We've arrived at the very end of 2010, which means it's finally time to unveil our hotly-anticipatedHottestandLamestlists, both of which tunnel through the year that was in search of the hottest and lamest as it pertains to the films, actors, actresses and trends that populated our world over the past twelve months.
This year we've changed things up by reducing our lists of 25 to two lists of 10, highlighting only the very best (and worst) as voted on by the movie/pop-culture freaks here atCinematicalandMoviefone. We kicked things off yesterday with out10 Hottest of 2010, and now we conclude our journey through the year with ourLamest of 2010, which you'll find after the jump.
10. Megan Fox
This former"It"girl went from taking the world (and hearts) by storm to ... starring in'Jonah Hex'. After neatly tucking two mega-successful 'Transformers' movies under her belt,Megan Foxthen proceeded to enter a war of words with director Michael Bay, which subsequently got her fired from 'Transformers 3', and then made a few terrible career choices that included the awful 'Jennifer's Body', the atrocious 'Jonah Hex', and the indie 'Passion Play', which you probably never heard of and won't hear from ever again. Kind of like Megan Fox, who, barring any perverse, much talked-about nude scenes, will fade from obscurity after her next handful of small, meaningless roles. --Erik Davis
9. The Rom-Com
Oh, the rom-com. In theory, there's nothing wrong with romantic comedies. They're nothing more than films that offer romance intermingled with laughs, like 'When Harry Met Sally' and 'Love Actually.' But Hollywood loves to linger on the worst of the form, offering up trite, formulaic and nausea-inducing repetition that leeches onto the same stories, clichés and actors. Sadly, the worst of the bunch --'Valentine's Day'-- also made it into the Top 20 of 2010, and is getting a sequel set around New Year's Eve. Happy New Year to us, the trend will only get worse from here. --Monika Bartyzel
8. Mel Gibson
We're not sure if you've heard, but it was kind of a bad year for Mr.Mel Gibson. Few Hollywood A-listers have ever imploded so majestically as ol' Mel did via misdeeds that include, but are certainly not limited to, unleashing a horrifically bigoted rant at his girlfriend, who had the good sense to record it andleak it to the media; allegedly punching his girlfriend in the face while she was holding her baby; releasing a dud of a movie ('The Edge of Darkness'); having his so-called comeback vehicle enter limbo and ultimately pushed ('The Beaver,' out in March 2011); and getting fired from a simple cameo role ('The Hangover 2'). Time will tell if he'll ever be able to restore his former mega-watt celebrity status, but we tend to doubt it considering that no one seems to want to work with him anymore. As Gibson himself told Danny Glover in 'Lethal Weapon,'"I don't want to work with you, either!"-- something Gibson better get used to saying. --John Sellers
7. Dimming Star Power
Remember the days when the names on the marquee made audiences want to see a movie? Throwing together two big stars and a shoddy plot in the past spelled box office bucks, but this year that just didn't cut it. Both the Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz vehicle'Knight& Day'and the Reese Witherspoon/Owen Wilson/Paul Rudd threeway'How Do You Know'didn't draw huge numbers. Even 'The Tourist', with fan favorites Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, was criticized for being nothing but a shallow flash, despite its Golden Globe nominations. It seems like the names on the poster don't matter to movie goers quite as much anymore, forcing big stars to hopefully return to making, you know, good movies. --Gabrielle Dunn
6. Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan. By now, it's exhausting for us to type her name, let alone think about all of the crazy things that happened to her in 2010. The probation violations, the stint in jail, the trip to rehab, the 'Inferno' debacle -- enough already! It was just too much for one year. Of course, we'll always have a soft spot for her ('Mean Girls' forever!), and we do hope that she gets well soon. But if her 2011 is as rocky as her 2010 was, we're going to throw in the towel. --Andrew Scott
5. The MPAA
The MPAA has been a thorn in the side of cinema for years, but their decisions got particularly arbitrary, contradictory and ridiculous in 2010. We saw the powerful Yael Hersonski documentary 'A Film Unfinished' get an R, though similar Holocaust footage from 'The Last Days' earned a PG-13 rating. Their appeal failed.'Blue Valentine'was smacked with an NC-17 for some nudity and a clothed scene of Michelle Williams receiving oral sex– luckily their sexist-17 rating was overturned. But 'The King's Speech' lost its appeal and still has an R-rating for use of the F-word, which was used as a"release mechanism"to help the King overcome a stutter; cutting one F-bomb gave 'How Do You Know' a PG-13 instead of an R; and 'The Tillman Story' lost its appeal for the language used by the soldiers in the film. To top that off, torture porn easily slipped into R ratings, and the 'Breavement' poster was banned for a kid holding a weapon, though Hit Girl had no problem with hers on the 'Kick-Ass' posters. We love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning! --MB
4. Offensive Depictions of Race in Movies
Some of this year's movies weren't just bad, they also stirred up controversy and, understandably, offended many with their racial and cultural disregard. Let's see, there was 'Prince of Persia,' based on a hit video game, starring a white-looking, British-sounding Jake Gyllenhaal as a sword-weilding hero of Middle-Eastern descent. We're guessing all the buff, race-appropriate actors were booked? Tack on the harsh depictions of the local people, which seemed to support harmful stereotypes, and we'd say Disney was asking for a backlash. Next, there was the cringe-worthy ignorance displayed by the leading ladies in the globally-panned 'SATC 2,' wherein they galavant around Abu Dhabi (though, no scenes were actually filmed there). That's right, four martini-swigging, promiscuous characters known for dramatics concerning little more than sex were plopped down in a city with notoriously strict and sacred social norms. Needless to say, this horrid follow-up ticked off more than just the hopeful fans of the series.
Lastly, there's 'The Last Airbender,' from one of 2010's most hated-on men: The ego-maniacial, perennially disappointing Mr. M. Night Shyamalan. This depiction of a popular anime series played the age-old 'racebending' card, casting caucasian actors to play originally asian characters. The later casting of Dev Patel, British-born of Indian descent, to play a villain was perceived by many to reinforce a false idea that white means good and dark means bad. Hypersensitive or not, these glaring missteps were hard to ignore. -Alicia Roda
3. 3-D Conversion
If you ask James Cameron, 3-D will revolutionize how we watch movies, but even he agrees that conversion is pretty lame; in his own words, it's"fake 3-D."Nevertheless, we've been assaulted with a huge pile of converted movies. 'Deathly Hallows' might've been saved, but flicks like'Clash of the Titans'elicited moviegoer discontent with a third dimension that ruined the experience rather than enhancing it. And the craze isn't over yet. Prepare to see your Marvel avengers in converted 3-D, and, coming in 2012, the 'Star Wars' movies. There are no signs that the fad is slowing, and as long as the cash keeps flowing in, the crappy 3-D conversion will continue to descend. --MB
2. Movies That Bombed Despite Fanboy Love
So much for passion! It takes a lot more than lavish praise to make a worthy movie get the exposure it deserves.'Scott Pilgrim v. the World,' 'Let Me In'and 'Splice' were killer flicks that each earned a lot of fan love, with passionate bloggers pleading for the masses to hit theaters. Yet not one feature even made back their production budget, let alone became a financial success. 'Pilgrim' made $31.5 million on a $60 million budget, 'Let Me In' made $12 million on a more modest $20 million budget and 'Splice' made $17 million on a $30 million budget. It's a sad result that can still have a happy ending if you get out there and buy these films! --MB
1. Summer Movies
Of course it'd be crazy to imply that the season that delivered 'Toy Story 3,' 'Scott Pilgrim,' and 'Inception' was ALL bad, but there's little denying that, aside from a few sparkling exceptions, the 2010 Summer Movie Season was, well, pretty lame. Notable stinkpiles that still made huge cash include 'The Prince of Persia,''Sex and the City 2,'and'Grown Ups,' but there was also stuff like 'Jonah Hex,' 'The Last Airbender,'and 'Killers' to wade through. Many would also include Ridley Scott's'Robin Hood'on this list, but some of us actually kinda liked that flick. Bottom line: we need sturdier tentpoles for next summer. --Scott Weinberg
Source
Campaigning for an Academy Award is big business. There's a heck of a lot at stake -- careers can be made or boosted with an Oscar nod; an Academy Award-winning film can go on to earn appreciably more money at the box office; future work in the industry can rise or fall on an award. No wonder, then, that the studios pull out all the stops during Oscar season, offering free screenings to members of the Academy as well as the other guilds; inundating voters with DVD screeners; paying thousands and thousands of dollars on ads in the trades, newspapers and online; and generally doing everything they can to raise awareness about their films -- within Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rules, of course.
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