Taking a break from politics, 10 movies that made me gag (via Amy H via Atrios):
Ghost World goes to the top of the list, for many, many reasons. Fundamentally, it's elevation of those who remain permanently detached over those who find themselves interested in the world around them, its constant mocking of all that is mainstream as inherently uninteresting, and its sense that the protagonist can never be happy, all combined to drive me up the wall. The Education of Henry Adams is the solipsistic book equivalent.
Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within, which, as an FF fan I wanted so desparately to enjoy , was so incredibly slow moving and drab that I must admit it failed to entertain. It would have been more awe inspiring to simply show rendered stills in a slideshow format for two hours. The animation was incredibly poor.
Mystery Men tried to become the "campy" anti-comic book hero comic movie and failed. In hindsight, I find it at least a little funny, but it's not enough to save the movie.
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is also on the list. The anti-heroism of Vince Vaughan is a bit much for me, and Ben Stiller's schtick in this movie is entertaining for the first twenty minutes or so. Plus, there's a gratuitious ripoff of The Matrix. In 2004! Didn't Hollywood get that out of its system by the end of 2001?
Old Skool. Will Ferrell is not funny. Period.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I really don't see what's so epic about this film.
Batman Forever. Curse you, Joel Schumacher, for temporarily soiling the Batman franchise with your candy-colored wonders.
Ladybugs. I think I was on a plane and made the mistake of buying the headphones for this movie. Big mistake.
Basic Instinct. Really, I thought it wasn't particularly redeeming. The Kim Basinger Sharon Stone uncross-cross shot isn't worth the rest of the movie. Paul Verhoeven does some interesting bleak work, but this is not it.
Screamers. Every few years, Hollywood decides to go pick Philip K. Dick's brain for an interesting movie plot kicking around. Sometimes, they strike gold -- Blade Runner, The Minority Report, Total Recall to a lesser extent -- and sometimes they come up with a dud. I haven't seen Paycheck, so I have to go with Screamers as an alternative.
