Tara Judah’s Worst Films of 2010

Tara Judah’s Worst Films of 2010.

As 2010 makes its inevitable march towards death (or rather, 2011), Quickflix critics Simon Miraudo, Tara Judah and Jess Lomas reflect on the year that was. Check out their individual selections for the best (and worst) films of a year that will be remembered by endless debates about spinning totems, fake street artists, faker actor-turned-rappers, and the extent to which we all wept at the end of Toy Story 3.

BUT FIRST, before we praise our fave flicks of the year, we need to recognise the most disappointing features of 2010. It’s essential to recognise cinematic sludge; much like in the way the human body is truly at its best in the days following the flu or after enduring a bout of intense, gut-churning constipation, it is only after acknowledging the awfulness of other films that we can truly understand great cinema.

Tara Judah picks…

10. The Human Centipede

It’s not because of the content. Actually this film makes my “worst” list because 1) it’s production values are abysmally low and 2) three people do not a centipede make. Mr Six, for the next instalment, please do your maths.

9. The Blind Side

Despite Sandra Bullock’s very good performance, this film ends up being a whole lot more like a patronising tale of “white woman saves underprivileged devoid of any agency black kid” than it does being the story of one woman’s indomitable spirit and her relationship with a remarkable young man.

8. Up in the Air

I have literally no idea what people liked about this film because to me it was completely vacuous. Far too reliant on seamless filmmaking and devoid of any challenging content or affective tone, this film was an uninteresting as the long haul flight I saw it on.

7. Gainsbourg

It’s very disappointing when a film about so fascinating a figure as Serge Gainsbourg can be so absolutely unappealing. Extracting quality content in favour of fragmented modes of storytelling this film wastes its wonderful subject matter and feels entirely feckless.

6. The Disappearance of Alice Creed

The first ten minutes are pretty good and then for some reason the film turns into a mass of implausible and uninteresting “twists” and “revelations” which, after about the third one left me with nothing other than the thought, “who cares?”

5. Chloe

Once again Hollywood takes a decent foreign (French) film and turns it into a hysterical piece of pap. Not exactly a fan of “the crazy lesbian is out to ruin heteronormative bliss”, this film was a grave disappointment despite a great central performance from Julianne Moore.

4. Sex and the City 2

There are so many things wrong with this film that I’m not even really sure where to start but I think I spent a large portion of my time “viewing” it trying not to look at the screen. What an almighty mess.

3. Nine

I still can’t quite believe that I went along to see this film. Who the hell thought it was okay to remake Fellini’s 8 ½?! Anger inducing to the last.

2. Love and Other Drugs

I can’t imagine anyone seeing this and not being offended. In fact, if you saw it and weren’t offended then I’m offended by that.

1. Little Deaths

By far the most disappointing film of the year for me. What I had hoped would be a funny, refreshing look at relationships through a cohesively linked snapshot of short films is so poorly edited together that it barely even constitutes a “film”.

Discuss: What did you think were the worst films of 2010?