Top 10 Unintentionally Cringey Movie Scenes
#10: “I Don’t Like Sand”
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“Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones” (2002)
Hayden Christensen’s performance as Anakin in the “Star Wars” prequels is the gift that just keeps on giving, from his "it's because I'm so in love with you" line to his, shall we say, not-so-dramatic “Noooooo” as Darth Vader. But our pick here is his rant about sand. In just one of the many pointless conversations between him and Padmé, Anakin talks about how he just can’t stand the sand on his home planet of Tatooine. The weird thing is, it turns out he’s actually trying to flirt with Padmé here. Sheesh. We don’t like bad acting. It’s coarse and rough and irritating… you know the rest.
#9: A Ghostly Encounter
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“Ghostbusters” (1984)
Ivan Reitman’s “Ghostbusters” is one of the family movie greats, with humour and horror to thrill and delight, However, we’re sure anyone who watched this movie with their parents when they were somewhat younger will agree that Dan Aykroyd’s ghostly encounter in this scene misses the mark a bit. Caught off-guard when sleeping, Ray finds his trousers being loosened by a spirit and then, well… he goes cross-eyed, and his eyes roll back in his head. Are we laughing? More like scrunching our face up in embarrassment and trying our very best not to make eye contact with mom and dad. Or anyone.
#8: The Alphabet
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“Vampire's Kiss” (1988)
Honestly, we could just let the entire movie run its course for this entry - because “Vampire’s Kiss” is a thrillride of Nicolas Cage madness. But this scene where he tries to get to the bottom of a filing issue is something else. Imagine packing all of the trademarks of Cage’s overacting into about a 30-second time frame. Well, no need to imagine - just watch this. Hitting every Nic Cage trope you can think of - wild gesticulating, high-pitched shouting, hands on hips - it’s a masterclass in, well, how to be Nic Cage. We guess it was supposed to be dramatic, maybe even slightly amusing, but instead it’s pretty awkward and awful.
#7: Family Meal
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“Signs” (2002)
This movie is a bit of a slow burner, which makes its moments of drama all the more enthralling. But this dinner scene, where the characters contemplate that the world may be coming to an end, is an interesting one. It actually starts out great, there’s tension and emotion in spades. But then it all just goes a bit over the top. Mel Gibson starts attacking his food, and everyone starts crying. What do you get when you have four great actors all trying to steal the dramatic limelight? Well, this.
#6: Voldemort’s Hug
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2” (2011)
The “Harry Potter” series has some questionable acting throughout - don’t get us started on the Harry crying over Cedric scene. But for today’s entry, we’ve gone for a Voldemort moment. Voldemort is one of the most terrifying bad guys of all time. But there’s a moment in the final “Harry Potter” movie when all of his preceding malevolence goes out the window. When Voldi convinces young Draco to join his Death Eater army, we watch as the two come together for arguably the most awkward hug, or should we say squeeze, of all time. It looks unplanned, unexpected and unnerving - and that’s because it was. Tom Felton who plays Draco said it wasn’t in the script!
#5: Shirtless Kylo
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (2017)
The “Star Wars” sequel trilogy has certainly had a good go at trying to introduce humour - from witty one-liners to random visual gags. But sometimes a clever one-liner doesn’t get rid of all the awkwardness. Here, when Rey and Kylo are communicating with each other through the force, an impromptu conversation catches Kylo with his shirt off. A brief joke is made of this, but then we’re just left wondering, was it really necessary? Do we have to stare at him with his shirt off for the rest of the scene and pretend everything’s normal? This shirtless scene confused the hell out of “Star Wars” fans. And it’s gone on to inspire a vast library of hilarious memes and send-ups.
#4: Running Away from the Wind
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“The Happening” (2008)
First “Signs,” now this; M. Night Shyamalan clearly has quite the gift for awkward scenes. And this one is certainly a doozy. This tense thriller stars Mark Wahlberg as a high school teacher caught in the midst of a world-threatening apocalyptic event where an unknown toxin somehow spreads through the air, causing mass death. Scary, right? Well, here’s the thing. Air as we all know, is, like, everywhere. And people need it for breathing. So when Wahlberg’s character — who teaches science to boot — and other survivors try to somehow RUN AWAY FROM THE WIND, it’s really, really awkward. And unintentionally funny.
#3: Strutting
“Spider-Man 3” (2007)
A movie that needs no introduction when it comes to missing the mark, “Spider-Man 3” has a whole host of awkward acting and, thanks to Tobey Maguire, strutting. With an alien symbiote bringing out the worst in Peter’s ego, he’s feeling as confident as ever. So confident in fact, that he takes a flirtatious jaunt down the street, pointing, nodding and flicking his hair at every woman that goes by. And jazz music makes it a million times worse. What was supposed to come off as cool Peter, just comes off as icky Peter. Oh well, at least he doesn’t dance… oh dear.
#2: “It’s Turkey Time”
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“Gigli” (2003)
You’d think having a real-life couple play an on-screen couple would do wonders for chemistry. Well, in the case of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in 2003’s “Gigli”, things didn’t . . . quite work out. Universally panned by pretty much everyone, and labelled one of the worst movies of all time, “Gigli” is all kinds of terrible. And this bedroom scene takes the cake. In an attempt to sexually initiate, Lopez’s character utters these words. And you thought the idea of Thanksgiving couldn’t get anymore awkward. To be fair, the writing is to blame here, not the acting. But that doesn’t make it any less skin-crawling.
Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
Christian Cries
“Moulin Rouge!” (2001)
The Dance
“The Shape of Water” (2017)
Bella's Scent
“Twilight” (2008)
The Flying Car
“Grease” (1978)
#1: “WHY, LISA? WHY, WHY?”
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“The Room” (2003)
It’s easy to say every scene in “The Room” is awkward now, but at the time of shooting, it was intended to be a serious drama - which makes this scene all the more clumsy. In a climactic outburst by lead character Johnny, who has discovered that his fiancée Lisa has been unfaithful, he storms around his apartment, smashing everything in sight. But what’s supposed to be a passionate outburst comes across as an unhinged tantrum, delivered in his actor/director Tommy Wiseau’s unintentionally bizarre accent. And to make matters worse, the ending that follows is meant to be tragic, but is hard to take seriously. At all.
