portfolio
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Work With Me
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Work With Me
portfolio

Culture Dump: What Stops a So-Bad-it’s-Good Movie From Just Being a Bad Movie?

12/1/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
“We made a movie about the worst movie and it might be our best movie,” Tweeted Seth Rogan earlier this week. He was referring to The Disaster Artist, a James Franco-Directed retelling of how one of the best-worst-movies ever came to be and the pair’s latest project. Franco’s film chronicles the creation of Tommy Wiseau’s bizarre passion project The Room, a now-infamous cult-favourite that has been celebrated in cult circles since its 2003 release. Never heard of it? You’re missing out - but in the meantime, here’s a whistle-stop guide. 

Following years of failed auditions, mysterious struggling actor Tommy Wiseau pens a script and enlists the help of his friend and fellow budding thesp Greg Sestero alongside a cast, crew and seemingly never-ending back account to bring his dream to life and show Hollywood what they’re missing. The end result was The Room - a truly awful yet awfully hilarious guide on how not to make a movie. Audiences loved it, just not for the reasons Wiseau intended and almost fifteen years later, the film still manages to draw eager crowds. It’s an impressive feat but one that makes you wonder - what elements does a so-bad-it’s-good movie need to elevate it above being just another bad film?

Word of mouth is a base ingredient. Much like fellow terrible tale Troll 2, chatter amongst movie fans helps raise a bad film’s status and that doesn’t come without some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments. Troll 2 hit the mark and eventually got its day in the sun via Director Michael Paul Stephen’s ace documentary Best Worst Movie. Both are proof that a movie can be terrible for many reasons and if its a real turkey, it evaporates out of a viewer’s brain almost instantly. In the case of The Room and Troll 2 the opposite was true, with fans barely able to contain themselves during viewings without blurting out one of the movie’s many awkwardly delivered lines. 

However with The Room, the key element that helped it avoid an eternity in obscurity was having a creator who was full of real-life intrigue. To this day nobody quite knows where the clandestine Wiseau is actually from, what his actual age is or where he got the (reportedly) $6 million he needed to finance, promote and self-distribute the movie. In the years since, Wiseau has appeared at numerous screenings all over the world to interact with fans and famous friends in his own bizarre way, proving that despite his oddball persona he’s more than grateful for the appreciation of his work. 

Ironically, this key saving grace of The Room is also the most successful aspect of The Disaster Artist.  Franco’s rendition of Wiseau is weird and wonderful in spades but also accessible and empathetic at the same time. In both cases it’s hard not to think that without this alluring figure at their core, both films would hardly be worthy of comment, regardless of whether they were good or bad.

What do you think makes bad movies good? Let me know in the comments section below!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author: Simon Bland
    t: @SiTweetsToo

    Simon is a freelance entertainment journalist and this is his blog.

    Archives

    October 2023
    February 2023
    November 2021
    July 2021
    April 2021
    September 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016

    Want to Time travel back to my old blog? Click below!

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Academy Award
    Actors
    Alien
    Animation
    Arctic Monkeys
    Avengers
    Avengers Endgame
    Awards
    Bill And Ted
    Blockbusters
    Blog
    Blogs
    Breaking Bad
    Cinema
    Cinemas
    Comedy
    Culture Dump
    Curb Your Enthusiasm
    DC
    Festivals
    Film
    Films
    Game Of Thrones
    Gary Oldman
    Gigs
    Gremlins 2
    Harry Potter
    HBO
    Henry Selick
    Horror
    Indiana Jones
    Infinity War
    Interview
    Jim Carrey
    Joe Dante
    Jon Snow
    Jurassic Park
    Kevin Smith
    Kit Harington
    Kit Harington Interview
    Larry David
    Mad Men
    Marvel
    Movies
    Music
    Nostalgia
    Pirated Movies
    Pop Culture
    Predator
    Quotes
    Rick And Morty
    Roma
    Sequels
    Some Words
    Star Wars
    Stranger Things
    Superhero
    Superhero Movies
    Superior Sequel
    Television
    The Disaster Artist
    The Oscars
    The Simpsons
    Tim Burton
    Total Film
    TV
    Young Adult

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.