Every year delivers its fair share of movie clunkers. but it’s rare that the top grossing film is also its biggest stiff.
Take a bow, Optimus Prime.
But movie stinkers come in all shapes and sizes, witness WWTW’s role call of 2009’s worst film experiences.
- “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” – The original “Transformers” gave us near perfect popcorn thrills for the first 90 minutes. Then, it became a loud, incoherent mess. The sequel starts off there and somehow got worse.
- “Law Abiding Citizen” – How do you screw up a vigilante movie? Waste two quality actors (Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler), offer a plot more ridiculous than a Wile E. Coyote short and insult the audience’s intelligence in nearly every scene. Voila!
- “I Love You, Beth Cooper” – You don’t expect Oscar-caliber performances or a great script from a teen comedy. But “Beth Cooper” proved so inept it forced its way onto this list. Lazy, uninspired and deadly dull, “Beth Cooper” managed to make duds like “College” look downright appealing.
- “Land of the Lost” – Remaking a classic invites big risk. Rebooting a low rent ’70s kiddie show like “Land of the Lost” seems a far easier task. Or so it would seem. Sit through Will Ferrell’s “Lost” and you’ll be clamoring for the old show to cleanse your palate.
- “The Informers” – Line up a sterling – Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke – and let them loose on a script by author Bret Easton Ellis and, miraculously, you get a film with no redeeming value. This tale of ’80s selfishness and ugly behavior became the most inept movie of the year.
(Photo: Paul Rust and Hayden Panettiere star in the abysmal teen comedy “I Love You, Beth Cooper.”)
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I only saw 1 of the 5 and I wish I hadn’t. “Transformers” was by far the worst film of the year, maybe the decade. The fact that it was the highest grossing film is just plain sad. I’m still insulted by the robot balls, and I still think Michael Bay should be ashamed.
I had the same feeling as you toward the Transformers sequel – either “Fallen” would be like the first half of Transformers, or the second half. It picked the second half, and as noted by Heidi, added robot testicles. I’ve yet to see where robot testicles add to the quality of a film.
Michael Bay is simply following his audience’s marching orders. It’s sad, but that’s the way it is.
Pretty much the same people harping about how amazing “Dances With Smurfs” is…luckily the opening weekend shows it won’t have much legs as the logical word of mouth is coming out. I know many geek friends that have ZERO interest in seeing it and most are bleeding heart “white man guilt” liberals.
Fell asleep in Transformers despite the noise. Never even heard of the others — and I watch movies… obviously not as close as you Mr. Toto.