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It's almost Oscar night -- time again for a rarefied, secretive cabal of Hollywood insiders to vote for the best movie of the year.

But let's remember it also was a banner year for movies that cause the soul to shrink and the stomach to churn.

We've all got our own "Most Hated" list. But every year, a rebel awards show lurking in the shadows of darkest Hollywood starts emitting rude noises in the general direction of the movie studios.

The Golden Raspberry Awards precede the Oscars by a day, paying tribute to the worst of Hollywood's missteps, screw-ups and half-baked flops. They're all here: overcooked melodramas, cash-in sequels, inept adaptations, blockbusters that went down in flames. And for a small fee, anyone can vote for the "winners."

"As anyone who sees more than 10 films a year certainly knows, it is likelier that six or seven of those are probably Razzie movies rather than Oscar movies," says John Wilson, founder of the Razzies.

Coinciding with the silver anniversary of the Razzies, Wilson has published: "The Official Razzie Film Guide." Every past winner, from Madonna to "Mommie Dearest," is ripped into with relish.

It all began in Wilson's living room in 1980. He was working for a movie trailer company at the time, and gave an Oscar-night potluck party.

"The potluck guests were hauled up to a cardboard podium," Wilson says. "I had written a script; I had gotten clips for the 10 nominees. And everybody just loved the idea so much that I went and sent out a press release after the fact.

"Today, I'm astounded at the literally worldwide interest in this," he says. "But as self-serving, air-kissing phony as all those award shows are -- that's what Hollywood is. We're at the other end of the scale with a pea-shooter, getting just enough attention to really get under their skin."

Embracing ineptitude

Some movies are so unintentionally funny they can't be ignored.

Exhibit A. is Elizabeth Berkley in "Showgirls," worst picture '95 as well as worst picture of the decade. In this supposedly sexy thriller, Berkley played an innocent young stripper (!) moving to Vegas and working her way up in the cutthroat world of topless Vegas showgirls -- and had to emote her way through some of the most hilariously purple dialogue ever written.

Director Paul Voerhoven was actually a good sport about it.

"He was the first Razzie winner to actually attend the ceremony and accept the award in the spirit which it was intended," Wilson says. "He said, 'You people obviously love my movie. You don't love it the way I'd like you to ...'"

There's often a thin line between high drama and high hilarity -- and even the best directors sometimes hit the emotional buttons too hard.

"Mommie Dearest" -- worst picture '81 and worst picture of the decade -- is a good example.

"Fred Perry was a respected director, and the book sold 4 million copies," Wilson says. "Going in, you would have thought that this was going to be a serious drama about child abuse. But between (Faye Dunaway's) performance, an editing job that could have been done with a Cuisinart, the ridiculous costumes and the arch dialogue -- I don't think there's one credible performance in the lot. Everything about that movie was so extreme, you could have no other reaction but laughter."

Perhaps it's better to embrace the Razzies, though. Bill Cosby did, when his "Leonard, Part 6" took a beating at the '87 Razzies.

"He did say, 'Look, this comes with the territory,'" Wilson says. "'If you reach the level I've reached, somebody's going to be out there calling it when you make a mistake. I think we ought to be big enough to accept this.'"

Constructive criticism

One of the best reactions to a Razzie was Sofia Coppola's. Now she's known as the brilliant young director of "Lost in Translation." But her big-screen debut was as an actress in her father's "The Godfather, Part III."

"I say it's the worst female performance ever committed on film," Wilson says. "When she was told that she had won by the biggest margin ever -- 67 percent, for both worst actress and worst new star -- she said, 'Well, I just think I may never act again.'

"In a mock way, we said we were disappointed that when she won the Oscar (for screenwriting for 'Lost in Translation'), she neglected to acknowledge that we played a role in steering her toward her typewriter."

Perhaps the best contribution to the Razzies came from the reliably ridiculous Ben Affleck.

When he was nominated for the 2003 worst actor award for his performances in three movies in one year -- "Paycheck," "Daredevil" and the inexcusable "Gigli" -- Wilson tried to get him to attend.

"We couldn't get around his publicist. ... After the fact, he complained that we didn't physically give him an award."

Ben still got his Razzie.

"I knew that he was going to be on the Larry King show that night, and had an award messengered to him," Wilson says. "... For someone who said he wanted the award, he didn't handle it very well. He left it there.

"We retrieved it, put it on eBay, and it sold for enough money to pay for this year's show. We are going to acknowledge during this year's show that, inadvertently, Ben Affleck is our sponsor."

Razzie nominations

The winners for this year's Golden Raspberry Awards will be announced at the gala event on Saturday and should be available on the Web site www.razzies.com by midnight.

Worst picture

• "Alexander"
• "Catwoman"
• "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2"
• "Surviving Christmas"
• "White Chicks"

Worst actor

• Ben Affleck -- "Surviving Christmas"/"Jersey Girl"
• George W. Bush -- "Fahrenheit 9/11"
• Vin Diesel -- "Chronicles of Riddick"
• Colin Farrell -- "Alexander"
• Ben Stiller -- "Along Came Polly"/"Anchorman"/"Dodgeball"/"Envy"/"Starsky & Hutch"

Worst actress

• Halle Berry -- "Catwoman"
• Hilary Duff -- "Cinderella Story"/"Raise Your Voice"
• Angelina Jolie -- "Alexander"/"Taking Lives"
• Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen -- "New York Minute"
• Shawn & Marlon Wayans -- "White Chicks"

Worst screen couple

• Ben Affleck and either Jennifer Lopez or Liv Tyler -- "Jersey Girl"
• Halle Berry and either Benjamin Bratt or Sharon Stone -- "Catwoman"
• George W. Bush and either Condoleeza Rice or His Pet Goat -- "Fahrenheit 9/11"
• Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen -- "New York Minute"
• The Wayans Brothers (In or Out of Drag) -- "White Chicks."

Worst supporting actress

• Carmen Electra -- "Starsky & Hutch"
• Jennifer Lopez -- "Jersey Girl"
• Condoleezza Rice -- "Fahrenheit 9/11"
• Britney Spears -- "Fahrenheit 9/11"
• Sharon Stone -- "Catwoman"

Worst supporting actor

• Val Kilmer -- "Alexander"
• Arnold Schwarzenegger -- "Around the World in 80 Daze"
• Donald Rumsfeld -- "Fahrenheit 9/11"
• Jon Voight -- "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2"
• Lambert Wilson -- "Catwoman"

Worst director

• Bob Clark -- "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2"
• Renny Harlin and/or Paul Scrader -- "Exorcist 4: The Beginning"
• "Pitof" -- "Catwoman"
• Oliver Stone -- "Alexander"
• Keenan Ivory Wayans -- "White Chicks"

Worst sequel or remake

• "Alien vs. Predator" (20th Century Fox)
• "Anacondas: Hunt for the Blood Orchid" (Screen Gems)
• "Around the World in 80 Daze" (Disney)
• "Exorcist 4: The Beginning" (Warner Bros.)
• "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" (Warner Bros.)

Worst screenplay

• "Alexander"
• "Catwoman"
• "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2"
• "Surviving Christmas"
• "White Chicks"

Worst Razzie Loser of Our First 25 Years

• Kim Basinger (6 Total Nominations)
• Angelina Jolie (7 Total Nominations)
• Ryan O'Neal (6 Total Nominations)
• Keanu Reeves (7 Total Nominations)
• Arnold Schwarzenegger (8 Total Nominations)

Worst "Drama" of Our First 25 Years

• "Battlefield Earth" (2000)
• "The Lonely Lady" (1983)
• "Mommie Dearest" (1981)
• "Showgirls" (1995)
• "Swept Away" (2002)

Worst "Comedy" of Our First 25 Years

• "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" (2002)
• "Cat in the Hat" (2003)
• "Freddy Got Fingered" (2001)
• "Gigli" (2003)
• "Leonard Part 6" (1987)

Worst "Musical" of Our First 25 Years

• "Can't Stop the Music" (1980)
• "From Justin to Kelly" (2003)
• "Glitter" (2001)
• "Rhinestone" (1984)
• "Spice World" (1998)
• "Xanadu" (1980)

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