The 9 Most Disappointing Films Of 2008
I recently revealed my list of the 148 films I watched this year… and also shared with you some of my favorite movies from the past 12 months. Now I’d like to share with you a list of what I believe to be the most disappointing films I watched in 2008.
Just like my list of favorites, this list contains some films that were not actually released in 2008, but are simply on my list because I didn’t get around to watching them until this year. That being said, you should also know that the films listed here are not necessarily the worst films I saw this year (although one of them is), but instead, films that I was looking forward to and was severely disappointed by. So here’s the list (in no particular order):
Where In The World Is Osama Bin Ladin?
Morgan Spurlock was the creative mind behind the hit documentary Super Size Me and the “30 Days” TV series in which Morgan and other normal people try living the life of completely different individuals for 30 days straight. Morgan’s past successes had me really looking forward to his release of Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden – a somewhat similar take on Michael Moore’s Roger And Mein which Spurlock travels the world asking people to get down to the heart of the war in the middle east and at the same time, trying to find terrorist #1 – Osama Bin Laden. Sadly, as much as I was looking forward to the film, I finished it having not remembered much of what happened. And when you finish a film and can’t remember what happened, you know it isn’t very good! Super Size Memade the viewer leave the theatre and never look at a McDonalds in the same way again. But this most recent work of Spurlock’s left no such affect.
The Fallis a film directed by Tarsem Singh, the same man who directed Jennifer Lopez in The Cell, which released in the year 2000. Because of the huge success of The Cell, I was looking forward to The Fall and was severely bummed at its end result. I knew the film would be strange and maybe even difficult to comprehend, but in the end, the story was just plain boring. I was impressed by some of the special effects and cinematography, but the story (like many bad films) was lacking. I didn’t care about the characters and therefore, didn’t care about the film.
This was the film I was probably looking forward to most of all. I imagined it as a cross between The Beatles classic rock songs and Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! But sadly, Across The Universe was a huge disappointment. It had its moments, but overall, it was a gigantic letdown. Where Moulin Rouge! acts as an actual story propelled by song, Across The Universe seemed more like a two-hour music video that just seemed to go on and on and on. I kept waiting for it to end… and thankfully, it finally did. Whew! What a letdown!
Now here’s a film that I wasn’t necessarily looking forward to per say, but it is a film that is marketed in such a way that you half way expect the film to be pretty good. With Nicole Kidman playing a lead role, you’d think it’s gotta be half way decent. But like too many films lately, there are too many special effects and too little story. Once again, I didn’t care about the main characters and actually became a bit angry when the film just suddenly ended by eluding to a sequel (which I pray they do not create!).
Rocket Science was a film that appeared, to me at least, to be a story meant to ride the waves of success that Napoleon Dynamite created in 2004. The story revolves around a stuttering young man who joins his school’s debate team. On a whole, the movie isn’t half bad. But when you compare the film with its rival Napoleon Dynamite, it doesn’t even come close.
As I discussed in my previous article on The Little Mermaid being moved to the stages of Broadway, there is a huge movement right now to take the best Broadway hits and transform them into Hollywood products. It’s a quick and easy model for making successful movies, but as I’ve stated before, “Some things are best left in their original formats.” In the case of Hairspray, there’s nothing technically wrong with the film. The story is strong (but predictable), the music is good (not great), and it is a film in which you actually care about the characters. However, I’m not impressed by most Broadway productions on a two dimensional screen. They just don’t have the same pizazzas they do when performed live right before your eyes. Sometimes it’s the stage on which the real “magic” happens.
Finally, Slipstream isn’t a film I was ever looking forward to. I’m throwing it in here simply because it is possibly the worst film I have EVER seen. In fact, I had never heard of it before I rented it. But a film directed by world-renowned actor, Anthony Hopkins, has got to be pretty good, right? WRONG! This movie SUCKED! And it sucked big time! I turned it off after about 10 minutes and have never been happier to return such a piece of shit to the rental store. Wow, do I want my ten minutes back. Imagine the worst film student movie you’ve ever seen and multiply that by 150. That’s Slipstream.
What films were you severely disappointed by this year? Or which ones do you think just plain sucked? I’d be curious to hear what you have to say.
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