Badmovies.org Forum

10. M. Night Shyamalan
9. Roland Emmerich
8. Brian Robbins
7. Brian Levant
6. Dennis Dugan
5. Steve Carr
4. Uwe Boll
3. Ed Wood
2. Michael Bay
1. Seltzer and Friedberg
Keep in mind, I'm mainly aiming for the best who provide us with "so bad it's painful", not "So bad, it's funny".

I'll go along with your list for the most part. Except for Ed Wood. I mean, if you're talking about so-bad-it's-painful. I happen to enjoy Ed Wood for the so-bad-it's-hilarios reason, as most others do. I'll just say I agree with your list except for that and I'd like to replace Ed Wood with Tyler Perry.

Bah!  I replaced him with Coleman Francis or Andy Sidaris.

I agree, it just didn't feel right not mentioning him. :D Because he's, well, Ed Wood.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Tim Burton may be hovering around the edges of this list.

Christopher Nolan.

The only good movie he's done was Memento.  Everything else, including the Batman films were total garbage in my opinion.

Interesting call. I don't know about that, but I think I know what you're getting at. Tim Burton can make some real stinkers, and while I have enjoyed some of his movies immensely, I think he gets too much credit for his "talent." IMHO, he loses points for constantly going with Danny Elfman for all of his scores, who I think is an absolute hack of a score composer. However, some people just love his movies. I think The Nightmare Before Christmas was a movie with potential and a cool look and a few good gags, but ultimately was a mediocre film at best for me. In short, I have very mixed feelings about Tim Burton.

Don't agree. I loved Inception, and while I'm not a huge fan of his Batman movies, I don't think they're bad. I also don't think he meets the criteria of a bad director like Uwe Boll does, outside of pure subjectivity. However, I while I disagree with what you have said, I will still defend to the death you right to say it.  :wink:

10 Brian Robbins
9 Bill Rebane
8 Bob Guccione
7 Peter Jackson
6 Uwe Boll
5 M. Night Shyamalan
4 Tom Green
3 Coleman Francis
1 & 2 Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer

NBC is Henry Selick's film, not Tim Burton's. He just produced it. ^^;

I guess I was thrown off by it being "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas."

Ah!  Good to see a lot of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer at the top of everyone's list (or is it the bottom?).  Can't think of a director or director team in which every single one of their movies is horrible.

Another director I forgot should be mentioned is Stewart Raffill.  He directed Ice Pirates, Mannequin 2: On the Move, Mac and Me (Praise be to Coca Cola), Croc, and the most recent film abomination known as Standing Ovation.

If we're talking Planet of the Apes and beyond absolutely... but I can never fully hate him since he brought Ed Wood, Beetlejuice, Pee Wee's Big Adventure and Frankenweenie into my life

Here's my stance: I love Tim Burton's movies, mostly, overall.  The first I saw was Frankenweenie on VHS.  From there, saw his bigger movies, like Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Batman, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, etc. 

However: I feel most of his movies provide the same message overall: the message of the lead character being a "Creepy, secluded, hated by society freak who ultimately becomes beloved", whether through it's fighting crime, being embraced as a B-Movie director, etc, etc. 

Mostly just allegories for his own teen years and being the freaky Cure fan in high school who gets embraced by a legion of teen fans who also feel left out in high school.  Eh. 

Overall, I enjoy his films, yeah.  Far from the 'worst', far from the 'best.'  In the middle at best.

Lest they be forgotten:

Al Adamson
William Beaudine
Larry Buchanan
Don Dohler
Dwain Esper
Arch Hall, Sr.
Andy Milligan
John Polonia (sorely missed by family, friends, and fans)
Eddie Romero
Ray Dennis Steckler
Phil Tucker

Actually, Eddie Romero  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Romero)is still alive and kickin', pushing 90!

I enjoy Ed Wood for his incompotence as a director, but in most cases it's unfair to blame the director for a bad movie. The studio will often take the directors cut and make him re cut the the thing until it's completly ruined. Happens everyday.

Yeah.

Its what happened with 'Bablyon AD' and 'The Avengers'...

   William Beaudine may not have been a very good director, but he sure was prolific! I think he started directing in the Silent Era!

  I'm not a fan of Darren Aronofsky. I think he's over-rated. For me he never really delivers what he promises. And he looks too much like David Arquette.

Mr.Beaudine's carrer started in 1915 and ended in 1968!!!!

He made such anti classics as BILLY THE KID VS DRACULA,The APEMAN, VOODOO MAN and lotsa Bowery Boys stuff....
but he mad the classic  Mary Pickford film SPARROWS (1926)....

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSi0X28N0mc

Those are great films!  :tongueout: Honestly!

Then it must be a shame that he went from making that to making this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynHtoa-bi40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dyFl-NnAj8

Back to the Tim Burton thing.  I think ED WOOD and EDWARD SCISSORHANDS are his best movies.  I really like them.  PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE is amusing.  But I think he blew it with BATMAN (maybe not his fault, he was probably just the wrong director for the project).  He completely failed to make any of the action scenes exciting and his attempt to make a "dark" version of Batman really didn't work.  I think he forced it too much.  As for PLANET OF THE APES, I can't believe no one in the creative loop realized it just wasn't working right from the get-go.  And I've never been able to warm up to BEETLEJUICE.  Don't think it's funny.  Don't think it's clever.  Don't think it's amusing.  As things stand right now, the words "Directed by Tim Burton," are likely to make me avoid a movie I might otherwise want to see.  So, he's done some good stuff, but his bad stuff puts him . . . as I mentioned earlier . . . somewhere on the fringe of the worst directors list.

Micheal Bay.
Not one dam thing in his resume is worth a plug nickel.

I think Micheal Bay is only making the kinds of films the general public are interested in. Most people don't have the discriminating taste of the true movie fans like us. He thinks this is what the masses want, explosions, CGI and hot chicks. We do want these kinds of things, but in the context of a good story (or a bad funny one). Hollywood doesn't give the general public enough credit. The problem is the system promotes the movies they think we'll like, and most people fall for it everytime. They figure Micheal Bay can make movies for dumb people, while someone else makes the smart movies. Unfortunatly they'll put a dumb actor (Brad Pitt for example) in so-called smart movie (which is usually boring), then turn around and give the Oscar to a bad actor.

Micheal Bay gives mental retards a bad name.

Hollywood tells people what to like. It will shovel so much s**t down your throat until you think it's milk chocolate. People are fooled by promotion and because they play it safe by falling in line with what someone else likes. Once a new movie gets popular and makes money, it will be pushed to death via every single available medium of entertainment. Then, every other studio and director follows that formula until the general public develops brains and loses interest.

To sum up - Everybody should stop going to the cinema.

Another problem is that cinema managers choose what films to shaow and they won't put more obsucre films on as they won't make money.

I'd love a 24hr cinema that showed the blockbusters as, on the whole, I rather enjoy them. But It would be great to see 2am showing of new b movies or old classics. More people went to a weekday midnight screening of Batman than went to a prime time Saturday evening showing of X Men Origins. People do want to see stranger or classic films ut don't get the chance.

Wes Craven.
the Guy did some gross expliotation films.
Makes him good?
He built his rep on two movies in the 70's.
He sucks.

I have to agree about Wes Craven, even though I like the NOES series.  He's a schlock artist who got lucky with the critics for some reason.

Bill Rebane
Coleman Francis (I have to admit I find his movies kind of fascinating in their badness though)
Eli Roth
Arch Hall Sr.
Friedberg/Seltzer
Uwe Boll
Ulli Lommel - makes Dr. Boll look like David Fincher
Michael Bay
Ray Dennis Steckler
Bob Clark - who's sort of on the edge as he did the original Black Christmas, Children Shouldn't Play w/Dead Things and A Christmas Story, but on the other hand, the Baby Geniuses (shudder) franchise

You beat me to that one Raffine! Only film I saw of his was Icy Death and holees**t was it HORRIBLE.

One name that comes up a lot, which I disagree with, as a 'bad director': Kevin Smith. 

Three words people: Fred  Olen  Ray

As long as M. Night Shamalan gets his just deserts, I could care less about all the Uwe Boll's and Michael Bay's out there. There is not a single film he's made that I find engaging, well, maybe The Happening is so damn horrible it's hilarious, still...hate that guy.

Ted V Mikels,anyone?
He's the genuis(?) behind ASTRO ZOMBIES,the CORPSE GRINDERS,BLOOD ORGY of the SHE DEVILS and lots more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEHgpLLrYDw

Ozzymandias speaks: How about Earl Owensby?

Ozzymandias has spoken!!!

A recent exchange with Indy over Godzilla made me revive this thread.

I am almost tempted to say that Roland Emmerich may even be a worse director than Ewe Boll. I am utterly convinced that Emmerich DOES NOT know how to direct actors. I get the feeling his philosophy is "you're an A-list star, right? You know how to act, right? Okay...ACTION!" or "Okay, there's crazy s**t happening around you...ACTION!"

If you took Emmerich's A-list casts away from him and reduced his budgets by, say, 50%, you would have The Core.

I know that this may be considered blasphemy but I have to nominate George Lucas in tems of being a horrible director.   The new star wars trilogy should be evidence enough of that.

For all the proof of that you need, just look at Matthew Broderick in Godzilla.  It's obvious the man had absolutely no idea what his character should be doing.  I believe the "deer in the headlights" thing he had going on was actually the way he was feeling for the entire shoot, not just a character quirk.  The only good performances in the movie came from Hank Azaria, who has years of experience with improv and creating characters from scratch, and Jean Reno, who is an old pro and classy enough to carry a performance with nothing but his own personality.

I can concur with that.  Jean Reno was the best one in Godzilla since he was amusing and fun enough to watch during the entire thing.  He certianly had the charm to pull himself through the film, unlike some others...

he also did Howard the Duck

That was directed by Willard Huyck.

now that I think about it more Lucas produced it

The scene in Revenge of the Sith When Darth Vader breaks from the table and yells "Noooooo" was just terrible.   And in his infinite wisdom George felt it necessary to add it to the Blue Ray version of Jedi.  just terrible.

To be honest not everything Michael Bay has produced or directed is terrible. I like a few of his films especially "Unborn." I'm probably one of only two people who like his remake of "The Hitcher" and even if you don't like the movie, the cast were all great.

I seriously despise Tim Burton for Batman I would much prefer the person in charge of an adaption to at least be passingly familiar with the source material. He, like Oliver Stone, seems to believe he is God's gift to cinema. I beg to differ.


I love the Voltaire quote.


Star Wars. The Empire Strikes Back. Revenge of the Jedi. Together, a great trilogy. A collaborative project, I believe it would have sucked utterly if Lucas had had the final say on everything within. When you hear about the things people convinced him to change or do differently, you start to get the impression that Lucas had a great seed fed by his love of science fiction and samurai movies which was mostly nurtured to what it became by the crew and the film's excellent casting. Unfortunately, when you get famous and popular enough and get more credit than you're due, you end up getting final say on everything, a convoluted story that ultimately doesn't make sense and the huge budget that tends to stifle special effects creativity that made your previous films special and impressive. Cue Star Wars prequels.

With Lucas, I like American Graffiti. That's about it.
With Burton, Beetlejuice is an occasional passing fancy, and anyone who doesn't love Pee Wee's Big Adventure hates fun and happiness. Everything else, I could take or leave, though Alice in Wonderland made me ill.
 

George Lucas is a better writer and producer than he ever was as a director. That being said, I think what he accomplished with the first Star Wars film was nothing short of amazing. I also think that is why "The Empire Strikes Back" is the best of the series, because Kirshner directed it. He was a more story driven director and was George's film teacher, someone he could trust. The Indy films worked because Spielberg handled the direction and Lucas wrote it. Each played to their strengths and had a hit.