Simply put, I am a guy who loves lists.
Whether it be Oscar contenders, or the worst films ever put out this year, you can usually sign me up to read it.
However, after checking out the Vulture section of New York’s magazine, who polled 43 critics to get what they considered to be the worst film of 2009, I was bitterly disappointed.
While I did not, by far, enjoy the film that went to number one, I don’t think it can be considered the worst film. True the plot was crap, it was far to long, and the director seemed to have an affixiation with metal balls, but there are plenty of other films, which were not even listed by these critics, that were a lot worse.
Where was Pink Panther 2, Bruno, The Final Destination? Old Dogs and Taking of Pelham 123 (proving that John Travolta has truly ruined any chance of yet another comeback) only got a handful of votes, while other films I thought were truly disappointing (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, Terminator Salvation, 17 Again) did not even get a mention.
What is more disappointing is that, in my view, the worst film ever to hit the silver screen last year, Knowing, wasn’t even considered! This was torture, nothing more, and made me laugh, cringe, and look for the exit at the theatre wondering when I could use it. And not one of them considered to be bad, give me a break!
This just proves that film critics really cannot just enjoy a film. Films like G.I Joe (which was never trying to be anything than it was) and Up in the Air (which I considered to be quite good) are constantly panned, but movie goers still check them out, and do rather well.
And there is a small part of me after reading this list that made me think that most critics, while enjoyed some films, want to be that one person who cries “See, everyone else loved it, but I think it’s crap so you have to listen to me!”, so films like Invictus, (500) Days of Summer, The Hangover, and Where the Wild Things Are are constantly thrown around.
So I am throwing it out for the first Weekend Word for Popcorn Cinema, do you actually agree with these experts about the worst film, and what did you consider to be the worst film for 2009?
Two final points, previously working as a critic I know there are some films that I hated which everyone seemed to love (The Watchmen definitely up there), so I can expect some people to not love these films, but where certain films get 30+ votes, there has to be something more.
And to Choire Sicha from The Awl, who made the comment “If anyone puts down Knowing, they are INCORRECT. That movie was AWESOME”, you just made the list!
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