Posted by: Brad Sturdivant
Making a list of the worst movies in a particular year is much harder than making a list of the best movies of 2010. This is true mainly because there’s more competition when it comes to bad movies and if you’re lucky, there’s usually about 15 good movies to choose from. Narrowing down the 150 other bad movies into only 10 is a challenge. Before I get into the worst movies of the year, you need to know that the most important things that makes a movie “bad” is when it tries to do something and fails. In other words, VAMPIRES SUCK isn’t on my list because even though it was atrocious and never should have been made, it tried to be a stupid spoof movie. So saying it was the worst of the year is just playing into the film’s intentions. As far as movie failures, here’s a list of the worst movies of 2010:
10. GREENBERG – Ben Stiller and Greta Gerwig had no business being in this film. Not that two other actors could have done better with this misguided film from Noah Baumbach, but the film had no chance with these two in the lead roles. Baumbach’s films are an acquired taste that I thought I had, but he may have lost me with this one.
9. THE TOURIST – I never would have thought Depp and Jolie could stink up a film as bad as they did with this, but there’s a reason so many A-listers passed on the script before it finally wound up in their hands. As beautiful as they are, they couldn’t save this film from an amateur director and a predictable plot.
8. JONAH HEX – I almost feel bad for Josh Brolin and Megan Fox for getting caught up in the travesty that is Jonah Hex. On paper, this could have been a fun film but nothing about this movie went right. They found a way to make Megan Fox unsexy and make an action movie boring. This film was plagued with problems throughout and suffered a few delays. Now we know why.
7. THE BOUNTY HUNTER – I actually defended Jennifer Aniston earlier this year, but there’s no defending THE BOUNTY HUNTER. But like I said in the article; this wasn’t so much her fault as it was Gerard Butler’s. 300 aside, Butler has stunk up everything he’s touched and I dare you to watch this film without being overcome with the urge to punch him in the face.
6. SEX AND THE CITY 2 – I will sheepishly admit that I actually liked the TV show and the first movie wasn’t bad. And I love that women love this series so much. So maybe that’s why I hated the sequel so much; they completely spit in the face of all their fans by taking a quality series and making a mockery of it. Nothing went right for the sequel and now even the most die-hard fans are going to have to reconsider watching another sequel.
5. FURRY VENGEANCE – This isn’t Brendan Fraser’s first ride on a top 5 worst list and probably won’t be his last. Even with his horrible filmography, I couldn’t help but ask why he would do such a bad film. I appreciate the message of going green and loving the environment, but when your movie is this bad, it might have the opposite effect on people.
4. SOMEWHERE – Yes, the film that won Cannes this year is without a doubt one of the worst movie of the year. This film makes me so angry I can hardly stand it. It’s a film about nothing, but not in that Seinfeld-funny way, but in the way that makes you long to get that 100 minutes of your life back. And again, anyone that tells you this film has deeper meaning is being swindled and/or paid by Sofia Coppola.
3. GENTLEMAN BRONCOS – I came into Broncos convinced I was going to like it. I like Jemaine Clement and Sam Rockwell and felt that this film would be a great lesser-known gem. Boy, was I wrong. This film could have been made by a 12 year-old with a camcorder and still looked more professional. The dialogue was embarrassing and the worst part about it is the fact they had a good idea and just couldn’t execute.
2. MARMADUKE – This gets ranked so high because of the blatant attempt to cash in on a name and forego all effort of making a decent film. I love dogs, and talking dogs are always cute, but even a dog lover like me couldn’t stomach Marmaduke. And just because you have cute dogs in your film, it doesn’t mean you have to make every human despicable.
1. THE BACK-UP PLAN – I have no problem with Jennifer Lopez. In fact, I used to enjoy some of her romantic comedies. But those days are long gone as Lopez is just a pale reflection of her former self. This film was hard to get through and they managed to offend just about every woman in the world. I would say Lopez should be ashamed of herself, but after taking on American Idol, I’m sure she’s past the point of shame.
Honorable mentions – GREENZONE, COP OUT, WHEN IN ROME, GROWN UPS, THE LAST AIRBENDER