JEANNE'S WORST MOVIES OF 2015

 

1. UNFINISHED BUSINESS - The most unfunny comedy ever. Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson and Dave Franco are awful, but it is the screenplay that stinks!

 

2. FANTASTIC FOUR - This tired franchise needs to be retired. You know the script is bad when the villain is lifeless and boring.

 

3. OUR BRAND IS CRISIS - Horrible vehicle for Sandra Bullock, and decidedly not funny. And Billy Bob Thornton sleepwalks through his performance --- totally awful.

 

4. CHAPPIE - Dark and depressing depiction of artificial intelligence. A complete waste of time.

 

5. SELF/LESS - Interesting premise and good cast can't save this clunker of a screenplay.

 

6. THE BOY NEXT DOOR - Predictable and overdone premise, and Jennifer Lopez, bless her heart, cannot carry a film.

 

7.  THE GUNMAN - An absolutely horrible outing for Sean Penn, exacerbated by a wretched, gory script.

 

8. The Sponge Bob Movie: Sponge Out of Water - Stupid, boring and definitely not funny. Hard to believe kids would even like this.

 

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DAVID'S WORST MOVIES OF 2015

 

1. VACATION - You know you're in trouble when a movie starts off with a note scribbled indelibly on a guitar that says "I have a vagina".  An entire family diving into a sewage dump they think is a hot springs is not amusing. And this is just one of many examples.

 

2. FANTASTIC FOUR - If you know a 12-year-old boy who likes science fiction, you might recommend "Fantastic Four". On the other hand, I suspect most 12-year-olds would see through the cheesy special effects and shoddy acting on display in this humorless version. A dull, drab effort.

 

3. SISTERS - You know a comedy is in trouble when it has to rely on the outtakes to garner a laugh or two. I actually left our screening angry --- angry that two of our brightest comic stars, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, could be involved in such a mediocre and disappointing outing.

 

4. THE D TRAIN - With a good script, Jack Black is as entertaining as anyone in the business. That's not the case here. What starts off as an amiable comedy turns into a dark string of events that purport to be funny, but they only serve to change the whole character of the film.

 

5. STATEN ISLAND SUMMER - With the "Saturday Night Live" stamp of approval all over it, we deserve better, much better. Features an overabundance of human anatomy hogwash, and a waste of talent.

 

6. MAGIC MIKE XXL - Watching handsome men with perfect bodies performing suggested sex acts on obese women is hardly appealing. The most disappointing aspect is the utter lack of choreographed dance routines. Outside of a brief display by Mike early on, the routines are merely elongated lap dances replete with sexual innuendoes. Steven Soderbergh, the first director, had enough good sense to bow out of this sequel.

 

7. The Sponge Bob Movie: Sponge Out of Water - Whoever was responsible for the trailer of this mostly animated movie about the iconic Sponge Bob, my hat's off to them. I was fooled into thinking this would be inviting and fun. But I was duped.