Forget the lists of greatest ever movies. It’s the perfect time to watch the worst films of all time – ABC News

Updated April 26, 2020 05:40:08

When the English mountaineer George Mallory was asked in the early 20th century why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, he reportedly said: "Because it's there."

I feel the same about watching films right now.

But with many social events on hold indefinitely due to COVID-19 I found my collection of favourites was just not cutting it. So, I turned to the lifeblood of the internet: lists.

Looking around at the recommendations there are impressive lists of comfort movies, the greatest films of all time and recent critical darlings.

They're all great suggestions, but during these difficult times I've found myself craving trash.

The spectacle of a truly bad movie can often be more entertaining than an Oscar best picture-winner or passable blockbuster with a three-star rating.

Importantly, though, there's a big difference between a horrible film and an enjoyably bad one. We're so used to curating libraries of the best films that it can be tricky to locate quality garbage.

Still, there is a way to track down worthwhile shoddy films so you don't accidently start one that's legitimately bad. In the process, you'll learn to appreciate the best about the worst films ever made.

Hollywood, show me your worst!

It's impossible to write about "bad" films without logging a huge disclaimer about how films are subjective.

You may consider a film that's always been trashed as a stone-cold classic. You can also acknowledge a film is horrid but still admire its ambition no matter how misguided it may seem.

As the film critic Pauline Kael once said: "Movies are so rarely great art that if we cannot appreciate great trash we have very little reason to be interested in them."

Since the invention of motion pictures, mankind has debated the artistic merit of Patrick Swayze's throat-ripping bouncer film Road House, for instance, or Mariah Carey's semi-autobiographical music odyssey Glitter.

Even Paul Verhoeven's widely-panned Showgirls has a passionate base of defenders who, 25 years after its release, claim it's a misunderstood masterpiece.

I feel them. For years I didn't believe in the statement, "So bad it's good." I found no joy in terrible films because I only wanted the best.

Yet the more I watched bland, passable mainstream films, the more I craved one in which Sylvester Stallone plays a truck driver who competes in arm-wrestling competitions while trying to reconnect with his estranged son (Over the Top add it to your watch list).

In fact there's a mind-boggling thrill to be drawn from bad films as you try to comprehend what led producers to think something was a good idea like the giant mechanical spider from Wild Wild West, or pairing the basketball player Michael Jordan with the Looney Toons and calling it Space Jam.

Bad films have even carved out their own sub-culture.

For example, the hit podcast series How Did This Get Made? is dedicated to sorting through the trash heap of cinema to process the worst of the worst and, occasionally, highlight a bad film that's worth watching.

And the documentary Best Worst Movie looks at the cult phenomenon behind the film Troll 2 (put both on the list).

There are two types of bad movies. The first are films that are meant to bad.

I'm not talking about spoofs or parodies (Naked Gun, Scary Movie), but rather low-budget shockers that set out to be terrible like Sharknado.

These films are a gigantic wink at the audience; they are so in on the joke it's painful.

They can prove just how difficult it is to deliberately make something horrible while still being genuine, which is why these kinds of movies often come across as phony cash-ins.

The second type are films where directors have set out with the intention of making a masterpiece these are the ones you should seek out.

These films are often a by-product of a delusional writer or director, a troubled production or major fallouts due to "creative differences".

The greatest example of this is The Room (2003). The romantic drama was written, produced and directed by Tommy Wiseau, who also starred in it.

It was released in just a handful of cinemas in California before word-of-mouth from stunned audiences turned it into a cult hit.

Every single choice Wiseau makes is the wrong one but there's an appeal to watching his warped vision of a relationship that turns sour.

The Room is now its own solar system within pop culture. There have been books written about the chaotic production, which was later adapted into a film called The Disaster Artist.

And in Australia The Room plays to packed audiences at the Cinema Nova in Melbourne every month.

If someone claims to have seen the worst film ever made, double check first to see if they've seen The Room.

It's crucial to note that bad films are better in numbers. With partial lockdowns in effect in Australia, now is not the time to gather your mates for a movie night.

But if you're at home with a partner or housemates, truly great bad films make for a spectacular night in.

As an alternative, use video chat apps to watch films with your friends and lose your minds as a collective. In the privacy of your own home you can run a live commentary of the madness happening on screen.

Try to figure out what the hell is going on together or get into a debate about why they just can't seem to make a decent film based on a videogame (if you must, see Street Fighter, Super Mario Brothers and Double Dragon).

The crazier the film, the bigger the reaction, and there's nothing better than exposing someone to a disaster-piece for the first time.

Finally, I'm no medical expert but there is also therapeutic value in watching the best worst films.

When it's tough to make sense of what's going on in the real world, I feel nourished after indulging in these films almost as a form of controlled chaos.

Perhaps it's a little schadenfreude mixed with a desire to see something crazier than people panic buying toilet paper on the news.

Cameron Williams is a freelance writer and film critic.

Topics:covid-19,lockdown,film-movies,popular-culture,australia

First posted April 26, 2020 05:00:53

Here is the original post:
Forget the lists of greatest ever movies. It's the perfect time to watch the worst films of all time - ABC News

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero