The AV Club's Worst Films of 2009 [Archive]

Thomas Balkcom

12/16/09, 12:24 AM

thoughts?

19. Jennifer's Body
18. The End of Poverty
17. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
16. The Final Destination
15. Alien Trespass
14. The Burning Plain
13. Confessions of a Shopaholic
12. Bride Wars
11. I Love You, Beth Cooper
10. Downloading Nancy
9. Old Dogs
8. Fired Up
7.The Ugly Truth
6. All About Steve
5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
4. Paper Heart
3. I Hate Valentine's Day
2. Gigantic
1. Miss March

Thomas Balkcom

12/16/09, 12:26 AM

last year's http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=742582

bouttogetfancy

12/16/09, 12:37 AM

yeah I didn't like Paper Heart and I had no interest in any of the other movies.

cshadows2887

12/16/09, 12:42 AM

I can honestly say I've only seen one of those. And I really enjoyed Transformers 2. I went in wanting no-brain diversion and I got it in spades. Nice effects, things got blowed up real good, the comedy bits were funny, and the serious bits were just as hilarious (if unintentionally). Not quality by any means, but it gave me exactly what I was looking for.

Thomas Balkcom

12/16/09, 12:43 AM

Paper Heart was that bad?

bouttogetfancy

12/16/09, 12:51 AM

Paper Heart was that bad?
I just noticed that it was numbered. Don't think it should be that high and neither should Gigantic.

*crying stars*

12/16/09, 01:16 AM

Is Gigantic that much of a bust? I wanted to watch it forever ago and never got around to it.

Deadbolt23

12/16/09, 01:23 AM

I haven't seen one film on that list.

bouttogetfancy

12/16/09, 01:25 AM

Is Gigantic that much of a bust? I wanted to watch it forever ago and never got around to it.
The actors were great but the story, not so much.

jtjt43

12/16/09, 03:50 AM

I haven't seen one film on that list.

Neither have I.

Smash Adams

12/16/09, 03:54 AM

I thought Confessions got decent reviews
only seen 2 which I guess is good-Transformers 2 and Bride Wars-don't hate on that 2nd one

CalRahhh

12/16/09, 05:11 AM

Only one I've seen on that list is Underworld, and I actually didn't think it was that bad :/

TJ Wells

12/16/09, 05:21 AM

NateFoundGlory

12/16/09, 05:28 AM

I liked the Ugly Truth, but I can see why it's on here, and Miss March was kind of a guilty pleasure for me, but still sucked. But Fired Up does not belong on here. I love that movie.

Either way, the rest seem decently spot on.

TJ Wells

12/16/09, 05:30 AM

Yeah I heard genre-specific good things about Fired Up. Hope to catch up with it eventually.

gilatron5000

12/16/09, 05:34 AM

I actually just watched I Love you Beth Cooper and it was kind of sweet. It was more awkward funny than simply just funny, but I didn't think it was that terrible.

Every single movie on there that I've seen was worlds better than Jennifer's Body though. That movie was just awful.

TJ Wells

12/16/09, 05:45 AM

Wake Up

12/16/09, 06:16 AM

I really enjoyed Downloading Nancy...

ClemTiger0408

12/16/09, 06:38 AM

bNz719

12/16/09, 07:03 AM

How in the world is Push not on this list?

drudo182

12/16/09, 08:15 AM

Wow, Paper Heart is on the list? Seriously, it's not that bad.

I enjoyed I Love You, Beth Cooper. It was so off the wall at times but it wasn't bad.

yoyostring

12/16/09, 08:20 AM

Fired Up! shouldn't be on there. That movie was hilarious.

DeathCabForCoon

12/16/09, 10:07 AM

Transformers should be #1.

JordanBuell

12/16/09, 10:16 AM

how is gi joe not on this list? that movie was terrible!

EvilZeppelin

12/16/09, 11:04 AM

Did Transformers 2 even have a story line!?

And Hours Pass

12/16/09, 11:05 AM

How is Year One not on that list? I'd put that in one of the top 10 worst movies of the decade. And I am not exaggerating at all.

Also, I disagree with Paper Heart. It was at least decent, certainly not a BEST film. And I heard Jennifer's Body was decent but misunderstood. Never saw it, however.
How can you get some of the funniest men in hollywood (lee eisenberg, gene stupnitsky, and harold ramis) and come up with such an absolutely garbage film? I don't think Year One could've gotten much worse if it actively tried.

Kif

12/16/09, 11:07 AM

Went into Transformers expecting CGI porn, so that I wasn't too upset with.

Saw half of Jennifer's Body too, which wasn't horrible to be fair, but it didn't make me want to watch the rest.

Other than that it looks like I avoided some pretty shitty films.

jbaseball44

12/16/09, 11:13 AM

Transformers was terrible

schenksta

12/16/09, 11:20 AM

2012, while thoroughly entertaining, was an awful movie

You Vandal

12/16/09, 11:28 AM

Paper Heart and Gigantic are great calls; I don't like the term "hipster garbage" for music, especially since I consider myself a hipster, but those two pieces of shit were fucking hipster garbage to the max.
HA. People actually refer to themselves as hipsters voluntarily? Why is that something to be proud of?

aolsux

12/16/09, 11:31 AM

ThanksKilling, The Ugly Truth, Confessions Of A Shopalolic

bladerdude360

12/16/09, 11:38 AM

Yeah I heard genre-specific good things about Fired Up. Hope to catch up with it eventually.
Fired Up is absolutely hilarious, no way it deserves to be on this list. I get why someone would just assume that it should be awful, but it's actually really funny.

Also, I haven't seen I Love You, Beth Cooper and Paper Heart but I kind of feel like they shouldn't be considered the year's worst. Maybe Beth Cooper, because I heard bad things haha, but I still kind of want to see it. It seems funny and cute in a real teenage-love kind of way, which can be kind of endearing sometimes.

bladerdude360

12/16/09, 11:40 AM

Fired Up! shouldn't be on there. That movie was hilarious.
Wholeheartedly agree with this. Just watched it again with my cousin, he thought it was awesome. I literally laugh out loud so often during that movie.

yoyostring

12/16/09, 12:08 PM

Wholeheartedly agree with this. Just watched it again with my cousin, he thought it was awesome. I literally laugh out loud so often during that movie.

Doctor Rick is the man

Max_123

12/16/09, 12:14 PM

there's a few i don't agree with, but i definitely agree with Miss March being #1
that movie was just awful and it wasn't funny at all, i felt like i was watching disney channel actors while watching that movie

ikikwe

12/16/09, 12:25 PM

Fired Up! shouldn't be on there. That movie was hilarious.
It really is. I've watched it several times because it's streaming on netflix and it's good to watch with my roommates when there's nothing to do. And yes, Dr. Rick is indeed the man.

"Carlysbad, Carlyfornia."

yoyostring

12/16/09, 12:56 PM

It really is. I've watched it several times because it's streaming on netflix and it's good to watch with my roommates when there's nothing to do. And yes, Dr. Rick is indeed the man.

"Carlysbad, Carlyfornia."

Robert Di nero..Meet the Parents reference...LOVE IT!

Gaugzilla

12/16/09, 01:03 PM

I've seen two and a half - "The Final Destination," "The Ugly Truth" and "Tranformers 2 (half)" and all were cinematic achievements in both sucking and blowing. And using the excuse for "Transformers 2" that you just wanted to turn your brain off and watch things blow up - please, this year "District 9" did that without sacrificing story, character and felt no need to pander to the troglodytes. It's no longer a good excuse.

bladerdude360

12/16/09, 01:36 PM

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Foosimoo

12/16/09, 02:14 PM

Paper Heart was the most fucking awkward movie. Hard to watch.

SteveLikesMusic

12/16/09, 03:04 PM

Paper Heart isn't bad at all.

drudo182

12/16/09, 03:09 PM

Oh.... that's Fired Up!.

Might give it a rent.

gilatron5000

12/16/09, 03:12 PM

Read the book. So damn good.Will do. I have heard the book is really good.

ActorInThisPlay

12/16/09, 03:27 PM

oh god Miss March was terrible...good call on that one for sure

PaperRival-Jake

12/16/09, 03:32 PM

However much I didn't like The Burning Plain, I still wouldn't put it in a list with the likes of I love you, Beth Cooper and All About Steve... I also think they forgot that My Life In Ruins came out this year. That needs to be on this list...

PaperRival-Jake

12/16/09, 03:33 PM

Paper Heart isn't bad at all.

I enjoyed it. May have been a little too "cute" in a lot of its points. It still didn't rub me the wrong way though.

Prestonxsmith

12/16/09, 03:33 PM

I have heard good things from both people I know who know movies, and people who just view them as mere entertainment.

jay_klinkhammer

12/16/09, 04:35 PM

Miss March was hilarious

KevBlu42

12/16/09, 06:24 PM

I actually liked Jennifer's Body. The only other movies on the list that I've seen are The Ugly Truth and I Love You, Beth Cooper. Those are definitely good calls.

threepunchjim

12/16/09, 06:26 PM

Paper Heart was that bad?

nah it's actually pretty good. It's cute and enjoyable, and the cast is likeable - not to mention it's a pretty novel idea for a plot. You'll enjoy it.

threepunchjim

12/16/09, 06:29 PM

I actually liked Jennifer's Body. The only other movies on the list that I've seen are The Ugly Truth and I Love You, Beth Cooper. Those are definitely good calls.

Yeah I was surprised with how awful Ugly Truth was. Not even Heigl and Butler's good performances could save that trash.

NateFoundGlory

12/16/09, 06:38 PM

Wholeheartedly agree with this. Just watched it again with my cousin, he thought it was awesome. I literally laugh out loud so often during that movie.

I think our bus crashed and we're in heaven.
No. We would've heard "We are crashing, we we are crashing..."

fake empire

12/16/09, 06:41 PM

Only one I saw was Jennifer's Body

Colorblind!

12/16/09, 07:47 PM

Paper Heart was an utter letdown, but fifteen spots above Jennifer's Body?
...really?

runningohfive

12/16/09, 09:29 PM

I'm surprised Gamer wasn't on the list. I hated that movie.

Wake Up

12/17/09, 06:41 AM

This list sucks

polygon

12/17/09, 06:51 AM

GI Joe

Thomas Balkcom

12/17/09, 11:47 AM

I'm surprised Gamer wasn't on the list. I hated that movie.

I actually enjoyed Gamer.

This list sucks

in your opinion, what is missing? What was on the list that should not have been?

Max_123

12/17/09, 01:07 PM

Miss March was hilarious
i think you may be alone on that
when i watched it i just kept getting the feeling it should have been one of those stupid straight to dvd movies like every american pie spin off and other low budget sex comedies and it shouldn't have been promoted so much

NKYVox

12/17/09, 01:24 PM

Jennifer's Body is one of those films that will become a cult classic down the line. Gigantic & Paper Heart wern't that bad. I also like "I Love You, Beth Cooper"....definitely a John Hughesesque film.

Wake Up

12/17/09, 04:11 PM

I actually enjoyed Gamer.

in your opinion, what is missing? What was on the list that should not have been?

Numbers: 19, 12, and 4 should be omitted.

12 Rounds
Carriers
Couples Retreat
Dance Flick
Homecoming

All should have been on this list

MADSTA

12/18/09, 08:08 AM

Definitely agree with #1. I hate myself for paying for that shiiiiite.

Yeah I heard genre-specific good things about Fired Up. Hope to catch up with it eventually.
I think it's hilarious. One of my most quoted movies.

JuneJuly

12/18/09, 08:36 AM

Completely agree about the new Transformers. True I saw it at like 2 AM , but it was sooo bad. And a really bad day to see it, I had ACT's the next morning... =/

underdawg1119

12/18/09, 01:04 PM

How the fuck is Halloween 2 not number one? Zombie's wife's performance alone could land it in the top 5.

Also, I liked Miss March...:shrug:

PaperRival-Jake

12/18/09, 07:48 PM

Numbers: 19, 12, and 4 should be omitted.

12 Rounds
Carriers
Couples Retreat
Dance Flick
Homecoming

All should have been on this list

Have you seen all five of those?

Wake Up

12/19/09, 07:00 AM

Have you seen all five of those?

More times than i wish i had

PaperRival-Jake

12/19/09, 07:06 AM

More times than i wish i had

There are so many fantastic movies that came out this year. Why did you waste your time on those? Do you work at a theater?
Are you a movie critic?

Wake Up

12/19/09, 07:47 AM

There are so many fantastic movies that came out this year. Why did you waste your time on those? Do you work at a theater?
Are you a movie critic?

I try to see as many movies as possible good and bad, it helps when it comes time to direct my own films.

PaperRival-Jake

12/19/09, 11:02 AM

I try to see as many movies as possible good and bad, it helps when it comes time to direct my own films.

I can understand wanting to broaden horizons and get out there and look at paths that you don't want to follow. I must say though, that when movies like Miss March, Fired Up, Bring it On series, etc. follow the exact same formula and if you've seen one of those movies you have seen them all. I wouldn't go wasting valuable time watching every bad movie out there just to see what I don't want to do. Wouldn't you rather watch as many great films as you could (yes, I understand that beauty is in the eye... yada yada... ) to inspire yourself to make great movies?

I totally understand your point, I just think that there are films so bad that if you watch enough of, you will start to see traces of them enter in to your own work.

That being said, I have seen a lot of the movies on the list also and agree that three of the five you mentioned that I have seen as well, need to be on that other list.