2016 In Review: Lisa Picks The 16 Worst Films of 2016!

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, here’s the time that I know we’ve all been waiting for! It’s time for me to reveal my picks for the 16 worst films of 2016!

(Why 2016? Because Lisa doesn’t do odd numbers!)

Now, I should make clear that these are my picks. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the other writers here at Through The Shattered Lens. In fact, I know that a few of them most definitely do not!

What type of year was 2016? It was a pretty bad one. There weren’t many memorable films released but there was a lot of mediocrity and disappointment. Do you know why 2016 was so bad? I think it’s because, if you add up 2 plus 1 plus 6, you end up with 9, an odd number. For that same reason, 2017 is going to be much better. If you add up 2 plus 1 plus 7, you end up with 10, which is an even number that can be cleanly divided.

So fear not! 2017 is going to be a great year!

For now, however, here are my picks for the 16 worst films of 2016!

16. The Girl on the Train (dir by Tate Taylor)

15. The Fifth Wave (dir by J Blakeson)

14. Alice Through the Looking Glass (dir by James Bobin)

13. Jane Got A Gun (dir by Gavin O’Connor)

12. Mother’s Day (dir by Garry Marshall)

11. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (dir by Burr Steers)

10. The Sea of Trees (dir by Gus Van Sant)

9. Money Monster (dir by Jodie Foster)

8. Me Before You (dir by Thea Sharrock)

7. Independence Day: Resurgence (dir by Roland Emmerich)

6. Zoolander 2 (dir by Ben Stiller)

5. The Purge: Election Year (dir by James DeMonaco)

4. Paradox (dir by Michael Hurst)

3. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (dir by Zack Snyder)

2. Yoga Hosers (dir by Kevin Smith)

And finally, the worst film of 2016 … drum roll please ….

HARDCORE HENRY! (dir by Ilya Naishuller)

Seriously, Hardcore Henry is one of the few films that I have ever had to walk out on. I literally got physically ill while watching the film, largely due to the nonstop shaky cam. Seriously — when your film’s selling point is a technique that literally induces nausea, you’re going to have some problems. Now, before anyone leaves any angry comments, I did make it a point to go back and watch the rest of Hardcore Henry before making out this list. Not only does Hardcore Henry feature a nausea-inducing gimmick but it’s also a rather uninspired and dull action film.

(Feel free to also check out my picks for 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015!)

Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment and let us know! And if you disagree, please let me know what movie you think was worse than Hardcore Henry!

Tomorrow, I will be posting my 10 favorite songs of 2016!

Previous Entries In The Best of 2016:

Here’s The Short List for the Best Visual Effects Oscar!

Posted on December 3, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Okay, Oscar watchers, here’s another piece of the puzzle!

Earlier today, the 20 semi-finalists for the Best Visual Effects Oscar were announced! All of the films that you would expect are listed. And then there’s one that’s taking some people by surprise — Kubo and the Two Strings!

(It’s rare that animated films are ever nominated for Best Visual Effects. The last time it happened was back in 1993 when The Nightmare Before Christmas was nominated.)

Here they are!

“Alice Through The Looking Glass”
“Arrival”
“The BFG”
“Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice”
“Captain America: Civil War”
“Deadpool”
“Deepwater Horizon”
“Doctor Strange”
“Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them”
“Independence Day: Resurgence”
“The Jungle Book”
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”
“Passengers”
“Rogue One”
“Star Trek Beyond”
“Suicide Squad”
“Sully”
“Warcraft”
“X-Men: Apocalypse”

Here’s The Final Trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice!

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’ve been pretty open about the fact that I’m not enthusiastic about the upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice film. Maybe it’s because of how much I absolutely loathed Man of Steel or maybe it’s just because I’m not really a fan of comic book movies in general (with the MCU films being an obvious exception) but it’s just hard for me to imagine Dawn of Justice actually turning out to be that good of a film.

And the first few trailers did little to change my mind. The whole thing looked overdone and, to me, Ben Affleck looked more than a little silly in his Batman outfit.

But then the final Dawn of Justice trailer was released yesterday and you know what? The final trailer actually works. They should have released this trailer first. In fact, maybe this should have been the only trailer they released. Because, for the first time, Dawn of Justice actually looks like it could be a reasonably entertaining film.

Watch the trailer for yourself and see what you think! Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will be released on March 25th.

Batman v. Superman Latest Trailer Drops

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Arleigh

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice has been gathering steam and buzz since it was first announced a couple years ago at San Diego Comic-Con. The film is now just a little over 4 months away from release. The fact that we’re even talking about latest trailers and clips about this film was an accomplishment all on its own.

This was a project that had been talked about for so many years, but never got on track. While some DC fans might decry what I’m about to say I do think they should thank the success of the Marvel Studios-produced films for getting this film on the fast track to being made. It made DC and Warner Bros. realize they weren’t the big bully in the blockbuster block anymore and needed something monumental to catch up.

With Man of Steel dividing comic book fans this film had to be made whether it made sense narrative-wise or not. Another so-so Superman film would not do. So, what better way to juice up the Son of Krypton franchise than by pitting him against DC’s other juggernaut property: Batman.

So, without further ado, here is the latest trailer for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

And Here’s The Trailer for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The trailer for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice premiered earlier today at Comic Con. Now I have to admit that I don’t really know much about the whole Batman/Superman mythology thing but I do know enough about social media to know that people are really freaking excited about this trailer!

Personally, I think it looks okay. I still have bad memories of Man of Steel, which also had a trailer that everyone got excited about. But you know what? Right now is not the time for naysaying. Right now is a time for optimism so I’ll just say that I hope this film turns out to be good as a lot of my fellow film lovers are expecting it to be.

And who knows? If it turns out to be a good movie, I might even dress up like Gal Gadot for Halloween…

Batman v. Superman Finally States It’s Case to the Public

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Arleigh

A funny thing happened to the Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer that was set for a release at a special IMAX screening event next week. No one bothered to tell someone with a cellphone not to secretly record the trailer. A lo-res cam version of the first teaser trailer for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice was leaked just hours after Disney released the second teaser trailer for the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Warner Brothers scrambled to take down the lo-res trailer and made sure to use their power to threaten with legal stuff if people continued to disseminate the illegal recording. During the 24 hours since the leak someone with a much more cooler head over at WB decided to just go the Avengers: Age of Ultron route (that film’s first teaser was also leaked ahead of a planned event) and release the hi-res version of the teaser trailer instead of waiting days for the planned screening event.

So, here’s the very first teaser trailer as Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment finally make their case that whatever Disney and Marvel can do they can do as well.

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is set for a March 25, 2016 release date.