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Weekend Argument: The Best Worst Movies
Years ago I put up a post asking about the worst movies you all had seen. John Kluge’s post on Saving Private Ryan put me in mind of something else — what are the best of the worst movies you have seen? We’re talking not necessarily outright clunkers or films where you want to remove your own fingernails with a spork rather than endure another minute (those were covered pretty well in the 2012 post, though I’m sure we’ve got some additions). No, I’m talking the films that are just plain awful while still being hilarious, quotable, or just fun to put on for the sheer madness of them. You might cite Big Trouble In Little China, for instance, which is truly a film I can’t stand but many others enjoy greatly.
A few of my own include:
Beavis and Butthead Do America — The film is, in many respects, terribly dated by now (it’s 20 years old — feel old yet?), but I still crack up every time.
Barbarella — There is absolutely nothing redeeming about this film. And yet Jane Fonda is a beauty. And the film itself is total camp (a fur-clad spaceship interior?). Plus it gave us the name of a great New Wave band of the ’80s (Duran Duran).
Judge Dredd — A tacky adaptation of a comic book series that is mostly worthwhile for Rob Schneider.
The Fifth Element — High budget sci-fi flop with Bruce Willis, Chris Tucker, and Mila Jovovich. Very campy story, but funny in spite of itself.
What are yours? What hokey films do you watch just for fun?
Published in Entertainment
Oh, then I don’t know it: Who made it?
Mars Attacks – A fun and goofy sendup of science fiction tropes, with a bunch of big-name stars willing to let themselves play complete morons and jerks.
Last Action Hero – Ditto on the fun and goofy, this time taking on detective movies. Ahhnold is in full self-parody mode and obviously enjoying every minute of it.
Tora, Tora, Tora – I loved this movie when I saw it as a teenager, and it just gets better with every viewing. The practical effects are truly awe inspiring and this is one of the most historically accurate war movies ever. Unlike the other two, which are just better than they should have been, this is one of my favorite movies, ever. But. It was a flop at the box office. It gets only 57% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert gave it one star and called it “…one of the deadest, dullest blockbusters ever made.” I don’t get it.
The get progressively worse, until parts 4 # 5 drag all the others down with them. Peter Coyote is a particular treat. I think he got Botox the same day they were shooting.
Road house! Tripe. Also, Kin! (Or whatever it’s called–Patrick Swayze & Liam Neeson as rendecks. Not well done. I’ve met rednecks–they’ve way more flavor…)
This is almost a great movie! It understands the American audience much better than anything else I can name just now. It was made by McTiernan, the action directer par excellence–Predator, Die hard, October Red…–it’s the comic counterpart to his serious stuff. Shows the completeness of an artist!
Next of Kin.
Not mine. It’s awful on video, awful and irritating in the theater.
Roadhouse is the king of bad but great movies. Patrick Swayze was at his most Swayze for that movie. Red Dawn has to be mentioned. Gotta love all the Commies they offed in that movie.
Peter Coyote had this expression on his face all the way through two movies.
He couldn’t change it. Even when he revealed that the reason behind his plan was world domination.
That’s an ok movie!
Original Conan also ok, or nearly. Good for the younger crowd…
Also, John Milius!
Step Brothers. Is there any film like it? It aims its moral arc towards a conclusion which has our heroes physically assaulting a playground of middle schoolers and threatening them with forced consumption of dog feces.
And it never wavers from this moral arc.
Cinematically we are a fallen people.
This is all I can think of for Step Brothers:
Not a bad movie. Really, it is about how family is necessary for adulthood; & how male friendship is, too. The reason the brothers are professionally retarded is, bad family. Relational being comes before productivity.
Awww… you took mine. Mr. C introduced Trink, Mr. Trink and me to this movie many decades ago not long after we were married. This was the moment I realized I had tragically married a man with whom I did not share any taste in movies…
Machete Kills and Machete, but the sequel tops the so-called original by a wide margin
I usually find bad movies boring. Watching The Room was tedious. Ocassionally, one pops up that blows my mind in every aspect, from concept to execution. Troll 2 is a famous example of this kind of achievement.
My favorite, however, is this what-were-they-thinking-classic, which is much weirder than this trailer lets on:
https://youtu.be/tBhsPP06-mA
The Venn overlap between my wife’s and my tastes in movies is vanishingly small.
First saw a ‘performance’ in Harvard Square with a few friends and coworkers. I had no idea what it was all about and was getting quite uncomfortable as the attendees arrived in costume. Within a few moments after the beginning of the screening, I was into it.
I’m a big Tim Curry fan.
Speaking of him, how about Oscar?
Road House is a silly little potato chip of a movie that acts like it’s a full meal. It’s a ridiculous flik. It’s sheer strutting silliness that breaks nearly every personal and professional standard I ever held dear for what makes a great film and yet, I own the 20th anniversary DVD with multiple commentary tracks.
Because I love it. I love it SO much. Every ludicrous minute of it.
I’ll second Strange Brew and add Army of Darkness.
That. Was amazing.
Though I’m not entirely sure I could take much more of it than that.
Maybe fan’s too strong a word. I liked him in Legend, and Rocky Horror Picture Show, and I have the CD The Best of Tim Curry. I liked all of them..
Also Big Wednesday? The fifteen-year-old in me still loves this movie.
Commando: Arnold is so ridiculously over the top in this. He lifts a phone booth over his head, rips the seat out of a car, kills the guy next to him on a commercial flight with nobody noticing, and about a dozen other heartwarming, impossible tasks.
Cemetery Man: A weird, pretentious, artsy zombie flick. The parts with Claudio are priceless, especially my favorite movie line ever–“He’s only eating me! I shall be eaten by whomever I please!”
Troll 2–A community ot vegetarian goblins get tourists to eat bright green food so that they’ll turn into plants so the goblins can eat them. The best part about this movie is that the Italian director thought he was making a horror masterpiece.
Hudson Hawk–I don’t care how much respect you’ll lose for me–I like this movie. I’m not proud of being so happy when the dog finally got it, but watch the movie and tell me you don’t feel the same.
Toys (Robin Williams, LL Cool J)–This movie appealed to my bizarre sense of humor, and absolutely nobody else’s. I’m getting used to rolling on the floor I’m laughing so hard while everyone else stares at me in incredulous silence.
Death Race 2000–Stallone plays the world’s worst Stallone immitator.
The Warriors–“Can you dig it?”. Yes, I can. Supposedly Reagan loved this movie.
Any of the Die Hard codex.
Con Air. Awful, but I got to stop and watch every time its on.
Hancock.
The entire Aliens franchise–except for Alien 2: Aliens. That’s high art.
Caveman
Starring Ringo Star, Dennis Quaid, and Shelly Long.
I, too, would watch Strange Brew over and over.
And Red Dawn is the greatest movie ever.
Amen.