What motivates people to watch BAD films?? (1 Viewer)

[Ross Williams]

Speaking of Vertical Limit, it was my favorite comedy of last year. It is an unitentional comedy masterpiece. The momment the dad hits the ground in the opening scene provided me with the biggest laugh of 2001.

 

[mark_d]

I am like the anti-Seth. I enjoy reading his eloquent posts but don't agree with his philosophy.

What is "bad"? I really get a kick out of Days of Thunder, Armageddon and Mortal Kombat. Are they art? Probably not. Are they entertainment? I would say so.

I think it was Days of Thunder that changed my ways. I was never that much of a Top Gun fan, and DoT was supposed to be a simple retread, but not as good - albeit based in an area in which I have an interest - motorsport. Years after it's theatrical release, a friend asked if I'd seen it. He persuaded me to check it out, I did, and I regretted having missed it at the cinema (not such a big deal now with OAR friendly DVD).

If a movie looks like it'll push my buttons in some way, then I don't give a monkeys how many people slam it, I will see it. If it's universally panned (think Battlefield Earth, Mission to Mars), then I will miss it's theatrical run but try to catch it on rented or borrowed DVD. I have now seen BE and M2M. I didn't think BE was as horrid as word of mouth had led me to believe. It's unlikely I'll watch it again, but I did get a mildly diverting couple of hours watching some charismatic actors chewing the scenery.

I'm also glad I saw M2M. Now that had some truly cringeworthy scenes but overall I enjoyed the story, and again, there were cast members there who I would probably find interesting to watch if they were filmed painting a fence for two hours...

Bottom line, I'm unlikely to sit through "The Tao of Steve" or "Tomcats" because I see nothing there that has any attraction to me. I will, and did, sit through Tomb Raider (reasonably entertaining romp) which does have appeal (Jolie, Barrie, the game itself) and Rush Hour 2 (boooorrrriiinnnggggg!!! how can a Jackie Chan film be this dull!?!?) despite bad write ups on the off chance that it may be my next Days of Thunder...

Mark

FWIW, just in case you think all I watch is big budget pap churned out by the Hollywood machine, my faves from last year so far (I've got a lot of catching up to do) are Moulin Rouge and The Dish. I'm expecting Amelie to be up there, too.

 

[Brad_W]

I originally was going to say that bad taste (not the movie mind you) movtivates people to watch bad films, but I think the subject of what is one man's junk is another man's treasure has already been discussed.
However, there is sometimes a general overall opinion about how bad a movie is and it is proven so with the Raspberry Awards, check it out.

 

[Joseph Young]

There are lots of different classifications for constituting a 'bad film.'
The bad films that I abhore are the ones that try desperately to be good, or cool, or transcendant in some way, and end up instead drowning in an embarrassing display over self conscious pap. I mean, yuch! :frowning: Films like this try too hard. This is why I detested Armageddon.
The bad films that I sometimes like are 'golly gee shucks' innocent, that don't know they're bad and they don't try too hard to be good. They just are what they are and they never try to reach beyond that. Films like this do not offend me so I leave them alone.
Of course, the real trick here -- determining which films are 'trying too hard' is entirely subjective in itself. So when it comes down to it, it's all my stupid opinion.
Joseph

 

[Vickie_M]

Wow, my first post and I'm going to argue with someone who has 2498, and a writer/reviewer to boot...yikes!
Re: Scott Weinberg's list...
Now, most of those movies my husband and I haven't seen because we had no desire to waste time and money, but a few had elements that made us want to see them in the theater:
Angel Eyes - We completely missed all the marketing and went to see it on opening day because it was a movie set in Chicago (We're Chicagoites...have to see Chicago movies) with Jennifer Lopez playing a cop. She was also excellent as a law enforcement officer in Out Of Sight, which was one of our favorite films of 1998. We like Lopez as an actress, we just don't like her as a singer or a diva. We loved it, but didn't realize how odd that was considered until later. It's a sweet, slow (but not boring), very melancholy love story with complex characters. After seeing it I found out that it was being marketed as this big action/thriller/mystery with some sort of Sixth Sense-type seeeecret.
Oh my god!!!
The marketing was so far away from the actual film no wonder it got so many bad reviews and died at the box office. There's hardly any action (she is a cop, so they do show her doing her job at times), there are no thrills or supernatural mysteries or jolting secrets. It's a quiet, moving *character study* about two troubled people and how they get together based on need and longing and happenstance, and is well-written, well-acted and well-directed. It will probably never live down its bum rap, which is unfortunate, since it's a very worthy film. If it had come early in her acting career, before she wore The Dress, dated Puffy and became "J-Lo" it would have been marketed as the quiet, interesting love story it was and not hyped to high heaven as something it wasn't. Then it might have had a chance.
Monkeybone - We went to see it because it's directed Henry Selik, who directed The Nightmare Before Christmas. We thought it was great! It's weird, and I can certainly understand why people didn't like it. It must be especially appalling to anyone who hates Brendan Fraiser, but I can take him on a film-by-film basis and liked him in this one. Monkeybone is a dark, strange, goofy, funny black comedy, with absolutely stunning visuals. The only good review I've ever read is at Salon. A couple of reviewers there liked it as much as we did, but otherwise its rating at rottentomatoes.com is pretty damn dismal (as is Angel Eye's).
Waking Life - This was on my MUST SEE list for months. I like Richard Linklater, and the buzz had been building from all the film festivals. We weren't disappointed at all. It was just as visually interesting as we'd heard (and seen, from previews) and while it starts out slow and pretentious-sounding (I rolled my eyes a few times), the reasons for why the main character is experiencing what he's experiencing were made clear soon enough, and then it became really interesing to me. What we didn't expect was the humor. No, it's not a comedy, but it's actually quite funny in so many little ways.
Those are the only ones I'd defend. I've seen K-Pax and The Majestic, and they were ok. My husband liked both of those more than I did. Some of the other movies I've bought on DVD, but we haven't yet watched. These were bought at our mom'n'pop corner video store that sells used DVDs, and I paid from $7.00 to $12.00 per, but all were bought with specific reasoning in mind. I can't say if they're bad or good, but they're in our collection for the reasons I wanted them there.
Along Came A Spider - I liked Kiss the Girls, and I like Morgan Freeman
15 Minutes - Robert De Niro, what can I say?
The Wedding Planner - It did look terrible, but Jennifer Lopez can act and uh...I don't know why else
Planet Of The Apes - We like Tim Burton and Mark Wahlberg, we just didn't feel like seeing it at the theater.
A Knight's Tale - It got mixed reviews, but it just looked interesting to me.
One Night At McCool's - ditto
Hannibal - I had the others, might as well have them all.
Swordfish - Halle Berry, because I like her as an actress too.
America's Sweethearts - I'm a sucker for John Cusack, but not enough to see it in the theater.
Sweet November - (trying to remember...)
Rush Hour 2 - Ziyi Zhang, but of course!
Final Fantasy - Hubby is a CGI geek
The Fast And The Furious - It looked ready-made to be a prime guilty pleasure. We'll see.
There are a few others we'll probably buy cheap, such as Serendipity, Hearts In Atlantis, probably Just Visiting and Hardball (Chicago movies, you see), maybe Rock Star, Ali , I Am Sam and Curse Of The Jade Scorpion. I'll decide when I see them used.
To answer the OP, we don't go out of our way to see movies we have a good idea are bad, but we like a lot of movies that others would consider bad, such as Peter Jackson's early films (dammit, we LIKE Bad Taste and Meet The Feebles!) and definite guilty pleasures such as Under Siege and Starship Troopers (and we can't wait for Used Cars!), and controversial "love 'em or hate 'em" movies such as Dancer In The Dark and Moulin Rouge.
So...I don't have a point to make. I just ...well... wanted to get a first post out of the way.
Vickie
1052 DVDs ("enough yet?" asks hubby "not yet!" says me)

 

[Terrell]

I liked Swordfish for two reasons only. I don't really have to name them do I?
Welcome to the forum Vickie.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Wow, my first post and I'm going to argue with someone who has 2498, and a writer/reviewer to boot...yikes!

Don't let my profession or silly ol' post count mean anything.
The beauty of movies is quite simply that you can love something I think is pure crap, and vice versa. Just because I make a living reviewing movies doesn't mean I'm RIGHT. Opinions are like...bellybuttons. We've all got 'em and they're all silly.
Welcome to the HTF!

 

[Vickie_M]

Thanks for the hellos Terrell & Scott!

Scott, after reading your reviews of some of our great favorites from 2001 such as Moulin Rouge, Lord of The Rings, The Others, and The Royal Tenenbaums, as well as a selection of other loved films such as Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, Magnolia, Election, Iron Giant, Three Kings, Toy Story 2, Unbreakable, as well as some more obscure (well...) films such as 1941 and She's Having A Baby, I think we're pretty much on the same page wrt how we view movies. And you are my new best friend JUST for your review of Ruthless People! (COMING FINALLY TO DVD...YAY!)

Vickie (still working my way through your reviews)

 

[Ryan L B]

why on earth does every body hate "Dude, Where's my Car?, it is not a bad movie, theater I went to was packed, it is very funny and it is a no brainer movie.

 

[felix_suwarno]

for visual effects, like final fantasy movie, godzilla...

to enjoy my sound system, again, godzilla. i love it when the monster's steps make cars on the street jump.

i havent watched resident evil yet. critics gave it ultra low score. i dont care, i am gonna watch it anyway : dvd rent cost is cheap, and it has something to do with a game that i like, and again, i love to enjoy movies that can be enjoyed easily when i turn off my brain. as long as it goes BOOM every now and then, action packed, i would enjoy bad movies.

 

[Nate Anderson]

We just simply need to know if the movie is really THAT bad.