Worst Movies of the Summer

Well, the summer is almost over and that means three things: 1) The kids go back to school; 2) Patriots coach Bill Belichick purchases a new video camera for the upcoming NFL season; and 3) The major movie studios' PR machines kick into high gear as they roll out the Oscar contenders.

The latter being the case, this is also a good time to take stock of the generally less award-worthy summer movie season. That, and the fact that my mom e-mailed me an article from the Washington Post titled "Critics Everywhere Agree: These Were the Stinkers of Summer." The article highlights what went wrong in the multiplexes this year, using the aggregate reviews from the Rotten Tomatoes website to determine the bottom 10. Yes, a Lindsay Lohan movie is on the list. Some more, um, law abiding big name stars' movies are on the list too, though one might argue that subjecting us to these movies was a criminal offense. It should be said that nothing went wrong this summer from the studios standpoint, as gross domestic ticket revenues were in excess of $4 billion, a new record.

Having surveyed the list, I am proud to say that I did not see any of the 10 movies, though I was tempted in a few cases as there are a number of actors in these films that I like. This is not to say that I did not see some bad movies this summer. "Balls of Fury" was probably the worst movie I saw in the theater this summer, but in my defense I'll say that: 1) It wasn't my first choice that night; and 2) I was limited to choosing from 2 theaters because I was meeting someone there. This was the definition of a "Big name star who is slumming for a paycheck" role for Christopher Walken, and all I can say is that I hope he was paid well. On the plus side, there were several "that guys" in the movie, including the guy who was Ron Livingston's neighbor in "Office Space." I was wondering whatever happened to him, though in hindsight I wouldn't have watched this movie to find out.

Though there are movies such as the third installment of "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Ocean's 13" that got mixed reviews, this list is reserved for the worst of the worst, the absolute dregs. As I mentioned, Lindsay Lohan made the list. In fact, she managed to make it twice, with "I Know Who Killed Me" and "Georgia Rule." Like she really needed any more bad news this summer. Steve Carell made the list, too, with the most expensive comedy of all time ("Evan Almighty") which was disappointing to me as I have really enjoyed his work on TV in "The Office" and onscreen in "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin." Jim Carrey should be commended for having passed on this less-than-stellar sequel to "Bruce Almighty" as well as the poorly received "Dumb and Dumber" sequel that came out a few years ago. Two good career moves (or non-moves, depending on how you look at it) for Jim.

I don't want to give too much away here, but will say that the #1 worst reviewed movie of the summer features one of Steve Carell's co-stars from "The Office." Think you got it? Even worse...did you see it?