Movies, to all of us on this site, are very important, and are key parts to our non-social lives. Though I enjoy most of the movies that I have seen from various different directors, the fact remains that no director (besides maybe Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, Steve McQueen and Duncan Jones (though the later two only made one feature length film) has been perfect. I am here to list out the movies that kept some directors from perfection.
> James Wan – Dead Silence: Now, I love me some James Wan, be it Saw, Death Sentence, or the rarely seen Aussie film Stygian, but when Dead Silence came out, the idea of James Wan as a no-loss director QUICKLY evaporated, and left the viewers of Wan’s films very pissed off because of how the film just, for one, wasn’t as scary or message-filled as his previous ones, and was just plainly stupid.
>James Cameron – The Abyss: Though James Cameron normally has outstanding and awesome movies, The Abyss was the first and last movie that Cameron made that was boring for most of the runtime. The film had decent graphics, but not in the standards of James Cameron. This was an okay movie, don’t get me wrong, but for James Cameron, it was the only movie that kept him from being one of the only elite directors (such as Nolan, Tarantino, McQueen and Jones).
>James Mangold – Heavy: Though this was his first film, and I will give him some merit there, because it introduced him into having the ability to actually direct many good movies in the future, Heavy was still quite boring, drawn out, and very boring (did I mention that already?). I fell asleep not once but TWICE while watching the film in one sitting.
>Guy Ritchie – Swept Away: Madonna had to shove her ass into Guy Ritchie’s movies, because being married to him apparently wasn’t enough. The movie is just a pure joke, and should never be seen unless you do not value the use of your eyes in the future.
>Martin Scorsese – Boxcar Bertha: There are a couple of movies that ruined the name of Martin Scorsese, but this title is not only the first, but quite possibly Scorsese’s worst film. The movie was very dull and left you wanting a more promising and interesting story along with better character development.
>Danny Boyle – A Life Less Ordinary: Now, I think that Danny Boyle is very near perfection, but A Life Less Ordinary has me on the fence. The movie wasn’t extremely terrible, but it certainly wasn’t good. It is hard to say my exact feelings on the movie, but I think it kicks Boyle slightly out of the spot of perfection.
>Cameron Crowe – Elizabethtown: Vanilla Sky is one of my favorite movies, and it is weird that it comes from Cameron Crowe, the romance director that normally does very romantic and in no way dramatic features (disregarding Jerry Maguire). So when Elizabethtown came out, it was neither nor. It was more… stupid and bland. I can’t believe he made this unfunny “romantic comedy,” especially since the romantic side of it was even a bit… missing.
>Darren Aronofsky – The Fountain: Though Darren Aronofsky is one of my favorite directors, and he introduced the world to the great Clint Mansell, he still made The Fountain. The Fountain was just a big waste of time, mainly because it was boring, lacked a real reason for existence, and was all around unbalanced as a film, the characters and action and scene outline was either missing and abstract or was just too focused upon. The point is that, like the Danny Boyle situation, I think the film was okay, but it definitely kicked Aronofsky out of the perfection section.
>Clint Eastwood – Firefox: Yet again, another nearly flawless director who made one bad movie that dragged him down. Firefox simply sucked, and though I love Clint’s movies, I couldn’t even stand to TRY to enjoy this one.
>Frank Darabont – The Mist: Though Frank Darabont is one of the best and most acclaimed directors of all time, he still made such a film as The Mist. The effects were often bad, and the characters were all (besides the wonderful acting of Marcia Gay Harden) poorly developed. The ending was god, though (VERY sad, though).
>David Lynch – Wild at Heart: Though the director is known for bizarre and great movies, this movie was more bizarre and yet stupid than I wanted in a Lynch vehicle. Not the best choice of a movie to make, in Lynch’s case.
>Ben Stiller – Reality Bites: Stiller is normally making some stupid and yet hilarious movies, but this movie really didn’t do it for me on the level of comedy or the ability to watch it.
>Adam McKay – Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby: Though many liked this movie, I thought it was too stupid to like, and therefore labeled it as a no-watch. Adam McKay is a good writer, but the fact is that this movie was just WAY too stupid to even enjoy.