Add CategoryFINDING ourselves at the jolliest time of the year — the season where all the talk is about Oscar nominations and best performances — it really is devilishly delightful to remember that not all movies were created equal. Some may have had millions of dollars at their disposal and even starred Hollywood’s biggest names, but that doesn’t mean they were worth the price of admission or the time away from family, friends or vacuuming your room.
Looks like Johnny Depp, Diane Keaton and Mark Wahlberg couldn’t save these movies from the biting words of top reviewers. Nic Cage gets a special shout out for having two films on this list. Below, find the 19 worst-reviewed movies of 2014 — and remember, we still have 20 days left in the year!
All box office figures from North America unless noted (via Box Office Mojo); movies must have more than 15 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes to be considered.
19. Sabotage
Arnie: He’ll be back. Did anyone want him, though? Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $10.5 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 19%
Sample review: “I don’t know what [David] Ayer is trying to prove by dunking the camera in spilled guts and having it linger over charred and frozen corpses.†-- Wesley Morris, Grantland
18. Transcendence
‘New intelligence’ nowhere to be found here. Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $23 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 19%
Sample review: “Remember when paycheck-hungry actors were accused of phoning in a performance? Johnny Depp spins that for millennials in ‘Transcendence’ by Skpying in his performance.†-- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
17. Devil’s Due
Looks like an Oscar contender, then. Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $15.8 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 18%
Sample review: “A disjointed and unconvincing movie that is also embarrassingly derivative of ‘Paranormal Activity.’†-- Rafer Guzman, Newsday
16. And So It Goes
Diane Keaton’s face says it all. Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $15.2 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 18%
Sample review: “None of this is remotely funny. It’s actually kind of sad.†-- Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
15. Transformers: Age of Extinction
Did anybody order INCOMPREHENSIBLE EXPLOSIONS?!?! Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $245.4 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 18%
Sample review: “If it truly takes this long to save the world from the depredations of robots that turn into muscle cars, it may be that the world is no longer worth saving.†-- Christopher Orr, The Atlantic
14. Ride Along
Starring critics favourite Ice Cube. Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $134.1 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 17%
Sample review: “Nothing in the movie makes sense, but I prefer to think that ‘Ride Along’ is just a badly told joke, rather than an insult to its audience.†-- David Denby, The New Yorker
13. Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return
Judy Garland must be spinning in her grave. Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $8.5 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 16%
Sample review: “[A] crass, cheap, hack-job cash-grab.†-- Jordan Hoffman, New York Daily News
12. Endless Love
You know it’s a quality film because it’s named after a Lionel Richie song. Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $23.4 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 15%
Sample review: “Might as well be one long montage of yearning gazes, tender kisses and lovers splashing in sundry bodies of water like playful otters.†-- Claudia Puig, USA Today
11. Rage
Remember when Nicolas Cage won Oscars? Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: N/A
Rotten Tomatoes score: 14%
Sample review: “It’s hard to say this is the worst film Nicolas Cage has ever made — there are just too many contenders to choose from. But it’s near the bottom.†-- Tom Long, Detroit News
10. Blended
Drew: “You told me this was going to be a Wedding Singer sequel.†Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $46.3 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 14%
Sample review: “Another year has passed, and so, as with the cold inevitability of death, another Adam Sandler movie is upon us.†-- Philip Brown, Globe and Mail
9. Winter’s Tale
Guys, it’s not a true story. It’s also not a good story. Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $12.6 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 13%
Sample review: “’Winter’s Tale’ is preposterous twaddle. Use it as a date movie only if you don’t love the one you’re with.†-- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
8. The Nut Job
I’m sorry? A film about a purple squirrel NOT a critic’s darling? Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $64.2 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 10%
Sample review: “The whole thing looks like a video game you’d rather not play.†-- Wesley Morris, Grantland
7. Vampire Academy
School sucks. So does this movie. Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $7.8 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 9%
Sample review: “This is a garbage heap of weak quips, delivered by an assortment of pretty boys and girls and amped up with some cheesy moments of animal cruelty.†-- J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
6. Grace of Monaco
Poor Nicki. Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $22 million worldwide
Rotten Tomatoes score: 9%
Sample review: “It is almost perversely impressive how Dahan misses almost every target and squanders almost every opportunity.†-- Stephen Dalton, The Hollywood Reporter
5. A Haunted House 2
From the team who brought you Scary Movie 27! Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $17.3 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 8%
Sample review: “’A Haunted House 2’ is not a movie. It is a nervous breakdown.†-- Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture
4. Are You Here
Poehler! Wilson! Galifianakis! Guys, you’re better than this. Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: N/A
Rotten Tomatoes score: 7%
Sample review: “It’s so formless, awkward and jarringly directed it’s almost unwatchable.†-- Claudia Puig, USA Today
3. The Legend of Hercules
Half god. All bad. Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $18.8 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 3%
Sample review: “The dialogue isn’t dubbed, but is written and delivered so indifferently that it might as well have been.†-- Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club
2. I, Frankenstein
Sure, it’s really crappy — but it’s in 3D! Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $19.1 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 3%
Sample review: “Incoherent, ugly and lacking in any kind of flash or dazzle.†-- Alonso Duralde, TheWrap
1. Left Behind
Nicolas Cage, we meet again. Source: Huffington Post
Total box office: $14 million
Rotten Tomatoes score: 2%
Sample review: “At best, ‘Left Behind’ is shoddily made sensationalist propaganda-with atrocious acting-that barely registers as entertainment. At worst, it’s profoundly moronic.†-- Lindsey Bahr, Entertainment Weekly
This article is republished with permission from the Huffington Post.