By Emily Feimster Why do some of our most favorite celebrities make some of the worst career moves? Michael Keaton's departure from "Batman," Jodie Foster's turning down the smash sequel, "Hannibal." Why!?! We've compiled a list of several A-listers whose stars have begun to descend due to some down right bad decisions.John Travolta wowed audiences with "Grease" and "Pulp Fiction" but the older, heftier Travolta has had a career littered with flops over the last decade. His movie "Battlefield Earth" takes the cake, being dubbed by many the "Worst Film Ever Made." Other duds include "Domestic Disturbance," "Basic," and "The General's Daughter." What, you don't remember those movies? His worst decision to date had to be turning down the lead role in "Chicago" not once but THREE times! Now Richard Gere has the Golden Globe. Travolta hoped to make a comeback with "The Punisher" but it was also slammed by critics. Good thing he's got his pilot's license to fall back on.

As it turns out, Kevin Costner has more in common with Travolta than one would think. His $175-million "Waterworld" was hammered by critics and accounted for only $88 million in ticket sales in the US -- and it followed his other gigantic stinker, "The Postman." Oh, but there's more. "Dragonfly," no thank you. "Thirteen Days," not so much. "Open Range," not bad but certainly not great. What a shame, he's so cute!

Who didn't love Meg Ryan after her classic faked orgasm scene and a string of successful romantic comedies? Recently, Meg introduced new acting endeavors and a big ol' pair of lips - neither being big hits. The much-hyped "In the Cut" showed a more risqu? Meg but was a clear disappointment, only earning $2 million in its opening weekend. "Against the Ropes" also failed to rake in the moolah. These came after some other anticipated movies including "Hanging Up" and "Proof of Life" which did nothing to further Meg's career. But she did make out with Russell Crowe.

In 1997, Harrison Ford was listed as one of the top movie stars of all time but you add "Six Days Seven Nights," "The Devils Own," and "Hollywood Homicide" to the list and things begin to change. He continued to be plagued by box-office losers with the submarine thriller "K-19: The Widowmaker" - it cost $100 million to make but earned only $35 million domestically during its run. This is crazy; he's Indiana Jones for goodness sakes!

One of today's most talked about celebrities should spend a little less time at the poker table and little more time reading BETTER scripts, Ben Affleck! Yes, "Gigli" single-handedly contributed to a major fiscal loss for Sony but he did get some recognition for his role. Affleck made Razzie history by picking up all six of their major awards including worst actor and worst film. Some of his other disappointments include "Bounce," "Paycheck," and "Jersey Girl." Affleck has been slammed as being a good looking guy with absolutely no screen presence. So why is he famous again?

We had to include Ben's ex, Gwyneth Paltrow. Yes, she won an Oscar but some of her recent movies really stink. Just think "Duets." There is "Sylvia" which was torn apart by those darn critics and only grossed $1.3 million on these shores. Don't forget "Bounce" and the comedy "View from the Top" - it left people wondering why Paltrow would waste away her talent on such a bad project. Good news is she has enormous potential to emerge out of this slump, especially with the heavily anticipated "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" on its way.

Some careers suffer not only because the celebrity stars in some stinkers, but because they do stupid things like, say, shoplift from an expensive department store in Beverly Hills. Ah, yes, Winona Ryder. Her shelved movie "Lost Souls" was eventually released but only caused people to lose money. There was "Autumn in New York" which was dubbed by "The Wall Street Journal" as being "so unpromising that the studio refused to screen it for critics" and "Simone" with Al Pacino which had mixed reviews but only grossed $9 million.

The dichotomy of it all is the bigger the star, the bigger the fall. You certainly can't win em' all but these celebrities don't have too much to complain about - they're still worth millions of dollars.