Bad Movies We Love 1960s to present (1 Viewer)

I used to poor over and old paperback with the title Bad Movies We Love . I waited endlessly for a sequel-but alas with the passing of one of the authors-it were not to come. I thought it might be fun to compile our own lists-I have read many an entry from the panel here that made me watch movies I'd never thought i would (THE DARJEELING LIMITED for example) One each per decade-feel free to add other decades-from 1960s to present.

1960s: CANDY. Every once in a while I want CANDY. Ive tried to make sense of this and read into it more than it is-but basically it is as bad as everyone thinks-but still loads of fun.

1970s: ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH. Its trashy, has lesbians, homosexuals, drugs, sex, a girl named January, decadence and an Oscar nominated performance from Brenda Vaccaro! What more could you want? Kirk Douglas had a great 1975 through Paramount when he went from POSSE to P***Y all within the month of June.

1980s:GLORIA. I NEVER tire of this movie! Easily the inspiration for one of my top 10 movies of all time-THE PROFESSIONAL -basically a gender switch. But in analyzing it -it truly is awful with a lame script, drab cinemtography, choppy editing, overblown Hermannish score and possibly the worst child performance since
pia Zadora in SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS!(or was that in BUTTERFLY?)With all that-I never miss it when its on!

1990s: THE PRINCE OF TIDES: Wrenchingly awful Streisandamania film. I liked her in YENTL and thought she deserved attention for NUTS -but the TIDES turned with this melodramatic schizophrenic movie that harhened the light romance and made a very dark theme laughable.

2000S POSEIDON. I was so psyched for this movie! I always envisioned it to be a great fodder for a remake. My friend and I used to ponder about casting: Bruce Willis as the Priest; Roseanne and Dreyfuss as the Rosens; Ray Liotta and Penelope Ann Miller as the cop and prostitute; Mr Bean as the steward; Lindsay Lohan and a young actor as the brother and sister; Matthew Broderick as the bachelor and Gwen Stefani as the singer. We all know it sunk without a trace...of dignity.

Oh, great topic!

1950s - Santa Claus. I had to add this decade because this 1959 Mexican film is one of my most beloved bad movies. Everything bad and good about this movie can be summed up in 7 words - Santa Claus and Merlin fight the devil! (Runner up - Plan 9 From Outer Space of course!)

1960s - Bloody Pit Of Horror. Wacky Italian horror film with Mickey Hargitay as "The Crimson Executioner". (Runner up? I almost listed Barbarella, but was that "bad" or just kitschy?)

1970s - Shaolin Invincibles. Kung Fu movie about two girls whose families were killed and are now looking for revenge. To kill the emperor, they must face two royal wizards who fight with their 4 foot long tongues and specially trained Kung Fu gorillas. The gorilla outfits especially hit a new low in the costuming department. (Runner up - 3 Dev Adam. Turkish film where Santo and Captain America fight the "evil" Spiderman. Wow. So bad.)

1980s - Surf II. You know it's going to be bad when the title has a "II" and there was no "Surf" or "Surf I". This is a quintessential 1980s film, from the cliched wardrobe and dialogue, to the old KROQ DJ voice overs, to the great soundtrack (Circle Jerks, Oingo Boingo, etc), and the Untouchables even play live at their beach party. It stars Eddie Dezen at his best (worst?) as a nerd scientist who creates a soda that turns the "cool" surfer guys into crazy zombie-like Punk Rockers. Also stars Eric Stoltz as a surfer, Cleavon Little as the Principal and even Ruth Buzzi! One of my favorites! (Runner up - The Seventh Curse - This gem has a scene where Chow Yun Fat breaks up a fight between a flying killer fetus and a skeleton who morphs into something that looks like the H.R. Giger alien - with a bazooka!)

1990s - Story of Ricky. I spent much of the 90's watching tons of Hong Kong cinema. Some Hong Kong films can arguably considered "bad" by nature of production value or odd scripts (like the convoluted sex changes in the Swordsman films) but this is one undeniably in the "so bad it's good" category. Ultra-violent, but so cartoonish you can only laugh.

2000s - Freddy Got Fingered. Wow. So, so horrible. Yet I can't stop watching. If he was trying to make an art film, Tom Green is a genius. If he was trying to make a comedy, he is an idiot. I can't tell which it is, but this oddly fascinates me. (Runner ups - Dragon Wars which was so awful I kind of wanted to see it again, and Zinda, an Indian film that was a surreal, almost shot for shot "remake" (ripoff) of Oldboy.)

I think GLORIA is quite good. It's not pore--I mean poor! ;D

Far too many to list, I seem to love bad movies (old ones, not new ones) if "Assault On A Queen" came out on DVD I'd buy it like a shot, I love that film.

Someone will inevitably mention Ed Wood so it might as well be me.

His two major works, in my humble opinion are GLEN OR GLENDA and PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE, both with Bela Lugosi.

I don't watch them a lot but once they are on screen, I'm locked in.

The trick of the "Bad Movies We Love" book is to not focus on the obvious, like Ed Wood or genre schlock, but rather movies that most often had some fairly significant people involved who thought they were making a something of quality that time has revealed to be silly or just a flat-out amusing failure.

Some of my favorite disasters:

Reflections in a Golden Eye (I always mention this first)
Girl, Interrupted
Road House
The Swarm
Scent of a Woman
Myra Breckinridge
Showgirls (of course)
Rocky IV
Godfather III
Moulin Rouge
The Mothman Prophecies
Mommie Dearest (freaking love it)
The Sandpiper
X Y and Zee (see a Liz Taylor theme?)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Great Balls of Fire
Heat (see an Al Pacino theme?)
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Top Gun
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Point Break
Requiem For a Dream
Dune
Sliver
Crimes of Passion

Where to stop? I haven't even gotten into a John Travolta theme yet (nearly his entire c.v. is inherently risible)

One man's "bad" movie is another man's masterpiece. John Huston's brilliant Reflections In A Golden Eye and John Cassavete's excellent Gloria, mentioned here by others are merely but two examples.

I never got this "bad movies" we love phenomenon. I don't like bad movies and can't quite comprehend the mentality that does but hey, that's just me. Which is not to say I can't like a bad movie if it has a redeeming feature. For example, yes Mommie Dearest is a mess all right but it contains a a brilliant performance by Faye Dunaway that compensates for the inadequacies of the film.

I just saw one of my favorites, Xanadu, is being re-released in June with a bonus soundtrack CD. I wonder if the DVD will have any new extras...

I've never heard "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" referred to as a disaster and can't fathom why it's on this list. It's dated to be sure, but that's exactly as Mr. Kramer hoped it would be by the 21st century.

Many people thought Guess Who's Coming to Dinner was dated even in 1967. It wasn't really a critical favorite, despite snagging some Oscar noms and making money.

What I cannot fathom is how Heat came to be regarded as a "disaster" either critically or commercially.

In some cases I think maybe it's an appreciation for kitsch and it also depends on your sense of humor. If I watch Dragon Wars as an action film, I would be sorely disappointed, but if I watch it as an absurd unintentional comedy, it's gold. Knowing that they went into it as a serious film makes it that much funnier to me. How anyone wrote that script or read the dialouge and took it as real work is so absurd.

Of course I would rather watch The Lives Of Others, but put on Cannonball Run and I'll still have a great time.

THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE

Horrendous.....a complete pleasure.

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine

What I've never understood is how "Heat" can be viewed as anything but a gigantic bore. I guess it really does come down to the old saying, "there's no accounting for taste".

Who said it was a disaster? It's not a disaster, it's just very very funny. Pacino is a one-man over the top machine - just listen to him bite off "Gimme All You Got! Gimme All You Got!" or "You could get keeeeled walkin' your doggie!'. The guy has me rolling on the floor. Really, drinking games should be built around Pacino. Oh no, these movies aren't disasters - I treasure them for their po-faced unintentional comedy. I own most of what I listed.

I don't consider Heat or Requiem For A Dream or even The Godfather Part III to be remotely comedic (unintentional or not). And I actually for kinda bad for you for seeing them that way.

I define "bad movies I like" as movies I'm kind of embarrassed that I like, or movies that I only watch for reasons that really have little to do with the actual movie. For example, for me, any movie with Adrienne Barbeau.

Vampire's Kiss -- Nick Cage's funniest performance ever
Cabin Boy -- Chris Elliot is hilarious, nuff said
Leonard Part 6 -- unrecognized genius, new on DVD!
Cannonball Run II -- I enjoy it more that the first one
Raising Cain -- Lithgow is OVER THE TOP in this
Nixon -- Maybe the funniest movie on this list