1. Movie 43 (2013)
The Ensemble: Dennis Quaid, Greg Kinnear, Common, Will Sasso, Seth MacFarlane, Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber, Anna Faris, Chris Pratt, J.B. Smoove, Kieran Culkin, Emma Stone, Justin Long, Katrina Bowden, Jason Sudeikis, Uma Thurman, Kristen Bell, Richard Gere, Kate Bosworth, Jack McBrayer, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Patrick Warburton, Seann William Scott, Gerard Butler, Johnny Knoxville, Halle Berry, Stephen Merchant, Terrence Howard, Larry Sanders, Elizabeth Banks, Josh Duhamel Here's an ensemble movie so bad that nobody really knows how it even happened: why did so many huge stars with better things to do sign on for
this? The short answer is... they were tricked. Seriously. Once the producers of
Movie 43 managed to convince Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet into filming a short segment four years ago, they were able to manipulate other actors into doing the same using those Hollywood high-flyers as bait. "Oh, Hugh and Kate are in this already, you know... look, we've got the footage to prove it and everything." Still, once so many stars had agreed to join the ensemble, they - one by one - had a change of heart, but were obliged by their good word (and lingering contractual obligions, I'd imagine) to fulfill their promises. The producers even admitted that they use the guilt-trip method to ensure that they kept their stars: "Oh, you can't do it next week? You're busy with something else? Okay, we'll wait for you to be available. Whenever you like." What emerged, then, is a movie showcasing what is perhaps the biggest waste of cinematic talent this side of the Milky Way. Painfully unfunny in every regard, absolutely everybody involved looks as though they'd rather be cleaning a toilet after John Goodman has spent an hour squatting over it with an upset stomach. There is, truly, no ensemble movie in existence worse than
Movie 43. It marked the death of the "21st century comedy anthology movie trend" before it had even began. File this one under: "burn immediately, and never look back."
Agree or disagree with this list? Let me know in the comments section below.