There are movies that I think are good movies, although not everyone agrees. the Rocketeer is one of these. I also think Big Trouvble in Little China isn’t really a bad film. It has its nicje, and is defensible. I like it.
Then there are movies that are Bad and which I like, mainly because they’re entertainingly bad. I hold a Bad Film Festival every year to glorify these. Things like:
Plan Nine from Outer Space
Robot Monster
(These two are the kings of badfilm)
Monster from Green Hell
White Pongo
The Cyclops
Sorceress
Sword and the Sorceror
The Manster
Deadly Friend
The Giany Claw
Invaders from Mars (The original, Menzies movie. Some deluded people think this is a Good film. They obviously weren’t paying attention)
Among recent movies, Sahara is DEFINITELY in this category. Also Starship Troopers (I’ll defend that against anyone’s aassertion that it’s actually good, in any sense). I think the very recent 300 is absolutely in this category.
Ben Kingsley - 3 Oscar nods and 1 win;
Forest Whitaker - Oscar and Emmy winner;
Marg Helgenberger - Emmy winner;
Michael Madsen - tough-guy god of the indies;
Alfred Molina - well, he’s pretty good, too.
And what brings together this impressive grouping of cinematic talent? A sci-fi/horror flick in which a beautiful alien is trying to destroy humanity by having sex with unsuspecting men!!
What could be more brilliant?
What I loved best about the film is that the actors decided to play it straight. They didn’t wink at the camera, but played the crappy script as if it were King Lear. My favorite scene involved Forest Whitaker, who played an empath. He could view a scene after the fact and sense the emotions of the people who had been there when the event occured.
The scene took place on a railroad car where the sexy hot alien had killed someone a few days before (the car had sat in the hot sun since the murder). Blood was splashed on the walls, the victim was a blood and gore soaked pile in the corner of the car. Flies were buzzing about, feasting on the mortal remains.
Forest walks into the car. He looks around the room, soaking in the emotional vibes. He solemnly removes his cloth hat, anxiously twisting it in his hands. He then renders his empathic impression of events: “Something bad happened here.”
Cabin Boy. The main character, Chris Elliott, who debuted in this movie, was even nominated for worst new star. I’ve seen the movie maybe 4 times. The fake scenery is the best part of the movie.
I watched it drunk with a friend once. My friend says all he can remember is “David Letterman being in there somewhere.”
Ben Kingsley - 3 Oscar nods and 1 win;
Forest Whitaker - Oscar and Emmy winner;
Marg Helgenberger - Emmy winner;
Michael Madsen - tough-guy god of the indies;
Alfred Molina - well, he’s pretty good, too.
And what brings together this impressive grouping of cinematic talent? A sci-fi/horror flick in which a beautiful alien is trying to destroy humanity by having sex with unsuspecting men!!
What could be more brilliant?
What I loved best about the film is that the actors decided to play it straight. They didn’t wink at the camera, but played the crappy script as if it were King Lear. My favorite scene involved Forest Whitaker, who played an empath. He could view a scene after the fact and sense the emotions of the people who had been there when the event occured.
The scene took place on a railroad car where the sexy hot alien had killed someone a few days before (the car had sat in the hot sun since the murder). Blood was splashed on the walls, the victim was a blood and gore soaked pile in the corner of the car. Flies were buzzing about, feasting on the mortal remains.
Forest walks into the car. He looks around the room, soaking in the emotional vibes. He solemnly removes his cloth hat, anxiously twisting it in his hands. He then renders his empathic impression of events: “Something bad happened here.”
Chris Elliott certainly didn’t debut in Cabin Boy – I knew who he was by then from many appearances on Letterman’s show, and had seen him in the movies Manhunter and The Abyss. The IMDB lists ten movies prior to Cabin Boy (including Groundhog Day, which slipped my mind)
I’m another Xanadu fan. I made my dad take me to see it 7 times (well, after the first showing he just dropped me off at the mall cinema and I met him when it was over) and when my hubby found a copy on DVD, I watched it three more times. And I’m going to buy it.
Other movies I love in this category:
Big Trouble In Little China
All of the movies in the Tremors series
Mars Attacks (who knew aliens could be killed off by yodelling??)
Showgirls (mmm, greasy Kyle McLaughlin)
Hysteria:The Def Leppard story (so awfully bad it’s good!)
Rock Star
I’m typing half-asleep again. Not debut. I meant the first movie he’s been the main character of (if there’s a word for that). I’ve seen him in all sorts of stuff too, notably the show Get a Life and the movie Groundhog Day like you mentioned.
Matter of fact, add Get a Life to the list of bad stuff. Even though it was a bad TV show, not a movie.
Hudson Hawk is full of that special sauce of Bruce Willis comedy he perfected on Moonlighting that I miss so much. Plus it has a weird chemistry and charm that’s hard to pinpoint. Wonderful movie!
My vote: The Fifth Element. Once you realize it’s a comedy, it’s gold. Maybe I just dig Willis’ style in more lighthearted roles?
I confess to enjoying a lot of the movies mentioned here - but I can’t say that I think they are great. I’m able to enjoy a movie and still recognize that it is bad.
That’s possible - I couldn’t comment on it, since I was active duty at the time, and so had no way to be bombarded by any media blitz for the movie.
I do know that while it’s a fun movie, there were a number of plot points that really raise WTF flags: Howard Hughes working on The Spruce Goose before US entry into WWII; patriotic gangsters; and a general revilement of Nazism that didn’t really start to happen til later, IIRC. I enjoy the movie, and as long as it’s moving along I don’t think about that. But once there’s no more JC on screen, or a chance of her showing up soon, my brain goes back to picking at details.
