Natural Born Killers. It was like I paid for a headache.
What was the worst movie you ever saw?
For me, many come to mind.......but some of the worst were:
1. Titanic
2. Choo Choo and the Philly Flash
3. Smokey and the Bandit II (or III, I forget)
and many, many others.
Natural Born Killers. It was like I paid for a headache.
Python 2 is up there. The most recent movie I walked out of was Lions for Lambs.
The two movies that I came closest to getting up and leaving were Roadhouse (didn't want to see it, but a friend really wanted to) and Romeo and Juliet, the one with Claire Danes and Leo Dicaprio.
I know I'll catch a lot of flak for R&J from its ardent fans, but seriously, that whole opening scene was pure torture to me. I thought I was going to have to run out of the theater screaming.
Anything Nic Cage.
Oh yeah, and the Royal Tannenbaums.
Hollowman and Mr. Woodcock.
I thought Howard the Duck (dating myself) was unwatchable.
Of recent vintage, Nacho Libre and Spiderman 3 were, uh, 'bad'.
1. Tron - yes, that was a fine idea, let's make a movie about being trapped in a giant computer.
2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - *loathe* that movie!! The rowers rowing used to scare me as did Viola Whatshername getting sucked into the giant pipe. And they used to make us watch it over and over again at my sorry excuse for a school during "library" time.
3. Punch Drunk Love - I know it was supposed to be all wonderful and sardonic and whatnot on Adam Sandler's part, but it was a terrible, terrible movie. It's one of the few movies I've ever actually walked out of for reasons that were not related to offensive content. I just wanted my afternoon back!
I liked The Royal Tannenbaums though! (of course, I didn't pony up $10 to see it on the big screen)
Closer. The only movie that actually maked me want to walk out of the theater. I was on a date so I didn't; but it turned out she didn't like it either...
Kickin It Old Skool and Delta Farce were also pretty bad, but with these two, you know it's bad before you watch the movie...
I'll also add, any Hollywood movie with Jet Li.
Boxing Helena. Kim Basinger decided she would rather file bankruptcy than honor her contract to be in that trash. And she was right. Absolutely putrid.
The worst movie I have seen lately was an award nominee for many things. Maybe it was just the mood I was in. We were staying in Durham a month ago for a five game span. Went to see There Will be Blood. I was really disappointed. If it were not for the award winning male lead, I would have joined some of the other people who walked out.
Forest Gump. I don't care how many "best of" lists it landed on - I think it is a piece of junk.
The Batman movie with the Governator and the Penguin was downright awful. I think I fell asleep.
"House of Flying Daggers" was embarrasingly bad -- I saw it on the first date with my eventual husband -- we both were laughing at the terribleness of the flick, and how much worse it was because it was on a first date, and neither felt comfortable about suggesting we head out early.
The only movie I've ever walked out of is Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (don't ask). Movie that I wanted to walk out of but didn't, remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice with Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange which is kind of my personal gold standard for bad. If it makes me feel as icky as that one did, it's a bad movie. I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate with a passion West Side Story.
Movie that I probably should have seen first weekend because it did not live up to the hype, There's Something About Mary, the pacing in that one is way too slow for a comedy, sorry, but it is. Still, it's got Jonathan Richardson so I can't actually call it a bad movie, but it's not that good either.
In general, if I've paid $10, I'll sit through it. I did rent Natural Born Killers and couldn't get through it. Returned it without watching the whole thing.
Noble failure that makes me think about it way more than it probably deserves, Solaris. Yes, I saw it because of George Clooney and if anybody's interested I can give you my 5 minute analysis of some simple changes that could have made that thing better.
There are a litany of G-rated movies that I've seen because of the kids that I otherwise would not have. I have different standards for those movies, so I won't pick on them, except for Barnyard (the huge udders on the male cows gave P.A.R.T. type ickies) and Flushed Away, I woke up in the middle watched for about a minute and decided I was much better off sleeping through it. In general, rats as main characters don't do it for me, so Ratatouille didn't really thrill me. And a restaurant with a rat on it's sign? I'm not eating there.
Wanted to but couldn't walk out on Ishtar - no ride. Swept Away was unbearable. Can't think of any more at the moment. There was one that my dad and I walked out on but just can't remember the title.
Oh! My! God! That movie nearly sapped my will to live.
I am the only one I know (other than pamtar, but I don't really know pamtar) who hated The Rock.
Also Serial Mom may have been one of the 5 worst movies I've ever seen, but somehow that's never stopped me from loving it.
This post over at The Atlantic includes an interesting discussion of the requirements that the Worst Movie Ever must meet. A few good examples: it has to be authentic (i.e., tried to be good, or at least, not bad); it has to be famous; and it has to induce a sense of dread in people who have watched it, "a fear that they may one day be forced to watch the film again - and again - and again. To pass muster as one of the all-time celluloid disasters, a film must be so bad that when a person is asked, 'Which will it be? Waterboarding, invasive cattle prods or Jersey Girl?', the answer needs no further reflection."
I imagine "not casting Jeremy Davies" would be in that analysis. Loved him in Saving Private Ryan but he annoyed me in Solaris. His mannerisms and unwillingness to commit to saying anything were highly irksome. I barely remember that movie, but Davies' performance gives me an instant aversion to seeing it again.
As for my worst movies, I tend to single out the ones with high levels of depravity and low levels of redeeming value. So Kids and The Doom Generation get my vote, and I've since steered clear of Larry Clark and Gregg Araki.
Also an honorable mention for Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures, which I consider the best film that I can never bring myself to see again. It's just too painful.