The Worst January Film Releases of Recent Memory

More

January is a notorious dumping ground for movie studios' most embarrassing atrocities.

Meet-the-SpartansBANNER.jpg

January is upon us, and film fans know what that means: nothing good. The first month of the year is traditionally the dumping ground for Hollywood studios, the month in which they unload the films that aren't quality enough for the Oscar-courting fall, but not commercial enough for the lucrative holiday, spring, and summer seasons. January is where bad movies go to die, and where studios hope we won't notice them. They're usually right; viewers either tend to catch up on the prestige pictures that are going into wider release, or just stay at home and watch football.

But our nation's film critics, fat and happy after the holiday feast of smart, highbrow entertainment, are often subjected to the sugar crash of January gruel, and as a result, their reviews often pack a little bit of extra vitriol. After the jump, we've assembled the 10 worst movies released in the month of January—according to the reliable aggregators at Rotten Tomatoes—along with a few choice words from the scribes who sat through them.

This post also appears on Flavorpill, an Atlantic partner site.

Jump to comments
Presented by

Jason Bailey is the film editor at Flavorwire, and has also written for Slate, Salon, and the Village Voice.

Get Today's Top Stories in Your Inbox (preview)


Elsewhere on the web

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register. blog comments powered by Disqus

Video

Miami: The Next Big Start-Up City?

How the city became a center for innovation

Video

Video

A Brief History of Romantic Comedies

From The Atlantic's Chris Orr

Video

Life in 'the New Arctic'

A moving portrait of a fading landscape

Video

Video

The Rise of New York City

A fascinating look at Manhattan in the 1940s

Video

What Is Methane Hydrate?

"Flaming ice" is a vast natural energy source

Video

NASA's Time-Lapse of the Sun

Now with epic dubstep music

Video

Shaken Not Tuned: Cocktail Experiments

Can a tuning fork improve a cocktail?

Video

Video

Is He Cheating? A 1950s Guide

'That little blonde secretary from the office?’

Video

New Yorkers: Vintage Vacuum-Tube Amps

Risking electric shock to restore old amplifiers

Video

The DIY Piano-Bicycle

Everybody needs a hobby

Video

What Does It Take to Make Real Craft Gin?

Tour the Green Hat Gin distillery

Video

Letter From the Editor

The June 2013 issue

Video

What Straights Can Learn From Same-Sex Couples

New insight from decades of research

Video

The End of the Mall Rat

A tribute to that pillar of teen culture

Writers

Up
Down

More in Entertainment

In Focus

Picking up the Pieces After the Tornado in Moore, Oklahoma

Just In