The Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood responded in the negative to a list naming the supposed "worst" films of the year.
The actor, who starred as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, condemned a list compiled by Variety entitled "The Worst Films of 2022" on Twitter. "When a film doesn’t appear on Best Of list, it’s logical to assume it wasn’t as beloved. this is an unnecessary and gross practice," he said. The list consisted of ten movies from a variety of genres and directors, including Amsterdam (20th Century Studios), Minions: The Rise of Gru (Universal Pictures), Bones and All (Warner Bros. Pictures), Blonde (Netflix), Bigbug (Netflix), The Bubble (Netflix), Firestarter (Universal Pictures), Three Thousand Years of Longing (MGM), Spiderhead (Netflix) and The 355 (Universal Pictures).
Many of the films listed boasted all-star casts. Amsterdam, directed by David O. Russel, starred Margot Robbie, Christian Bale and John David Washington, while The 355 starred actors like Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz and Lupita Nyong'o. As for Netflix's Spiderhead, the psychological thriller was directed by Joseph Kosinski, who helmed a 2022 box-office success, Top Gun: Maverick.
As for Minions: The Rise of Gru, the animated spinoff managed to become a full-fledged meme following its release in July, with teens all over the world dressing in suits en masse to see the animated spinoff in theaters. Despite ending up on a "worst of" list, The Rise of Gru exceeded expectations that it would earn between $70 million to $80 million in its first weekend, instead opening to $127.9 million at the domestic box office. Overall, the film earned a worldwide total of $920.6 million.
Other films like the sci-fi comedy Bigbug, Judd Apatow's The Bubble, and Spiderhead, all of which premiered on Netflix, also received lackluster reviews from critics following their respective releases. While Spiderhead, which stars Chris Hemsworth, was reviewed by critics as an adaptation that was "all style but no substance," Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Bigbug was described as "bizarre" and "off-putting."
The Worst Movies of 2022
While several films on the list received a wide range of criticism, perhaps the most scrutinized was another Netflix release: Andrew Dominik's Blonde. Based on Joyce Carol Oates' 2000 novel Blonde, the biopic starred Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe. Following its release, audiences and critics alike deemed Blonde "exploitative" and "unwatchable," with more than one person claiming they shut the film off after "not even 20 minutes in." It even garnered the attention of Planned Parenthood, which criticized the film as "anti-abortion propaganda."
Steph Herold, a researcher who studies abortion in television and film, called Blonde "so anti-abortion, so sexist, so exploitative." Blonde was the first film on Netflix to receive an NC-17 rating from the Motion Picture Association for what was described as "some sexual content."
Source: Twitter, Variety