By SETH HYNES
10. 47 Ronin – Despite its vibrant art design, this is a surprisingly dull historical fantasy film with one-dimensional characters, jerky pacing and weak, disappointing action.
9. Robocop – A generally entertaining action movie with solid performances, Robocop is still an overwhelmingly pointless remake. Crippling the sub-plot of Murphy regaining his humanity, this remake brings few new ideas to the table, and feels tame and lame alongside the ultra-violent ’80s classic.
8. Under The Skin – Even with an unnerving atmosphere and some powerful moments of Gothic horror (and the beautiful Scarlett Johannsen in a revealing performance), this low-key drama is too slow, sedate and empty to engage.
7. Nymphomaniac – An eye-wateringly explicit erotic drama by controversial Danish director Lars von Trier, this should be fine filmmaking – it has great acting, stunning cinematography and some masterfully exotic use of allegory. But its just so incredibly boring, and the protagonist is intensely unlikeable and lacking in self-awareness, as her rampant sex addiction hurts everyone around her.
6. Jersey Boys – This fails both as a straightforward drama and as a band biopic. The conflicts lack impact, front-man Franki Valli is barely in the film and the events are often interrupted by annoying soliloquies (and the song ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ is a crime against humanity).
5. Magic In The Moonlight – With romance built from deception, a grossly stereotypical main character and an insulting perspective on skeptics, Woody Allen’s latest film isn’t the worst of 2014, but it may be the most offensive. Sadly, it’s also the worst film with the most Oscar-buzz.
4. Tracks – Based on the true story of Robyn Davidson’s 1700-mile trek across the outback, Tracks turns its protagonist into an ungrateful grump with little motivation, thus making the film very hollow.
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Another act of bad nostalgia-mining by Michael Bay, this is poorly-acted, atrociously-written dreck. In its strained attempts to seem hip and cool, it ends up dated and annoying (especially the Turtles themselves).
2. Sex Tape – Really, really dumb, this flat, try-hard comedy isn’t raunchy or funny enough to have any reason to exist (and shows just how ignorant the film’s creators are about how the internet works).
1. The Other Woman – The worst of three obnoxious movies in a row (and another terrible comedy at that), virtually nothing in this is enjoyable: the trio of main characters are irritating, the childish humour is extremely laboured and the plot aims for depth but fails miserably.
