The Bobcat Nation

As I hardly see anything unless it's already on DVD I'm looking for imput as to what to rent.


Worst Movies of 2005

Ever year has its share of duds, but 2005 had some classics that had audiences wishing they were sitting through "Catwoman" again. Buyers beware when you run into one of these titles in the DVD aisle ...

1. "In the Mix" -- A movie so bad on so many levels, scholars will study it for years. From the initial concept, to the script, to the casting, to the production design and finally to the direction, you can see the movie's budget going up in smoke on screen.

2. "Elektra" -- You know you're in for a long night when a cute teenage ninja-girl shows up for Jennifer Garner to protect. And to think director Rob Bowman once showed so much promise ...

3. "Undiscovered" -- A movie so wretched that it's only spared the first two slots on this list by its pretty cinematography. Bonus: If you're looking for a good drinking game, take a sip every time Ashlee Simpson stares directly into the camera. You can take the girl out of the music video, but you can't take the music video out of the girl!

4. "Waiting..." -- A great concept awfully executed. A first-year film student could have shot this movie better.

5. "Stealth" -- It's hard to take even a B-movie seriously when its villain is a talking robotic superfighter jet. An imaginative screenplay and three-dimensional characters wouldn't have hurt.

6. "Crash" -- Paul Haggis' take on Los Angeles race relations is so self-aware, so manipulative and so contrived that the only thing redeeming about it are the performances of Don Cheadle, Ryan Phillippe and Thandie Newton.

7. "The Man" -- Somewhere, a movie executive still thinks pairing Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy together is comic genius! Boy, is he wrong.

8. "The Honeymooners" -- See the previous comments on "The Man" and replace Jackson and Levy with Cedric the Entertainer and Mike Epps.

9. "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" -- This all-star production featuring Robert De Niro, Kathy Bates and Gabriel Byrne was filled with one snore-inducing scene after another. Some investor lost a lot of dough on this pile of crap.

10. "Herbie: Fully Loaded" -- This revival of the Disney franchise had the charm of the original movies sucked out of it. And people wondered why star Lindsay Lohan was drinking every night during the production.

briannell wrote:As I hardly see anything unless it's already on DVD I'm looking for imput as to what to rent.



2. "Elektra" -- You know you're in for a long night when a cute teenage ninja-girl shows up for Jennifer Garner to protect. And to think director Rob Bowman once showed so much promise ...

Hey!! Rob's a friend!!

I have know him since I was 12 years old. And if you knew how much a Star Trek / X files guy you would know how much that hurts!!

not my list, just pasted it. Really, looking to get caught up on some flicks, looking for imput best/worst.

I liked Crash. Basically, it's a summary of racism in America. Since you only have a couple hours to summarize such a complex issue, the wirter and director had to take full advantage of the "6-degrees-of-separation" concept.

I would recommend it on a night when you're not exactly in a really good mood.

I would recommend it on a night when you're not exactly in a really good mood

.

good to note, leave this one for those PMS days

Yeah, there are definitely two types of "worst films." There are films that are simply bad films that almost anybody could identify as bad films (Herbie: Fully Loaded probably falls into this category) and then there are "worst" films that are actually very good films, but that a person dislikes intensely out of spite (either because the film got a lot of attention, hits a nerve politically or socially, picks on one's home town, or otherwise offends someone). I think "Crash" falls into the latter category for this particular person. It was a very good film, but I could see it falling into someone's wheelhouse of pet peeves in film (yes, it was sanctimonious, yes, it showed the very worst in all people, yes, it gave redemption to a racist cop in a somewhat contrived moment of heroism ... with the same women he sexually assaulted earlier in the film, etc., etc.). I've heard similar critiques of Crash, so I do know that sentiment is out there.

But for me, if you let yourself buy into the fantasy of the film (that all of these racially conflicted characters happen to intersect in one day in L.A.), then it works beautifully. If you are pissed because it makes it appear as though everyone is racist (as they are overlooking the fantasy element that makes it all work), then you could easily hate it out of spite.

I have a lot of films that hit my all-time worst list not because they were poorly done, but rather because something about the plot really pisses me off. Double Jeopardy leaps to mind (a movie whose conflict could have been resolved in 5 minutes if the characters weren't all so intentionally stupid).

Where did this particular list happen to come from, Rebecca? I love the annual "Best" and "Worst" movie lists from all of the different sources ... until they pan movies I like. The "Best" lists end up populating my Netflix queue for me.

Brad,

well you know I really think CPA was the wrong profession for you - movie critic would be perfect for me of course it'd be taking over doc tandy's job on the PBR tour

I will have time to watch movies once Brian goes to Germany, and kids finally sleep in their own beds, so this is good place for feedback. Just watched fantastic 4 - i enjoyed, but looking for more substance. it still was in the "family friendly" PG ranking, I can do more grit now. the new Batman was alright -we watched that last night.

the list, can't remember if it was from the SunTimes or some random "online " source. sorry kids were obsessed with Whac-a-mole, Furby and new trains from santa today, and i had already cleaned, so in my boredom I surfed a lot today


I know i like to read random papers (SunTimes, NY Times, Seattle), and some dumb entertainment guides. It may have been from Foxnews hit that site today as well. yep

I liked Crash too, it came off as over the top, but it also put a bunch of racial tensions into one film, a lot of different perspectives.