Although due to a slowed production schedule for "Now Playing", and the birth of my daughter Grace, I missed out on such instant classics as GOOD LUCK CHUCK and CODE NAME: THE CLEANER. That said, I still saw enough garbage in 2007 to construct a worst list.
#10 - HALLOWEEN
Director Rob Zombie continues to make contributions to my annual worst list, and in 2007 he delivered the unremarkable remake HALLOWEEN. It’s hard to improve upon John Carpenter’s horror classic, but Zombie barely puts forth an effort, replacing Carpenter’s perfect timing and tone with raw gore and gruesomeness.
#9 - FACTORY GIRL
Speaking of horrific, FACTORY GIRL was part bio-pic, part party film, but mainly a mess. This rendering of former Warhol, “It” girl Edie Sedgwick didn’t deliver any insight into Sedgwick or Warhol’s world of eccentrics. FACTORY GIRL was rather tame for a purposefully edgy film.
#8 - SMOKIN' ACES
There was nothing hot about SMOKIN’ ACES in the eight spot. This character-actor driven work thinks it’s a lot cleverer and hipper than it actually is. A gang of mobsters attempt to assassinate a Vegas magician before he can testify against them, and the mess that ensues is neither logical, humorous or thrilling.
#7 - CATCH AND RELEASE
Jennifer Garner elicits no empathy and much eye-rolling in CATCH AND RELEASE. Despite losing her fiancé, Garner’s Gray comes off as self-centered and sour, while her love interest played by Timothy Olyphant is uncomfortably cocky. The performances are matched by a screenplay that knows little about grief or loss.
#6 - BUG
BUG is appropriately titled at number six. Not only did the over-the-top performances by Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon bug me, but Tracy Letts screenplay, adapted from her own stage play, veers overboard in its execution of paranoia, schizophrenia and mind control.
#5 - DEATH SENTENCE
Speaking of over-the-top, SAW director James Wan lost all sense of realism, and humanity, in the revenge flick DEATH SENTENCE. Kevin Bacon goes from mild-mannered executive to raging lunatic after losing his son to a murderous gang of thugs. DEATH SENTENCE is so loony it may have played for laughs if it hadn’t been so brutal.
#4 and #3 - GEORGIA RULE and BECAUSE I SAID SO
Two annoying chick-flicks are number four and three with GEORGIA RULE and BECAUSE I SAID SO. A trio of family members from each film goes from grating to unbearable in these misplaced, slice-of-life morality tales. Jane Fonda and Mandy Moore are expectedly bad, but the talented Dianne Keaton and Lindsay Lohan are remarkably irritating. Keaton’s Daphne is a crude, snobby and immature version of Annie Hall, and Lohan’s Rachel is an example of art mimicking life.
#2 - ALPHA DOG
My runner-up for worst of the year is ALPHA DOG. This two-bit rendering of a real-life story plays like a suburban version of pretty boys gone wild. Teen heart throbs Emile Hirsch and Justin Timberlake try to convince us they’re hardcore hoods, but come off as pansies in this tasteless, true story. The film is predictable, off-kilter and offensive, particularly with its inconsiderate and uncompassionate portrayal of the Mazursky family.
#1 - NORBIT
My worst film of the year is the surreally bad, NORBIT. I didn’t think it could get worse for Eddie Murphy following THE ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH, but NORBIT has proved me wrong. Murphy and elder-brother and co-writer Charles Murphy deserve all the credit for this debacle. As if playing one mean-spirited character wasn’t bad enough, Murphy plays two, and kicks in an exasperatingly nerdy third character for good measure. Eddie’s performances in NORBIT are the equivalent to nails on a chalk board, but it’s the writing that earns the film the dubious honor at the top of my list. Alarmingly offensive stereotypes, misplaced moral grandstanding and disgustingly descriptive dialogue leave little doubt as to why NORBIT is the worst film in 2007.
No comments:
Post a Comment