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Could Keanu snag Razzie & Razzie Redeemer?

7/16/2019

3 Comments

 
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KEANU REEVES - RAZZIE & RAZZIE REDEEMER? 
LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE BEST & THE WORST
by Raleigh Welch



This year Keanu Reeves is on a winning streak, hitting the ground running with John Wick 3, Toy Story 4 and a cameo in Netflix’ Always Be My Maybe.  In contrast, he stumbled out of the gate at the beginning of 2019 with the cinematic mess, Replicas, giving himself a shot at Hollywood’s most humbling award, a Razzie.  How can someone be Razzie worthy and worthy of our Razzie Redeemer Award in the same year?    
Let’s take a look at the best and the worst of Keanu Reeves.
 
THE BEST:
The Matrix (1999) – While its sequels would earn some Razzie nominations, there's no denying that this film is a masterpiece. This is still the Reeves film against which we measure the others. There are so many iconic moments in this film: the red and blue pills, the dojo fight, and—of course—the bullet dodge. Keanu cemented himself as one of the world's leading action stars, continuing even now that he is well into his 50s.
Bill and Ted (1989) – This movie is timeless. Alex Winter as Bill remains, to this day, Keanu's best on-screen pairing. Theodore "Ted" Logan is probably Reeve's most quotable role to date, and this film's fun take on time travel and colorful cast of characters keep it rockin'. We hope that Bill & Ted Face The Music will be “most excellent.”
John Wick (2014) – John Wick relaunched Reeves' career. It's hard to find a better role for him than this. Every special feature or behind-the-scenes commentary shows that he put a lot of work into and had a lot of fun making this film. The fight choreography is out of this world, and a welcome return to form to his Matrix days. But you don't need us to tell you that, you probably just saw John Wick 3: Parabellum. 
Speed (1994) – Keanu plays alongside Sandra Bullock, another critically acclaimed actor who's well known at the Razzies. It's hard to believe that this movie came out a year after Much Ado About Nothing, and a year before Johnny Mnemonic and A Walk In the Clouds. It really proves that with Keanu it's all about where you place him. And if you place him on a bus with a bomb, you're bound to have a great picture.
Point Break (1991) – It's like watching Ted Logan grow up and join the FBI. This movie could have easily been a comedy or a parody with the premise of "FBI surfer agent", but it takes itself completely seriously and it just works. Reeves is perfect here, toeing the line between lovable goofball and gritty action star.
 
THE WORST: 
Hardball (2001)- This swing-and-miss was released the same year as Sweet November, both of which together earned Keanu a Worst Actor Razzie nomination. Lots of Reeve's worst movies have something in common: they're run-of-the-mill carbon copies of other films. Here, this sports genre picture almost reaches Dodgeball levels of parody.
Chain Reaction (1996) – Even though Keanu is the most sought-after action star in the world right now, he's not the secret ingredient to every action movie. Here he plays a Harrison Ford-type, wrongly accused and out of his depth, in-universe and out. 
The Watcher (2000) - It took a while for Keanu Reeves to perfect his performance as cold hard killer. What could have been a nice cameo for Law & Order instead forced itself into a feature film. Here, he follows a trend of charismatic serial killers…and was convincing as neither.

A Walk in the Clouds (1995) – Keanu has a lot of trouble with period pieces. And romance pieces. A Walk in the Clouds plays to all of Keanu's weaknesses, but Hollywood will probably never be done trying to cast him in romantic leads. 
Sweet November (2001)– This movie proves that the only onscreen pairing for Bill is Ted (isn't he Ted?). It's hard to think of a movie in which Reeves and his costar have strong romantic chemistry. As handsome as Reeves is, he isn't believable in romantic roles. 
Johnny Mnemonic (1995)– Before The Matrix reinvented cyberpunk, Johnny Mnemonic nearly sunk it. This sci-fi action romp shows just how much skill goes into making good cyberpunk movies. This one screams cheese, which is fun if you're into that sort of thing (and we certainly are). It has an outlandish premise that leads to a lot of inadvertently hilarious line deliveries(? A bit awk). Keanu is not at all believable in it, but little did we know that he would actually be the "future's most wanted man".
Much Ado About Nothing (1993) - Angelica Jade Bastién wrote that Reeves "missed his calling as a silent film actor". By that metric, Shakespeare is the absolute worst place you can put him. This may be Keanu Reeves' most infamous role as it tortured a generation of High School English students forced to watch it. 

​

3 Comments
oiram
7/20/2019 02:42:13 am

He wouldn't be the first person to win both the same year. That honor already goes to Melissa McCarthy.

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FalconTypo
8/24/2019 12:48:08 pm

It's always strange to me how everyone overlooks "Permanent Record", "River's Edge", and "The Devil's Advocate"-- all classics.

Reply
oiram
9/2/2019 06:43:04 am

Okay, I know you probably think that Keanu is more important, but please take a look at what I posted before thinking he is a sure winner for the Redeemer award: http://razzie-forum.85675.x6.nabble.com/ADAM-SANDLER-FOR-RAZZIE-REDEEMER-td9688.html

If you cannot get to it for some reason, I'll just post my message here:

"Okay, from the looks of things, seems like the Razzie committee are a little more hopeful of Keanu Reeves being the one to receive the Razzie Redeemer (As well as him receiving his first Worst Actor Razzie, but that's neither here nor there right now.) If there was nothing else to look at, I might be okay with that, but something has come up, and I do not want this something to be over looked.

So, if there was one person who seemed to be the closest at being the new Razzie champ over Sylvester Stallone, it would be Adam Sandler. He first showed up on the Razzie's radar in the late 90s, becoming a bit of an annoyance in there minds, from what I can tell. He received his first nomination in '97 for Bulletproof and Happy Gilmore as Worst Actor. This developed to another nom in '99 for The Waterboy, and finally his first win in 2000 for Big Daddy, a movie he co-wrote the screenplay for, which was also nominated.

Even after the win, his movie career showed no signs of slowing down, but his nominations were few and far between, and sometimes the movies he was in would not be nominated for him, but for someone else. This was until this decade, with the arrival of Jack and Jill in 2011, the movie that is distinctive for being the only one to win every Razzie of that ceremony. Sandler himself was nominated for seven awards that year and won five of them, which were Worst Actor, Worst Actress, Worst Screen Couple, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Screen Ensemble. The only other movie to win an award that year was Just Go With It, which also starred Sandler.

Ever since then, his career faltered, and while he had a few hits, he also had a few flops as well. Even the hits were shown to be less successful than his previous outings. Of course, just about every movie after Jack and Jill earned him even more Razzie nominations, with That's My Boy giving him his third Worst Actor Razzie and his seventh overall. Pixels ended up being the final nail in the coffin that led him straight to Netflix, supposedly doing very well there, even if the majority of his movies are still being trashed. Now I know he's a bit of the instigator for considering Netflix movies for our awards. However, Murder Mystery does not currently seem like the best example of Sandler at his worst, but what if you were able to give him an award at his best?

You see, in-between all of his bad and mediocre comedies, with a few good ones sprinkled in, he's actually proven himself to be a better actor than originally given credit for. When Paul Thomas Anderson announced that he wanted to cast Sandler in his next movie, people laughed about it, already showing that Sandler is becoming a joke in himself. But then that movie came out in the form of Punch Drunk Love, and people loved it. It was shocking to see what the man was truly capable of, and made it even more infuriating that his bread and butter is still the same schtick over and over. Now not every dramatic movie he was in was the best, especially not The Cobbler, but he still showed the signs of being a truly good actor, and when he gets a true hit, it goes right out of the ballpark. Which is why I was curious and a bit excited when I heard he was starring in a theatrical release that was from the makers of the Robert Pattinson* film, Good Time.

This movie, Uncut Gems, has already been shown at a film festival, and it might not be for everyone, but if you look on Rotten Tomatoes right now, it is at <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/uncut_gems">100%</a>! And just to make sure this wasn't a fluke, I also checked Metacritic, and Uncut Gems received a very high <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/uncut-gems">92</a>! Ratings like that show that Adam Sandler made the right choice with this movie, and even those who weren't that much of a fan of the flick overall still praised Sandler immensely.

Considering the long journey and history with the Razzies, and the untapped potential, I think, no, I <b>BELIEVE</b> that Uncut Gems makes Adam Sandler deserving of not only the nomination for the Razzie Redeemer, but also deserving of being the winner. I think it would be such a missed opportunity to not even consider him, which is why I am making the call right now.

Razzies! <b>MAKE SURE ADAM SANDLER GETS A RAZZIE REDEEMER FOR UNCUT GEMS!!!</b>

*Oh yeah, and speaking of Robert Pattinson, he appeared in The lighthouse this year, and that one is highly praised, so consider him for that too. Willem Dafoe is also in it, and he has been nominated for Razzies in the past, but it was so few and so long ago that it probably isn't necessary anymore

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