Top 20 Worst Movies of the Century (So Far)
#20: “Cats” (2019)
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We all know that having an all-star cast doesn’t always translate into a successful picture, but that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to “Cats”. The Tom Hooper-directed fantasy musical was absolutely annihilated upon release, with critics tearing apart CGI glitches that were so obvious, Universal Pictures had to send out visual updates to theatres after the movie was already released! Meanwhile, audiences had to sit through a nightmarish and disjointed story that had silver screen icons like Ian McKellen and Judi Dench clawing away needlessly at their storied careers and reputations. Plus, with those post-release CGI fixes, the losses on “Cats” are expected to reach between $70-100 million, making it a total flop on all accounts.
#19: “Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star” (2011)
We guess you could say that Nick Swardson was the 2010s equivalent to Rob Schneider, i.e. the guy who frequently pops up in Adam Sandler movies. Where Schneider had a few star vehicles back in the day, though, Swardson was given one shot to prove that he could carry a movie. If “Bucky Larson” proves anything, it’s that Swardson wasn’t born to be a star. Centering on a buck-toothed mouth-breather who learns his parents were adult film stars, Bucky Larson sets out in pursuit of fame. It’s basically a poorer version of “Orgazmo,” which didn’t exactly set the bar very high. Throw in Pauly Shore and you’ve got a movie that’s clearly not even trying.
#18: “Gotti” (2018)
Congratulations, John Travolta, you’ve made your silliest movie since “Battlefield Earth.” But, we’ll get to that one later. The script for this crime biopic reads like it was written by an A.I. bot that gathered all of its data from Italian-American stereotypes and gangster clichés. “Gotti” hits all the familiar mob movie beats, but it’s completely deprived of any humanity. When all is said and done, what do we really learn about John Gotti by watching this movie? Well, he was a mob boss, he had a family, he swore a lot… that’s about it! There’s no real insight into what made Gotti such a fascinating figure. The only thing more confused than the movie itself is the soundtrack, which includes the musical stylings of Pitbull and the theme from “Shaft.”
#17: “Fantastic Four” (2015)
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The next entry on our list is a case of tripping right out of the gate. Director Josh Trank was a relative newcomer to the scene when he was hired to helm 2015’s big budget reboot of Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” franchise. Trank had only one prior directorial credit in film to his name with 2012’s “Chronicle,” yet the writing was on the proverbial wall when Trank posted a negative tweet about his experience on the film prior to its release. This was in addition to the already poor reception “Fantastic Four” was receiving from critics, who wrote off the film as “a woefully misguided attempt to translate a classic comic series without the humor, joy, or colorful thrills that made it great”. Ouch.
#16: “The Master of Disguise” (2002)
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People cannot deny that “SNL” alum Dana Carvey is a brilliant mimic and impersonator. After watching this film, though, it’s difficult to see where this brilliance went. In this comedy fantasy, which was co-written by Carvey himself, we watch as a bumbling Italian waiter named Pistachio Disguisey (we are not joking), who’s obviously destined to be a master of disguise, tries to thwart a criminal mastermind, and save his parents. Offensive stereotypes and non-stop fart jokes punctuate a random series of events that seems to have been collected from failed sketch ideas. Try as it might, this film cannot disguise itself as anything but a huge dud.
#15: “Transformers: The Last Knight” (2017)
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Just when you thought this blockbuster franchise couldn’t get any worse, Michael Bay went ahead and further tarnished Optimus Prime’s reputation with . . . whatever the hell happened in this incomprehensible mess of a movie. For some reason, it involves King Arthur and ancient Transformers, who… you know what? Plot summary feels like a waste of time. Spoiler alert: critics abhorred the film. For once however, it seems as if cinemagoers were actually in agreement with the scribes. Though it did pull in over $600 million, that was actually considered an underperformance for the franchise. So, taking the typical “logic-be-damned… yay explosions!” Michael Bay approach, this installment proved that the “Transformers” formula may finally be faltering with the movie masses.
#14: “The Happening” (2008)
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Leading up to its release, M. Night Shyamalan compared his film “The Happening” to Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds." The director later changed his tune, however, labeling "The Happening" as a B-movie. Looking back, the latter description would be giving it almost too much credit. After a series of mass suicides across the United States, a small group tries to get to the bottom of things – and what was the cause? Spoiler alert - it was the trees! As if that isn’t infuriating enough, the entire film feels way too overconfident, and the acting is stiff and unconvincing throughout, despite the impressive cast.
#13: “Glitter” (2001)
There’s been no shortage of quality musical dramas in the 21st century, but this isn’t one of them. Mariah Carey has tried to blame the film’s failure on the fact it was released on 9/11, even though it was actually released on the much less traumatic 9/21. But, the fact that critics and fans alike loathed the film seems a far more likely explanation. For one, Carey’s performance as Billie Frank was so harshly criticized she ended up winning the Razzie in 2002 for Worst Actress. After just 27 days in theaters, it closed having earned back only around a quarter of its $22 million budget. All that glitters clearly ain’t box office gold.
#12: “Gigli” (2003)
Thanks to Bennifer 1.0, this monstrosity received way more attention than it deserved. However, that didn’t stop the movie from being among Hollywood’s most expensive bombs ever. In “Gigli,” Ben Affleck is a mobster who needs to kidnap a prosecutor’s mentally handicapped brother in order to help a crime boss - played Al Pacino - avoid prison. You all guessed right; this is clearly a romantic comedy. This movie is offensive to the mentally challenged, to lesbians, and to any audience members with eyes or ears. After winning six Razzies, it later won a seventh for Worst Comedy of the Razzies’ First 25 Years. Well deserved.
#11: “Holmes & Watson” (2018)
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After “Talladega Nights” and “Step Brothers,” we were all ready for another Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly collaboration to be a laugh riot. The only mystery in “Holmes & Watson” is how so many funny people produced such a clueless – not to mention elementary - comedy. The movie basically follows the same formula as every other Will Ferrell star vehicle: an egotistical buffoon needs to learn the value of humility and friendship. This time, however, the formula is devoid of anything resembling charm, humor, or effort. In 2018, did the filmmakers seriously think that people would laugh at jokes about fake mustaches, the Titanic, and women being doctors? The fact that Sony couldn’t even pawn this inevitable bomb off on Netflix says everything.
#10: “The Emoji Movie” (2017)
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In 1914, Winsor McCay premiered his animated short “Gertie the Dinosaur,” launching a groundbreaking art form into the mainstream. 103 years later, this art form was used to turn Sir Patrick Stewart into a taking piece of poop. McCay would be so proud! “The Emoji Movie” doesn’t even feel like a real animated feature, but rather a satire of one. Come to think of it, if smarter writers were involved, maybe this could’ve been a clever satire about product placement and Hollywood’s creative bankruptcy. Since this is a movie about a society that inhabits a device, however, it’s nothing more than a commercial, really. As Rotten Tomatoes will tell you, the whole movie can be summed up with a general prohibition sign emoji.
#9: “Catwoman” (2004)
Michelle Pfeiffer VS Zoë Kravitz VS Anne Hathaway as Catwoman
Here’s a movie executive board meeting we can’t imagine happening: “Hey guys, the campiness of “Batman & Robin” was such a success, let’s create the same cheesy atmosphere for this “Batman” spin-off and not use Batman at all.” Extra points to Halle Berry for agreeing to do this fresh off her Oscar win though. It won Razzies for Worst Picture, Screenplay, Actress, and Director, and everybody, even Halle Berry, agreed that this was a piece of garbage. Not only did it have barely anything to do with the DC Comics characters, but it also lacked any strong female characters, action sequences, or even a compelling plot. Where is Michelle Pfeiffer when we need her?
#8: “Alone in the Dark” (2005)
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Especially known for his video game adaptations, Uwe Boll has built a reputation for directing some of the worst movies of all time, with most of his productions becoming critical and box office disasters. He also doesn’t care what you think. Although “House of the Dead” deserves a special mention, it’s his other video game adaptation that is our runner-up. In “Alone in the Dark,” Christian Slater uses his special powers to chase after these demonic creatures that used to be worshiped by an extinct civilization. And it. Is. Epically bad.
#7: “Movie 43” (2013)
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Helmed by Peter Farrelly, who’d ironically go on to direct a Best Picture winner only five years later, “Movie 43” was supposed to be “Kentucky Fried Movie” meets “Funny or Die.” Instead, we got “the ‘Citizen Kane’ of awful,” as Richard Roeper put it. Comprised of several sketches, this anthology comedy enlisted a cornucopia of gifted actors and filmmakers. The selling point was a skit where Kate Winslet goes on a date with Hugh Jackman, who’s given… err, a unique neck abnormality. From there, more and more stars signed up for a comedy that ultimately produced few laughs, but plenty of groans and cringes. We dare you to find a movie released this decade that flushed more talent down the toilet.
#6: “Fifty Shades of Grey” franchise (2015-18)
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Given how over-the-top E. L. James’ books are, the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy could’ve been so bad it’s good, not unlike “Showgirls.” By removing Anastasia Steele’s ridiculous narration, though, we’re left with a vanilla romance that doesn’t even deliver the eroticism the trailers promised. When you really think about it, there isn’t that much BDSM in these movies. Most of the run time is instead dedicated to beautiful people driving fancy cars, sailing yachts, flying in private planes, and essentially indulging in the one-percent lifestyle. Then when we do get to the sensual stuff, it’s kept relatively tame. It all builds to arguably the dumbest ending of the decade in which Ana and Christian live happily ever after. Fitting?
#5: “Jack and Jill” (2011)
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We’re glad that Adam Sandler is closing out the decade with an Oscar-worthy performance in “Uncut Gems” because he kicked off the decade with a Razzie-winning performance in “Jack and Jill.” Actually, he gave two Razzie-winning performances, playing adman Jack and his unbelievably obnoxious twin sister Jill. The film even managed to win a Razzie in every category, an unprecedented… um, “achievement.” Even in a decade that brought us “Pixels” and “Grown Ups 2,” “Jack and Jill” is Sandler’s crowning achievement of lazy anti-humor. Al Pacino says it best in the final scene where he orders Jack to “burn this.” In the story’s context, he’s talking about a commercial, but it just as easily could be applied to the movie we just endured.
#4: “Loqueesha” (2019)
“Loqueesha” is the tale of a white man who can’t get a job in radio. So, he impersonates a sassy black woman to get on the airwaves. Right… because we all know how hard it is for white males in the workforce and how women of color have everything handed to them. Honestly, how did a movie like this get made in the modern world? It’d be one thing if this was intended to be in poor taste, but the film actually tries to seriously tackle themes likes cultural identity, gender inequality, and suicide. Adding insult to injury, our protagonist is portrayed as a “wise, gentle, and kind” individual who has all the answers. Writer/producer/director/star Jeremy Saville has made the modern equivalent of 1986’s “Soul Man.”
#3: “The Last Airbender” (2010)
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“The Last Airbender” lived up to its title, but not in the way that director M. Night Shyamalan intended. Shyamalan built up this film as if it was going to kick off Hollywood’s next epic trilogy. Between its rushed plot, wooden acting, over-produced special effects, unnatural dialogue, and accusations of whitewashing, though, a sequel naturally never saw the light of day. The good news is that there’s already an epic trilogy: the three-season-long animated series that inspired this cinematic travesty. That being said, the fact that “The Last Airbender” derived from such a brilliant show is what truly gets under people’s skin. A terrible movie is one thing. A terrible movie based on promising source material is just shameful.
#2: “Battlefield Earth” (2000)
Many of our entries can be seen as career-killers, but “Battlefield Earth” brought John Travolta to an all-time low. Although most actors are forced to take these steps-down for a paycheck, Travolta spent years bringing this movie to the world, claiming its source material was better than “Star Wars.” Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, wrote the book in an attempt to bring the religion to younger audiences, and that book serves as the basis of the sci-fi action flick. Needless to say, the world wasn’t interested. When the most horrible acting you’ve ever seen is topped by camerawork that will give you a cramp in the neck, it’s not surprising that you have a recipe for unintentional hilarity. Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable, or in this case dishonorable, mentions: “Son of the Mask” (2005) “The Atlas Shrugged Trilogy” (2011-14) “Dragon Ball Evolution” (2009) “Dirty Grandpa” (2016) “Norbit” (2007) “Gods of Egypt” (2016)
#1: “The Room” (2003)
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When your movie sparks a debate about film as “outsider art” and gets compared to “getting stabbed in the head”, you know you’ve done something…special. And no, we’re not talking about “Birdemic: Shock and Terror”. “The Room” was created by Tommy Wiseau, a mysterious eccentric who delivers one of the most head-scratching performances ever as the lead in this cringe-worthy romantic drama. Wiseau plays a banker in San Francisco named Johnny who’s trying to cope with the infidelities of his fiancee Lisa. From the melodramatic acting and awkward sex scenes to the nonsense plot, the movie tries to convince audiences that it's authentic and real, while somehow missing every single note. There’s a reason “The Room” has often been called the ‘best worst movie ever made’.
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