Thornton: Current Hollywood 'worst ever'

Billy Bob Thornton has criticised Hollywood for consistently releasing what he calls "the worst movies in history".

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the Oscar winner suggested that films produced today lack the originality that defined American cinema in the past.

"In our current state of affairs, especially in the entertainment business, we're living in a time when we're making - in my humble opinion - the worst movies in history," he said.

Thornton also contends that his latest film Faster brings a sense of morality back to the action movie genre.

He explained: "This movie actually shows what prisons create, what murder creates… One of the flaws in most commercial action movies is that the characters are usually not very developed.

"A lot of times you'll have the movie star hero and then some bad guys who are just there to be killed by the hero, and they're nameless, faceless people. And as a result, you're usually not afraid of them because you don't see them ask somebody to pass the salt; you don't see them with their kids."

Faster is now playing in US cinemas.