Author: Movie Geeks

The Wall Street Journal reports “overall North American box-office receipts and attendance for 2014 declined more than 5% to $10.35 billion from $10.92 billion in 2013, according to box-office tracker Rentrak Corp. – the worst results since 2011.”

Kicking off 2015 with “Best of” lists and awards season on the minds of many Cinephiles, we offer our look back at the worst of 2014. Some awful, some horrendous, we were disappointed and flummoxed by some of the movies Tinseltown released into theaters (and on moviegoers) over the past 12 months.

As we shake our WAMG heads over the biggest letdowns, here we go with our Top 10 list of the Worst Films of 2014.

DISHONORABLE MENTION: HORNS

In HORNS Daniel Radcliffe played a grieving young man who inexplicably grows horns from his forehead after the community he lives in finds him culpable for the death and murder of his girlfriend. HORNS was a mishmash of genres that never quite fit together; crime drama, satanic horror and dark comedy, but the humor in the film mixed uneasily with the cheesy gore and it never well-established the rules of exactly what Radcliffe’s horns could do. At times it seemed as if the people had to ask his character for permission to perform darkest desires, but at others they simply did them even when he was against them. HORNS started off engaging enough but devolved but into a mess of empty symbolism and strangeness.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: FOXCATCHER

FOXCATCHER should have been a compelling tale of money and madness but instead it was one long, suffocating 135 minutes. Director Bennett Miller let scene after scene ramble on and on, an instance of a filmmaker overvaluing his material beyond all good sense. FOXCATCHER wasn’t a fiasco, but considering the story, hype, and cast, it definitely was a huge letdown and its inclusion on this list is a reflection of expectation. FOXCATCHER had little to say and took far too long to say it.

10. POMPEII

Few place names evoke such thoughts of human tragedy on a colossal scale. There are many works of literature and film that capture the enormity of the events of 2,000 years ago, but we’re afraid last year’s film POMPEII was not one of them.   Stock characters, bad acting, cheesy dialogue, corny plotting, and unconvincing CGI were all on display in 3-D and by the end you’ll have wished that the volcano would have exploded upon director Paul W.S. Anderson just so that you can be saved from anymore of his catastrophic disasters

9. A HAUNTED HOUSE 2

Marlon Wayans is a gifted comedian, but in A HAUNTED HOUSE 2 he worked hard his schtick; mugging, eye-rolling and screaming in that high-pitched voice, to squeeze out just a couple of laughs. The humor aimed low with scatological, fart and crude sex references aplenty but it got tiresome quickly. The found-footage horror film may have seemed ripe for parody a couple of years ago but by now the gimmick has done a decent job of parodying itself. Spoof movies don’t have to be lame timewasters and the genre can have its merits when done right but A HAUNTED HOUSE 2 was not one of those times.

8. SABOTAGE

After finishing up his political career, “Ah-nold” continues to try to jump-start his action movie dynasty, but seems to hitting the brick wall that he easily plowed through in those golden 1980’s actioners. At least he trying to grab the “hard R-rated” high calibre fans, but this misfire goes from gritty police caper to “who’s gonna’ buy it next?” slasher send-up. As we said in the original review, ” After the mystery is revealed the film is further dragged down by a brutal, ludicrous epilogue. ” We know you’ve got a few more great flicks in you, “guv-er-nator”, so don’t waste your time on cinema sludge like this, okay?

7. A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST

So, you feel like having a few laughs at Western movie clichés? Well then, there’s a nifty 40th Anniversary edition Blu Ray of BLAZING SADDLES. Or THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST. Anything, anything, but this stale bit of sagebrush! Literally, all of the chuckles are in the trailer. And after years behind the scenes, and the microphone as different animated voices and TED, Seth McFarlane proves to be a mediocre leading man (from our original review ” Seth appears more inconvenienced and annoyed than truly terrified “). We also said ” it sputters out of steam at just under two looong hours”. Now vamoose ya’ varmit!!

6. TAMMY

She was an unexpected delight, stealing scenes in her supporting role in BRIDESMAIDS. But her trip to “above the title” star has been a rocky one for Ms. McCarthy. So, maybe the best plan is to create a project with her talented and funny hubby Ben Falcone, who also directs. Nope, didn’t work. While Ms. M had a great comedy partner in THE HEAT with Sandra Bullock, here’s she’s mis-matched with a miscast Susan Sarandon as her Grandma” (!?!). As we said in the original review, “Despite the salt-and-pepper wig, she seems too youthful for the role”. As for McCarthy’s Tammy, ” the character is toned down by the story’s end to inject some clumsy bits of pathos and romance”. Happily by year’s end MM scored some points with another great supporting turn in ST. VINCENT. Nice career save after a big stumble!

5. LEGEND OF HERCULES

4. THIRD PERSON

In THIRD PERSON Paul Haggis copied his CRASH template by setting up three seemingly random episodes with three seemingly random sets of characters, some of whom eventually became intertwined with one another during a two-day period. The result was self-indulgent, thoroughly uninteresting, and at 137 minutes, far too long. Not just long, but long about getting to its points and to its connections because it had to set up so many characters and their situations first before showing how they connect. By halfway, one could see it was a strange, rambling wreck of a movie. That wouldn’t have been so bad if THIRD PERSON was clever or entertaining or at least so-bad-it’s-good. But it wasn’t. It was just deadly, deadly dull.

3. ANNABELLE

2. MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN

1. TRANSCENDENCE

Here’s our individual lists. What movies were your worst of the year?

Tom Stockman –

Biggest disappointment: FOXCATCHER

10. THE WILD
9. OCULUS
8. BLENDED
7. BEGIN AGAIN
6. BRICK MANSIONS
5. TAMMY
4. HAUNTED HOUSE 2
3. ANNABELLE
2. THIRD PERSON
1. TRANSCENDENCE

Michelle McCue –

Biggest Disappointment: EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS

10. A HAUNTED HOUSE 2
9. THIRD PERSON
8. ANNABELLE
7. THE LEGEND OF HERCULES
6. DUMB AND DUMBER TO
5. SABOTAGE
4. TAMMY
3. A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST
2. MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN
1. TRANSCENDENCE

Jim Batts –

Biggest Disappointment: THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2

10. THE LEGEND OF HERCULES
9. ANNABELE
8. OUIJA
7. A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST
6. THIRD PERSON
5. TUSK
4, THE BEST OF ME
3. AND SO IT GOES
2. MEN,WOMEN & CHILDREN
1. TRANSCENDENCE

Michael Haffner –

Biggest disappointment: TIE – Interstellar and Horns

10. NYMPHOMANIAC PART 1
9. A HAUNTED HOUSE 2
8. JERSEY BOYS
7. ANNABELLE
6. SABOTAGE
5. THE FACE OF LOVE
4. MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN
3. POMPEII
2. TRANSCENDENCE
1. THE LEGEND OF HERCULES