By Mark Pukalo
There were a lot worse things in 2020 than the quality of movies released.
While there were not an abundance of truly great films in the past 14 months, it was a bit difficult to classify the worst of them. Many of those bottom-feeder movies had an element or two that made you want to keep it out of the worst of 2020 list. See that "Passable" list next week.
The criteria I used to put this together - out of more than 300 viewed from Jan. 2020 to February 2021 in the extended Oscar season - were movies that "really annoyed me" or had flat-out awful scripts and dialogue. Perhaps some on the dishonorable mention list might be technically worse than the top 15, but expectations also come into play here.
Here's the worst stinkers of 2020, in my opinion. The only one I spent money on in the theater was "Monster Hunter," although I almost went to see "Infidel" before changing my mind at the last minute and viewing one of my top 20 for the year.
Dishonorable Mention: Amulet, Body Cam, The Boys in the Band, Breach (one of two Bruce Willis fails), Coffee & Kareem, Death of Me, Jiu Jitsu (shame again Nicolas Cage), Lost Bullet, Infamous, Money Plane, Monster Hunter, The Occupant, The Players, Rising High, Santana, 2067
Worst 15 of 2020
15. Unhinged - Just a lot of mindless violence, and the film never seems to stop to take a breath to develop more of a story. Shame Russell Crowe
14. Bad Education - Many critics liked this one and I can't understand why. I was never interested in any of the main characters and it was cliched
13 The Last Days of American Crime - Futuristic action crime drama that was not compelling and quite confusing
12. The Decline - Murder at a weird survivalist camp with a lot of unlikable characters and a plot that was pretty thin
11. Like a Boss - Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne have a small beauty company that big boss Salma Hayek buys, but there's very few laughs and a poor script to work with
10. The Devil All The Time - Some critics liked this one, but most of the characters are so despicable you don't care about anything.
9. Buddy Games - A group of old friends renew their unique, outdoor competition, and almost all of it is cringe-worthy
8. The Swing of Things - A wedding is mistakenly scheduled at a swingers resort in Jamaica and the script is both awkward and lacks humor
7. The Bay of Silence - The mysterious death of a child is the centerpiece for a hard-to-follow crime drama surrounding a bad marriage. Nothing made you want to keep watching unless you had to
6. Infidel - Dinesh D'Souza is the executive producer, so that's already a black mark against the film, but the script is really, really bad anyway. An American is kidnapped in Cairo and asked to denounce his strong religious beliefs or die
5. The Wrong Missy - A dopey comedy with David Spade and Lauren Lapkus, which never seems to get any more likable over 90 minutes
4. The Last Thing He Wanted - Anne Hathaway is a journalist who helps her dying father with his business - arms dealing. It is just hard to imagine and quite uninteresting
3. I'm Thinking of Ending Things - Many critics liked this one for some reason, but it is so abstract and impossible to follow that it made me angry. The many explanations for the plot are just as hard to make sense out of as the film
2. Survive the Night - Dumb criminals and a mindless storyline with ridiculous violence. When was Bruce Willis' last good film? Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill) shows up in this stinker, too
1. DoLittle - The first scene made me want to turn off the movie right away, but the fast-forward option was a better route. Robert Downey Jr. is the good Doctor and there is really nothing that makes the tale fun to watch. There was no cure
PREVIOUS WORST MOVIES OF THE YEAR
2019 - Cold Pursuit
2018: Mile 22
2017 - Mother!
2016 - 13 Hours and Hail Caesar!
2015 - Chappie
2014 - The Monuments Men
2013 - The Place Between the Pines
2012 - Cloud Atlas
2011 - Tree of Life
