Every year, I wonder why I feel the need to call out five films that were the worst of the worst.  No studio exec is going to read this article think, “Matt Goldberg, that voice of sage wisdom, has spoken, and now we must cease production on all of our banal romantic comedies.”  But I make myself sit through a lot of junk every year because I have the idiotic policy of finishing every movie I start.  And these movies were not only a trial, but they managed to waste a potentially good aspect and be shockingly offensive at the same time.  Don’t look for The Zookeeper or Jack and Jill on this list; I prefer not to shove toxic waste into my eye sockets.  The five movies on this list had at least one enticing aspect: the talent involved, the premise, the success of previous entries in the franchise.  And then that lure brought me into a grueling slog where my only solace was knowing the film’s running time and having a wristwatch.  These films punched me for no reason.  This is me hitting back with good cause.

Hit the jump to check out my picks for the worst five films of 2011.

Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch hit theaters in March earlier this year, but it’s road to theaters felt like watching a train hit the emergency break. The year before it came out, the film wowed comic-con audiences, and Warner Brothers had set visits – Snyder was still seen as a wonder boy, even if Watchmen didn’t take it home. But by the week of release, Warners couldn’t hold it in the bag: Sucker Punch is a weird movie that doesn’t totally work for a number of reasons.

It’s one of the great “I made a big hit movie, I’m going to go make my art” films that fails in interesting ways. And now there’s a director’s cut, which hopes to solve some of those problems. Emily Browning plays Babydoll, a girl with a traumatic past who’s put in an insane asylum with a bunch of other girls, and leads a fantasy life that transposes her inmates and doctors into dancers and pimps. My review of the Blu-ray and director’s cut of Sucker Punch follow after the jump.

Universal’s Hop has just earned 2011’s highest debut weekend – if today’s estimate of $38.1 million from 3,579 locations proves accurate. For now the three-day estimate for the live-action/CGI-animated comedy stands less than one million ahead of Rango’s record from five weeks back.

Ouch.  Though it seemed likely after Friday’s figures were announced, the fact that Fox’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules so easily topped the flashier Sucker Punch has still got to hurt the folks at Warners this morning.

In what turned out to be a closer race than many expected, the highly-hyped fanboy fantasy flick Sucker Punch placed first on Friday, besting  Fox’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by less than one million dollars.  Zack Snyder’s latest feature claimed an estimated $8 million from 3,033 locations. With 2011’s box office record in mind, that is a decent start – especially as tracking put the film neck and neck or even slightly behind its Wimpy competition until early this morning.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 earned $7.3 million from 3,167 locations and with strong Saturday figures could easily pass Sucker Punch by the time weekend estimates are released.  Both features are expected to bring in $20 million by Sunday, leaving no clear front runner in the weekend race at this point.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

For the premiere of Zack Snyder’s fantasy thriller Sucker Punch, the stars of the film gathered under a tent housing the black carpet, in order to escape the rain and keep their gowns dry. The film’s leading ladies – Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone and Jamie Chung – were ultra-glam, as they came out to support the Watchmen and 300 director, who will next be taking on Superman: Man of Steel.

Joining the film’s main cast, co-stars Carla Gugino, Jon Hamm, Scott Glenn and Oscar Isaac, mingled at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood with Watchmen star Malin Akerman, Diane Lane (seen next as Martha Kent), Red Riding Hood star Max Irons, Scream 4 star Emma Roberts and Juno Temple, who will be in The Dark Knight Rises. Check out all of the exclusive photos after the jump:

Imagination does not exist in a vacuum.  We’re inspired by experiences both internal and external.  We build our dreams on the dreams of others and if we possess a brilliant imagination, then we can transform these ideas into something fresh and new.  With his new film Sucker Punch, director Zack Snyder shows he not only misunderstands how imagination works, he also has no understanding of inspiration, empowerment, or joy.  The movie swims through the wet dreams of a teenage boy but pretends at higher aspirations of thoughtful escapism and transcendent determination.  For a movie where dragons battle fighter jets and teenage girls in skimpy outfits take down samurai golems, Sucker Punch is a surprisingly dull and self-serious affair that can’t be bothered to develop its heroine, but wants a round of applause every time she defeats a CGI monstrosity.  Despite all of the energy put into the stunning vistas and designs, nothing in Sucker Punch‘s visuals comes close to the majesty of its delusions of grandeur.

Mondo recently launched a new “Director’s Series” line of posters where almost every film in a director’s body of work would get its own specially-designed, gorgeous Mondo poster.  The series kicked off with posters for Guillermo del Toro (and we’re still waiting to see what Mondo has in store for Pan’s Labyrinth, Cronos, and The Devil’s Backbone) and followed up with Olly Moss posters for Duncan Jones’ Moon and Source Code.  Now director Zack Snyder is getting the business and the series begins with his newest film, Sucker Punch.  The poster was designed by Ken Taylor and comes in a regular edition and a variant.  The regular edition is limited to 285 prints and costs $45 while the orange variant is limited to 105 prints and costs $70.  Both posters measure 24″x36″ and are hand-numbered.  The posters go on sale tomorrow at a random time so be sure you’re following @MondoNews for the announcement.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  Mondo will also be producing posters for Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, 300, Watchmen, and Legend of the Guardians.  I wish them the best of luck in selling the Guardians posters.

Since the upcoming weekend is a bit light on new releases, it should be a big payday for Zack Snyder’s visionary epic Sucker Punch. It would be a surprise if the lovely ladies of Sucker Punch didn’t score a knockout against the family friendly sequel, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, which also opens this weekend. As recent box offices have been rather lackluster, Snyder’s action-packed tour de force might just provide a shot in the arm.

Hit the jump for all our coverage on the headliners, as well as limited releases Miral, Peep World, Potiche and White Irish Drinkers.

With director Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch opening in a few days, I got to speak with him last weekend at the Los Angeles press junket.  As the synopsis says, Sucker Punch is an “epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, and her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary.” The film stars Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Jena Malone, Carla Gugino, Jon Hamm, Scott Glenn, and Oscar Isaac.

During the interview, Snyder talked about how difficult it was for him to get a PG-13 rating. He revealed that he had to edit the movie seven times to finally get the rating.  He also talked about an incredible action scene towards the end of the film and how he put it together, that the director’s cut will have 18 additional minutes (including the full Love is a Drug musical number), how the finished film compared to his original vision, and we ended the interview talking about Superman: Man of Steel.  I asked if Superman will punch someone in the face and where are they filming.  Hit the jump to watch:

With director Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch opening this weekend, I got to sit down with most of the cast to talk about the film.  As the synopsis says, Sucker Punch is an “epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, and her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary.” The film stars Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Jena Malone, Carla Gugino, Jon Hamm, Scott Glenn, and Oscar Isaac.

During my interview with Gugino and Isaac, we talked about how they got ready for the movie, how did the finished film compare to what they thought going in, deleted scenes, future projects like Drive and Mr. Popper’s Penguins, and what’s their karaoke song.  Hit the jump to watch and look for a new video interview for Sucker Punch tomorrow night.

With director Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch opening this weekend, we’ve been given some movie related swag to giveaway.  Included are hats, t-shirts, soundtracks, Zippo lighters, temporary tattoo’s, leather corset cuff’s, canvas bags, and even a Buttkicker kit (which retails for $299).  Sucker Punch is an “epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, and her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary.”

Hit the jump for everything we’re giving away and how to enter.  Sucker Punch stars Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Jena Malone, Carla Gugino, Jon Hamm, Scott Glenn, and Oscar Isaac.

With director Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch opening this weekend, I got to sit down with most of the cast to talk about the film.  As the synopsis says, Sucker Punch is an “epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, and her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary.” The film stars Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Jena Malone, Carla Gugino, Jon Hamm, Scott Glenn, and Oscar Isaac.

During my interview with Malone, Hudgens and Chung, we talked about how everyone bonded off set when they were filming in Vancouver, the training and lack of sweets and soda on set, deleted scenes, future projects like The Hangover 2, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and Jack and Diane, and we also talked about doing karaoke (they told a great story).  Hit the jump to watch and look for a new video interview for Sucker Punch everyday this week.

With director Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch opening next weekend, I got to sit down with most of the cast yesterday.  As the synopsis says, Sucker Punch is an “epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, and her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary.” The film stars Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Jena Malone, Carla Gugino, Jon Hamm, Scott Glenn, and Oscar Isaac.

During my interview with Browning and Cornish, we talked about how everyone bonded off set while they filmed in Vancouver, their reaction to seeing the finished film, the many deleted scenes and will they be in a director’s cut (they will), and what is their go to karaoke song.  Hit the jump to watch and look for a new video interview for Sucker Punch everyday this week.

Warner Bros. has released five movie clips Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch which stars Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Jena Malone, Carla Gugino, Jon Hamm, Scott Glenn, and Oscar Isaac.  Sucker Punch is an “epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, and her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary.”  Hit the jump to watch the clips and look for our exclusive video interviews with the cast next week.