When you’re a child and a teen, chances are you’re prone to watching a boatload of garbage movies. Sometimes it’s due to limited selection, or sometimes it’s due to the fact you are unaware other options are out there. I honestly believe being born in the 90’s and having a childhood of the 2000s/ early 2010s, I was subjected to the height of the kid/ teen movie market. While that was amusing, it was also over-saturated. I watched far too many wasteful movies, and I apologize to my mother who had to watch a majority of them with my sister and I. So, with all of that being said, I present to you 5 movies, which in my opinion, were never great to begin with, and over time, as an adult I’ve realized how actually horrendous they are.
Charlie St. Cloud 2010: I’m writing a full post about this for a blogathon, in the near future. This movie has probably always been inefficient, it’s just now I see it for myself. Zac Efron cannot charm me anymore in this movie, and there’s a honest reason why it flopped: it’s just terribly embarrassing. If you want a lesson in how to have no chemistry between leads when romance is crucial to the plot, this is how you do it.
Picture This 2008: My sister and I liked this movie, but probably because it was PG-13 and we were getting older, she was 9 and I was 12. It sends the poor message to kids and teens, that if you sneak out and disobey your parents, in the end you still can get everything you want. Plus, it contains an insanely inappropriate scene (played for laughs) of an uncle baby sitting his pre-school aged nephew, accidentally visually exposing him to adult videos, NO.
Life Size 2001: Looking back there’s something a bit creepy with this movie. A magical spell makes a doll turn into a full size human and tries to be your new BFF. Maybe it’s because I don’t see Tyra Banks as a positive role model anymore. Maybe it’s because I’m older. Maybe because it was goofy to begin with? Perhaps all of the above? Whatever the case, this movie, although iconic and contains the catchy, Be a Star, should stay buried in the past.
Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging 2008: Ah, British movies, enough to draw me in. But thinking about this movie now, this is not a positive movie for tweens/ teens. The main character literally says: “It’s boy stalking time!“, and a portion of the movie is spent with the girls stalking the guys they like: NOT OK! In any teen movie, romance is always an element, but it’s really annoying when romance is the ONLY thing that drives the plot. All these pre-teen girls in the movie feel their life will be over if they don’t have a boyfriend, OH PLEAZZZE! Bonus: This soundtrack sucks, She’s so lovely by Scouting for Girls: hella irritating!
Bring it On: In it to Win it (4) 2007: 2007: The year I consider was possibly the last year of my true childhood. Before then, I didn’t have to hide my interests for fear of them being too “babyish” and as I entered middle school, in fall 2007, that’s exactly what I began to do. While the original Bring it On will always be a cult classic, the sequels are all forgettable. I have no recollection of Bring it On: Again (2) 2004, and barely recall the third installment All or Nothing (2006), but I do have a memory of being fond of this fourth movie. Opinion now: it’s a dreadful piece of film. The characters are all completely unlikable, without charm, or redeeming qualities. Add on the cringe inducing rivalry between the Sharks and Jets (yes, a rip on West Side Story) and this movie is nothing but cliches of how a typical cheer-leading team would act.
The Flapper Dame 