C'mon the Razzies, you can do better than that

At this special time of the year, newspapers are, understandably enough, full of whinges about the hopelessness of the Oscars. Obsessed with celebrity. Obsessed with box-office. Too predictable. You know how it goes.

Such articles often point towards the Golden Raspberry awards – given for worst achievements in film – as a kind of necessary and amusing corrective. But, in fact, a brief glance at this year's Razzie nominations, announced on Monday, confirms that the jokey body is every bit as conservative as its more distinguished cousin. Once again the worst picture nominations take in notable financial flops ( Land of the Lost), questionable blockbusters ( Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) and critical piñatas ( All About Steve).

The worst actor nominees combine reliable whipping boys (Megan Fox in so-so Jennifer's Body; the perfectly acceptable Eddie Murphy in the genuinely funny Imagine That) and voguish pop stars (the Jonas Brothers in a concert film, for Pete's sake; Miley Cyrus in Hannah Montana: The Movie).

The awards for the worst performances of the decade further underline the Razzies' obsession with the most conspicuous celebrities of the age: Paris Hilton, Madonna and Mariah Carey all figure. What are we saying? If the committee could be bothered to look beyond the pages of Peoplemagazine, they would find considerably worse performances and much more terrible films.