artists, Rain Man (1988)
1990
Best Picture Winner: Driving Miss Daisy
Worst Picture Winner: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Fun Fact: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was also one of the five films nominated for Worst Picture of the Decade.
The Zanuck Company, Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
1991
Best Picture Winner: Dances With Wolves
Worst Picture Winner: The Adventures of Ford Fairlane & Ghosts Can't Do It (tie)
Fun Fact: Kevin Costner won Best Director as well for Dances With Wolves—although, the following year he would win the Razzie for Worst Actor for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Tig Productions, Dances With Wolves (1990)
1992
Best Picture Winner: The Silence of the Lambs
Worst Picture Winner: Hudson Hawk
Fun Fact: While Hudson Hawk flopped in the United States, grossing a measly $17 million, it did much better internationally, taking in $80 million throughout the rest of the world.
Orion, The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
1993
Best Picture Winner: Unforgiven
Worst Picture Winner: Shining Through
Fun Fact: Michael Douglas picked up two Worst Actor nominations that year for Shining Through and Basic Instinct. Although, he didn't win the award—that honor went to Sylvester Stallone for Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.
Warner Bros., Unforgiven (1992)
1994
Best Picture Winner: Schindler's List
Worst Picture Winner: Indecent Proposal
Fun Fact: Both films were big box office hits. Schindler's List grossed $322 million on a $22 million budget, while Indecent Proposal cost $38 million and grossed $266 million at the box office.
Universal, Schindler's List (1993)
1995
Best Picture Winner: Forrest Gump
Worst Picture Winner: Color of Night
Fun Fact: Bruce Willis was in three of the year's nominated movies—two Razzie nominees, Color of Night and North, and one Oscar nominee, Pulp Fiction.
Paramount, Forrest Gump (1994)
1996
Best Picture Winner: Braveheart
Worst Picture Winner: Showgirls
Fun Fact: Showgirls also went on to win Worst Picture of the Decade honors a few years later.
Icon Entertainment, Braveheart (1995)
1997
Best Picture Winner: The English Patient
Worst Picture Winner: Striptease
Fun Fact: Although Elaine Benes probably would've given The English Patient the Razzie, the Anthony Minghella film took home a total of nine Oscars.
Miramax, The English Patient (1996)
1998
Best Picture Winner: Titanic
Worst Picture Winner: The Postman
Fun Fact: If James Cameron was the "king of the world" that year, Kevin Coster was whatever the opposite of that is—starring in and directing the Razzies' Worst Picture, The Postman.
Twentieth Century, Titanic (1997)
1999
Best Picture Winner: Shakespeare in Love
Worst Picture Winner: An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn
Fun Fact: An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn was another of the Worst Picture of the Decade nominees.
Universal, Shakespeare in Love (1998)
2000
Best Picture Winner: American Beauty
Worst Picture Winner: Wild Wild West
Fun Fact: Just like The Cider House Rules didn't deserve its Best Picture nomination, neither did Big Daddy and The Blair Witch Project deserve their Worst Picture noms.
Dreamworks Pictures, American Beauty (1999)
2001
Best Picture Winner: Gladiator
Worst Picture Winner: Battlefield Earth
Fun Fact: Battlefield Earth would later win the Razzie for Worst Drama Of Our First 25 Years, as well as Worst Picture of the Decade.
2002
Best Picture Winner: A Beautiful Mind
Worst Picture Winner: Freddy Got Fingered
Fun Fact: Freddy Got Fingered is another one of those Razzie winners that gained a cult following and has seen a more positive critical re-evaluation in recent years.
Universal, A Beautiful Mind (2001)
2003
Best Picture Winner: Chicago
Worst Picture Winner: Swept Away
Fun Fact: Madonna had won a Worst Actress Razzie a couple years prior for her work in The Next Best Thing, and she took the award home again this year for her performance in Swept Away (in a tie vote with Britney Spears in Crossroads).
2004
Best Picture Winner: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Worst Picture Winner: Gigli
Fun Fact: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was nominated for 11 Oscars, and won all 11 of them.
New Line Cinema, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
2005
Best Picture Winner: Million Dollar Baby
Worst Picture Winner: Catwoman
Fun Fact: Halle Berry won the Worst Actress Razzie that year (for Catwoman) and actually showed up at the ceremony to accept the award (having fun with the whole thing, she arrived with her Oscar in hand—which she had won for the 2001 film, Monster's Ball).
Warner Bros., Million Dollar Baby (2004)
2006
Best Picture Winner: Crash
Worst Picture Winner: Dirty Love
Fun Fact: Written by and starring Jenny McCarthy—Dirty Love grossed less than $40,000 at the box office, holds a 6% Rotten Tomatoes score and, along with Worst Picture, took home Worst Screenplay, Worst Director, and Worst Actress Razzies as well.
Bob Yari Productions, Crash (2004)
2007
Best Picture Winner: The Departed
Worst Picture Winner: Basic Instinct 2
Fun Fact: Scorsese finally got his first (and still only) Best Director Oscar win for The Departed.
Warner Bros., The Departed (2006)
2008
Best Picture Winner: No Country for Old Men
Worst Picture Winner: I Know Who Killed Me
Fun Fact: Besides the Razzie winner, which was a thriller, all of the four other nominees for Worst Picture that year were comedies: Bratz, Daddy Day Camp, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, and Norbit
Miramax, No Country For Old Men (2007)
2009
Best Picture Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
Worst Picture Winner: The Love Guru
Fun Fact: The Love Guru was nominated for seven Razzies—winning three: Worst Picture, Worst Actor, and Worst Screenplay.
Warner Bros., Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
2010
Best Picture Winner: The Hurt Locker
Worst Picture Winner: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Fun Fact: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen became the highest-grossing film to win the Worst Picture award at the time.
Voltage Pictures, The Hurt Locker (2008)
2011
Best Picture Winner: The King's Speech
Worst Picture Winner: The Last Airbender
Fun Fact: Also nominated for Worst Picture were The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and Vampires Suck (a parody movie of The Twilight Saga franchise).
The Weinstein Company, The King's Speech (2010)
2012
Best Picture Winner: The Artist
Worst Picture Winner: Jack and Jill
Fun Fact: Jack and Jill was nominated for 12 Razzies—and won a record 10 of them, including: Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, and Adam Sandler won both the Worst Actor and Worst Actress awards.
La Petite Reine, The Artist (2011)
2013
Best Picture Winner: Argo
Worst Picture Winner: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
Fun Fact: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 had also been nominated for Worst Picture the previous year (but lost to Jack and Jill).
2014
Best Picture Winner: 12 Years a Slave
Worst Picture Winner: Movie 43
Fun Fact: Grown Ups 2 was the most Razzie nominated movie of the year (nine nominations).
New Regency Productions, 12 Years a Slave (2013)
2015
Best Picture Winner: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Worst Picture Winner: Saving Christmas
Fun Fact: Ben Affleck was one of the first recipients of the newly created Razzie Redeemer Award (given to a past Razzie Award nominee or winner who becomes "a respected artist" coming back from critical/commercial failure)
Affleck went from Razzie winner of Gigli, to Oscar darling for Argo & Gone Girl.
New Regency Productions, Birdman (2014)
2016
Best Picture Winner: Spotlight
Worst Picture Winner: Fantastic Four & Fifty Shades of Grey (tie)
Fun Fact: Fifty Shades of Grey, Jupiter Ascending, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, and Pixels all picked up six Razzie noms that year.
First Look Media, Spotlight (2015)
2017
Best Picture Winner: Moonlight
Worst Picture Winner: Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party
Fun Fact: Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party was the first documentary to win Worst Picture.
Plan B Entertainment, Moonlight (2016)
2018
Best Picture Winner: The Shape of Water
Worst Picture Winner: The Emoji Movie
Fun Fact: The Emoji Movie was the first animated movie to take home that top dis-honor.
Fox Searchlight Pictures, The Shape of Water (2017)
2019
Best Picture Winner: Green Book
Worst Picture Winner: Holmes & Watson
Fun Fact: After winning Worst Picture the previous year for The Emoji Movie—Sony Pictures Animation earned the Razzie Redeemer Award this year for "the highly acclaimed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse which was loved by critics and audiences alike".
2020
Best Picture Winner: Parasite
Worst Picture Winner: Cats
Fun Fact: Parasite was the first non-English-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
CJ Entertainment, Parasite (2019)
2021
Best Picture Winner: Nomadland
Worst Picture Winner: Absolute Proof
Fun Fact: Chloé Zhao, the director of Nomadland, became the first Asian woman to win Best Director.
Searchlight Pictures, Nomadland (2020)
2022
Best Picture Winner: CODA
Worst Picture Winner: Diana the Musical
Fun Fact: The filmed performance of the stage musical Diana won five Razzies.
2023
Best Picture Winner: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Worst Picture Winner: Blonde
Fun Fact: Netflix made it two years in a row with Blonde (Diana the Musical was also Netflix)
IAC Films, Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
2024
Best Picture Winner: Oppenheimer
Worst Picture Winner: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey
Fun Fact: Despite the critical thrashing it took, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey made over $7 million on just a $100,000 budget. And they released a sequel in 2024.
2025
Best Picture Winner: Anora
Worst Picture Winner: Madame Web
Fun Fact: Anora also won Best Director, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing—as well as the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
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FilmNation Entertainment, Anora (2024)
