Jeff goes by @alonelikemacauly on twitter. He knows a thing or two about "bad" films. Follow him.
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I
live under the motto there are no bad movies. It's one of the reasons
that if I see a trailer and think it's terrible...I'll still see the
movie. Because in some corner of its frames genius is happening. WIth
that view point said, I don't consider the movies below "bad". I
consider them movies that haven't been given a fair shake. Consider
this their fair shake.
I'm
going big and bold with my first choice. Every possible argument for
and against this movie has been said. I don't care. I love the
political machinations. I love the regal feel of the whole thing. I
love that it isn't dirty and lived in like the originals. I love Naboo.
I love that George Lucas was naive enough to add something like
midichlorians or wizard and ani and think fans would go for it. I love
that he had the ego to toss in a 20 minute pod race sequence in it. I
love almost everything about this movie. Why? The dude went for it in
this movie. No second guessing. This is what he wanted and he got it.
Yes, it's different. Yes, the acting and writing are stiff. Yes,
there's a lot of talking and nothing else. But you know what? There's
vision on display here. And speaking of...I feel like this has been one
of the most quietly influential movies of the past 10 years or so when
it comes to design work.
This
movie doesn't re-write the narrative book when it comes to teen films.
But you know what it does? It wears its heart on its sleeve in such an
unironic, non jaded way that I love it. What's it about? A math wiz
who uses math formulas to crack the code of ice skating to become good
at it. I know. AWESOME. But beyond that it has a really affecting
mother/daughter relationship between Joan Cusack and Michelle
Trachtenberg. If you can get beyond the shame of watching a movie
called ICE PRINCESS (i saw it alone at a theater AND bought it from the
store day one) I think you'll like it.
Sam
Elliot plays 30 something Rick. A dude who enjoys just being a
lifeguard for California beaches. He's good at it and it brings him
peace. But when he runs into an old high school girlfriend...he starts
to question his place in life and if he's making a difference. This
movie, though dated, has stuck with me ever since I watched it. There's
an honesty to Rick and to the questions he asks. His questioning of
what life holds for him and what it means to truly be happy is something
almost everyone wrestles with. It also has great performances by
Kathleen Quinlan and Anne Archer.
This
movie died and died fast when it hit theaters. Basically, you have a
guy who loves the most popular girl in school, he dies, he comes back as
zombie...she falls in love with him. In a way it is like TEEN WOLF,
but with a Zombie. What else do you need to know?
Terry
is a guy who's just gotten out of prison for some pretty messed up
crap. He moves in with his mother who runs a boarding house. Which is
where the movie kicks into gear. Terry is messed up. His mother is
worse. This is one of those movies that works not only because of its
premise...but because it is so low budget. It gives it the kind of
grime you can't wash off once watching.
Where
as KILLING KIND has a messed up Mother/Son relationship...this has a
messed up EVERYONE relationship. This movie has amazing tone that
sticks with you. And though much of what was filmed was cut out due to
"going too far"...it's those missing gaps that give this movie it's
uncomfortable vomit factor. Watching it, you know you're looking at
people who are doing some weird stuff behind closed doors, but because
most of it is left to your imagination it burrows in your brain and
flourishes like mold. (side note. Wes Craven was originally attached
to this, but was fired because his draft was deemed "too horrific and
disgusting.")
Essentially
LORD OF THE FLIES at summer camp. I'm a big fan of youth gone
wild/youth doing terrible things...and this is a good example of it.
Besides, how can you not love a movie where the tagline is, " Dear Mom,
The camp director is dead. The counselors are locked up. And the kids
are out of control. Having a wonderful time. Love, Marvin".
8. BIG SHOTS 1987 (Robert Mandel)
There
was a time where kids movies weren't so PC. Where the movies were
allowed to be dangerous. Where kids were allowed to swear. This time
was the 80's. BIG SHOTS features kids who steal a car, go to Chicago,
and have a rad time involving dead bodies, gangs, and con artists. And
incase you need more convincing...Joe Esterhaz wrote this.
Buy BIG SHOTS on DVD from Warner Archive!
Buy BIG SHOTS on DVD from Warner Archive!
The
most problematic movie on my list. Plagued by reshoots, editing and a
premise that simply tries too hard...SCREAM 4 is a movie I am fascinated
with . The core concept is someone is killing kids in the same fashion
of the original SCREAM. With that conceit, the movie goes on to
"remake" SCREAM. But as they basically say in film...remakes are
watered down, have too many characters that are paper thin, and actors
who are bland. Which are all the arguments used against the film. So
was that by design? Are all these characters thin on purpose? Same with
the script? Did they set out to cleverly make a bad movie? Or is this
just a built in fail safe because somewhere in the production they knew
it was bad and added the above lines during one of its reshoots? Who
knows. And for this reason it fascinates me.
I
unequivically love this movie. I watched it twice in the same day when
I first saw it. It just missed the teen movie come back of the latter
half of the 90's. This is not a bad movie in any way, shape or form.
But it is a movie that had a terrible trailer, troubled studio
relationship and got dumped. It's also a movie that is maybe one of two
teen films I'd hold up against the classic teen films. It's got so
much heart and the writing of the overweight lead is honest. The speech
he gives at the end dance, his dance to mazzy star, and his scenes with
George C. Scott are things that are CONSTANTLY playing in my head. If
you haven't seen this movie and have any affinity for teen movies...I
can't beg you enough to check this out. Maybe you won't love it as much
as me...but it's a movie that does not in any way deserve the fate that
fell upon it.
5 comments:
Proud to say I'm one of the few...very few...who saw My Boyfriend's Back in the theater!
This is a pretty interesting list! At least they aren't all horror and sci-fi movies.
The Ice Princess sounds like something my wife likes to watch so we'll check it out. She's kinda gotten on a princess kick lately, probably due to us having 4 boys. She needs some kind of girly thing to retain her sanity.
I've noticed a lot of these guest posts start by defending or denying "bad" movies. It's interesting that I just read American Movie Critics edited by Phillip Lopate, and 3 critics specifically defend bad movies: Pauline Kael, Manny Farber, and J. Hoberman I think.
This list rules.
Angus!! God DAMN I love that movie. Criminally underrated.
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