Login
My Top 10 Least Favourite Movies of 2015
Sort by:
Showing 10 items
Decade:
Rating:
List Type:
210
5.9
6.5
Child 44 (2015)
This is a movie that I'd heard hadn't garnered much enthusiasm, but it turned out to fall staggeringly short of even my meagre expectations. This movie is so boring, so lifeless, so devoid of charm that, when I was putting this list together, I had to be reminded of exactly what happens in it. I remember I was intrigued by the premise, which combines a murder mystery with bureaucratic coercion, but the final result is so monotonous that not even a cast including Gary Oldman and the ever-awesome Charles Dance could save it for me. I'm guessing the book is a lot better, though.
MaxL's rating:
58
3.9
4.2
Out of all the movies on this list, this is the one I'm having the most trouble talking about, because I can barely remember a thing about it. In that respect, you could say it deserves a spot on the list just for being so forgettable. I do clearly remember, though, that the only reason the story is able to progress is because the characters are complete morons. But I guess the main issue is that it has the overall feel of a cheap direct-to-DVD movie, so it makes the list mostly for objective reasons rather than arousing my ire that much.
MaxL's rating:
225
5.6
6.3
Project Almanac (2015)
Now, this, on the other hand, pissed me off! It's yet another movie that abuses the tired "found footage" gimmick; there is no reason for the movie to be presented that way. But on top of that, it's a bad time travel story to boot, because the rules it sets for itself are utterly head-scratching. Travelling back alone instead of in a group automatically causes things to start going wrong in the future? That doesn't even begin to make sense! Not to mention, the characters are douchebags whom we don't care to follow, and to top it all off, the ending contradicts the beginning.
MaxL's rating:
85
3.5
4.3
The Gallows (2015)
Another found footage movie, and another low point in this decade's plethora of horror movies presented in that format. Aside from once again pointlessly incorporating and abusing the gimmick, its biggest sin is that all the characters are the most insufferable, detestable assholes imaginable, particularly Ryan, the one holding the camera. They're so annoying that you want them to die, but not for the reason the movie intends; you just want them to go away so you can get some reprieve. The movie's only rather good idea is the multiple cameras which occasionally inform you what happened to a certain character after they got separated.
MaxL's rating:
225
4.4
4.9
Poltergeist (2015)
This movie is the latest in another long line of modern-day horror movies under an unfortunate heading: unnecessary remakes. But this one especially bothers me because it's so prototypical of everything I hate about this current trend. All it does is recycle just about every scene from the original, resulting in nothing but a lesser copy, and it has no concept whatsoever of building atmosphere or tension or any aspect of horror except cheap jump scares. To be honest, I didn't even think the original Poltergeist was that scary, but it's downright nightmarish compared to this! This remake is simply worthless.
MaxL's rating:
191
4.6
5.1
Hot Pursuit (2015)
This is one loud, shrill and agonisingly unfunny movie. Right off the bat, we have two actresses who haven't the faintest hint of chemistry; all they do is scream and shout incredibly vulgar jokes that fall completely flat. But I know both Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara have done good work elsewhere, so poor direction is clearly the real problem here. That direction extends to the technicals too; I remember a driving scene at night where the lighting on the characters is totally off. The only nice thing I can say about this movie is that it mostly just bored me rather than angering me.
MaxL's rating:
666
6.4
6.9
Cinderella (2015)
It's hard to articulate exactly why I hated this movie so much, but I think it's mainly due to how safe, saccharine and spineless it is, especially compared to the classic animated version. That movie did an infinitely better job of conveying the character's brutal oppression and subsequent relief; this version seems to be actively avoiding making anything a serious threat. It's overly preachy, too: the words "have courage and be kind" are repeated so often that I think I actually yelled, "Shut up!" at the screen. The entire movie constantly resonated at just the right tone to piss me off beyond measure.
MaxL's rating:
90
5.2
6.2
Last Knights (2015)
This is another one that's so aggressively boring that it transcends mediocrity and pole-vaults straight into full-blown tedium. That's really all I have to say about it: the sheer intensity of the boredom I felt while watching this movie is enough to singlehandedly catapult it into the top three. The performances are all understated almost to unconsciousness, and the story didn't do a thing for me at all; it has something to do with a band of knights forced into dissolution for political reasons. And though the plan they devise in the climax is pretty good, the lacklustre story makes it all for nothing.
MaxL's rating:
643
6.2
6.8
Chappie (2015)
Talk about starting off on the wrong foot! Everything that was set up in the opening struck me as so derivative that it immediately tarnished the rest of the movie that followed. As a result, I was in such a bad mood that I just found the storyline clichรฉd and the scenes with Chappie learning things embarrassing. Any potential the story had is ruined by immediately obvious clichรฉs and ludicrous one-dimensional villains. This whole movie made me so angry that I was dead set certain it would end up topping my list; right down to the wire, it was number one.
But then, in the closing hurdles of 2015, I finally came across one that was even worse.
But then, in the closing hurdles of 2015, I finally came across one that was even worse.
MaxL's rating:
504
4.5
5.6
Pixels (2015)
Yep, this snatched the number one spot at the last minute when I finally saw it in December. Like Chappie, this is a premise that did have potential: an alien race attacks Earth in the form of classic video games that they mistake for a declaration of war. But, one problem: it's a Happy Madison movie. Having actively avoided the bulk of their work myself, I don't know if this is indeed the worst they've ever done, but it's certainly one of the most listless movies I've ever seen. All the performances are beyond unenthusiastic, like director Chris Columbus wasn't even trying. This is number one on the list not because it inspired the most anger or boredom or anything in me personally, but because it's the only movie I saw this year that did absolutely nothing right. The other movies on this list had at least one element of good in them, but this one was a complete waste. Some movies this year were aggravating, some were uninteresting, but this one was just draining, and it gets my vote as the absolute worst movie of the year.
MaxL's rating:
Well, New Year's Eve has come round once again, so the time has come for me to reflect on my own experience with movies in the past year, both the good and the bad. I've done a pair of these lists every year since 2011, so welcome to my fifth annual summary of the year in cinema. :)
Before we get started, I think it's only appropriate to go over the criteria I set for myself, for those of you unfamiliar with them. What qualifies as a 2015 release? Well, the way I see it, the movie simply has to have been released to the general public โ in cinemas, straight to DVD or what have you โ in the year in question. So if a movie was originally shown at a film festival or something in an earlier year but didn't find a general release until 2015, it still counts. Conversely, I don't count movies that haven't yet been seen beyond a film festival by the end of the year โ which I won't have seen anyway, but that's beside the point.
Another thing to consider is that movies are often released at different times in various countries, to the point where some parts of the world may even see a particular movie a year or two earlier than others. When Marnie Was There, for example, was released in its native Japan in 2014, found its way to American cinemas in 2015, but won't be released in the UK until 2016. So, unfortunately, because I live in the British Isles, you're not going to see, for example, Creed, Spotlight or The Hateful Eight pop up on my lists: they haven't been released here yet. Likewise, my fellow UK residents should not expect to see movies like Birdman, Whiplash or American Sniper on my list, since those movies were first released in the US late last year.
Also, I feel the need to emphasise this point every year: I haven't had a chance to see every movie that came out in 2015, so there might be some really obvious picks for either the best or worst list that I'll have omitted simply because I haven't seen them. I'll get into more details in the individual best and worst lists themselves, but the problem is usually that I don't have the easiest access to a cinema, so I may simply have missed my chance. This is especially true of movies released from August onwards, because they won't be released on DVD in time for me to rent them and judge them.
So, with all that said, let's move on to the lists themselves. :)
Truth be told, this was actually one of the best cinematic years in recent memory, but it still wasn't without its fair share of stinkers. But even this year's bad apples weren't as rotten as those in previous years; even number one on my list didn't come close to sparking the intense hatred I felt for The Devil Inside, Transformers 3 or Lucy โ thank God! :)
I do try to subject myself to as many poorly reviewed movies as I can, just to see if any of them deserve a spot on my list, but there are always a few that I manage to (perhaps wisely) avoid. This year, for example, I didn't see Hitman: Agent 47, Pan, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, The Human Centipede III, Get Hard, The Bad Education Movie or Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. The infamous Jem and the Holograms hasn't been released in the UK yet. But the big one, of course, is Fifty Shades of Grey, which I actually thought about adding to one of my weekly pairs of rentals, and found that I just couldn't go through with it; I don't need that pain in my life!
Anyway, without further ado, let's get into my top ten least favourites of the movies I did see this year.
Runners-up:
Fantastic Four
Insurgent
Jupiter Ascending
Knock Knock
Mortdecai
Taken 3
The Visit
Before we get started, I think it's only appropriate to go over the criteria I set for myself, for those of you unfamiliar with them. What qualifies as a 2015 release? Well, the way I see it, the movie simply has to have been released to the general public โ in cinemas, straight to DVD or what have you โ in the year in question. So if a movie was originally shown at a film festival or something in an earlier year but didn't find a general release until 2015, it still counts. Conversely, I don't count movies that haven't yet been seen beyond a film festival by the end of the year โ which I won't have seen anyway, but that's beside the point.
Another thing to consider is that movies are often released at different times in various countries, to the point where some parts of the world may even see a particular movie a year or two earlier than others. When Marnie Was There, for example, was released in its native Japan in 2014, found its way to American cinemas in 2015, but won't be released in the UK until 2016. So, unfortunately, because I live in the British Isles, you're not going to see, for example, Creed, Spotlight or The Hateful Eight pop up on my lists: they haven't been released here yet. Likewise, my fellow UK residents should not expect to see movies like Birdman, Whiplash or American Sniper on my list, since those movies were first released in the US late last year.
Also, I feel the need to emphasise this point every year: I haven't had a chance to see every movie that came out in 2015, so there might be some really obvious picks for either the best or worst list that I'll have omitted simply because I haven't seen them. I'll get into more details in the individual best and worst lists themselves, but the problem is usually that I don't have the easiest access to a cinema, so I may simply have missed my chance. This is especially true of movies released from August onwards, because they won't be released on DVD in time for me to rent them and judge them.
So, with all that said, let's move on to the lists themselves. :)
Truth be told, this was actually one of the best cinematic years in recent memory, but it still wasn't without its fair share of stinkers. But even this year's bad apples weren't as rotten as those in previous years; even number one on my list didn't come close to sparking the intense hatred I felt for The Devil Inside, Transformers 3 or Lucy โ thank God! :)
I do try to subject myself to as many poorly reviewed movies as I can, just to see if any of them deserve a spot on my list, but there are always a few that I manage to (perhaps wisely) avoid. This year, for example, I didn't see Hitman: Agent 47, Pan, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, The Human Centipede III, Get Hard, The Bad Education Movie or Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. The infamous Jem and the Holograms hasn't been released in the UK yet. But the big one, of course, is Fifty Shades of Grey, which I actually thought about adding to one of my weekly pairs of rentals, and found that I just couldn't go through with it; I don't need that pain in my life!
Anyway, without further ado, let's get into my top ten least favourites of the movies I did see this year.
Runners-up:
Fantastic Four
Insurgent
Jupiter Ascending
Knock Knock
Mortdecai
Taken 3
The Visit
RSS Feed