Hollywood has long chased the pop culture flavors of the week in hopes of making a quick buck. Witness the dozen cinematic atrocities below, all of whose appearance on the silver screen signaled the beginning of the end for the celeb(s) that starred in them. Then again, a bad movie is quickly forgotten, but the quick payday the stars pocketed likely provided additional years of financial stability on the bumpy road to has-been.

Film: “Barb Wire”
Star: Pamela Anderson
NY Times reviewer says: “Ms. Lee’s makeup is painted on so heavily that she may not even be able to change expression. On the other hand, there’s not much about ‘Barb Wire’ to make her want to.”
Box office gross: $3,794,000
Verdict: Two gigantic boobs do not a movie star make. Wait a minute, how then to explain Cheech and Chong?

Film: “Can’t Stop the Music”
Stars: The Village People, Bruce Jenner
NY Times reviewer says: “Bruce Jenner plays an uptight lawyer, and the comic high point of the film occurs when he spills dinner and has to take off his pants.”
Box office gross: $2,000,000
Verdict: Can’t stop the gayness.

Film: “Chairman of the Board”
Star: Carrot Top
NY Times reviewer says: “‘Chairman of the Board’ manages to be adolescent without an atom of charm.”
Box office gross: $306,715
Verdict: You mean no one wants to see a movie starring Carrot Top? Shocking!

Film: “Cool as Ice”
Star: Vanilla Ice
NY Times reviewer says: “Playing Johnny in ‘Cool as Ice,’ the rap star Vanilla Ice wears just two expressions. One is a squinting mask upon which the right eyebrow periodically arches upward for no apparent reason. The other is the nervous, glittering smile of a shy young man who has been posed in front of the camera and told to grin and say ‘cheese.’”
Box office gross: $1,193,062
Verdict: Marky Mark made the transition, why not him?

Film: “Crossroads”
Star: Britney Spears
NY Times reviewer says: “Watching Ms. Spears sing, dance and act can leave you wondering what is meant nowadays by the concept of talent.”
Box office gross: $37,188,667
Verdict: Finally, “Crossroads” isn’t just the title of a bad Ralph Macchio/Steve Vai movie anymore.

Film: “Fair Game”
Star: Cindy Crawford
NY Times reviewer says: “And it’s strike one against Cindy Crawford, who is glaringly miscast.”
Box office gross: $32,334,477
Verdict: The fact that the film co-starred a Baldwin should have been reason enough to stay away from this stinker.

Film: “From Justin to Kelly”
Stars: Justin Guarini, Kelly Clarkson
NY Times reviewer says: “Mr. Guarini and Ms. Clarkson go through their paces like dutiful puppets, lip-synching and strenuously aerobicizing in the beach party dance sequences to numbers that run from sanitized rap to the strawberry sundae froth of several billowing love songs.”
Box office: $4,922,166
Verdict: American idols? Sure. Marquee idols? Thankfully not.

Film: “The Garbage Pail Kids Movie”
Star: Mackensie Astin
NY Times reviewer says: “The production is truly beyond help. The kids are portrayed by 3- and 4-foot-tall adults wearing puppetlike heads that make for expressionless faces.”
Box office gross: $1,576,615
Verdict: As far as we can tell, the only stickers to ever transition to the big screen.

Film: “Glitter”
Star: Mariah Carey
NY Times reviewer says: “Ms. Carey, filmed mostly to focus attention on her gleaming white smile and the amplitude of a bosom accented by tight or low-cut tops, is simply inadequate as an actress to the relatively undemanding emotional range of the story.”
Box office gross: $4,273,372
Verdict: Mariah followed-up “Glitter” with a nervous breakdown.

Film: “Kazaam”
Star: Shaquille O’Neal
NY Times reviewer says: “Memo to Shaquille O’Neal: Don’t give up your night job.”
Box office gross: $19,076,581
Verdict: Hey Shaq, maybe you should try rapping. Oh wait, nevermind.

Film: “On the Line”
Stars: Lance Bass and Joey Fatone from ‘N Sync
NY Times reviewer says: “Its mood is bubbly, its music sweetly perky, and Mr. Bass’s Kevin is blandly appealing in a passive way.”
Box office gross: $4,356,743
Verdict: Clearly the better career move would have been dating Britney and then Cameron.

Film: “Ringmaster”
Star: Jerry Springer
NY Times reviewer says: “It puts the best possible face on a show that turns brutal psychological combat into a combination of professional wrestling match and circus act.
Box office gross: $4,922,166
Verdict: Apparently there’s only room for Woody Allen in the “funny, myopic, neurotic Jew” category.