While debuting his latest film, Red State, at the Sundance Film Festival, director Kevin Smith announced that he would stop directing after his next film, the hockey comedy Hit Somebody. While it seems appropriate, considering that Smith seems to wear nothing but hockey jerseys, it nonetheless surprised some who were looking forward to Clerks 3. We can't say we're upset after the double disappointment that was Cop Out and Zack & Miri Make a Porno, but there are many more directors we'd like to see retire before Smith. And while they should feel free to follow Smith's lead and shift into producing and distribution, they're also welcome to just chill out and get a hobby.

Every young ingénue goes through it at some point -- the moment when they try to shake off their good-boy or good-girl image by embracing more mature subject matter. Sometimes it's a revelatory moment, and their career takes off, but often it's a laughable disaster. This year, we're paying tribute to those brave kids who went out on a limb to finally be taken seriously and fell flat on their faces, in our first annual Movies Without Pity Awards!

Which High School Musical actor was unable to shake off their singing and dancing past? Which former child actress failed to convince us they were a hard-edged rock 'n roller? Vote in our new category, "Least Successful 'Please Start Taking Me Seriously' Role" to let us know, and vote in the rest of the Round 3 categories as well! You'll have a week to vote on these categories before the next round, and don't forget to vote on Facebook, where the scores can really change! Fresh categories will be available on the TWoP site every Monday, and the ultimate winners will be announced February 18.

Vote for the Movies Without Pity Awards right here and download our free Facebook app here!

Sci-fi and fantasy are dual-edged swords -- sci-fi can explore new ideas, but it can also kill brain cells, while fantasy can re-invigorate our mythology or simply re-hash numerous fairy-tale tropes. Having given us some of the best movies ever made, as well as the worst, we owe sci-fi and fantasy our love, as well as our hate. So we thought they deserved their own category in our first annual Movies Without Pity Awards!

Despite their ravenous fan bases, you may think Harry Potter has puttered out, or that Twilight needs to be eclipsed, and this may well be your only chance to tell the world that you thought Inception was awful. And "Worst Sci-Fi/Fantasy Movie" is but one category in the latest round of MWoP Awards -- there are ten other categories to vote in, as well, including "Worst Horror" and "Worst Comedy"! And be sure to check back next week and vote in the "Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Movie" category! Plus, don't forget to vote on Facebook, as well, where there are totally different categories in which to cast your vote! Fresh categories will be available on the TWoP site every Monday, and the ultimate winners will be announced February 18.

Vote for the Movies Without Pity Awards right here and download our free Facebook app here!

No Strings Attached is a really weird movie. It's predicated on a dated and well-answered question -- Can two people have sex without falling love? (Yes, they can. All adults know this, except for the ones who made this movie, apparently) -- while attempting to be aggressively modern, yet clinging steadfastly to 1950s morality at the very same time. It has some of the worst, most clichéd rom-com dialogue I have ever had the displeasure of listening to, while also delivering some of the biggest laughs I've experienced in a while. It stars one of the hottest actors of the moment (Natalie Portman), alongside one of the most irrelevant (Ashton Kutcher), and its screenplay manages to be both topical and passé simultaneously. I have seen worse movies than No Strings Attached, but rarely do I see things this schizophrenic.

If you're still not sure if you want to see In a Better World even though it just won Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes, then I'll just tell you right off, see it. It's definitely worth seeing, even if it is a little sad and gory and disturbingly (if not excessively) violent. It's mostly in Danish, but there's also a lot of sitting around and looking at the pretty Danish scenery, so it's not like you're going to be reading the whole two hours. If you need to know more before you make a decision, read on and I'll tell you a little bit about the plot. No spoilers, just the broad strokes. It turns out Danish kids are just like ours!

Back in the day, if an actor was getting too old for this s#!%, he admitted it. ...Okay, it was just Danny Glover, but four films later he totally followed through and gave up action roles, and nowadays he sticks to appearing in movies that nobody ever sees. Today's superstar actors, though, will keep going until doomsday, if given the chance and a paycheck. And as much fun as some of their movies are to watch (Oh, cast of Red! You so old and crazy!), a lot of these people need to be put out to pasture before they're broken in half by a stunt gone wrong, and they need a body double for waist-down shots. Plus, there are a bunch of actors who are still relatively healthy, but should, you know, quit acting anyway. Just to see how they like it. Emboldened by Ricky Gervais's own peculiar brand of insult comedy, we're calling these actors out in our first annual Movies Without Pity Awards!

Has Russell Crowe made one too many "man driven to action" movies? Is Julia Roberts no longer America's Sweetheart? Should J. Lo focus on her judging? Has Harrison Ford, in fact, been replaced by an old moccasin? The "Actors and Actresses Who Most Need to Retire" are but one category in the latest round of MWoP Awards -- there are ten other categories to vote in, too. And don't forget to vote on Facebook, where there are totally different categories in which to cast your vote! Fresh categories will be available on the TWoP site every Monday, and the ultimate winners will be announced February 18.

Vote for the Movies Without Pity Awards right here and download our free Facebook app here!

The press release is only a few hours old, but already Batman fans are divided over Anne Hathaway getting cast as Selina "Catwoman" Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises. (Note: Although the release only says "Selina Kyle," I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume that she will, at some point, put on a black jumpsuit and rob an apartment.) Tom Hardy is getting less flack for playing the normally Hispanic criminal Bane -- Hardy's muscles in Bronson and Bane's awful part in Batman & Robin help a lot -- but Hathaway is getting hit on all sides from people criticizing her looks, her acting ability and her personality, saying she's all wrong for the sultry cat burglar. While many are equally quick to defend her, I thought I'd throw in my two cents as to why she's perfect for the role. And no, I don't mean "purrr-fect." I'm not Eartha Kitt.

Let's face it, sex sells. Even if a movie has only one brief sex scene in it, the editors of that movie's trailer will find a way to get those writhing bodies on screen for a half a second just to sell a few hundred thousand extra tickets. And as much as we pretend to admit we're better than such trickery, we're totally not. In fact, there are movies we'll go see simply because we expect to see famous people doin' it. But why deny it? Let's celebrate it, as part of the first annual Movies Without Pity Awards!

Was it the constant nudity of Love and Other Drugs? The trashiness of Chloe? The gratuitous lesbianism of Black Swan? The NC-17-earning scene in Blue Valentine? Whichever "Movie You Saw Mainly for the Smut," it's there to vote on in this round of the MwoP Awards, as well as ten other categories. And don't forget to vote on Facebook, as well, where there are totally different categories in which to cast your vote! Fresh categories will be available on the TWoP site every Monday, and the ultimate winners will be announced February 18.

Vote for the Movies Without Pity Awards right here and download our free Facebook app here!

So the long-awaited Tron Legacy finally arrived last month, and... it was widely considered somewhat of a disappointment. Depending on the level of nostalgia in the person you ask, it was a major disappointment. Impeccably stylish, it was also dark and somber and incredibly reminiscent of the first movie, which was a cult favorite at best. But while the reboot was a critical dud, it was a box office success -- not a smash hit, but enough of a hit to reportedly make a sequel the cornerstone of Disney's plans for the franchise (which also involves a cartoon, more toys and, God willing, a lightcycle-based theme park ride). But rather than continue down the same programming code as the first movie, we hope the next one gets a Clu and really shakes things up.

It's a new, post-Golden Globes day, and that means it's time for a second round of voting in the Movies Without Pity Awards! This round, we're celebrating the absolute worst! Which was the Worst Movie of 2010? The Worst Sci-Fi Movie? Horror? Comedy? You'll have your opportunity to vote for the best in everything as well, but for now, really let that negativity shine. If you're having trouble properly focusing it, Ricky Gervais will probably be happy to help you out.

And don't forget to vote on Facebook, as well, where there are totally different categories in which to cast your vote! Like "Best Ensemble" and "Least Successful 'Please Start Taking Me Seriously' Role"! Those categories update daily, so check back often. Fresh categories will be available on the TWoP site every Monday, and the ultimate winners will be announced February 18. A day that will live in infamy!

Vote for the Movies Without Pity Awards right here and download our free Facebook app here!