Rolling Stone's 50 Worst Movies by Great Directors List

Almost every brilliant filmmaker has their fair share of duds — I’d argue that there are some exceptions, Kubrick is one of them, but, for, the most part, it’s very hard to have a perfect filmography.

Rolling Stone has put out a list of the 50 Worst Movies by Great Directors, and they do get many right. Francis Ford Coppola’s bewildering “Jack” is #1. I also won’t argue about Rob Reiner’s “North” (#2) which Roger Ebert claimed was one of the worst movies ever made. However, Spielberg’s worst is “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” (#3)? I would have instead chosen “1941,” “Always” or “The BFG”.

“Piranha II” (#6) is James Cameron’s worst. Scorsese’s “Boxcar Bertha” (#13) is certainly a bust. I’ve always had a perverse fascination in watching Gus Van Sant’s “Psycho” (#4), which is RS’ pick, but it isn’t as bad as, say, Van Sant’s “The Sea of Trees,” “Restless” or “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.”

The Hitchcock inclusion is 1929’s very-little-seen “Juno and the Paycock” (#21). Wouldn’t it have been better to choose one from Hitchcock’s more famous post-1940 phase? 1949’s “Under Capricorn” is quite bad. Ditto the Paul Newman starring ‘66 dud “Topaz.” While we’re at it, anyone who tells you that Hitchcock lost his mojo late in his career hasn’t seen 1972’s “Frenzy” and 1976’s “Family Plot” — both superb.

I’m in the minority here, but Joel & Ethan Coen’s “The Ladykillers” (#11) is an enjoyable romp. Tom Hanks just chews up the scenery in wonderfully unhinged fashion. If I had to select a Coen dud and, possibly, the only one in their entire filmography, then it would be their 2003 Clooney rom-com “Intolerable Cruelty.”

Also, some liberties were taken by RS to find 50 films. Christopher Columbus is a “great director”? David Fincher’s worst is “Alien 3”?

Ballsy move to put Darren Aronofsky’s “The Fountain (#49) on this list. I don’t like his ambitious 2006 film, but it has a major cult following, A better case could be made for 2014’s “Noah” as Aronofsky’s worst.

Lastly, I highly disagree with RS’ decision to include Robert Zemeckis’ “Death Becomes Her” (#19) — uh, what? That film’s a hoot! Zemeckis was in far worse directorial shape when he made “Pinocchio” and “Welcome to Marwen” and “The Witches.”

There are plenty of great directors that RS forgot to mention. Off the top of my head, Brian De Palma (“Domino”), David Lynch (“Dune”), Kathryn Bigelow (“K19: The Widowmaker”), Werner Herzog (“Queen of the Desert”), David Cronenberg (“M Butterfly”), and Richard Linklater (“The Newton Boys”).

FULL RS LIST

01. Jack (Francis Ford Coppola)
02. North (Rob Reiner)
03. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull (Steven Spielberg)
04. Psycho (Gus Van Sant)
05. Planet of the Apes (Tim Burton)
06. Piranha II: The Spawning (James Cameron)
07. Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace (George Lucas)
08. Amsterdam (David O. Russell)
09. She’s Having A Baby (John Hughes)
10. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Ron Howard)
11. The Ladykillers (Joel and Ethan Coen)
12. The Stupids (John Landis)
13. Boxcar Bertha (Martin Scorsese)
14. Junior (Ivan Reitman)
15. Club Paradise (Harold Ramis)
16. Jade (William Friedkin)
17. Alien 3 (David Fincher)
18. A Good Year (Ridley Scott)
19. Death Becomes Her (Robert Zemeckis)
20. What Planet Are You From? (Mike Nichols)
21. Juno and the Paycock (Alfred Hitchcock)
22. Joan of Arc (Victor Fleming)
23. The 15:17 to Paris (Clint Eastwood)
24. The Wings of Eagles (John Ford)
25. Phobia (John Huston)
26. Wild Wild West (Barry Sonenfeld)
27. Pocket of Miracles (Frank Capra)
28. Beyond Therapy (Robert Altman)
29. Oz The Great and the Powerful (Sam Raimi)
30. The Last Tycoon (Elia Kazan)
31. Sphere (Barry Levinson)
32. Goya’s Ghosts (Milos Forman)
33. Buddy Buddy (Billy Wilder)
34. Gemini Man (Ang Lee)
35. The Stepford Wives (Frank Oz)
36. The Ward (John Carpenter)
37. Garbo Talks (Sidney Lumet)
38. Downsizing (Alexander Payne)
39. Jupiter Ascending (The Wachowskis)
40. Random Hearts (Sydney Pollack)
41. The Good German (Steven Soderbergh)
42. Girl 6 (Spike Lee)
43. Assassins (Richard Donner)
44. Basic (John Mctiernan)
45. Bicentennial Man (Christopher Columbus)
46. Look Who’s Talking Now? (Amy Heckerling)
47. The Truth About Charlie (Jonathan Demme)
48. How Do You Know (James L. Brooks)
49. The Fountain (Darren Aronofsky)
50. Renaissance Man (Penny Marshall)