The Worst and Most Disappointing Movies of 2013

I was a little surprised over the weekend to receive two separate emails asking me whether or not I was going to post a “Worst Movies of 2013” list. I guess people sort of enjoy piling on at the end of the year, perhaps even more than sorting through what’s arguably the best of the year. Speaking of which, if you missed my right here.

As for the worst movies from the past year, I was fortunate not to see films such as Movie 43 and Scary Movie 5, a couple films, but the sound of it, were truly nightmarish cinematic scenarios. So, while you’re looking over the lists below, if you notice a title that was considered truly horrendous not listed, I most likely didn’t see it. Or, if you scroll through my Movie Review archives and notice a film that received a D+ or lower not listed, I just simply didn’t think it deserved to be included among some of the other films I considered the “worst”, a designation a grade can’t really encapsulate.

Before we get to what I consider to be the ten worst and ten most disappointing films of the year, here are 21 films that were also under consideration, the majority of them for “worst of” with only The Immigrant and Maniac serving as possible “most disappointing” contenders.

Dishonorable Mention

Baggage Claim (read my review here)
The Bastards (read my Cannes review here)
Carrie (read my review here)
Devil’s Knot* (read my Toronto review here)
Gangster Squad (read my review here)
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (read my review here)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (read my review here)
Identity Thief (read my review here)
The Immigrant* (read my Cannes review here)
The Internship (read my review here)
The Last Stand (read my review here)
The Lone Ranger (read my review here)
Maniac (read my review here)
Oz the Great and Powerful (read my review here)
Pacific Rim (read my review here)
Passion (read my review here)
R.I.P.D. (read my review here)
Safe Haven (read my review here)
Shield of Straw* (read my Cannes review here)
White House Down (read my review here)
The Wolverine (read my review here)

NOTE: An * next to a movie means I saw it at a film festival and it hasn’t yet been released in the U.S. therefore I’m not considering it for either list below.

Worst Movies of 2013

When it comes to the worst of the year, the following list is in alphabetical order since ranking them seems needless, though if pressured it would be a battle between After Earth and Aftershock for #1 with Aftershock probably taking the title, what a piece of junk. However, I wouldn’t want to watch any of these ten films ever again, as they all stunk for their very own reasons.

After Earth (read my review here)
Aftershock (read my review here)
Bullet to the Head (read my review here)
The Fifth Estate (read my review here)
Getaway (read my review here)
A Good Day to Die Hard (read my review here)
The Host (read my review here)
Labor Day (read my Toronto review here)
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (read my review here)
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (read my review here)

Most Disappointing Movies of 2013

In my mind this is the more interesting list (again in alphabetical order). These are the films I was really looking forward to seeing only to walk out of the theater rather deflated. I’ve already attempted to give American Hustle a second shot and it’s even more uninteresting on second viewing and while I still don’t hate Only God Forgives (find my Blu-ray review here), it’s definitely lesser Nicolas Winding Refn in my mind. Star Trek into Darkness essentially took me from sky high expectations after the first one and pretty much buried any anticipation for a Star Trek 3 and Trance simply served as a Danny Boyle misfire.

The only one of these ten I’m truly interested in revisiting is Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor, especially with that extended edition coming to Blu-ray edition coming in February. Otherwise, these ten simply didn’t live up to what I’d hope they’d be.