You know you have one. One single movie that just appalls and horrifies you, that is just so gut-clutchingly bad that you want to gather all existing copies together, douse them with gasoline and light them aflame, except for maybe one copy to be shown to all film makers with the disclaimer: DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU.

Here, how bout some categories--

1. Worst film loved by everyone you know except you.

2. Worst film acclaimed as a classic by people who really should know better.

3. Film that leaves you feeling just completely indifferent: you went, you saw, you forgot it.

4. Worst director.

I'll post my picks shortly.

Tom,
I looking forward to viewing your list

No fair. I asked you first.

worst film loved by everyone I know except me.

here are 3:
Dead Poets Society by far the worst.
Dances with Wolves
The English Patient

Loved both Dead Poets AND Dances with Wolves. But I am a girl so that should be expected huh? LOL :-)

I think the worst movie I have ever seen was "Inside Man" ICK ICK ICK.

Now I will go back and re-read the rules to how we are to list these! LOL :-)

WORST MOVIE: TITANIC!

my worst movie is called the rapture. i think i walked out of it. i remember suffering for a long time...just waiting for something to happen. it never did. i can't express how lame it was. i realise i'm not following form: this is just pure "i hated that movie so much" kind of thing.

i liked dead poets society back in the day. but i'm a teacher and highly sentimental...

Film that left me completely indifferent: I went, I saw and forgot it

The Matrix.

Not a bad movie, but I didnt go gaga over it when I left the theatre. I didnt quote it, or reference it in any way. I did go wanting to rush back to see the sequal. It was just OK

Well, I feel the need to nominate The Conqueror, with John Wayne as none other than Genghis Khan, a casting decision so bad as to induce intense psychological trauma in those who have accidently been exposed to the movie.

As for movies proclaimed classics by people who should know better, I offer Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Johnny Depp which Ebert and others gave 4 stars to.

Dances with Wolves would certainly have to be up there.

worst director, single movie or career? How about Otto Preminger for Hurry Sundown? or Paul Verhoeven for Showgirls?

Completely indifferent? Margot at the Wedding?

How ironic,
Omar Shariff's version of Ghengis Khan also stinks to high heaven, however its especially painful to watch John Wayne in that character. I wonder what was going through his head when he agreed to be in it? Probably lost a bet.

Catagory 2

worst film acclaimed as a classic by people who should know better.

Cleopatra.
Beautiful scenery, dreadful dialogue, a few good moments. As the world's most expensive movie, its a shame they didnt get better results.

#2

i really hated how over the top mystic river was. i really wanted something other than what it shoved down my throat. i think it got academy nominations, right?

Wow. I've seen movies MUCH worse than Titanic, Dances With Wolves, The Matrix, or Dead Poets Society. Is this thread supposed to be Worst Movies Ever or Movies We're Too Cool For? If the intent is to pick apart films that otherwise are loved by millions of people, then count me out.

The catagories are clearly posted at the top of the thread

Film that left me Completely Indifferent:

Forrest Gump. So a dope accidently meets a lot of famous people and is present for some big events, despite being a dope. He pines for a woman who treats him like crap, and comes up with some trite sayings. And I wasn't all that impressed with his performance, which seems artificial to me from start to finish, compared to Philedelphia or even Apollo 13.

But then I guess dopes do get by accident what hard-working intelligent people fail to accomplish even though they strive for their entire lives. Lesson: don't be born with any smarts, or life will suck. Wander through life as an idiot and be rewarded.

Worst Film Loved By Everyone but Me:

Heathers.

Worst Director:

Kevin Smith (though M. Night Shyamalan has really collapsed into an awful state as well)

I personally have never suggested I'm too cool for any movie, and I find it hard to imagine that anyone who's read my snippets here would stoop so low as to suggest such a thing. I'm highly offended, Rob. Have you no sense of shame? I think I'll have to go home and watch the Matrix again tonight to recover my sense of self. But, I'll defend my right to dis So You Think You Can Dance with Wolves against all comers.

Great Post Tom, can't wait to see your list!

I was asked this on another website so here's my Worst Damn Movie of all time that makes me lose all hope for humanity. This is the garbage that sets the standard so low that it is now virtually impossible for intelligent science fiction films to get produced. Thankfully, low-budget (but highly intelligent) films like PRIMER still exists.
Caveat: I lost control and included a few f-bombs.

#1 (Tie) THE PHANTOM MENACE/ATTACK OF THE CLONES/REVENGE OF THE SITH (Lucus the Hutt) -- I will try to be polite in my narrative....no, fuck that. These movies sucked so badly that I can barely contain myself as I type this. The story, editing, cinematography, acting, dialogue, everything about these movies is fucking awful. I saw TPM at the Allen Theatre and wanted to kill every person that was responsible for this absolute evil pile of maggot-ridden shit after a half-hour. And the trilogy went downhill from there. From Jar-Jar to baby Bobba Fett to the slow-motion Darth Vader NOOOOOOO! climax proves that our society, no, the whole god-fucking world is doomed to Hell. These movies are bad. No excuses. I enjoy Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back though I still want to stab Ewoks with rusty knives. The reason I viewed all three films (OK, here comes the rationalization to save my soul from eternal damnation, please god believe me!) was this: I held out an abnormal hope that each new installment couldn't be as bad as the one before; it was just not humanly possible. But it was possible as the gigantic Lucus the Hutt shat out these cinematic monstrosities. Ok, I'm done. I'm sorry. My Court Ordered Psych evaluation should be completed any day now...

I guess nobody here has seen Howard the Duck, Battlefield Earth, Leonard Part 6, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, or Showgirls. Although I will agree that the new Star Wars movies were pretty freakin' awful.

Bad movies come, bad movies go. There are great bad movies, of the So Bad They're Good variety: SHOWGIRLS, HOWARD THE DUCK, THE CONQUEROR, PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE, the great camp disasters. There are the other films that are just so bad that they're just bad: COLD MOUNTAIN, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, THE PHANTOM MENACE, LIFE WITHOUT ZOE, the monstrous warmongering abortion called 300, etc.

For me, the real worst film of all time, the movie that made me want to hunt down and kill any and everyone associated with it's production, is now and must forever be:

CHICAGO

Quite simply the worst film ever made. What few virtues the film possesses (a good score, a good plot, some adequate performances, some very nice lighting) are completely overwhelmed by the sheer awfulness of the execution. Even such classic howlers as SHOWGIRLS and PLAN NINE From Outer Space are classics of cinema compared with this hyper-caffeinated load of garbage.

The device of having musical numbers take place as Roxie's fantasies is interesting on paper but badly carried out. I don't think it works. Similar devices have been used effectively before, in PENNIES FROM HEAVEN and ALL THAT JAZZ, but it is worth remembering that those films were conceived with those devices in mind, as being integral parts of the films/TV series. CHICAGO grafts this device onto an already existing piece of material, and does a bad job of it. The film spends so much time getting in and out of Roxie's fantasies that it can't work up urgency in the plot, or generate any sexual tension among the characters.

But what really sinks CHICAGO for me is the really unbelievable ineptitude of the excution. The camera work and editing are a mess. The film is a classic example of Cuisinart editing (sorry, Cuisinart): dances are cut to shreds, and the choreography vanishes in a flurry of quick cuts to bizarre camera angles and hand held shots. It is as if the film was being created by hyper caffeinated babboons with blindfolds rather than experienced professionals. Even the vile SHOWGIRLS doesn't do to its musical numbers what Rob Marshall does to CHICAGO's songs, principally because Paul Verhoeven is a competent craftsman, while Rob Marshall is an incompetent moron seeking to hide his stupidity in a mad flurry of editing for editing's sake.

As for the performances, I can't say I was terribly impressed with anyone. Catherine Zeta Jones shakes her ass, waggles her shoulders, drags on cigarettes, widens her eyes at strategic moments, and gets an Oscar. Renee Zellweger tries her best, but doesn't make much of an impression. Richard Gere smirks his way through the film, which is sort of in character, but his alleged singing only gets worse on repeat viewings. I have to say that I was astonished by the lack of charisma exhibited by Queen Latifah. In other films she is a vibrant and attractive actress, with great energy and intelligence, to say nothing of incredbile sexual energy. I can't imagine what Rob Marshall must have done to get her to deliver the tired by-the-numbers work she does here.

There. I said it. I will stand by it.

Okay, now that's out of my system, here are the others:

1. Worst film loved by everyone you know except you.

FARGO. I hated this film for a long long time, I saw it when it came out and loathed it. Recent re-viewings have made me admit that it isn't all that bad. But it ain't that good either. I'll live the rest of my life without ever feeling the need to see it again.


2. Worst film acclaimed as a classic by people who really should know better.

SINGIN' IN THE RAIN. Yeah, beautifully made and all, I just hate it to death. Gene Kelly's shit-eating grim just makes me want to reach for a hatchet, and that interminable Broadway Ballet thing at the end drives me mad. God I hate this film.

3. Film that leaves you feeling just completely indifferent: you went, you saw, you forgot it.

There are lots of these, like the bizarrely over-rated MILLION DOLLAR BABY. I think I'd have to say that CHINATOWN really fits the bill here. I have to keep reminding myself that I've seen it at all, to say nothing of at least 10 times trying to see what the shouting is all about.


4. Worst director.

Rob Marshall, hands down, no contest. Joel Schumacher was the chief contender for a while, and Zack Snyder may well eclipse Marshall at some point. But Marshall it is. The man is the living embodiment of the Peter Principle, the George W. Bush of filmmakers.

Wicker Man with Nicholas Cage -- after we watched that movie we wanted our time back! We celebrate everytime it comes on the cable because we get yet another chance to miss it completely!

I keep watching Phantom Menance hoping something will stick out to make it seem watching. But it still sucks every time.

I feel like the angels trying to find a good man in order to save Sodom. Sadly I keep feeling as if Im about to turn into a pillar of sh_T for turning around and watching this movie yet again.


Most of all, I hate the kid who plays the young Anakin. NO acting ability at all.

Isn't it fascinating how we keep watching these movies we hate, that we know we don't like, over and over and over hoping against hope that maybe THIS TIME they won't be a colossal turd? I can't tell you home many times I've sat through that SINGIN' IN THE RAIN thing.

Sometimes it is fun to watch the awfulness, no doubt. I admit to getting a certain perverse buzz out of watching Keanu Reeves' painful ineptitude in DEVIL'S ADVOCATE or Hayden Christensen's peerlessly whiny Annakin Skywalker in CLONES and JEDI.

"Oh, Anny. Hold me like you held me on Naboo."

Worst movie EVAAR...Blindness. I won't see it again and really want my money back from the first time. Dumb plot with no explanation along the way, lame resolution, not to mention stupid sexual violence against women.

I went to see Dead Poets Society because everyone kept saying how good it was. Having grown up in that atmosphere, I was curious to see it.

Nothing but meaningless platitudes strung together in a silly premise.

The thought of teenagers getting up in the wee hours to go read poetry in the forest is laughable.

1. Worst film loved by everyone you know except you. The Dark Knight. Absolutely hated it.

2. Worst film acclaimed as a classic by people who really should know better. Chariots of Fire

3. Film that leaves you feeling just completely indifferent: you went, you saw, you forgot it. Charlie's Angels

4. Worst director. Shoot me, but I rarely pay attention to who is directing a movie.

Okay, a few hours have passed and now I have calmed down:) I hated AMERICAN BEAUTY and LA CONFIDENTIAL but have no desire to revisit either and write a detailed analysis. I remember being horrified by the inept plots, caricatures, and poor directing in both. Though I think Chris Cooper is in AMERICAN BEAUTY and he is a great (and mostly unknown) actor.

And every Clint Eastwood directed film is way overrated: not horrible but just boilerplate.

Alex, I'd put LA CONFIDENTIAL in the Went Saw Forgot category: the most interesting thing about it is that everyone thinks such a dull film is such a masterpiece.

And I completely agree about the Eastwood. His inflated reputation is among the great mysteries of the world.

Worst Film I've Seen



One of the worst films I've seen in cinema was "A Life Less Ordinary". What a complete waste of time, the film made no sense at all. Cameron Diaz and Ewan McGregor really let me down.

Most Overrated Movie



It's a toss up between "Fight Club" and "The Shawshank Redemption" At the end of Fight Club I was pissed, I don't want to spoil anything but you can imagine why.Shawshank was an alright film but I don't understand why it's so beloved.

George: You should know by now that I have not a single shameful bone in my body.

OK. What did you not like about Dances With Wolves? I haven't seen it since it was released in theaters (what? 15 years ago?), but I remember liking it somewhat then. I have a friend who's really into the American Indian culture and who was also married to an American Indian for many years who swears by that film. I honestly don't remember much about it, to tell you the truth.

I just think the Titanic and Forrest Gump bashing is getting so tired. It's almost de riguer to not like those films. It's become a knee-jerk reaction to trash them. If one really thinks Titanic is the worst movie ever, watch a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie and get back with me.

I think most of the people who've commented here would rather die than admit to watching a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie. However, I have seen several, and I'd have to say, on the whole I find them superior to Steven Segal's work. Sometimes, it can be damned hard to find a movie in English, and a man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do, however distasteful. I actually saw a Burt Reynolds film, Gator, I think it was, in London once. However, most of my enjoyment came from the fact that I was almost the only person in the audience who could undertand the dialog.

As for Dances with Wolves, I found it hideously pretentious and shallow, even at the risk of sounding a tad pretentious myself. I found it incredible that after spending several hours living among the Sioux, I found them to be just like us, only better. and, apparently, like Mr. Costner, you, too, can be an Indian, if you try hard enough. Actually, I thought it was sad to spend so much time with the Sioux and learn so little of them. Give me Little Big Man, any day of the week, and let me laugh while I'm learning something, feel outrage over their murder, and not feel so bad to see Custer getting his just reward. Dances with Wolves was Redskins 21, Cowboys 0, and his portrayal of the Americans was as one dimensional as any John Wayne movie portrayal of the other team, and actually more one dimensional than many Wayne movies.

Costner tends to drive me a bit nuts, because he seems to think he's the One, like in the Matrix, but without all the neat special effects. His worst movies remind me of Charleton Heston playing Moses, coming down from Mt. Sinai with 2 tablets for us all to take right away. I'd say his heart is more or less in the right place, but he really doesn't have that much of interest to say. And clearly, he doesn't realize it. Actually, I'd say, The Postman and Water World were far worse as movies, real dogs, but my nomination was for a film that was widely acclaimed but awful. And for my money, Dances with Wolves fits the bill nicely.

As for Forrest Gump, I enjoyed it, even if I'd never buy the DVD. And Titanic, I saw it in Manila when it came out and saw people sitting the aisles and standing in the back for the entire film, bawling their eyes out. Not entirely my cup of tea, and I've never sat through the entire movie again, but as you say, there are many worse.

Alex, I agree about Chris Cooper. He brings it to every film he's in, even if it's a crappy film. I remember being wowed by him in his role as July Johnson in Lonesome Dove. After that he started popping up in films I didn't know he was in. He was great in Adaptation.

I guess I don't "study" films the way some do. I just like to be entertained. I hardly ever notice goofs or continuity errors, and I don't get too wrapped up in what a director is trying to do. Therefore, I got swept up in Forest Gump and Titanic and enjoyed them immensely. And I even liked Dances with Wolves.

I agree that Fight Club, although a watchable movie, is probably overrated. I just chalked its popularity up to a guy thing.

OK George. That was a fair enough assesment. I KNOW I like Little Big Man quite a bit and, seeing how I don't remember much about Dances With Wolves, I'll assume I wasn't all that impressed the first time. I don't really care if I see it again at this point. I'm not a big Costner fan either.

Have you been to a theater in S. Korea yet? Do they ever show films there with English subtitles?

And yes....I've seen at least part of a few Van Damme and Segal movies on HBO back when I was a teen. Sometimes you've got to watch what others want to watch, eh?

I end up "studying" films I really, really enjoy, but I don't find it necessary to dissect and destroy films I don't like. Life's too short. I'd rather just forget about the unenjoyable ones.

And I don't think it makes anyone any less "relevant" to admit to liking both Kurosawa AND Titanic.

1. Worst film loved by everyone you know except you.
Dead Poets Society. It seems like the movie's been done better numerous times. For example, The Browning Version (1994) and The Emperor's Club both seemed infinitely better.

2. Worst film acclaimed as a classic by people who really should know better.

Now for some blasphemy: Citizen Kane was so difficult to sit through. I'm sure it was good at the time that it was made, but shouldn't classics hold up better? If someone has to convince whole chunks of the population that the movie is so great, is it? It should speak for itself. I will grant that some movies brought new techniques to the forefront of filmmaking, but that says nothing about the story itself. Birth of a Nation.

3. Film that leaves you feeling just completely indifferent: you went, you saw, you forgot it.

I forgot. Seriously. You get halfway through and say, "I think I've seen this before." They just don't stick.

4. Worst director.
Don't notice, don't care. I remember the ones I like a little better than the ones I dislike.

Rob, well, I think it's fun to go into the darkness every now and then to dump on some deserving target of opportunity. I'd say some folks have a serious tendency to over-rely on the dark force here, and there does appear to be a certain amount of strife for ultimate cultural domination that I find wearing at times. Everyone is entitled to their likes and dislikes, not all of which are required to be based on rational thought. If folks can trash the movie without trashing the commentor, there's nothing particularly wrong with that.

I have a wide variety of interests and am eclectic by nature, so I like different experiences. I don't see any reason why someone can't like both Kurusawa AND Titanic. I do, but on very different levels. I do prefer Kurusawa, for what it's worth. I also read everything from comics to Nobel laureate authors. I've had people ask, why I read comics. I usually say, I got tired of waiting for Dostoevsky to come out with something new. Anyway, it's all part of the human experience, and it helps to know what the lesser mortals are amusing themselves with from time to time, if only to see what they may be up to next. I also watch TV. I sat through a handful of reality based TV shows just to see what the fuss was about. I became a rabid fan of 24. It doesn't mean I favor torture and summary execution, which is what a number of conservative commentators were trying to push. I'd say, if anything, in the world of unintended consequences, 24 may have made it more acceptible for some folks to vote for Obama. David Palmer was the best president America has ever had on 5 seasons of 24. Thank you, Fox.

Anyway, I love to pontificate as much as anyone, or almost as much. And, yes, they do have films here in English with Korean subtitles. My problem is I've had problems finding advertisements in English, so I can figure out what's showing.

For the record, I don't hate TITANIC with the passion so many have for it. It is certainly no SEVEN SAMURAI, but a well made popular entertainment. I wish TITANIC had found something a little more profound to say, though. Taking one of the defining moments of the 20th Century and making it into a message about "making it count" feels kind of reductive, somehow. I did appreciate the attention to the period detail, though, and the sinking sequences are beautifully done, I thought.

Kurosawa fans, don't forget to post your thoughts on Kurosawa, there's the KUROSAWA thread in the December section.

#2: Juno.

Tom: Just so there's no misunderstanding (which would be an easy thing to do with our past history), I wasn't singling anyone out in particular with my rant. It was just a general comment not even confined to Goodreads, really. I can appreciate your likes AND dislikes re: Titanic. I like LA Confidential and Gattaca a lot more than you and Alex do, but...oh well. I guess I'll never understand what makes some people think LA Confidential and Gattaca are boring. Que sera, sera. I'll just pop my meds and move on.

Mike: You shocked me with that one. ;)

George: Good post....as always. I've never seen 24 though, so I can't comment on that. But otherwise....applause all around.

Haha, yeah I know that one came as a surprise.

One movie that people love that I just can't get into at all is The Boondock Saints. Just...not very good, I think.

How about worst movie that you LOVED? Mine would be The Burbs. Great satire of suburbia with Tom Hanks.

here is another movie for the catagory:
"Movies loved by everyone except me"

Though far from the worst movie ever, I have never really cared for "A bout de souffle" more familiar to Americans as "Breathless".

I was forced to see both versions of this movie in college (French version with Jean-Paul Belmondo, American version with Richard Gere)
I still dont get the appeal.
Though I can appreciate the cinematagraphy of Jean-Luc Godard and his reconstruction of the classic linear movie line, the movie did nothing for me.

Breathless is really good, I thought (NOT the Gere one). Though out of the Godard films I've seen that one might be my least favorite. As far as approach to making a film I found it to be really original. Godard's movie are a lot like Henry Miller's books in the way that they are often very formless but are primarily concerned with infusing life back into their respective medias.

But I can understand someone not loving it, I suppose.

BREATHLESS left me very cold. I can appreciate the historical importance and all that but I never found it particularly interesting. I'd put it in the WENT SAW FORGOT file. That's been how I've felt about all the Godard I've seen.

What other Godard have you seen, Tom?

I've seen BREATHLESS, WEEKEND, CONTEMPT and I think it was MASCULIN/FEMININ, maybe BAND OF OUTSIDERS, it was black and white in Paris with Anna Karina and Jean-Pierre Leaud doing some stuff, I thought I'd die of boredom. Glad I saw them I guess, but they didn't really do anything for me at all.

Whewww
Tom, I thought I was the ONLY one!!!!!!!!

I just watched A BOUT DE SOUFFLE on Friday night for the first time. It was a cold character study but I think it was meant to be; a young punk's fascination with Hollywood reality which removes him from creating any real connection with people and the world around him. Very narcissistic. I enjoyed the jump-cut editing while retaining a linear dialogue pattern. I'm working on a review and will post in a few days. But I can definately see how it would leave many indifferent; I tried watching it twice a few years ago and couldn't get by the first twenty minutes. I have never seen the American remake and have no desire.
I'm watching PIERROT LE FOU this Friday.

Mike, agree with BOONDOCK SAINTS. I watched, was very briefly entertained (we've seen it all before anyway, and done better), and quickly forgot. I felt the same way with LAYER CAKE.

Alex, that's how I felt about LAYER CAKE, I really hoped I'd enjoy it, and sort of did, but I find I keep having to remind myself that I saw it.

rob,

i liked LA confidential.