Ben, J. Lo lead nominees for Razzies

updated 10:46 a.m. ET Jan. 26, 2004

LOS ANGELES - Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s real-life romance crashed and burned. Now, the two are front-runners for worst on-screen love affair.

Affleck and Lopez’s mob-comedy bomb “Gigli” had a leading nine nominations — among them worst picture and worst screen couple — for the Razzies, an annual spoof of the Academy Awards that mocks the year’s most awful movies.

Mike Myers’ storybook adaptation “Dr. Seuss’ the Cat in the Hat” and “From Justin to Kelly,” featuring “American Idol” stars Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini, came in second with eight nominations each, including worst picture.

The other worst-picture nominees announced Monday were the crime romp “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” and the reality-TV adaptation “The Real Cancun.”

“Gigli” also was in the running for worst actor and actress, supporting actor (Al Pacino and Christopher Walken), supporting actress (Lainie Kazan), and worst director and screenplay (Martin Brest). Affleck’s worst-actor nomination also cited his performances in “Daredevil” and “Paycheck,” while Walken’s nomination also was for his role in “Kangaroo Jack.”

A spokesman for Lopez said last week that she and Affleck had broken up after a year and a half of tabloid gossip about their wedding plans, which they abruptly called off last September. The roughly 500 Razzies voters probably were swayed by rumors about Affleck and Lopez’s relationship.

“Ostensibly, we’re talking about their on-screen performances, but I’m sure all the endless twaddle about their personal lives played into their being nominated,” said Razzies founder John Wilson. “But it is an embarrassingly bad movie, and unfortunately, it’s not a fun bad movie.”

Nominations for the 24th annual Razzies, organized by the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation, were announced a day before the Oscar nominations. Razzie “winners” will be announced Feb. 28, a day before the Oscar ceremony.

Myers and Guarini joined Affleck in the worst-actor lineup, along with Cuba Gooding Jr. (“Boat Trip,” “The Fighting Temptations” and “Radio”) and Ashton Kutcher (“Cheaper by the Dozen,” “Just Married” and “My Boss’s Daughter”).

Besides Lopez, the worst-actress category included Clarkson, Angelina Jolie (“Beyond Borders” and “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider — The Cradle of Life”) and “Charlie’s Angels” co-stars Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. Barrymore’s nomination also cited her role in “Duplex.”

The $100 million hit “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over” brought another nomination for all-time Razzie champ Sylvester Stallone, who was cited for worst supporting actor. Stallone has a record 30 Razzie nominations and nine wins, including worst actor of the 20th century.

“He plays five different characters, none of them well, in ‘Spy Kids 3-D,”’ Wilson said. “He can claim he was in a movie that made $100 million, but he’s still Sylvester Stallone.”

Besides Stallone, Pacino and Walken, supporting-actor nominees were Anthony Anderson (“Kangaroo Jack”) and Alec Baldwin (“The Cat in the Hat”). Joining Kazan in the supporting-actress category were Demi Moore (“Charlie’s Angels”), Kelly Preston (“The Cat in the Hat”), Brittany Murphy (“Just Married”) and Tara Reid (“My Boss’s Daughter”).

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