I expected Bay’s TRANSFORMERS to be really bad, but I didn’t expect it to be evil.
I guess, I knew going into a lot of recent ‘genre’ movies, especially sequels like AVP or TERMINATOR 3, most comic book adaptations, and movies with Jason Statham in them.
And, yet we all keep trying like fools.
I saw D-Wars knowing the story was going to be terrible. But I have respect for the South Korean film scene and excellent special effects. I enjoyed myself but I’ll never see it again.
And I stopped watching Statham a few films back.
I go to bad films on purpose sometimes just to keep myself in check. First off, I need to allow myself a opportunity to not take everything so seriously and just laugh and/or be mindlessly entertained. Two, even in shit films I can find something that either was a good idea pulled off badly (perhaps it would have worked better in another film). Three, even bad films help me learn. I think to myself “why” did this film not work? What would I have done different? What demographic does this appeal to? How would I make a better film that appeals to the same demographic? These aren’t always questions I have answers to, but they are things to ponder. I prefer the sort of films we all seem to love here, but me deciding to just waste some time watching TRANSPORTER 3 doesn’t affect my feelings for Bergman or Kurosawa. Hell, I can think of a lot worse things out there that are the downfall of modern society as I see it (reality television, gossip news, and the sea of user submitted YouTube videos).
I watch bad television on purpose sometimes just to keep myself in check. First off, I need to allow myself a opportunity to not take everything so seriously and just laugh and/or be mindlessly entertained. Two, even in shit television I can find something that either was a good idea pulled off badly (perhaps it would have worked better in another show). Three, even bad TV helps me learn. I think to myself “why” did this show not work? What would I have done different? What demographic does this appeal to? How would I make a better show that appeals to the same demographic? These aren’t always questions I have answers to, but they are things to ponder. I prefer the sort of films we all seem to love here, but me deciding to just waste some time watching SURVIVOR 3 doesn’t affect my feelings for Bergman or Kurosawa. Hell, I can think of a lot worse things out there that are the downfall of modern society as I see it.
Now to the actual topic of the forum:
End of the Spear – I was hoping it would be a little closer to The Mission. Horrifyingly bad.
Transformers – Was hoping it would be bad like the cartoon movie. Fell asleep 4 times.
The Day the Earth Stood Still – The new one. Heard it was garbage. Wanted to believe otherwise. It’s pretty god awful.
I’m sure there are others but I’ve put them out of my mind.
Bad cinema is damn near the most important thing in this postmodern society. If Troma didn’t exist, life would suck. It is important for people who understand art, to appreciate entertainment. Otherwise, mindless movie watchers are alienated from cinephiles and a gross segregation ensues.
Lighten the fuck up, Transformers kicked ass.
Who’s talking about bad cinema like Troma, George? Only you, bud. Troma is meant to be bad and enjoyed as such. We get it. Glad you do too, holmes. Get on the Internet and look up ‘The Alamo Drafthouse’. Under their Signature Events, check out Weird Wednesday and Terror Thursday. There’s your bad cinema. Those two weekly events also happen to be great fun appreciating how awesome bad cinema can be. So how ’bout it, Jonsey, wanna give it another shot?
DP
Godzilla, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Jay and Silent Bob strike back.
Yeah, I was expecting Four Christmases to be bad, and boy was I right.
JUNO. Thought I would hate it. Did. Just had to make sure.
Why wouldn’t we want to segregate ourselves from mindless moviegoers?
I think that’s why I’m here.
What was it exactly that “kicked ass” about it, Georgie Boy?
You know, going back to what Michel Kesterson said. And i saw D-Wars. It was good, but only because I was on shrooms.
That’s probably the only way to watch it…
Nevermind. Missed the point of the topic. Sorry!
I always try to keep an open mind when approaching something I know NOTHING about. 9 times out of 10, if that’s the case I’ll read up a little on WHY this movie exists…you know, what the directors intent might have been…anything of any artistic value, etc etc.
I strictly avoid mainstream-silly movies. The big budget summertime things I’ll see, but all the mediocre ones that fill the cineplexes I just skip. I have very little time to waste on something I couldn’t care less about, so I try to always watch things that have SOMETHING of value.
Not to sound snobby at all…I’m referring to directors way down on the ‘artistic’ meter as well. I just like everything really. Everything but Stallone, Van Damme and that kind of brain-numbing filth. Why?
Cinesnag, I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. First you say that you avoid mainstream-silly movies, then in the VERY NEXT SENTENCE you say that you WILL see big budget summertime things. Because I never use those terms, I can only imagine what they mean and when I do, it doesn’t add up. To my thinking, mainstream silly movies are synonymous with big budget summertime things.
Once again, keeping an open mind when approaching something one knows NOTHING about IS NOT on the table here. We’re here talking about when YOU KNOW IT’S BAD. OK? In advance, foreknowledge. Will it help if I repost the first entry or should I just act like an ass on all of Jonathan Song’s topics?
Ok, so Allison. Off to a good start there. Four Chirstmases. Right off the bat sounds like a nightmare just by the title. Now, why did you watch it? I mean, I posted the topic because I am genuinely interested in what other film-lovers have to say. Or do they simply have nothing to say? Or do they have something to say, but don’t know how to say it? Or do they think that what they have to say is of little or no value? I work in social services, so I talk to people who feel like they are worth nothing and mean nothing and they think anything they have to say outside of their personal drama is worthless. I get paid to be there. I come to the Auteurs voluntarily and I expect just a little more from a contingent supposedly of above-average mental and emotional intelligence. Both of these things one would need an abundance of to truly appreciate the art and artists this website is here for us to celebrate over, share over, argue over, etc…So what’s the fucking problem? Can you not make emotional or otherwise mutually stimulating communion with others so you suck away like a starving vampire at film, obsessed with consumption? I fear the reality is far more disturbing.
Thanks for nothing.
i really enjoy watching bad but entertaining action films.
i really enjoy watching bad but entertaining action films.
Anyone excited about how bad The Spirit is gonna be?
Whut up, Alex? Have you seen ‘The Man From Hong Kong’?
George Jones summed it up well. I watch anything and everything and I just don’t judge with my artistic perspective for films that I know are not supposed to make me question shit. It’s entertainment and it is awesome. Date movies kick ass. Comedies are always fun. Artistic? No. But enjoyable? Oui.
I hate film critics. Then I love them when it comes to films that need be studied and researched.
Oh, and my dick gets totally hard for superhero and action movies.
Must admit that I was (like everyone else on the planet) expecting Snakes on a Plane to be goddawful. I was absolutely correct. The only thing that made watching that film at the cinema an enjoyable experience was the fact that it me and my friends made it a night of drunken celebration and managed to get additional drinks into the theatre (and we didn’t annoy other patrons as there was noone besides our group of 9 people).
I almost feel stupid for admitting this, but I attempted to re-watch it at a later date while completely sober and I turned it off before the snakes or even the plane appeared on screen.
Thanks, Kieran. That’s the spirit!
Ok, Kumar. Once again, let’s stay on topic. There is no pretension with superhero movies or date movies or comedies, so we’re not expected to judge them with an artistic perspective. Right? Right. What you and George posted here may be valuable, just misplaced.
For the record, I can’t “make emotional or otherwise mutually stimulating communion with others so [I] suck away like a starving vampire at film, obsessed with consumption.” I don’t think that appreciating film makes you a better person, and people come to love films for a variety of reasons. When I’m watching a film, I’m taking part in a diversion, whether it be intellectual or purely for entertainment purposes. I think this is true of any of the arts and nobody should get a pass. Whether you’re appreciating a fine painting, sculpture, or a hollywood blockbuster, you are not living directly, you are living through someone else’s vision. Deciding when this becomes too escapist is up to the person who is consuming the art. I feel like you watched Cinemania and worried that the more knowledgeable posters here are just misanthropic freaks who haven’t seen the light of day. You want a justification for their hobby (or obsession), some reason why they aren’t just as bad off as the people that you have to deal with on a daily basis. But I think everyone is different and everyone has their own reasons.
I saw The Happening when it came out. I knew that it was going to suck after reading all the reviews. I had also seen the Village, which was horrible, Unbreakable, which was OK, and heard about how bad that Lady in the Water was. I did enjoy The Sixth Sense, but this was too long ago to be meaningful after so many flops. I went mainly because the story seemed like it was interesting enough that it could have some redeeming qualities. I also love the feeling of expecting a movie to be completely horrible and discovering that its good, or at least decent. I saw the moving and felt that it was pretty bad, but not as horrendous as I had been led to believe. At least I was able to sit through the 90 minutes without walking out. It gets boring seeing art films, or high drama all the time and a surprise or chance discovery is sometimes worth the pain of sitting through a terrible film.
I know Wanted was “bad” but man, did I love it. I shut off my brain and just watch it without thinking too much. I love “bad” movies just as much as great film. I’m going to see The Spirit and probably come out with a big grin on my face.
There have been times where I’ll sit through a film that I expect to be bad… and it will be.
Sometimes I think it’s because there’s always the possibility that I might enjoy it. And that’s why I watch films in the first place: gaining insight, knowledge, perspective, being absorbed by a different universe or observing a comment on the one I live in… so the list goes on and can’t be covered in a forum post. You know this…
It’s a rare occurrence… But take a popcorn poppin’ slop movie like Fantastic Four… truly as bad as Hollywood gets. For a moment I think, “This is bad. Really Bad. But what if I like it?”
So then I watch it. And I regret it. But I learn my lesson for the next 6-8 months.
This usually happens after watching a film that really blows me away… and after percolating on it for days, I feel like watching something that doesn’t require thought. (I reiterate: then I regret it, like eating that extra piece of cheese cake.)
I most certainly appreciate your comments Richard. Thank you for bringing something to the table. Thank you for taking the time to share your opinion. That’s all I’m asking.
But it seems I need to re-clarify one thing: I am talking about movies that masquerade as high atr/drama and/or independent.
Richard, I agree that everone is different and that we all have our reasons. That is the reason for not only this topic, but the forum as well. I’m curious about others, that’s wh I’m here and wh I work where I work. But you’re dead wrong about my wanting justification. I’m looking for thoughts and ideas, not justification. And I don’t consider the population I work with “bad off”. Just different. As for not having seen the light of day, if you mean in terms of not wanting to say what’s on their minds, then yes. As far as that’s concerned, there is a lot of nastiness on forums in general and no one wants to open up when the don’t feel it’s safe to do that. Don’t you agree?
I agree completely. I read your comment to Cinesnag as nasty and thats why I responded the way that I did. Maybe I just interpreted it incorrectly. It’s difficult to determine tone when reading messages on a forum sometimes.
It is sometimes difficult to express opinions about films that you love or hate. I like the intellectual aspect of films, but I appreciate an intuitive enjoyment of films even better. Some of the best films I’ve seen are those that I had no words to describe, they just left me in awe, or moved, and by putting that into words would be an unnecessary filtering of experience. This is one of the reasons why I didn’t major in film, I like the movie-going experience too much to want to dissect every aspect of it.
When I go to see a movie I usually expect it to be worthwhile, even if it seems as if it may be terrible. Brown Bunny is a pretty good example of this. I didn’t go to a theater to see it, but I purchased it based on my love of Buffalo 66. It was getting panned pretty badly by a lot of reviewers, but I thought it would appeal to me. It turned out to be watchable but very disappointing. I’ll watch it again some day to see if my opinions have changed, but I felt let down, although I guess I was glad I had saw it anyway.
Donnie Darko, American Beauty, and Little Miss Sunshine are great!
Ryan Biddle
From the topic ‘Movies You Just Don’t Like’, I posted a handful of movies I don’t like, most of which I knew were going to be awful beforehand. Yet, I watched them anyway, trying to keep the rage in check, straining to keep the vomit from projecting. From the moment it enters your consciousness, you know it’s straight garbage. Pandering, market research, surveyed population reports, condescension, insulting tripe. For instance, Donnie Darko, American Beauty, Crash, Garden State, Little Miss Sunshine…Discuss.