PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS VERY STRONG PERSONAL OPINION.
- A History of Violence – A movie filmed mostly in a dark studio, it seems and a one street town. Poor excuse for "film noir." Casting is poor, love scenes are clinical and script is non-existent. Value Engineered. How was it nominated for an award? The right things don’t always happen in this world!
- Pirates of the Carribbean – Marketing alone doth not make a good film. A senseless ripoff of Yellow beard. Script is very poor. The sequels are value engineered. Avoid them.
- AI – modern day Pinocchio wishes to find his mother. Poor scripting and lackluster casting killed this film. Some good special effects.
- Feeling Minnesota – Keanu Reeves plays a low life brother-in-law to Cameron Diaz who is marrying his brother. The Johnny Cash title song is memorable.
- Miami Heat – senseless violence without cause.
- The Pianist – Long boring, pointless film about WW II in which a Jewish radio announcer is kept alive in Nazi Europe. Good suspense and sets, but it’s a one-man show that is never interesting. Its also a Polanski film.
- The Talented Mr. Ripley – Poor casting and bungled screen play makes for a poor movie. The sets are very good though.
- Deer Hunter – A boring pointless movie about the Vietnam war that I struggled through. What did the critics read into the movie to give it so many awards?
- What Dreams May Come – A nonsensical adventure into an inane void.
- Collateral damage – Weak plot and little action make this a flop.
- Daybreak – Sylvester Stallone runs into the ground in this botched up disaster film. If you are a Stallone fan, Cliffhanger is a better bet.
- Sin City – Wonder how this became a hit. A nonsensical, surrealistic blob/mob movie.
- The Three Kings – A disjointed wreck of a film.
- The Perfect Storm – Poor screen play makes this a pointless film to watch. The special effects are good. The Peacemaker is a better Clooney bet.
- Ocean’s eleven – Plot/script is poor. Eleven parade around in fancy suits waiting for something to happen.
- The Interpreter – While Sean Penn is a fine actor, this one didn’t fly. Don’t remember why.
- Lost in Translation – Another plodding, plot thin movie lost with insipid acting.
- Land of the Blind -- This satire was lost to me. Couldn't get past the first half hour.
- Munich -- Story of the 1972 massacre in Munich and retaliation by Mossad. I didn't get the oomph from this inspite of the sets and the directing. "Sword of Gideon" is a lot more interesting although of lesser cinematic value.
- Metropolis -- This is Fritz Lang's 1920's classic. Even though the sets are far advanced for their time, its only for the serious student of cinema. Its influence on sci-fi special effects can still be seen today, but its a disjointed wreck of a film that fails to hold interest.
- Treasure planet -- value engineered, plot poor movie.
- The Good German -- The good german is a bad film. Inspite of the big names behind the movie, this doesn't quite make it as a film noir, partly because of the low stakes and a casting imperfection. George Clooney is too affable as a military journalist and doesn't have much of a role. Cate Blanchett is supposed to be a femme fatale but doesn't quite fit her role. Not everyone can shape shift into an "on demand" german.
- Beverly Hillbillies -- There is very little of the TV series except that grannie is still grannie.
- Alien vs Predator -- I wonder what muddle inspired this movie and what compelled me to watch it.
- The Last Rites of Ransom Pride -- This is a Q.T. movie. It seems like a mix of Western, Cult and chic flic. Did not like the jarring edits. Film seemed pointless and un-convincing.
- Horseman -- An enraged father goes on a revenge spree. Unfortunately, little cinematic value.
- Hancock -- A superhero shows his less than heroic side. Movie simply didn't click.
- The Last Templar -- This made-for-TV film should be titled "Jewish princess has a trip". Its a slow movie that lacks steam.
- The Pilot's wife -- This is a slow movie that lacks steam.
- Transformers -- Lots of people liked transformers, but for me it was plot thin, screeenplay-poor movie with jarring edits.
- Alls faire in love -- This is chic flic that is on this list because casting, acting and scripting all seemed green.
- Hirokin -- A confused warrior meanders his way through a post apocalyptic wasteland to kill a paper-thin villain. This has all the hall marks of a 'made-for-tv-movie', and most of it is about Hirokin's confusion!
- In Bruges -- Two assassins wait for a hit in this plodding film.
- The Ghost of Robin Hood -- This seemed like an amateur production, I didn't get past the first 15 minutes.
- Ex Machina -- A star programmer is invited to a remote mountain residence belonging to eccentric billionaire, Nathan to test his latest creation a Humanoid she bot. While this movie got rave reviews, it can be skipped. The closed set, the unconvincing acting and a predictable plot that is also unconvincing by AI standards make this a non-dinger.
- End of Watch -- Despite Jake Gyllenhall's charismatic presence this movie feels more like a documentary of police work in the worst area of LA. Movie is dry as sawdust.
- The Man from UNCLE (2015) -- This light hearted spy comedy is too slow to entertain.
- Blue Ice (1992) -- This slow paced movie picks up only in the second half to a predictable conclusion.
- True Memoirs of an International Assassin (2016) -- This movie is billed like an action film, but it doesn't know what it wants to be. I think the script is bungled.
- What happened to Monday (2017) -- In a police state with a strict one child policy, a man raises seven daughters who all share one job. This is a sci-fi chic flick that seems to suffer a "closed set" syndrome among others. While the plot is good, the sets and editing are weak and the characters unappealing (to put it mildly).