Following her 2002 Oscar win, Halle Berry decided to take some risks. As she told the LA Times back in 2007, “After ‘Monster’s Ball,’ I really wanted to go in a different direction. Sometimes those things work really well. Sometimes they don’t. But as a person, and as an actor, it worked well for me. I tried new things. I took risks. I faced certain fears.” Those risks never resulted in anything quite as impressive as an Academy Award, but they did demonstrate her willingness to put herself out there and almost led to her own James Bond spin-off — even if she did have to appear in the abject “Die Another Day” to get the ball rolling. (And no, it isn’t an underrated James Bond film.)
Alas, the planned “Jinx” spin-off, named after Berry’s NSA agent from “Die Another Day,” wouldn’t come to pass. Instead, we were all treated to her starring role in 2004’s “Catwoman,” about which we’ve already agreed there’s little that needs to be said. But back then, the people behind the Golden Raspberry Awards didn’t see it that way.
Since 1981, the awards had been taking aim at Hollywood snootiness, providing a satirical take on the Academy Awards that was initially designed as a subversive enterprise. But as /Film’s own Danielle Ryan has argued, the whole thing has long since become “mean-spirited bullying for the lowest common denominator,” and at this point, it’s pretty obvious that it’s time to retire the Razzies forever. However, after being nominated, Halle Berry was much more gracious about the whole thing.
