Hey everyone, Jack Drees here! Not only did 2020 suck, but we also had a fair share of movies this year that sucked as well. Now that I’m done talking about my top 10 favorite movies of 2020, we’re going to move onto the part that I sort of view as the therapy session when it comes to these countdowns. The top 10 worst movies of 2020! Keep in mind, even though 2020 is perhaps a bit more limited in its cinematic offerings than other years, I will confirm that I have not seen every single movie that came out this year. So, if you are wondering, “Where’s this crappy movie?” Make your own list, you’ll find it there! You just won’t find it here. Although I will say, I have more movies to pick from this year than I did during any other time I ranked my best and worst of the year. As of publishing this list, I saw 77 films released during the 2020 timeline. Little reminder, this list is based on subjectivity and doesn’t necessarily indicate that you’ll dislike the movies I picked or that you HAVE to dislike them. This list just identifies my personal thoughts and feelings. We don’t have to agree, we just have to respect each other, which is something I think the Internet in general needs to learn. Also, as mentioned in my top 10 best list, I am making an exception for this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike other years, where I would only count movies as long as they received a theatrical release, I am going to accept movies based on whether they once INTENDED to release theatrically. If they did release theatrically, great! If they were going to, but ended up somewhere else for whatever reason, I’ll include those films as well. However, if the intention for the film was to go to streaming or somewhere else like that from the get-go, those don’t count. Spoiler, a few films that were going to be in theaters at one point, but couldn’t for whatever reason, are on this list. Won’t say which ones, but you’ll find out. But with all this in mind, let’s dive into a few dishonorable mentions.

Dishonorable mention: Antebellum (available on VOD)

My first dishonorable mention is “Antebellum.” “Antebellum” has some good ideas, but it is somewhat unfortunate that these good ideas are tangled up in this mess of a film. Plus, there’s a point in the film that is supposed to come off as twisty, but almost feels out of place. Did I mention despite being a horror flick, it’s barely scary?

Dishonorable mention: The Jesus Rolls (available on Showtime)

“The Jesus Rolls” is a gutterball. This film takes place in the same universe as the iconic cult classic “The Big Lebowski,” although this time it completely centers around John Turturro’s character. He even directed this crap! “The Big Lebowski” has charisma, great chemistry amongst its cast, and iconic lines. This had none of that.

Dishonorable mention: Artemis Fowl (available on Disney+)

Finally for dishonorable mentions we have “Artemis Fowl.” I admittedly did not hate the film as much as other people. Maybe it is because I have never read the books, but it does not change the fact that the film feels sloppily edited and put together, and nearly uninspired perhaps. Not even big pretty things can change that! Also, Kenneth Branagh is lucky that he played Sator in “Tenet,” at least that’s something good for him this year.

Now, we’ve just had the worst year ever. Let’s talk about some of the worst pictures ever! These are my top 10 WORST movies of 2020.

#10: Wonder Woman 1984 (available for a limited time on HBO Max, in theaters)

Coming in at #10 is possibly my biggest disappointment of 2020. “Wonder Woman 1984!” I was rooting for you! You had the Christmas release date and everything! This film was originally supposed to come out a year ago, but it moved up a month originally due to avoiding competition with “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” and eventually moved back into 2020, then pushed itself back a couple more times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Was it worth the wait? Well, judging by its placement on this list, not really. The fact that I am putting this film on the worst list just saddens me because I LOVE the first “Wonder Woman.” It is one of the best DC films, cinematic universe or otherwise, I have seen. I also love Gal Gadot, I have a $125 autograph from her for crying out loud! I loved the directing job Patty Jenkins did on the first film! Plus you had some other talented people in the cast too! Chris Pine is back, and joining him you have Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal! These are well-known, respectable actors! This feels like “The Circle,” except it is a comic book movie! Does “Wonder Woman 1984” have cool action? Yes. But it is unfortunately surrounded by a lackluster script, characters I occasionally do not give a flying crap about, and one of the most disappointingly underwhelming first hours I have seen in a film. The opening scene in the Amazon games was spectacular! The mall scene that follows ain’t half bad either for popcorn action. Sadly, the film technically has two opening scenes, and those are oddly enough the most redeemable parts of it. Everything else is a far cry in comparison. I will admit the one improvement between this film and the original is Gal Gadot’s performance. I liked her in the original film, but here it almost seems like Gadot has done a better job at being more than just a goddess with a pretty face. Her execution feels more raw, more natural. Other than that, this film is the biggest disappointment of 2020.

#9: You Should Have Left (available on Peacock)

I watched this film at home, but if I watched this film in a theater, I would have taken the title’s advice to heart. Up next is “You Should Have Left.” Say what you want about the actors in this movie, I have nothing against them. But the problem is not with them. It’s the script! My gosh! THE SCRIPT! When I saw this movie, it was just a few days before October, which is supposed to be the scariest month of the year. Turns out the horror show started rather early with this crap in the mix! This has the worst of the horror genre, period! Dream sequences! Cheap scares! Overused scares! I will admit that horror is a weaker genre for me as a film fan, but this is also a weak film, so it comes full circle! There are a couple good things I can say about this film! The house in it looks nice… It was the first movie I watched on Peacock… So, it’s a historic movie for me??? Worst of all, this movie is written and directed by David Koepp, who wrote some notable blockbusters over the years, and directed one of my favorite films of 2012, “Premium Rush!” What a disappointment this was!

#8: Half Brothers (available on VOD, in theaters)

Stereotypes! They’re everywhere! Sometimes they work, like they do in “The Simpsons!” Other times they don’t, like that little pile of malarkey some might call “Half Brothers.” This came out in theaters this year, although I did not see “Half Brothers” in the cinema. Instead, I saw it early online through a virtual link. Thankfully, I did not have to pay anything up for my experience. Unfortunately, my experience resulted in cringe, eye-rolling, sighs, and infuriation! So, there’s that! They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but when the titular characters of the movie, the two half-brothers, are annoying as hell, why should I care? We have the annoying, unbelievably crazy American alongside the main brother who happens to be Mexican, both add up for a s*itty combo. I know that sometimes comedy is not supposed to make sense, maybe the level of impracticality trickles up when you’re dealing with a comedy, but there are some choices in this movie that no sane person would make! I said in my top 10 favorite movies list that “The Last Shift” is a really good movie because it takes an unlikely pair and makes them watchable when put together. Despite “Half Brothers” being about two people who have kind of a bond, the characters are just imbeciles when they’re in the same place! “Half Brothers” is annoying, anger-inducing, and whatever stereotypes they have in this film just make the movie worse. Don’t watch it.

#7: Death of Me (available on VOD)

Up next, we have “Death of Me.” This movie stars Luke Hemsworth, otherwise known as the least relevant of the Hemsworths. Don’t worry man! Your brothers have had some bad days at the office as well! Remember Chris’s outing in “Thor: The Dark World?” Remember when Liam did “Independence Day: Resurgence?” Exactly. Even so, it does not change the fact that “Death of Me” is a wreck of a film. This film is just all over the place! It is a boring, unlikable movie featuring a couple vacationing on an island who must discover the mystical behind the scenes shenanigans of a video they happen to be in. After all, the guy is a vlogger, he’s recording all the interesting things that happen on the getaway, but the two have a heck of a night, they forget things, so they need to know what happened. I’ll tell you what happened! THEY WERE IN A CRAPFEST OF A MOVIE! That’s what happened! There is a turning point of the film, a “twist” if you will, that is mind-bogglingly wrong and almost an insult. Maybe it sounds good on paper, but when put on screen it simply feels off! It is kind of incredible that this film even made it to screens! Other than that, “Death of Me” is one of 2020’s most forgettable films, which says a lot considering I watched it for the first time just a couple days ago!

#6: Scoob! (available on HBO, HBO Max)

During the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, I did not watch many new movies. In fact, one of the few that I did watch was “Scoob!”. Wait a minute… Okay I’ve just remembered “Scoob!” is not a movie, it’s a nightmare. “Scoob!” is what happens when you take a classic intellectual property, try to update it for a trend-based crowd, and fail to realize what made this property what it happens to be. I like superhero movies; I like cinematic universes! The Marvel movies have been some of my favorites over the past decade. Basically, “Scoob!” tries to copy Marvel with Hanna-Barbera characters, but does so in the cheapest way possible. There’s even a joke where one of the characters is nicknamed “Hemsworth!” Now I would not mind this movie taking heavy inspiration from something else if it felt like it tried, but it didn’t! The only semblance of effort here is the animation, but keep in mind, I rented the movie in 4K! Of course it’s going to look detailed! The voice cast does the best they can with the material they have, although it is weird that they have the primary voice actor for Scooby-Doo, but they got somebody different for Shaggy. Whhhyyyyyyy? I barely grew up with “Scooby-Doo,” but regardless of my attachment to the franchise, this is a bland, slightly predictable, and badly written animated flick that was nowhere near worth a $19.99 rental. Wow, these quarantine prices SUCK, especially since I’m the only one watching a movie most of the time!

#5: Fantasy Island (available on Starz, Philo)

What’s your fantasy? Eternal riches? A smokin’ hot girl in your life? Maybe a Porsche? Well, here’s my fantasy. My fantasy is to never watch 2020’s “Fantasy Island” ever again. “Fantasy Island” is an adaptation of the older television series, and the one good thing about this movie is that I have not seen the source material, so I will not go around claiming that this new version tarnishes everything that the original idea stands for. It’s just a s*itty movie! This movie comes to us from Blumhouse, a fairly respectable studio in some ways, but in others, not so much. This falls under the moniker of “not so much.” Also, this comes from the same mind and lead actress that brought us 2018’s “Truth or Dare.” It’s a movie I skipped, but with a 16% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, it must feel like a dare to put the film on to begin with. Unfortunately, “Fantasy Island” may be even worse as it received a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 7%. The movie is rife with problems! Casting! Tone! Writing! I will say though, out of all the movies on this list, this was definitely the most fun to watch as I almost did not care about anything that was going on and I got to roast the crap out it. Although, if you want my advice, find something else to watch on Halloween. In fact, if you want an idea for a better Blumhouse movie, not to mention one that came out this year, watch “Freaky!” It’s scary, hilarious, and a fantastic combination of “Freaky Friday” and “Friday the 13^th!” Your brain will thank you.

#4: The Hunt (available on Cinemax)

One movie I was kind of excited for in 2019 was “The Hunt.” I saw the trailer, and I was intrigued. Overall, the movie looked dark and kick-ass at the same time. Unfortunately, due to controversial events, the release was pushed back to March 2020. I skipped it in theaters, waited for the Blu-ray, and watched it around Halloween. It WAS NOT worth the wait. “The Hunt” killed my blood pressure! The film takes a lot of stereotypes from the modern world, many of which people would probably find to be negative, and hammer them down your throat. This sort of thing works in “Family Guy.” Here, it just sucks! I almost could not relate to a single individual on screen. Everyone in this movie made me roll my eyes incessantly! This film centers around twelve people who are captured, put in a field, and are just waiting to be potentially hunted for sport by elites. On the surface, this sounds like an intriguing concept, and if I had to relate it to anything right off the bat, it would be 2019’s best film, “Ready or Not,” because it’s another scenario of the rich killing the poor. If you are reading this right now, do yourself a favor. Watch “Ready or Not,” not this bulls*it. “The Hunt” can die!

#3: Dolittle (available on HBO, HBO Max)

Why Downey, why? Why would you do this? Why would you… Do little? Up next on this list is “Dolittle.” After the big, loud, popcorn extravaganza known as “Avengers: Endgame,” I think it has been made pretty clear that Robert Downey Jr. has kind of a clean slate ahead of him and he can do whatever he wants. As far as “Dolittle” is concerned, it turns out that one of the movie’s producers happens to be Robert Downey Jr.’s wife, Susan. And I imagine as a couple, their relationship is like bread and butter. And who knows? Maybe both of them believed in this project, but when it comes to how it turned out, it was overall just a mess. Sure, some of the casting is not really anything to complain about, and I mean that more in regard to the voiceover portion of the cast. Tom Holland, Rami Malek, Emma Thompson, they’ve got some good names. However, the story of the movie is far-fetched, even for fantasy standards if you ask me, Robert Downey Jr. gives a laughably bad performance as the title character. Michael Sheen is in this film, and if you want to see something good from 2020 with Michael Sheen in it, just go watch the miniseries “Quiz.” It’s about the “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire” Charles Ingram scandal. He plays Chris Tarrant, and it’s freakin’ great. Much better than “Dolittle,” don’t waste your time with “Dolittle.” Fun fact about “Dolittle,” even though I saw other movies in the theater already, this was the first film I saw in the theater during the year of 2020 that technically came out in said year. At least I had a feeling that things could only go up from here!

#2: Superintelligence (available on HBO Max)

As we get towards the bottom of the list, we are going to enter a common theme. Familiar filmmakers. How so? Well, in this case, this next entry to the list is directed by the same person AND stars the same lead actress involved in the making of my least favorite film of 2018, “Life of the Party.” Turns out that they did not learn much since the making of that film, as evidenced by the crapfest that some might call “Superintelligence.” This film was originally going to hit theaters in 2019, but at the last minute, it was postponed and positioned as an HBO Max exclusive, and based on the results of the film, I can see why. OH MY GOD THIS WAS A NIGHTMARE! What is up with Melissa McCarthy?! This is the third yearly worst list of mine she’s been on! In 2016, she was in “Ghostbusters!” In 2018, she was in “Life of the Party!” In 2020, she’s in this s*it! And this is also the second movie in row that she has appeared in directed by Ben Falcone that made it to the worst list! Melissa, Ben, I hope you two are happy together. I mean that genuinely. But make better movies! Either that or just stop making movies as a couple! Melissa McCarthy was nominated for two Academy Awards! Neither of them were for movies directed by Ben Falcone! Speaking of actors who need to get their s*it together, let’s talk about James Corden! Why is he here? Why does he exist? Why does he have to ruin everything? I’ve seen the dude in a few movies now, but there is not one I can think of that I genuinely thought wasn’t a waste of time, or one where he even stood out positively as a performer. James Corden, if you’re reading this, pick better scripts! This is why I watch Conan O’Brien for crying out loud! “Superintelligence” has one of the most insufferable protagonists I have ever seen in the history of film. Sure, she could be more annoying, but my big problem with her is that she barely even does anything to determine her fate. Her fate is often determined by outside forces, mainly the superintelligence that the movie sort of centers around. Let’s talk about the comedy in this movie. Wait, sorry, what kind of question is that? There is no comedy! It took like forty something minutes for me to let out a genuine laugh regarding this film. So if you’re thinking of getting HBO Max for new content, all I can say is do not do so for this film. It is a waste of time; you will want to rip your eyes and ears out! It is not super intelligent; it is super dumb! That’s a fact!

#1: The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson (available on Showtime)

2020 was the worst year of everyone’s lives, so it’s only fair that I talk about the worst movie that I’ve seen in said year! This is #1! Continuing down the route of familiar filmmakers, 2019 brought us a terrible spin on a famous murder story, “The Haunting of Sharon Tate,” directed by Daniel Farrands. That movie earned my #1 spot on my worst of 2019 list. Guess what? 2020 is the SECOND YEAR IN A ROW that he has earned the bottom spot of my countdown! My #1 worst movie of 2020 is “The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson.” Fun fact for you all, this is not only the worst movie of the year, this is not only the second time Daniel Farrands made the worst list on Scene Before in a row, but “The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson” is the first 2020 film I saw! We started this s*itty year off with an absolute bang! Thanks, guys! The United States didn’t even have COVID-19 yet, and we got this! Wonderful! Booyah! I don’t want to act too harsh though, because as I said in my review, I found out that the writer of this film, Michael Arter, has not written any other features. At the same time though, part of why this movie is absolutely abominable is because of him. There are many scenes in this film that are poorly realized, cringeworthy, and make you question humanity! If I were to blame anyone most of all, it would be the director, Daniel Farrands. He’s making terrible choices with these movies, and if I see another movie that is similarly titled to the last couple I saw from him, I am just going to assume right out of the gate that it is a disaster! Between “The Haunting of Sharon Tate” and “The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson,” this is starting to almost feel like a “Sharknado” type of franchise, if that makes any sense. Except that here, it feels like more people are trying. These films are not going straight to Syfy. Granted, they are barely getting theatrical releases, but the production value looks less like television! It doesn’t look good, it really doesn’t! But it looks more like a movie than it does television! Mena Suvari plays her part well… at times… And maybe aside from Nick Stahl, she may have the most competent performance in the film. Although, the acting, across the board, is almost unforgivable! There are several edits that feel like they are first take, people sound like they barely know their lines, and the movie all round does not resemble anything close to a respectable ensemble! Mena Suvari is unfortunately surrounded by a cast of characters who are either forgettable or annoying! They even have someone playing Kris Kardashian in this movie, because apparently people can’t get enough of her! I mean, sure she was associated with the O.J. Simpson incident, but holy crap! Her presence in this movie is why I continue to avoid that f*cking television show that shall not be named at all costs! There’s even a point where two characters are just chatting and having a drink, and I almost feel like the director, maybe the writer had some input, wanted to jokingly have the characters drink orange juice. YOU SEE WHAT WE DID THERE? ARE WE CLEVER? ARE WE THE KINGS OF COMEDY?! 

No, if anything, you killed it. It don’t fit, and you must have quit a long time ago! 

I can’t even believe I’m saying this, because “The Haunting of Sharon Tate” was bad enough, I think “The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson” might actually be worse. The production value is cheap, the writing is stale, the directing might occasionally be worse, and it is barely even a feature! The runtime comes out to 82 minutes, and a good portion of that runtime is not even footage created specifically for the film! A lot of it happens to be newsreel footage! If I had to ask myself which movie is worse, and the choices were this film and “The Haunting of Sharon Tate,” I would choose this one! Granted, I will admit, one slight improvement, if you can call it that, is that when it comes to the two films, “The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson” is “less” disturbing and off-putting, but other than that, it is unbelievably incompetent! It feels rushed, tacky, somewhat offensive, and it almost seems as if the only reason it exists is because someone working on one s*itty movie, wanted to make another s*itty movie with people from the crew from the original s*itty movie. “The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson” is an utter nuisance to humanity, and the fact that it is even here in society, feels like a crime. “The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson” is my least favorite movie of 2020, you son of bitch.

Thanks for reading this countdown! Once again, a big thank you to everybody, even if you are included on this list, for making a film that released this year. Even some of the bad movies, to some degree, managed to do something very important for me and a lot of other people this year. That my friends, is to provide an escape. We all needed one this year at one point or another, that is a guarantee. There have been some good things about 2020 amidst all the madness. I got to go back to LA, I had my first AMC Prime experience, I also got AMC A-List, and I really enjoyed doing my Top Movies of the 2010s series which I will admit I might want to get back to. But it is time to move on to 2021, with new movies, new plans, specifically plans that hopefully don’t get cancelled, and great ambitions for Scene Before. This March marks 5 full years since I have started Scene Before. And this year, I am going big. Tons of reviews for movies old and new, and more details about this will be revealed in the future, including one of my most ambitious review projects ever, which I plan to reveal at the 3rd Annual Jackoff Awards, which are set to take place sometime this winter. I plan to reveal the release date in the near future, but trust me, that is coming! If you want a tentative release date, I’m thinking anywhere between the middle of February to the middle of March. Depends on whether I want to see more movies from 2020. There’s a good chance that I’m going to catch up on some things I have not seen yet. “Nomadland,” “Minari,” “The Father.” Admittedly, I am still deciding on whether I should count films coming out in early 2021, so we will have to see. Nevertheless, The 3rd Annual Jackoffs is coming, and stay tuned! Speaking of which, make sure you follow Scene Before either with an email or WordPress account, maybe check out the Facebook page while you’re at it, so you can stay tuned for more great content! I want to know, what are your least favorite movies of 2020? The selection may be slimmer for some people this year, but I would be happy to hear what your least favorites are nevertheless. Let me know down below! Scene Before is your click to the flicks!