'Gigli' leads Razzies' worst film nominees

6.00pm

LOS ANGELES - Can it get any worse for Hollywood's favorite tabloid couple? Just days after Jennifer Lopez confirmed that she had ended her stormy high-profile engagement to Ben Affleck, "Gigli" - the movie that sparked their off-screen romance - gets the uncertain honor of leading the pack in nominations for the awards that celebrate the very worst of the American movie industry's annual output.

The nominations for the Golden Raspberry or Razzie awards for 2003, announced today, included nine for "Gigli," a mob comedy starring Affleck and Lopez that critics hated and audiences spurned.

"The Cat in the Hat," a sometimes risque riff on the children's classic by Dr. Seuss, was just behind with eight Razzie nominations, including worst actor for Mike Myers for a performance award organizers called a "fur-ball hocking desecration."

Lopez and Affleck met on the set of "Gigli" in late 2001 and were engaged in November 2002.

Last September, the couple called off their supposedly secret wedding just days before it was to take place, citing a media invasion of their privacy.

The pair, who became known collectively as "Bennifer," have been seen together in public in the months since, although there have been widespread rumors that they were splitting up.

A spokesman for Lopez said on Tuesday that the actress-singer had ended her engagement to Affleck.

Lopez may be the front runner as 2003's worst actress, but other star-crossed screen lovers also had a rough ride with critics and the Razzie judges.

Angelina Jolie, who chases romance to geopolitical hot spots in "Beyond Borders," also scored a nomination, along with Kelly Clarkson who chases fellow "American Idol" Justin Guarini through an antic-filled Miami spring break in "From Justin to Kelly."

Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz grabbed a dual dishonor with worst-actress nods for their high-kicking, crime-fighting return in "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle."

Sylvester Stallone, an evil, video-game mastermind set on global domination in "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over," took his 30th Razzie nomination, more than any actor in the history of the awards, which spoof the Oscars, Hollywood's highest honors.

The 2004 Razzies will be given out on Feb. 28, a day before the Academy Awards.

The Razzie awards, which were launched in 1980 by writer John Wilson, offer winners a spray-painted raspberry atop a nest of Super 8 film although most awards go unclaimed by honorees.

- REUTERS