Do We Want To Talk About Bad Movies?
October 22, 2023 4:59 AM - Subscribe
So there's a movie which is currently trending on Netflix's Top Ten which I think is a bad movie and I have a lot of feelings about - I was hoping there was a post on FanFare about it, even though I thought it was unlikely, so I could talk about it. But at the same time, I don't want to make a post on FanFare about it, because I don't like the movie and I don't know that too many others will like the movie either - I feel like it would just be a mutual hate circle. Maybe that's not good in movies where other users are going to like the movie - but is it okay in movies where that's not so much the case? What do folks think?
I think so long as you're opened to someone popping up and declaring it their favorite movie and commenters not ganging up on said person, it probably isn't a big deal.
posted by Atreides at 6:22 AM on October 24, 2023
posted by Atreides at 6:22 AM on October 24, 2023
I think it is fine to post it even if you hate it as long as you don't get annoyed by dissenters to your view. One thing Metafilter has taught me over the years is one person's garbage is another's greatest thing ever. As an example, a lot of people dump on the films that are used in the MST3K and related shows but I think a lot of them are unironically fun and sometimes have interesting contextual histories.
posted by Ashwagandha at 12:13 PM on October 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Ashwagandha at 12:13 PM on October 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
The kind of interesting thing that I'm discovering is that the usual maxim of "people only call to complain, nobody calls to say they're happy" also sort of holds true for reviews. There's a lot of movies that are perfectly fine, workmanly entertainment vehicles that people just dump on on Fanfare. But they're also not fantastic enough to justify a "I enjoyed the 2 hours I spent on it, but I won't spend another 2 hours watching it again, either" comment.
And absolutely, I don't mind a FF post that's goes "god, this sucked, it was a waste of 2 hours, for the love of god, only watch this if you're having trouble falling asleep at night", either. I may still watch the movie and not judge it as harshly, but I can't say I wasn't warned if I want to bail out of it after 45 minutes, either.
posted by Kyol at 6:48 PM on October 24, 2023
And absolutely, I don't mind a FF post that's goes "god, this sucked, it was a waste of 2 hours, for the love of god, only watch this if you're having trouble falling asleep at night", either. I may still watch the movie and not judge it as harshly, but I can't say I wasn't warned if I want to bail out of it after 45 minutes, either.
posted by Kyol at 6:48 PM on October 24, 2023
There are bad movies and then there are hideous movies.
Like, I'm a lifelong fan of the grindhouse genres of horror, action, exploitation, sexploitation, cheesy sci-fi and cheesy fantasy, and can't get enough of movies meant for an audience of disinterested necking drive-in teenagers. There are bad movies that could've been good if they'd had even the slightest budget, there are bad movies that were labors of love that took decades to find an audience and become cult classics (Miami Connection coming to mind), there are bad movies that are deliberately awful and yet possess a certain charm (Terror at Blood Fart Lake), there are big-budget flicks that completely fail on every level, and there are good foundations ruined by inexplicable filming/casting/directing/performing choices.
If it makes it to a screen and to a "THE END" banner at its conclusion, it deserves consideration of one form or another.
posted by delfin at 8:24 AM on November 6, 2023 [2 favorites]
Like, I'm a lifelong fan of the grindhouse genres of horror, action, exploitation, sexploitation, cheesy sci-fi and cheesy fantasy, and can't get enough of movies meant for an audience of disinterested necking drive-in teenagers. There are bad movies that could've been good if they'd had even the slightest budget, there are bad movies that were labors of love that took decades to find an audience and become cult classics (Miami Connection coming to mind), there are bad movies that are deliberately awful and yet possess a certain charm (Terror at Blood Fart Lake), there are big-budget flicks that completely fail on every level, and there are good foundations ruined by inexplicable filming/casting/directing/performing choices.
If it makes it to a screen and to a "THE END" banner at its conclusion, it deserves consideration of one form or another.
posted by delfin at 8:24 AM on November 6, 2023 [2 favorites]
If it makes it to a screen and to a "THE END" banner at its conclusion, it deserves consideration of one form or another.
I remember watching AMC, back when it was still primarily a classic movies channel, and between movies they'd play clips of various actors and directors talking about "the craft." One that always stuck with me was a director saying that he loves to watch bad movies because as he said, "No one tries to make a bad movie" and that it's interesting to try and figure out what they were attempting to do and where it went wrong.
I think that's mostly true, although I also think that sometimes people do try to make bad movies (for all kinds of reasons, both creative and financial). But that can be interesting, too! Why would someone deliberately make a movie THIS OBVIOUSLY BAD?!
posted by asnider at 8:34 AM on November 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
I remember watching AMC, back when it was still primarily a classic movies channel, and between movies they'd play clips of various actors and directors talking about "the craft." One that always stuck with me was a director saying that he loves to watch bad movies because as he said, "No one tries to make a bad movie" and that it's interesting to try and figure out what they were attempting to do and where it went wrong.
I think that's mostly true, although I also think that sometimes people do try to make bad movies (for all kinds of reasons, both creative and financial). But that can be interesting, too! Why would someone deliberately make a movie THIS OBVIOUSLY BAD?!
posted by asnider at 8:34 AM on November 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
After reading a few talk/chat threads along the lines of this post and these comments, I have started voicing my complaints in relevant movie threads... But I do it in a less hyperbolic way than I normally prefer (I like being a drama queen sometimes, and bad reviews are such fun to exaggerate) - and I have also started leaving end notes like "not trying to rain on anyone's parade, just wanted to chime in with my thoughts, if you enjoyed it please carry on".
Even if I absolutely love a movie and I'm on a thread to squee about it, I think it adds to the conversation to hear polite and thoughtful criticisms from people who disliked it but are nice enough not to shame me for liking it. You know? Bad reviews aren't the problem, yucking all over other people's yum is what needs to be avoided IMO.
posted by MiraK at 2:22 PM on December 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Even if I absolutely love a movie and I'm on a thread to squee about it, I think it adds to the conversation to hear polite and thoughtful criticisms from people who disliked it but are nice enough not to shame me for liking it. You know? Bad reviews aren't the problem, yucking all over other people's yum is what needs to be avoided IMO.
posted by MiraK at 2:22 PM on December 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Sorry to get to this late, as I missed it the first time having buttoned for a few months...
But one of the primary reasons I began making so many movie posts was because I hated hated hated HATED the custom that was developing on FF several years ago that nearly all movie posts reflected things that were either a) new releases (or new to video/streaming) b) were in the news for some reason or c) were things people personally recommended. That's why I went out of my way to post old things, silly things, garbage things, problematic things, mediocre things, weird things.
I mean, now I just post movies because that's what I do and I like it.
But at the outset, I actually had a specific goal. I wanted to normalize posting any kind of movie, such that when people saw a post of an older movie or a bad movie or a silly movie, they wouldn't say "Why would you post this?" Because people really did that. A lot.
Post anything you want to talk about, good, bad, or indifferent.
The best of the web thing applies to FanFare, IMO, but in the quality of the discussion here, not in some nebulous selection process for which movies get posted.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:08 PM on January 24 [9 favorites]
But one of the primary reasons I began making so many movie posts was because I hated hated hated HATED the custom that was developing on FF several years ago that nearly all movie posts reflected things that were either a) new releases (or new to video/streaming) b) were in the news for some reason or c) were things people personally recommended. That's why I went out of my way to post old things, silly things, garbage things, problematic things, mediocre things, weird things.
I mean, now I just post movies because that's what I do and I like it.
But at the outset, I actually had a specific goal. I wanted to normalize posting any kind of movie, such that when people saw a post of an older movie or a bad movie or a silly movie, they wouldn't say "Why would you post this?" Because people really did that. A lot.
Post anything you want to talk about, good, bad, or indifferent.
The best of the web thing applies to FanFare, IMO, but in the quality of the discussion here, not in some nebulous selection process for which movies get posted.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:08 PM on January 24 [9 favorites]
Speaking for myself, and even though I haven't seen like 70% of the movies you post, I really appreciate that you do so. Thank you for this ongoing effort!
posted by Atreides at 7:35 AM on January 25 [1 favorite]
posted by Atreides at 7:35 AM on January 25 [1 favorite]
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posted by Naberius at 7:16 AM on October 23, 2023 [2 favorites]