The Worst Films of 2000

Full of senseless plot twists and bad acting, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 tries with all its might to be smart and edgy, but winds up lame and random. This pointless "follow-up" to the 1999 smash hit, The Blair Witch Project, makes all the wrong moves.

The story starts out decently enough - five fans of the first film set out on a night in the infamous Maryland woods. But the film quickly goes from passable to horrible, as a series of foolishly bizarre concepts are introduced, then discarded. The messy plot zigzags all over the place, never reaching a suitable - or satisfying -conclusion. And while audiences were divided over the first Blair Witch (it was a love it or hate it kind of thing) everybody seemed in agreement about Book of Shadows: it sucked. Thankfully, this lame sequel died an early death at the box office.

2) Bless the Child

To think, Kim Basinger used to be one of Hollywood's hottest commodities. But with the arrival of two flops in one year, (the unwatchable I Dreamed of Africa barely escaped making this list) Basinger has treaded into dangerous territory. Bless the Child, a religious thriller that lacks, well, pretty much everything, easily stands out as one of the worst films of 2000. Basinger portrays a frazzled nurse who must assume primary care of her niece, Cody, who is actually a 'chosen child.' To make a long (and full of holes) story short, an evil cult ringleader wants to snatch the child for his own good. Much stupidity and many flaws ensue. It should be a sin to make movies this awful.

3) Down to You

If there's one thing I learned during the year 2000 it's this: if the name Freddie Prinze, Jr. appears on the marquee, run for your life!

How one man (and such a reportedly nice guy, at that) can make so many dud movies is beyond me. But he keeps cranking them out, one horrendous bomb after another.

Perhaps the worst of the lot is Down to You, a dopey, mismatched comedy (well, it tries to be funny) in which Prinze portrays Al, a chef desperate to reunite with his college sweetheart Imogen (Julia Stiles).

The movie consists of one giant look back at their tedious and snore-inducing romance. Throw in an attempted suicide scene (Prinze's character downs a bottle of Imogen's shampoo in an effort to be close to her), and you've got yourself one of the biggest losers of the year.

4) Mission to Mars

With such A-list stars as Tim Robbins and Gary Sinese on board, audiences expected great things from this sci-fi drama. Unfortunately, what we got was the weird, far-fetched story of a rescue mission to the red planet. Crucial dramatic elements are skimmed over (wouldn't it have been nice to have actually seen a little bit of the astronauts' perilous journey to Mars?). Strange and useless story arcs are formed and then, out of nowhere, Mission becomes a message movie, striving to educate us on acceptance of different forms of life.

5) Hollow Man

They should have spared us the runaround, and just called it Horny Man.

Kevin Bacon stars in this wannabe psychological thriller about a seemingly sex-obsessed scientist who turns into a "hollow man" after taking an invisibility serum. Interesting enough idea, but the movie quickly succumbs to run-of-the-mill horror trash. Bacon spends the majority of the film sneaking around fondling naked women and attempting to kill off his research team (the latter of which isn't such a bad thing - his coworkers are some of the most annoying characters to ever grace the silver screen). Adding insult to injury, the film also gives us several shots of a nude Kevin Bacon - never a good idea.

6) Battlefield Earth

What horrible things can you say about Battlefield Earth that haven't already been said? It's been called the worst movie of the past 100 years (which, I suppose is just a teeny bit harsh). But, yes folks, as one of the few unlucky souls who suffered through this nonsensical pile of crap, I can confirm: it's that bad. With its ridiculous storyline, dopey slo-mo action sequences and laughable costumes, (John Travolta as a 9 foot alien with dreds? That image alone is enough to sink the movie) Battlefield Earth stands out as the single most embarrassing flop of Travolta's career (and you thought Look Who's Talking Too was bad).

7) Hanging Up

It's hard to imagine how a film starring Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton, Lisa Kudrow and the late great Walter Matthau could have turned out so dippy. Three very different sisters come together to make amends and reunite their family.

Well, at least, that's what it was supposed to be about. From what I could tell, this flick was basically just one long punchline about telephones - ha ha! - and our dependence on them in modern society. Trouble is, the joke was old even before they told it.

8) Boys and Girls

Again, I can't stress this enough - Freddie Prinze, Jr. movies are to be avoided at all costs (well, okay, so maybe his upcoming flick Head Over Heels doesn't look that bad. ... Uh,oh, this is how it starts). Prinze now holds the dishonor of being the only star to grace my worst list two times in three years.

Boys and Girls, a dull relationship comedy, puts Prinze once again in leading man form, playing an average joe trying to find love. He's played the part so many times, you'd have think he'd gotten good at it (or, at the very least, started committing to decent scripts).

9) M:I-2

How this goofy, over-the-top film managed to rake in so much at the box office is beyond me. I suppose Hollywood's golden boy, Tom Cruise had something to do with that - but even he shouldn't have been enough to save Mission: Impossible: 2.

This goofy film quickly headed into the so-stupid-it's-funny territory, with one ludicrous slow motion action sequence after another ("Oh look, Tom just shot eight guys with his eyes closed, all while flying backwards through the air on a motorcycle!") And since nearly every scene consisted of someone removing a mask to reveal their true identity, it looked as though Director John Woo got M:I-2 confused with one of his other thrillers, Face/Off.

10) The Ninth Gate

The only redeemable thing about this 'thriller' is Johnny Depp - and even he can't make up for the loopy script. As a rare book dealer on a creepy quest, Depp gives it his all, but to no avail. This is just a waste of time with an ending that's one big letdown.