Hokeyboy

Disappointments? Hmmm.... This is all about hopes, expectations, and baggage.

Quantum of Solace is definitely the biggest disappointment of the year for me, not beceause it's a BAD movie, but because it's not a GREAT movie, and it should have been. I'm a massive Bond geek, have been for years, but Casino Royale really raised the bar to a level that anything less than a great followup would have been seen as a crushing disappointment. QoS is a three-star movie (out of five), it's ok, sometimes good, at times great, and then a whole of mediocrity in between.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in comparison, wasn't as much of a disappointment. It was MUCH worse as a movie, but I haven't had any faith in Lucas or Ford in years... plus in my mind the only GREAT/CLASSIC/TOTALLY AWESOME Indiana Jones movie was the first one, and I actually didn't care much for "Last Crusade".

Hancock had such a great, wonderful premise but never really delivered. Plus Peter Berg is one of those directors whose work never elevates above "workmanlike" to me, so I had no real expectations there.

Wanted disappointed me greatly in that it took a pretty damn GREAT comic miniseries, gutted it entirely of almost everything that made it so phenomenal, and turned into a lukewarm Matrix retread.

The first half of the ORIGINAL 2004 Harold and Kumar contained some of the funniest comedy I'd seen in a long time (ok, it fell apart in the second half COMPLETELY, but at least it was enough to keep me entertained). This year's sequel, though, was a complete and utter disaster. Terrible. Disappointed.

All I got so far. Can't think much. Shoes are hurting.

FantasticVSDoom

Mongol
Pineapple Express
Quantum of Solace
Max Payne
Run Fatboy Run

Giles

X Files: I Want to Believe - I can't believe someone greenlit this in script form, what an utter snooze fest.

Quantum of Solace - a totally joyless (headache inducing) Bond flick.

Mongel - uninteresting, repetitive

Mamma Mia! - given it was the same director and choreographer for the stage version, the transition to screen was extremely amatuerish.

MrSmearkase

I almost forgot The Happening... I've always held out hope for M. Night, but after this movie, all hope is lost. Far and away, the biggest disappointment of the year.

matome

1) Tropic Thunder
2) The Happening
3) Indy Jones 4
4) Hancock
5) Be Kind Rewind

NiCK Crush

Fixed.

NitroJMS

5 - The X-Files - I Want to Believe'

I actually did enjoy this film, and the performances by Duchovny and Anderson were great as always, but like most have mentioned, it feels more like a two-part episode than an epic feature like Fight the Future. Here's hoping Carter gets a second chance to make something on a more grand scale, since I believe the movie's biggest issue was its tiny budget.

4 - Hamlet 2

Again, another movie that was good, but didn't nearly live up to the hype preceding it. The film also seemed to take forever to actually get to the play.

3 - Pineapple Express

Perhaps its Rogen and/or Apatow fatigue, but I felt cold to this one. I felt like Rogen couldn't decide if he wanted to do a straight up action movie, a comedy, or an over the top spoof and it left the film feeling disjointed. Hot Fuzz pulled off this same concept vastly better just a year ago.

2 - Be Kind Rewind

I'll be honest and admit I don't like Jack Black and probably never will, but I loved the trailer for this film, which led me to actually seek it out on opening night. What I saw was vastly disappointing. An extremely silly opening with Jack being electrocuted sets up the premise, but once the MPAA and FBI get involved the film degrades from a very solid comedy about the love of film into a sappy dramedy about a down on its luck neighborhood. It's a bit like expecting Superbad only to get Lost in Translation instead.

1 - Quantum of Solace

Casino Royale was such a magnificent take on the Bond universe, that it almost pained me to watch its sequel. Gone was the magic of the prior reboot, instead replaced by Jason Bourne-esque action scenes. It's also a challenge to call this a Bond film either, since it jettisons pretty much every trademark of the series except the opening title sequence. I can only wish Bond actually becomes fun again in the inevitable Bond 23 in 2010 or 2011.

starseed1981

05.X-Files 2
04.Hancock
03.Quantum of Solace
02.Pineapple Express
01.Indy 4

Michael Corvin

I've enjoyed everything I've seen at the theater this year. I do have one disappointment though, Prince Caspian. Personally I liked the movie, but I'm disappointed in the B.O. returns because it's looking very doubtful that we'll see the series finished. I think we'll be lucky if we get Dawn Treader at this point.

riley_dude

Indiana Jones
Pineapple Express
Hancock
Tropic Thunder
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

GoldenJCJ

I can honestly say I wasn't disappointed by a whole lot this year. Sure I saw my share of garbage but I knew what it was before watching. That said, there are a few that didn't live up to my expectations:

5. Hancock - I enjoyed it but it could have been so much more.

4. Indy Jones 4 - I'm one of the few that actually like and defend this movie but I can also see the flaws in it. Of course, much like The Phantom Menace, it could never have lived up to the hype.

3. The Strangers - The First half was great, about halfway through it just became a tired cliched slasher film.

2. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Actually not a bad movie but this was a case of me buying in to too much hype; everything from Richard Roeper's "top comedies ever" remarks to the internet's "the funniest movie ever" stuff I was expecting a laugh a minute movie...it's not.

1. The Happening - By the time I finally sat down and watched it I knew what a pile of crap I was about to witness, unfortunately, Up to the point the negative reviews started rolling in I was REALLY excited for this. I'm a big fan of M. Night Shyamalan and have done my share of defending him but there was really no way I could defend this horror show. It's a shame, a damn shame, that this turned out the way it did.

Gamelore

Disappointments:

1. The Hulk.
2. Speed Racer.
3. The Dark Knight.

Intentionally ignoring the first modern Hulk movie (never watched), I waited patiently for them to remake The Hulk. I still can't believe they dropped the ball on it AGAIN. Horrible movie, chock full of crap CG.

Speed Racer was pathetic. Just a bunch of flashing colors. Watchable, but no way was this B-material, or 7/10. It's way less than that. I was deceived by critics on this one.

The Dark Knight had a great intro, but that's all I can say about it. Totally fell apart as the movie progressed. Bad guys being bad for no reason other than insanity. Two face looked like a CG nightmare. Slow pacing, shock acting. I don't know what planet all these people giving it 10/10 are on. More like 6/10. And thanks for letting me know all the people in the hospital were evacuated after it blew up. Phew, PG13! Don't know what I would have done if they hadn't done that voice-over. Or knowing that murderous prisoners are really decent people. If this movie is so dark, why all the PC crap? Give me a break!!

More overrated than a disappointment, but a disappointment nonetheless.

tofu

Wanted - The movie had so much potential with a great cast and then the story was just so bad.
Righteous Kill - Maybe my problem with this movie was that I expected something like Heat and it was nothing like that.
Get Smart - I had high hopes but in the end, it wasn't really that funny
Pineapple Express - It was a decent movie but I guess I expected more.

89981

The Dark Knight and The Happening.

toddly6666

Quantum of Solace and Get Smart - both totally awful.

Geofferson

The Incredible Hulk
Indy
Righteous Kill

The Bus

Surprised at the hate for Mongol. I loved it.

thematahara

This is a no brainer. My most dissappointing movie of 08 is also my most dissappointing movie ever.

Indiana Jones.

Words cant express how much I hate this movie. Might be the worst movie I have ever seen, and im not saying that for effect. I can think of no other film that has left me angry as I walked out of the theater.

My Worst Movie Ever.

devilshalo

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Tho I was already prepped for disappointment)
Australia (Oscar worthy? HAH!)
You Don't Mess with the Zohan (Apatow & Sandler.. didn't expect it to misfire this badly)

Quake1028

You have either seen like 5 movies or you are talking out of your ass.

Hokeyboy

Cmon don't be douchey. A **LOT** of people were disappointed in the last IJ movie, and there was (and is) a ton of vitriol towards taking what was once a classic and beloved series and turning it into another Lucas crapfest.

You got to factor expectations into the equation.

Quake1028

OK, that's all well and good, but I find it hard to believe that anyone honestly thinks it's the very worst movie they have EVER seen in their entire life.

MadonnasManOne

How anyone could put WALL-E in a worst of list, I'll never know. However, anyone who says the film hits you over the head, over-and-over-and-over again with any kind of heavy handed political message, really read too much into that. That, or the film hit a nerve, and held a mirror up to humanity, which people would rather ignore. Either way, WALL-E ranks as my TOP film of the year. Excellent film!

MadonnasManOne

If you are going to dislike something, at least know the name of what you dislike.

Hokeyboy

Fair enough. And since I did my graduate work at UM, I extend a hearty handshake.

While I don't think the movie is even close to my list of WORST MOVIES EVER, it still remains a REALLY crappy film. And I think that's what we're getting at here. When a Z-level Direct-to-DVD POS with no-name stars and zero-talent so-called filmmakers sucks copious donkey doots, its a paradigm of ho-hummery. But when almost two hundred million dollars goes into a production featuring the creative talents of Spielberg, Lucas, and Ford, and it stinks, and stinks BAD, it's a much, much worse experience for the taking.

And I for one won't stand for baloney.


I'd squat, though. Over a map of CUBA!