2010 Had No Shortage of Boring Movie Titles

By Moviefone Editors Posted Dec 25th 2010 10:22AM

Coming up with a good title is an art in itself, and some filmmakers just don't have the touch. If you think of it, 'How Do You Know' could actually be the title of just about any movie ever made. 'The Godfather'? Yep. 'Jaws'? Certainly. There are any number of boring movie titles, and Brooks in particular is responsible for two more: 'As Good as It Gets,' and 'I'll Do Anything.' Or how about Nancy Myers' 'Something's Gotta Give' and 'It's Complicated'? Then we have the random application of song titles to movies, such as 'Can't Hardly Wait' and 'Just Like Heaven.' We could have spent hours coming up with a list of hundreds, so we thought why not limit my search just to 2010? As it is, we came up with about 25 sleep-inducing examples, and these are the bottom seven.

1. 'Remember Me'
This plea from a heavy Rob Pattinson tearjerker was practically a guarantee that we would not remember it.

2. 'Let Me In'
Yes, this remake turned out to be one of the most acclaimed American films of 2010, but very few would argue that it's better than the original Swedish film. The main reason is that it's a perfect example how of movies are dumbed down for Americans. Never mind that it has more frequent violence and a ham-handed backstory to help explain the characters' motivations; that title is the biggest problem. The nicely-worded original title, 'Let the Right One In,' had sinister connotations, but this one has been reduced to a simple, soft title that any non-vampire drama could have used. The only positive is that it can't be mistaken for the original.

3. 'Life As We Know It'
Romantic comedies usually get the most generic titles, but this one -- also one of the year's worst films -- takes the cake. What film isn't about "life as we know it"? Even 'The Lord of the Rings' or 'The Shawshank Redemption' could be about "life as we know it," when you get right down to it. This title is so boring that, even though I saw the movie in October, I keep having to look it up to remind myself what it was.

4. 'Never Let Me Go'
This one is getting some year-end acclaim, and it's not a romantic comedy. But does this title tell you anything about a scary dystopian tale of inhuman medical practices? For that matter, does the title 'All Good Things' tell anything about a disintegrating marriage and a string of missing and/or dead bodies?

5. (TIE) 'Dear John' AND 'Letters to Juliet'
Did anyone else get these two Amanda Seyfried movies mixed up? I didn't see either one of them, but I'd have to do a little research to tell you which one was which. Firstly, is there anything less cinematic than someone writing a letter? Secondly, couldn't they have come up with something more dynamic than 'John' and 'Juliet'? What about some memorable nicknames? Why not 'Dear Meathead' and 'Letters to Sexypants'?

6. 'The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole AND Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief'
These were both attempts to create some kind of new 'Harry Potter'-style franchise, but the attempts were as obvious as they were lazy. I reviewed 'Percy Jackson' back in February, and I had to look up the title several times, even while I was writing my review. I did not see 'Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole,' but it's hard to stay awake until you get to the end of that mouthful. At least it has the word 'Owls' in it. I took to calling it 'the Owls movie.' It'll only get more confusing if sequels are made for these two duds. This goes for just about any movie with a colon in the title. See also 'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.'

7. 'Somewhere'
Of course, sometimes even a good movie can have a bad title. It pains me to list this one here, as I think Sofia Coppola's movie is one of the year's best. If you love a movie, that's a huge help in remembering a soft title like 'Somewhere.' And, indeed, in this story of a lost and bored Hollywood actor, the title more or less fits. But it's still one of those very minor, passive titles that will totally disappear if someone is combing through the current listings. See also Mike Leigh's 'Another Year.'

Read the whole article at MovieFone here.

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Tags: boring movie titles

Comments

(13)

Saturday 25 December

By Jen

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Rob Pattinson needs to go as far away as possible. Not only is he probably one the most unattractive "celebs" around, he needs a good scrubbing. He just looks dirty and needs a bath. I really do not see what these young girls see in him.....yuck....stinky.
Jen in Reno

Sunday 26 December

By manbman2

yeah this is really a stupid article when thinking, who really declares what is boring and what is not. I actually think the titles go along with the movie, and the movies werent all thaaatttt bad.oh great article ,My boyfriend and i both think so ...He is almost 11year older than me .i met him via uniform'edmeet.c 'oma nice place for s'ee'king Army, Navy, Mari'nes, Air Force, Police Force and their admires.just love it

By Joanna

Remember Me was an excellent movie.

By mcwrixon

Remember Me - was so much more a movie then it has gotten credit for.
Exclude the Robert Pattinson factor - which myself being what is known as a Twi-Mom - I certainly went to see this for him... But this movie is far above just him, the message is meaningful, and everyone should watch it from a real life point of you = because you never know what can happen, If you have seen it and like it you remember the line "I have my dessert first" -
I would imagine in time - this will be a much remember movie for it's story - As it should be, it was a epic time for us....

By LadySolitaire

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Dear John is based on a book, so if you want to blame anyone for the film's boring title, blame Nicholas Sparks. But who cares if it has a generic title if it were good?

By Alissa

Never Let Me Go was a movie adapted from Kazuo Ishiguro's book of the same title. It's a remarkably accurate name, depicting the relationships between human beings forced into a life they never chose nor understood, while also extoling about humanity and the love that exists in even the most sterile and inhumane of cultures. I'd rethink having that one on the list, for sure.

By JBaer

Man--if you're so bored in the newsroom that you have to slam movie titles, maybe you need another job.

By LST

'10 sucked for movies in general, nothing was released I'm truly interested in seeing, let's hope they do better in '11.

By Sarah Bella

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yeah this is really a stupid article when thinking, who really declares what is boring and what is not. I actually think the titles go along with the movie, and the movies werent all thaaatttt bad.

By NPALEORELIC

The Linda Lovelace "Deep Throat" was mis-named. Should have been "Lady Gag Gag"

By Reality

2010 Had No Shortage of Boring Movie Titles - OR BORING MOVIES FOR THAT MATTER ! I for one am boycotting movies as I don't think any of the people deserve the type of money they make let alone so many peoples worhip. I wish everyone would boycott Hollywood, make these people get real jobs and end all the idol worshiping.

Monday 27 December

By Pamela

Maybe if the author actually watched "dear john" he would know why it was named that... smmfh

By rl

yeah, or if the writer of this article ever heard of "romeo and Juliet" they would know why the movie wasn't called "letters to Sexypants" all this article shows is how ignorant the writer was....who hired this person?

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