Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland was nominated Tuesday for a Golden Raspberry Award — better known as a Razzie — for his role in the made-in-Toronto epic Pompeii.

The Razzies pay tribute to the year’s worst achievements in film.

Sutherland is nominated as Worst Supporting Actor along with Mel Gibson (Expendables 3), Kelsey Grammer (Expendables 3, Legends of Oz, Thinks Like a Man Too and Trannies 4), Shaquille O’Neal (Blended) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Expendables 3).

Last May, The Guardian critic Stuart Heritage described Sutherland’s acting in Pompeii as “a classic panto ham turn; all evil eyeballs and implacably ludicrous accent.”

Worst Actor nominations went to Kirk Cameron (Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas), Nicolas Cage (Left Behind), Kellan Lutz (The Legend of Hercules), Seth MacFarlane (A Million Ways To Die in the West) and Adam Sandler (Blended).

Blended co-star Drew Barrymore earned a Worst Actress nod, as well as Cameron Diaz (The Other Woman, Sex Tape), Melissa McCarthy (Tammy), Charlize Theron (A Million Ways to Die in the West) and Gaia Weiss (The Legend of Hercules).

Worst Supporting Actress nominees are Cameron Diaz (Annie), Megan Fox (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Nicola Peltz (Transformers 4: Age of Extinction), Susan Sarandon (Tammy) and Brigitte Ridenour (Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas).

Razzie dishonours for Worst Picture went to Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas, Left Behind, The Legend of Hercules, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Transformers 4: Age of Extinction.

The latter three films will compete against Atlas Shrugged 3: Who Is John Galt? and Annie for Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel.

Among the nominees in the Worst Screen Combo category are Kirk Cameron “and his ego” and Kellan Lutz and “either his abs, his pecs or his glutes.”

Click here for the full list of nominees.

Los Angeles – Paul WS Anderson put Kiefer Sutherland through “hell” on the set of Pompeii.

The director admitted Sutherland and Kit Harington were left feeling “uncomfortable” as they filmed through clouds of ash to recreate the scenes from volcano explosion that destroyed the Italian city in 79 AD.

Speaking to BANG Showbiz, he said: “We needed to plunge them into hell and it’s easier to act like that if they are in hellish conditions, if you talk to Kit or Kiefer, they would both tell you the same, it was hellish making the movie.

He added, we had a lot of very unhappy actors. Everyone was very committed to the movie and coming to work. But I think there were times when they weren’t happy. They weren’t coming in, in the mornings saying, ‘Woohoo! Pompeii!’ because they were getting ash in their eyes and in their lungs, it really was an uncomfortable movie but I think that discomfort added a huge layer of realism.”

He then joked: “Kiefer for example, makes a lot of notes in his script. About what the character is thinking, handwritten notes in his script and he would write things like, ‘NAR’, I would see this term ‘NAR’ all the way through his script.

“I said, ‘NAR’ and he said, ‘No acting required’. He said, ‘I don’t need to pretend that the world was ending. I know you’re going to make me feel like it is.”

According to the director, the 24 actor even revealed that Pompeii was the hardest film he’s ever made.

He explained: “Kiefer’s made about 50 movies and at the end of Pompeii he said, ‘That’s the toughest film I’ve ever made.’ I took that as a compliment!”

(edited for spoilers)

A love story. Gladiator fights. Politics. An exploding volcano. Kiefer Sutherland as a Roman Senator.

“Pompeii” is an entertaining B movie. The visual effects technology available can take a B movie like “Pompeii” and make it look bigger and better than it would have years ago. “Pompeii” benefits greatly from that, taking a middling script where you can guess what’s coming next or what’s going to be said and make it look fantastic and immersive (the movie is released in 2D and 3D formats). After watching it in 2D I felt the movie would have been more fun in 3D.

“Pompeii” is the latest from director Paul W.S. Anderson, a love story about two people form the wrong side of the tracks set against the backdrop of a terrible event in history where a city of 20,000 people were destroyed (and lost for 1500 years) after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. As a filmmaker, Anderson has a long career making visually interesting movies that are sometimes thin on substance.

As “Pompeii” unfolds there are moments where the earth shakes, the structures creaking and cracking. Characters watch it curiously, scared and confused. For the audience it’s mildly amusing, knowing what this is leading up to. It’s all part of the entertainment, not much different than the spectacle of the gladiator fights.

There’s little new in “Pompeii,” we’ve seen this story and its scenes before (“Conan the Barbarian,” “Titanic,” “Gladiator”). That isn’t the problem. It’s mostly the plain, wooden dialogue that as basic as basic comes (“Wake up, scum!”) and sometimes silly (“That’s the mountain, she grumbles sometimes”).

In the end “Pompeii” works as Saturday afternoon entertainment. It’s not groundbreaking or original, its just fun. Watching Anderson’s work over the years it’s clear he loves making movies and how it becomes part of pop culture. As someone who’s watched his movies and groaned more than once, I enjoyed “Pompeii.” It’s honest about what it is.

Read the rest of the review here.

We only had one movie still for awhile, but now more have been released, and they’ve been added to the gallery! Who’s checked out Pompeii in theaters this weekend? I’m going this afternoon with my hubby and a few friends. Can’t wait!

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