The second part of our year end review focuses on some of our least favourite films of the year. After cutting back on my cinema adventures this year (although it may not seem like it from the volume of reviews!) I’ve avoided a fair amount of the films commonly cited amongst the worst of the year, but there are only so many that can slip through the cracks…

Here are my least favourite films of 2014…

5. Frank

‘Frank‘ received a lot of praise when it was released and I couldn’t understand why (beyond the first five minutes – they were good). It’s a meandering, mumbling piece of arty nonsense that uses the idea of Frank Sidebottom to tell a story (or rather uses his papier mache head), and values weirdness for weirdness sake rather than attempting to construct any semblance of a script or a story. More than that though, it was criminally boring (even more so than ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’, also critically appraised) and it was one of the least enjoyable films I saw at the cinema this year.

4. Maleficent

The second year running with another Disney bastardisation of a classic property; last year it was ‘The Wizard of Oz’, this year it is ‘Sleeping Beauty’. This isn’t quite as bad as ‘Oz: The Great and Powerful’, but it’s still pretty poor.

3. Dumb and Dumber To

An unneeded sequel that feels like you’re watching a bad tribute act of a band you liked twenty years ago. Phoned in performances, some woefully distasteful script choices and a plot that resembles the first film in everything except being good or funny make this one of the year’s worst films.

2. The Other Woman

An atrocious rom-com on numerous levels about a cheating man, and the 3 woman in his life that discover his illicit behaviour and plan their revenge. The acting is terrible (let’s just say Kate Upton wasn’t cast for her thespian skills), the script is clichéd and unimaginative in its execution of the revenge plan, and the ending is hackneyed rubbish which makes no sense in real terms (but suits the films agenda). A terrible film, and only kept off the number one spot by the following…

1. A Million Ways to Die in the West

OK, so I’m cheating here a little bit. I went to see this film back in May, on my birthday, and after the first hour of dreadfulness I couldn’t face spending more of my birthday enduring this film. Suffice to say I didn’t have the stomach to see if it got any better. Crass, humourless, and as poor an attempt at satire as I’ve ever seen – Watch Blazing Saddles instead

Narrowly avoiding this list: Need for Speed, Only Lovers Left Alive, Ride Along, Labor Day