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Movies => Bad Movies => Topic started by: Saucerman on March 03, 2010, 04:59:26 PM



Title: "Showgirls, Teen Wolves and Astro Zombies" by Michael Adams
Post by: Saucerman on March 03, 2010, 04:59:26 PM
Has anyone else read this book? It details an Australian film critic's year-long quest to find the "worst movie ever made," watching something akin to 417 films over the course of the year. 

He rates each on multiple scales -- Directing, Production Values, Acting, etc. -- that total 100.  Thus a perfect movie would rate a 100/100, while 76 minutes of grainy shaky-cam footage of Trevor's undies crawling across the floor might rate as low as a 1 or 2/100. 

I'm not going to name the lowest ranked movie out of all he saw, but it was not one of those generally listed as such, and scored a whopping 4/100.  Even better, it was filmed in my hometown by the father of a girl I went to high school with.  My two main memories of this girl are of her giving a presentation on the film in our English class, 12th grade...and her giving lapdances to the football team at Prom. 

Buffalo, NY, represent, yo. 


Title: Re: "Showgirls, Teen Wolves and Astro Zombies" by Michael Adams
Post by: nilbog on March 03, 2010, 05:03:20 PM
I'm really interested in reading this book! I've only read the first chapter that he offers for free on his website so far. But I will get around to it!


Title: Re: "Showgirls, Teen Wolves and Astro Zombies" by Michael Adams
Post by: Skull on March 03, 2010, 06:10:02 PM
First question comes to mind... What is a perfect movie? [A movie is a Yin and a Yang... One persons trash is another person treasure, etc.]

Second question comes to mind...  Why do film critics and oscars "THINK" they are creditable source of a GOOD MOVIE and they know what is a BAD MOVIE? The English Patient (Winning oscars) yet critical (historical) films like Psycho and King Kong are misses...

Would I read his book ~ NO ~ Sorry, I think its loaded with opinions that I dont need to pay for... The internet is a much better source on what is good and bad and its not limited to the movies that he has seen. Also, I know crap when I see it... Showgirls is nothing like Rock-n-Roll Nightmare part 2.

:)


Title: Re: "Showgirls, Teen Wolves and Astro Zombies" by Michael Adams
Post by: Saucerman on March 03, 2010, 06:39:35 PM
Sorry you feel that way, Skull, though I do to an extent agree with you.  I actually really dislike the phrase "worst movie ever made" because it is such a subjective thing, and I don't believe that a perfect movie actually exists.  However, the author's account is really enjoyable to read and gave me a lot of ideas in regards to what I consider "must-see" films. 


Title: Re: "Showgirls, Teen Wolves and Astro Zombies" by Michael Adams
Post by: Skull on March 03, 2010, 10:51:10 PM
Sorry you feel that way, Skull, though I do to an extent agree with you.  I actually really dislike the phrase "worst movie ever made" because it is such a subjective thing, and I don't believe that a perfect movie actually exists.  However, the author's account is really enjoyable to read and gave me a lot of ideas in regards to what I consider "must-see" films.  

Sorry its bugs me that there are a few people that are consider as "professional movie watchers" and whatever they say is golden and maybe there's a hint of jealousy in my words, because I do think Ebert, Siskel or Roeper (and such movie critics) are getting paid for not working. Really, how hard is it to watch a film and tell people what they think.

We are never going to find the worst movie ever... Some still believe Plan 9, others are saying Troll 2, I believe its Return of the Boogeyman (1994). Then others think the movie has to be boring (watching paint dry) with almost no entertainment value, some may say its a video project (a movie that looks and feel like a homemovie), a remake that fails (Rollerball 2002), an unnecessary remasted films (Like Greedo shooting first in Star Wars, the removal of guns in ET, the attempt in coloring the Black & White movies in the 1980's, etc.) and others might even suggest such over anticipate films that fail its fans (like Phantom Menace).

As for the perfect movie... really how can we measure this? If Star Wars 1977 is the most grossing movie ever made could it be easy to say its the perfect movie (after all it seems that everybody likes Star Wars) although we will find out that is false because not too many people are into space and action films.

Sorry I think its a wrong idea to come up with a rating scale (Directing, Production Values, Acting, etc.) and expect every movie will fit in a 100 point system. Because there are always factors that could never be figured out. (actors dont like each other, the script is changed several times, different directors in a rotation, what seemed like a good idea ends up not working [see Batman & Robin example], budget cuts, a major accident during production, movie doesnt age well or time makes it a better film, a movie pushed by producer that isnt working on the movie, etc. etc. etc.)

For example... Batman & Robin (1997) should have high points (although I would believe the author fuged the number here) Why? You have a good director Joel Schumacher (A Time to Kill/The Client) strong actors (do I need to list them), the Pruduction was 140 million... but as we all know the movie sucks rotten cheese.

:)



Title: Re: "Showgirls, Teen Wolves and Astro Zombies" by Michael Adams
Post by: Flick James on March 04, 2010, 10:24:04 AM
Let's face it, we're all a bunch of obsessive geeks, we just obsess over bad movies instead of D&D, or any other of the myriad of geeky/obsessive passtimes. Oh well, we're certainly not hurting anybody.

Anyway, I have absolutely nothing against someone who wants to quantify bad movies or which may rank as the worst ever, it's all part of the game. Have fun, but it's never going to be solved. Who cares, enjoy the ride.


Title: Re: "Showgirls, Teen Wolves and Astro Zombies" by Michael Adams
Post by: theedinburghbteam on October 30, 2012, 03:26:24 PM
I just finished reading this book and thought it was excellent. He really put the work in, looking at a wealth of movies (over 350 that year), all of which were deemed by others to be bad. I'm not a massive fan of many film critics (Kim Newman, for example), but this guy chose the films based on what communities like this one said were the worst films, what directors and actors thought were the worst films they had seen etc, and then made up his own mind on them.

It was also nice to read a book on "bad movies" which mentioned films that I'd not only seen, but that I hadn't even heard of (not the usual "Oh Plan 9 is the worst, no its Troll 2!" chat).

Anyway, it's a light read, and he seems to enjoy these films for all the right reasons, even if they do drive him a bit mad by the end of the book.