Most Profound Disappointments (2010)

In alphabetical order, these five selections are the videos, from any year, that I was most disappointed with in 2010.

Be Kind Rewind (2008)

“I appreciate Be Kind Rewind’s intent, what it tries to do, and how it tries to do it.  I truly wanted to like and praise the film.  Gondry has done some admirable work, including . . . the awesome feature film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  With so much opportunity unrealized, however, this particular piece left me terribly disappointed.”

The Frighteners (1996)

“After a movie like this one, I feel a kind of sadness, a mourning for time I will soon lose, returning to its world, exploring it thoroughly, examining it critically, and generally squandering all of those things that could be better spent.  In this case I genuinely wanted to enjoy myself but, ultimately, I was faced with the most unpleasant piece to date in the history of this site.”

Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008)

“Nick and Norah is a mystery movie.

“The mystery? How the uber-cool porcelain beauty Norah (Dennings) could fall for joyless beige fusspot Nick (Cera).

“Unfortunately for the viewers the mystery is never solved.“

Not the Messiah (2010)

“Given that the entire affair is Python of a sort, driven by Eric Idle, and a marriage of timeless music with a brilliant film, I desperately want to give it a pass.  But I know to the core of my disappointed soul that I’d be suffering the most acute delusion to profess my enjoyment of it.  It’s the nadir of sheer vacant vanity . . . Not the Messiah is almost painful, a piece of absolute self-flattery run amok.”

The Spirit (2008)

“In a latter year of university, I was required to study various television series, and to identify those elements commonly found in their “average” episodes.  This movie feels like a labour based on the results of such a study, one which mimics so many sources so mechanically it has become an empty parody of itself . . . There is far less entertainment than exercise here.  The Spirit is sound and fury signifying meh.”

Dishonourable Mention:
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

Note:  I never expected this piece to be any good and, having been correct, can hardly claim disappointment per se.

“A Charlie Brown Christmas is dogmatic, hypocritical nonsense, inept in all but its sound.  At 25 minutes in length, it’s still too long by far.”