The 2013 Razzie Nominations Announced, 'Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2' Leads The Pack

Sorry Twi-Hards, but your beloved Breaking Dawn, Part 2 led pack in today's nominations for the 33rd Annual Golden Raspberry Awards, which will once again honor the year's worst in cinema.

The tongue-in-cheek antithesis of the Academy Awards, the Razzies managed to honor the final chapter of the Twilight Saga with a comfortable clean sweep and a nod in all ten categories including Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay and Worst Acting nods for cast mates Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Ashley Greene and Taylor Launtner (respectively).

Other films honored with multiple mentions include the $200 million sea-dud Battleship, That's My Boy starring Razzie veteran Adam Sandler, and Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection. Individuals singled out for their body of thespian work throughout the year were Kristen Stewart for Twilight / Snow White and the Huntsman, Tyler Perry for Alex Cross / Good Deeds (plus two Worst Director nods), Brooklyn Decker for Battleship / What To Expect When Your Expecting,  Liam Neeson for Wrath of the Titans / Battleship and Jessica Biel for Total Recall / Playing For Keeps.

The 33rd Annual Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony will be held the day before the Academy Awards on Saturday, February 23rd.

Here is the complete list of honorees:

Worst Picture

• Battleship
• The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure
• That’s My Boy
• A Thousand Words
• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2

Worst Director

• Sean Anders – That’s My Boy
• Peter Berg – Battleship
• Bill Condon – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
• Tyler Perry – Good Deeds / Madea’s Witness Protection
• John Putch – Atlas Shrugged: Part I

Worst Actress

• Katherine Heigl – One for the Money
• Milla Jovovich – Resident Evil: Retribution
• Tyler Perry – Madea’s Witness Protection
• Kristen Stewart – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 / Snow White and the Huntsman
• Barbra Streisand – The Guilt Trip

Worst Actor

• Nicolas Cage – Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance / Seeking Justice
• Eddie Murphy – A Thousand Words
• Robert Pattinson – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
• Tyler Perry – Alex Cross / Good Deeds
• Adam Sandler – That’s My Boy

Worst Supporting Actress

• Jessica Biel – Playing For Keeps / Total Recall
• Brooklyn Decker – Battleship / What to Expect When You’re Expecting
• Ashley Greene – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
• Jennifer Lopez – What to Expect When You’re Expecting
• Rihanna – Battleship

Worst Supporting Actor

• David Hasselhoff – Piranha 3-DD
• Taylor Lautner – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
• Liam Neeson – Battleship / Wrath of the Titans
• Nick Swardson – That’s My Boy
• Vanilla Ice – That’s My Boy

Worst Screen Ensemble

• Battleship
• The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure
• That’s My Boy
• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
• Madea’s Witness Protection

Worst Screenplay

• Atlas Shrugged Part II
• Battleship
• That’s My Boy
• A Thousand Words
• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2

Worst Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel

• Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance
• Piranha 3-DD
• Red Dawn
• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
• Madea’s Witness Protection

Worst Screen Couple

• Any two cast members from Jersey Shore in The Three Stooges
• Mackenzie Foy and Taylor Lautner in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
• Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
• Tyler Perry and his drag in Madea’s Witness Protection
• Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg, Leighton Meester, or Susan Sarandon in That’s My Boy

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Film Review - BATTLESHIP ★★½☆☆☆

Going into 2012, I had two big budget targets on my radar that I expected to go 'all film school' on: John Carter and Battleship. Unfortunately for Taylor Kitsch, he happened to star in both of them. John Carter was out of theaters before I was able to see it (my bad), and as for Battleship (yes, based on the classic Hasbro naval combat board game), well I'll be damned if I didn't have a great time throughout the ridiculous bombastic spectacle that it was.

To be fair, I am a firm believer that you can't appreciate good movies without sitting through bad movies. And by no means is Battleship a terribly bad movie, but to say it doesn't ride the B-Movie wave big time would be misleading (albeit a B-Movie with a budget of possibly $200 million or so). Every single production penny spent is up there on the big screen, Battleship easily excels as a film that looks and sounds expensive (and you will not experience a louder film this year, of that I can assure you).

Director Peter Berg (Hancock, The Rundown) really steps up several notches by borrowing heavily from the Michael Bay playbook of how to assault the senses of your paying audience. The film certainly has the hi-tech look and feel of a Transformers off-shoot, but Berg thankfully left out much of the roll your eyes humor that somehow always makes it to the final cut of a Bay film.

So let's get to the plot, which is safe to say is fairly straightforward. Throwing caution to the wind, some optimistic astronomers in Hawaii beam a blind 'hello' beacon to a distant Earth-like planet in hopes of high fiving any existing extraterrestrial neighbors. Lets just say when the eventual response years later is not a reciprocal greeting, but a preliminary alien invasion force, its up to the guys and gals of the U.S. Navy to let them know exactly where the buck stops.

Alex and Stone Hopper (Taylor Kitsch and Alexander Skarsgård) are our lead hero Naval officer brothers, with Alex being the unpredictable Maverick to Stone's straight and narrow Goose. Academy Award Winner Liam Neeson plays Admiral Shane, Commander of the Pacific Fleet, and adds the necessary weight to the role of the big man in charge. Sports Illustrated supermodel Brooklyn Decker plays Admiral Shane's supermodel physical therapist daughter, and to complicate matters, fiancée to Kitsch's screw-up sailor. And then we have Rhianna as Petty Officer Second Class Cora Raikes, who also serves as a weapons specialist (and also for my taste has far too much screen time as the tough-as-nails-who-always-has-a-one-liner military chick).

While the plot is thin, (do we get or even deserve a reason for the alien's invasion?), a big summer actioner like this should not (and does not) require its audience to think too hard. Are there scenes where combat takes place that are literally inspired by the board game based on nautical coordinates? Of course. They have you mid-scene before you realize it. And does anyone get to deliver THE big Battleship tag line? Wait for it...

When the aliens do arrive after we spend a little too long with character developing introductions, Battleship kicks in on full throttle. The intense battle scenes are well staged and the accompanying special effects are convincing. The powerful alien submersible ships are both impressive and oppressive, as are the razor laced roller balls of destruction. Another piece of eye candy are the humanoid aliens who travel about in nifty Mass Effect inspired exo-suits.

Battleship definitely settles into its A-game comfort zone with some quick cutting Top Gun-esque excitement on the high seas. Since ship to ship combat on the big screen has been monopolized by the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, it's great to see the bad ass arsenals of sea faring vessels that are not waving a jolly roger flag atop their masts.

By the time the plan in store for third act big finish reveals itself, you will either be cheering or throwing your concessions at the screen. But again, that is part of the inherent fun of the popcorn formula it adheres to. There are some cringe worthy lines of dialogue that read better off the script page than in front of a camera, but frankly moments like that only make you appreciate more how Bill Pullman managed to pull off the pep rally Presidential speech in Independence Day.

Battleship doesn't pretend to be anything but what it is. Its all there right in your face and you know already if this is your idea of a good time at the movies. If so, add an additional half star rating. So go with it, enjoy the intended high octane fun, watch big things go bang and boom, and most of all, don't over think it. That's what I did.

Battleship opens in theaters today.

REVIEW RATING: ★★½☆☆☆
Directed By: Peter Berg

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgård, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker, and Liam Neeson

Studio: Universal Pictures

Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 131 minutes 

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Film Review - WRATH OF THE TITANS ★★☆☆☆

Let's start off by addressing the elephant in the room right away: Yes, there is a marked improvement in the 3-D for Wrath of the Titans over the poor conversion process that plagued 2010's Clash of the Titans. Two years ago, the reboot of the 1981 mythical swords and sandals classic quickly became the whipping boy for the growing trend of converting 2-D films to 3-D late in post production, a process that was not always met with smashing results on the big screen. Hollywood has yet to reverse the trend of adding the third dimension to nearly every tentpole in town, but more on that later.

Ten years following the defeat of the Kraken in Clash, we find Perseus (Sam Worthington), the demigod son of Zeus, living a tranquil life as a father, widower, and fisherman. Zeus, Hades, and the other Titans of Olympus are slowly losing their Godly powers as humanity's devotion to them wanes, and their ability to contain the imprisoned evil Kronos is quickly dissipating.

Perseus becomes the reluctant hero who must travel far back into the Underworld on a dangerous quest to save his fallen father from Hades and Ares, who have betrayed him in order to grant Kronos his freedom to conquer the Earth (a cheat sheet for the Greek Gods Family Tree would be useful at some points). Cue the cameos for the half man/half beast Minotaur, the two-headed Chimera, the one-eyed Cyclops, and throw in appearances from some familiar winged characters from the 1981 original. Not that this is all a bad thing, but we have seen much of the same in the first installment.

What works in Wrath is the grand scale of the FX-heavy quest, and a satisfying battle frenzied third act. Some of the action sequences are nothing to scoff at, mostly if this is your type of movie, and you know who you are. You can marvel at the high octane battles, elaborate CGI creatures, and abundance handheld camera work that will leave you unsettled into your seat.

When Wrath is pushing ahead on all cylinders, director Jonathan Liebesman delivers moments on par, in scope, and intensity as seen in his last big screen effort, the frantic but entertaining Battle: Los Angeles. Liebesman has the knack and know how for dropping the audience right smack in the thick of full blown CGI showdowns, some of which will never be fully appreciated anywhere beyond the big screen. I am a glutton for FX heavy excess, so admittedly big budget eye candy in healthy doses is rarely lost on me.

What doesn't work here in the overall scheme of the film unfortunately is a charmless hero in Perseus, who offers little beyond brooding brawn and a reluctant warrior's heart. The straightforward screenplay allows Sam Worthington so little opportunity to shine, emote any charisma, or even breath easy with light hearted moments when he is not slaying one mythical monsters after another.

The welcome whimsical characters on the journey here are the demigod Agenor, the son of Poseidon (played by Toby Kebbell), and Hephaestus (in an all too brief appearance by Bill Nighy), the weapons forger to the Titans. Beyond them, most of the characters are just all business. Though it's worth noting that it's good to see Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes playing it out big this time out after having little to do in Clash.

Going back to the 3-D. While not as distracting as the last installment's, Wrath's conversion from 2-D does not particularly add much either. To be fair, not many recent 3-D movies have justified their release in the format (Avatar and Hugo stand in a high class of 3-D all on their own).

Too often it adds a simple effect, not an overall experience. A few shots jump out at you, sure, but I wouldn't count the extra dimension as a deal breaker here. But like most 3-D films, motion blur on fast moving scenes, and an overall darker picture (the 3-D requires more light from the projector bulbs than most theater owners are willing to give to audiences), have become a standard downside with the presentation.

So while Wrath of the Titans makes a fine Friday night piece of action packed special FX-laden escapism suited for its target audience, it is also a missed opportunity to improve upon the missteps made in the previous installment that could have benefited from some extra dimension.

Wrath of the Titans opens in RealD 3D, IMAX 3D, and 2D on March 30th.

REVIEW RATING: ★★☆☆☆
Directed By: Jonathan Liebesman
Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Rosamund Pike, Edgar Ramierez
Studio: Warner Bros.
Rated: PG-13