12 "Important" Movies That Are Actually Terrible

6. Empire Records (1995)

Adolescent nostalgia can be a treacherous thing. This coming of age comedy drama, which gave breakthrough roles to Liv Tyler and Renee Zellwegger, seems to be dear to the heart of many who grew up in the 1990s, taking them back to the emotional rollercoaster of their own teenage years. Thing is, oftentimes it isn't until you reach adulthood that you look back on yourself as a teenager and realise that... well, you were a bit of an idiot.

Empire Records is such a moronic film on so many levels. It presents an idyllic workplace that just about any young person would kill to have as their Saturday job, where everyone blatantly ignores their responsibilities and the ludicrously lenient boss always lets them off; and yet at the same time, they're all gazing off into the sky complaining about how hard life is, whining about whether they'll ever achieve their dreams, and (notably in Zellwegger's case) going into absurdly melodramatic meltdowns over trivial nonsense.

It's like Breakfast Club, but even more annoying and implausible, with a teen cast in even greater need of a clip around the ear.