What's up with bad movies?

Aw, shucks -- I try and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't!

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Don1 wrote:

Brandon9000 wrote:
I wonder if Ed Wood deserves a permanent thread here.

If you thought this was a bad movie Brandon the sublety of it passed you by.

Unless you meant Ed Wood THE PERSON he was a pretty oddball character with no discernable film making talent, but the Depp/Landua film of his life was a masterpiece.

Actually, I meant Ed Wood the person and his movies. The movie is one of my favorites, and I have seen it many times. I do have one question about it, though. Vampira is played by someone billed as Lisa Marie. Although there is some resemblance, it is my impression that this is not Lisa Marie Presley. I was curious about that, because the girl in the movie is cute. Perhaps, with your vastly superior intellect, you could penetrate this mystery for me.

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That would be this Lisa Marie:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0547273/

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I liked both movies this thread is about.

Napoleon Dynamite actually has a 70% rating on rottentomatoes...not bad considering most stupid comedies don't do that well. All the characters are laughable, and the dry humor is great. Definitely a movie you're not going to like if you sit there and think too much while watching. "Love it or hate it."

I liked Mighty Wind better than Best in Show though...can pinpoint why, just laughed more.

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This is one of those "getting it out of one's craw" threads where someone just hates certain movies while others enjoy the films. Having now seen both films, I can say that leaving any pretensions behind they were both enjoyable. It's one thing depicting people who seem to be clueless in their environment, including the milieu they are interacting with, and where the filmmakers seem to be clueless. For what they are, the filmmakers put on the screen some heartfelt and funny observations of some interesting characters. Whether I will return to these films more than once I can't say right now but neither was a waste of time.

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(I think that often some of us suffer what would be called "adultishness," the inability to enjoy anything that has a playful, childlike core).

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Lightwizard wrote:

(I think that often some of us suffer what would be called "adultishness," the inability to enjoy anything that has a playful, childlike core).

Was that directed at me? If so, go back and re-read the list of movies that I posted earlier in the thread.

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Are you volunteering or did everyone else step backwards? "Lilo and Stitch" was the only film you mentioned that could said to have a childlike core.

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Ebert's rating of "A Mighty Wind" was thumbs up, BTW -- not a great film but enjoyable enough to recommend and definitely not mediocre. He didn't care for "ND," however, and even though it did get a majority of good reviews didn't connect with the film. It still doesn't mean either of these films are bad films and there are certainly many that deserve that label from the past decade.

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parados wrote:

Napoleon Dynamite is great if you grew up in a small town in the Midwest any time in the last 30 years.
It brings back memories of those boring days riding the school bus and eating tater tots at school lunch while Gramma was off riding her motorcycle in the gravel pits.

Mighty Wind was OK but not nearly as funny as "Best in Show." Not everyone is familiar with 60's folk singers but we all know about dog shows.

Parados - I can't believe you mentioned those two (Napoleon Dynamite and Best in Show) movies in the same post. I absolutely howled through both of them. I loved Napoleon for the same reason you did - we all remember those days - but what a cast of original characters. What I loved about it was the absolute sweetness of those misfits - Deb, Uncle Rico, Kip and Lafawndah,who just don't give a crap that they're on the outside because they have each other. And I loved the dance scene at the end. I think the guy who played Napoleon deserves an Oscar - okay maybe not an oscar but some kind of award - he's pretty well-built and I bet he's an athlete - you can tell by the way he moves - but he played the perfect "nerd". A friend of mine burned it for me and I watch it at least once a week - and I'm a female - way past college. It just appeals to my whacked out sense of humor I guess. What can I tell you?

Also thought Best in Show was a riot. Absolutely perfect casting - I read that 99% of it was improvised. Any other funny ones you can point me to - I trust your taste.

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Valpower wrote:

DrewDad wrote:
What's funny about a farmer randomly shooting a cow with a shotgun? I mean, it's not like they built it up and then he just cracks; the guy just randomly shoots his cow for no reason.

I've run into many people who say they love comedy but can't wrap their heads around a farce or anything remotely absurd. While I'm not touting Napoleon Dynamite as a tour-de-force, I'm puzzled as to why you seem to know that this farmer shoots the cow for no reason or why his motivation is cinematically required, especially to be funny.

I think this scene was there to illustrate the remoteness of Napoleon's world (especially culturally) and give you another framework (not just our own) within which to assess Napoleons "weirdness." (I mean, in that context, is he really that weird?) I felt all along that the farmer had his own good reason for shooting that cow, so compelling and obvious to him that there was no reason to wait for the school bus to pass by him.

The humor, really, had nothing to do with the cow being shot, but with the uncomfortable feeling of the school children seeing it, not knowing why, and the imaginably wild speculation that must ensue. By not making the reason evident, the filmmaker has put you right into that bus with the children.

Remember in the very beginning of the movie - the grandmother tells Napoleon and Kip that they are running low on steaks and someone (I think his name is Dale) will be over tomorrow to take care of it? That was the farmer - he shot the cow to provide the steaks - or at least that's how I read it. And yeah - how surreal- is that? But in Napoleon's world, anything is possible. Loved his velcro boots - the fact that he was in Happy Hands - his current event report about Nessie "our underwater ally" -his complete innocence and attention to detail spending three hours "shading" the girl in the portrait's upper lip -his gift of a "delicious bass" to Deb - I could go on and on...that movie is a hoot.

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Ligers are probably his favorite animals, liking them for their skills and magic.

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Yeah - and "Do the chickens have large talons?"

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What's up with bad movies?

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