In looking for a movie to watch on TV last night, I came across one so profoundly bad I had to run outside and share the news. Understand the list included such drivel as “Black Knight,” so we are talking whole new realms of dreck here.

Understand too, there is a place for truly bad films. As a fan of both bad movies (“Attack of the Killer Tomatoes”) and their showcases (“Mystery Science Theater 3000”), I get this. However, I was hoping for a movie that was at least moderately good, and “Skyscraper” was not to be it. A reviewer on The Internet Movie Database says, “This movie is HOWLINGLY bad. You’ll laugh until tears flow from your eyes.”

But I guessed that from the handy little description window, which not only gave the 1996 film one star but outlined the plot as, “X plays a helicopter pilot battling a terrorist crisis in a corporate high-rise.”

Never mind the absurdity of one helicopter trying to defend a whole building. The real screamer is the casting of the helicopter pilot: X = Anna Nicole Smith.

We watched the Stanley Cup playoffs instead, realizing how very badly we wanted Edmonton to win.

This post originally appeared on ourMidland.com, the online home of the Midland (MI) Daily News. Republished with permission.