The Worst Movie of the Year

 

Since I watched "White Noise" on the last day of 2022, it's easy to call it what I did in the title of the blog entry.   But, considering the strong aftertaste, it just might be the worst movie of 2023.   It is complete, incomprehensible garbage.  What recycling bin does this go in?

This travesty, which played in theaters but is now on Netflix, comes from writer/director Noah Baumbach, whose stuff is normally strange.   But this time, his film goes careening off the cliff at 100 mph.   The source material is a 1985 novel written by Don DeLillo, who I understand went to my alma mater of Fordham.  Whatever.   The whole concoction is a complete disaster, much like the train accident in the film which causes major air contamination in a small Ohio town.   Little did they know that any air around this film is equally contaminated.

Here's the plot if you care.  Adam Driver plays a professor who focuses on Hitler.  He is married to his fourth wife, played by Greta Gerwig and they have a blended family of depressing or depressive teenagers back in the 80s.   You can guess the decade because of the A and P supermarket signs all over the movie.   What kind of weird product placement is that?  The chain has been out of business for years.

Well, anyway, a nearby train accident results in acid rain and everybody gets even more depressed.   This results in a lot of bizarre doomsday discussions and fights to survive.   Indeed, the whole one who really dies as a result of this movie might be the viewer.  

Because of the paranoia and some characters wearing masks, I thought they might be going for a COVID metaphor.  But given the time frame, Baumbach is either prophetic or badly in need of an anti-depressant.  I cheered at the end and that was primarily because it was over.

Yep, the worst movie of the year.  Actually, any year.

LEN'S RATING:  Zero stars.

Dinner last night:  Leftover SPO.