Saturday
Nov282015
Turkey Leftovers
Saturday, November 28, 2015 at 8:00AM 
What's your favorite terrible movie? At least two movies that are regularly cited in "bad movies we love" lists don't truly belong there. Elaine May's Ishtar starring the funny chemistry of Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty is not a bad movie but idiosyncratic and hilarious. Paul Verhoeven's trash epic Showgirls is actually a masterpiece that's only masquerading as a bad movie. So for truly terrible movies that are in fact awesome the correct answer is and always will be Xanadu (1980)... at least for me.
If you're not in the mood for bad movie love, consider this an open thread. How's your holiday weekend been?
Reader Comments (62)
Can't stop the music....that movie never fails to crack me up and the music is FANTABULOUS:)
Simon Birch!
lol. But tbh, a lot of movies I loved as a kid I watch now and I'm like yiiiiiiikes, but I still love them at the same time because the nostalgia and positive memories overpower the shittiness of the movie, haha
I second all the love for Basic Instinct. I think it's wonderful for what it is. Stone and Douglas are both great. And the music should've won the Oscar.
But more generally, I have a problem with the notion of anything being so-bad-it's-good. If it's good, it's not bad, etc. But if the question is "favourite movie that is generally considered to be terrible but which you think is pretty good after all", then one that comes to mind straight away is Quantum of Solace.
THE ART OF LOVE....Dick VanDyke, James Garner, Elke Sommer, Angie Dickenson and Ethel Merman...all set in glorious Paris France all shot in the backlot of Universal...really funny
Guys, everyone needs to see Gigli. It's hypnotic. Especially the justly famous turkey monologue.
Also I recently caught The Canyons. Which raised bad filmmaking to its own level of almost artful inert idiocy.
In fact all of Lindsay Lohan's post-2006 filmography affords similar pleasures.
Liz and Dick? Priceless.
Grease 2 will always be my favourite movie. I don't even care.
MANDINGO - So nasty I bought the BluRay. I talk like a trashy Southerner for a week every time I watch it - "Get me my wench-woman. I wants her to pleasure me." Best of all you get to see Perry King's thing in two seperate scenes. So pretty and oh yeah, he's good looking too.
Arrakis. Dune. Desert Planet.
MANNEQUIN!! :)
Teen Witch! So bad but so, so entertaining. Top that!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksBE53CIT8E
My problem is, the only film I check out from time to time, and think is downright terrible, is Batman & Robin. A pure trainwreck.
I dig Emmerich and P.W. Anderson for what they are. I think Emmerich is underrated as an author, while Anderson has the strange power to direct rewatchable trainwrecks (even if I think Event Horizont is not a bad film at all) and I do own every single "Resident Evil" film, which never lacks entertainment factor and some interesting twist here and there... even some ideas.
Again, Emmerich's "Godzilla" and "2012" are probably among the most underrated films ever. The first one is a enjoyable comedy, and the second one hides a nice, sharp, satire about our civilization and where we're aimed to.
But again, "Batman & Robin"... ugh. When the best thing in the film is (apart from James Gough's performance as Alfred), Arnold Schwarzenneger's performance... you really have a problem.
Grease 2. Awful movie, but it has Maxwell and Michelle.