No critic goes out of his or her way to see a terrible movie, so when they vote for the worst movie of the year, it’s usually one they were expecting better things from. But Time‘s Mary Pols, bless her intrepid heart, actually set out to see some of the year’s least impressive films on purpose, and the result is what for humanity’s sake we hope will be the best-researched worst of list we see all season. (Her more fortunate colleague Richard Corliss’ best movies are here.)
1. Grown-Ups 2. “There are people who will argue that 12 Years a Slave is the most depressing movie of the year. Enduring Grown Ups 2 threw me into a much deeper funk.”
2. Salinger. “A portrait of the writer as a controlling, predatory creep and a feeling that the filmmaker may missed his calling in reality television.”
3. The Host. “You will never feel worse for an actress (not even Cameron Diaz) than you will for poor [Saorsie] Ronan, who not long ago was a very young Oscar nominee.”
4. After Earth. “Who knew that one day, The Village would seem like a career highpoint?”
5. R.I.P.D. “This one was practically the death of me.”
