The 25 Worst Movies By Good Directors

Nobody's perfect. Not even these great filmmakers responsible for some of the best movies ever made.

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Even the great ones stumble from time to time—well, unless they're one of these 10 guys. In Hollywood, the land of interfering producers, constant script rewrite demands, and top-priority marketing concerns, it's nearly impossible to get a movie made, let alone a good one. So whenever a filmmaker manages to see his or her project through from pre-production to a theatrical release, it's cause for celebration; when said motion picture is worthy of endless praise, it's a minor miracle.

Taking all of the moviemaking process' pre-release disruptions into consideration, it's no wonder that most of the game's best directors have stumbled once or twice. One prime example is Guillermo del Toro, the fanboy idol who's worked both independently (the stellar, foreign-language supernatural films The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth) and within the major studio system (his two Hellboy flicks).

Prior to his mainstream popularity's ascension, the monster-loving Mexican visionary took a creative gamble and attached himself to a Harvey Weinstein-backed, English-language property titled Mimic, based on a short story by science fiction writer Donald A. Wollheim. Intending to craft a scary creature-driven thrill ride, del Toro found himself constantly accosted by his big-wig producers, and the film, released in 1997, suffered for it.

On the day after Mimic's 15th anniversary, we're here to make del Toro feel better by gathering The 25 Worst Movies By Good Directors, to show our boy Guillermo that he's not alone. And, frankly, Mimic is nowhere near as rotten as certain films made by his equally respected peers.

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Written by Matt Barone (@MBarone)

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25. Scoop (2006)

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24. Hereafter (2010)

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23. For the Love of the Game (1999)

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22. The Brothers Grimm (2005)

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21. Mimic (1997)

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20. The Ladykillers (2004)

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19. The Lovely Bones (2009)

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18. The Ninth Gate (1999)

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17. The Keep (1983)

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16. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

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15. 1941 (1979)

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14. Elizabethtown (2005)

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13. She Hate Me (2004)

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12. Giallo (2009)

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11. The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D (2005)

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10. Alexander (2004)

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9. Survival of the Dead (2009)

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8. Deal of the Century (1983)

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7. Jack (1996)

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6. Ghosts of Mars (2001)

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5. Illegally Yours (1988)

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4. A Good Year (2006)

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3. The Bonfire of the Vanities (1993)

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2. Deadly Friend (1986)

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1. Oscar (1991)

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