Hanks 'wins' Razzies as organizers nominate themselves for blunder

Tom Hanks is an elite double-Oscar-winning actor, but on Saturday he received two more prizes from an award show that no movie star wants on their CV -- the Razzies.

Organizers of the parody prizes, which recognize the worst films and performances each year, also awarded themselves a tongue-in-cheek Razzie for having cruelly nominated a 12-year-old child star.

Razzies voters declared Hanks' role as Elvis Presley's manager in rock 'n' roll biopic "Elvis" the year's most awful performance by a supporting actor.

The movie has been widely praised, and is up for eight Oscars this Sunday. Its star Austin Butler is a frontrunner for best actor.

But Hanks' appearance beneath heavy prosthetics as Presley's exploitative manager Colonel Tom Parker was panned by many critics, who viewed his casting as the film's biggest flaw.

A New York Times review said Hanks appears "with a mountain of prosthetic goo, a bizarre accent and a yes-it's-really-me twinkle in his eyes."

Piling on the insults, Razzies voters on Saturday also awarded "worst screen couple" to "Tom Hanks & His Latex-Laden Face (and Ludicrous Accent)."

Hanks was at least spared the worst actor award.

His role as Geppetto in Disney's live-action "Pinocchio" remake was deemed less terrible than that of regular Razzies punching bag Jared Leto in Spider-Man spinoff "Morbius."

The controversial Marilyn Monroe biopic "Blonde" was named the year's worst movie.

The Razzies are announced the day before the Oscars, serving to mock the following night's self-congratulatory Tinseltown back-slapping.

But the Razzies themselves have made recent high-profile blunders.

This year, Razzies organizers were forced to rescind a nomination for Ryan Kiera Armstrong -- then just 12 -- for her role in a "Firestarter" remake.

Announcing the winners on Saturday, the group said Armstrong's spot on the worst actress nominees list was given to the Razzies themselves.

According to a press release, the Razzies "won by a landslide."

"Well, what can we say? We earned this Razzie," organizers said in a mock acceptance speech posted to YouTube.

Last year, a new category labelled "Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie" was jokingly created to accommodate all of the former "Die Hard" star's questionable output.

Red-faced organizers retracted the prize after his family revealed Willis suffered from a cognitive illness that doctors now say is dementia.

The Razzies were first awarded in 1981 in a Los Angeles living room, the brainchild of UCLA film graduates and industry veterans, who chose the raspberry as a symbol of derision.

© 2023 AFP