Comments on: In Praise of Bad Movies http://www.filmwell.org/2009/04/02/in-praise-of-bad-movies/ Is This a Film Blog? Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:49:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Jason http://www.filmwell.org/2009/04/02/in-praise-of-bad-movies/comment-page-1/#comment-50 Jason Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:26:49 +0000 http://www.filmwell.org/?p=637#comment-50 If only more people realized "Men In Black" for the classic that it is. If only more people realized “Men In Black” for the classic that it is.

]]> By: awilkinson http://www.filmwell.org/2009/04/02/in-praise-of-bad-movies/comment-page-1/#comment-34 awilkinson Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:04:56 +0000 http://www.filmwell.org/?p=637#comment-34 Ah, you definitely should! Ah, you definitely should!

]]> By: Peter T Chattaway http://www.filmwell.org/2009/04/02/in-praise-of-bad-movies/comment-page-1/#comment-33 Peter T Chattaway Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:00:08 +0000 http://www.filmwell.org/?p=637#comment-33 Well, even <i>I Heart Huckabees</i> has its roots in the director's earlier films like <i>Spanking the Monkey</i> ('94), <i>Flirting with Disaster</i> ('96) and <i>Three Kings</i> ('99), all of which got some critical love as I recall. Jeff's reference earlier today to Noah Baumbach's <i>Kicking and Screaming</i> ('95) reminds me also that "indie film" back in the '90s was practically synonymous with Eric Stoltz, who had roles big and small in a virtual armada of "quirky and offbeat" movies. When I interviewed Baumbach back then (on page 8 of the PDF file linked below), we even joked that "Eric Stoltz movies" were becoming a genre unto itself. http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/pdfs/ubyssey/UBYSSEY_1996_03_08.pdf FWIW, I haven't seen <i>Me and You and Everyone We Know</i> yet, so I can't comment on specific points of contact (or the lack thereof) between that film and other films. Well, even I Heart Huckabees has its roots in the director’s earlier films like Spanking the Monkey (’94), Flirting with Disaster (’96) and Three Kings (’99), all of which got some critical love as I recall.

Jeff’s reference earlier today to Noah Baumbach’s Kicking and Screaming (’95) reminds me also that “indie film” back in the ’90s was practically synonymous with Eric Stoltz, who had roles big and small in a virtual armada of “quirky and offbeat” movies. When I interviewed Baumbach back then (on page 8 of the PDF file linked below), we even joked that “Eric Stoltz movies” were becoming a genre unto itself.

http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/pdfs/ubyssey/UBYSSEY_1996_03_08.pdf

FWIW, I haven’t seen Me and You and Everyone We Know yet, so I can’t comment on specific points of contact (or the lack thereof) between that film and other films.

]]> By: awilkinson http://www.filmwell.org/2009/04/02/in-praise-of-bad-movies/comment-page-1/#comment-32 awilkinson Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:44:03 +0000 http://www.filmwell.org/?p=637#comment-32 Haha, oh, <em>The Full Monty</em>. Chuckle. (Though that's definitely not in the same quirkiness category as <em>Me and You and Everyone We Know</em>, or something that seems to be irrevocably associated with it in my mind: <em>I Heart Huckabees</em>.) Yes, it's definitely a function of the movie-watching public's short memory. Haha, oh, The Full Monty. Chuckle. (Though that’s definitely not in the same quirkiness category as Me and You and Everyone We Know, or something that seems to be irrevocably associated with it in my mind: I Heart Huckabees.)

Yes, it’s definitely a function of the movie-watching public’s short memory.

]]> By: Peter T Chattaway http://www.filmwell.org/2009/04/02/in-praise-of-bad-movies/comment-page-1/#comment-31 Peter T Chattaway Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:39:34 +0000 http://www.filmwell.org/?p=637#comment-31 I dunno, the mainstream embrace of "quirky and offbeat" has been around at least as long as <i>The Full Monty</i> ('97), and of course Hal Hartley was doing "quirky and offbeat" back in the '80s, before arguably peaking with <i>Amateur</i> ('94) and/or <i>Henry Fool</i> ('97). Granted, the general movie-watching public tends to have short memories. But that's where critics get to come along and help fill the gaps. I dunno, the mainstream embrace of “quirky and offbeat” has been around at least as long as The Full Monty (’97), and of course Hal Hartley was doing “quirky and offbeat” back in the ’80s, before arguably peaking with Amateur (’94) and/or Henry Fool (’97).

Granted, the general movie-watching public tends to have short memories. But that’s where critics get to come along and help fill the gaps.

]]> By: awilkinson http://www.filmwell.org/2009/04/02/in-praise-of-bad-movies/comment-page-1/#comment-30 awilkinson Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:08:36 +0000 http://www.filmwell.org/?p=637#comment-30 Peter: it's true, it's true. I just realized you're right about <em>When Harry Met Sally</em> - I had it in my mind that it was a 90s film purely because it's a romantic comedy and Meg Ryan is in it. But I think the idea of "indie" has really burgeoned into a full-fledged genre in the last ten years or so, though I guess you could argue either way. When I hear people in the NY scene talking about indie film, they usually mean something like <em>Little Miss Sunshine</em> or <em>Me and You and Everyone We Know</em> - quirky and offbeat. That's not from people who actually know what they're talking about, but from the general movie watching public. Is it not exactly slick and formulaic? Then somehow, it's indie. Peter: it’s true, it’s true. I just realized you’re right about When Harry Met Sally – I had it in my mind that it was a 90s film purely because it’s a romantic comedy and Meg Ryan is in it.

But I think the idea of “indie” has really burgeoned into a full-fledged genre in the last ten years or so, though I guess you could argue either way. When I hear people in the NY scene talking about indie film, they usually mean something like Little Miss Sunshine or Me and You and Everyone We Know – quirky and offbeat. That’s not from people who actually know what they’re talking about, but from the general movie watching public. Is it not exactly slick and formulaic? Then somehow, it’s indie.

]]> By: Peter T Chattaway http://www.filmwell.org/2009/04/02/in-praise-of-bad-movies/comment-page-1/#comment-29 Peter T Chattaway Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:05:00 +0000 http://www.filmwell.org/?p=637#comment-29 Alissa, your youth is showing! :) From the puffy hair to the yuppie lifestyles, <i>When Harry Met Sally...</i> is a classic '80s film, not a '90s film; and I suspect many people would argue that the transformation of "indie" from a financial reality to an easily categorized genre of filmmaking took place somewhere between the box-office success of <i>sex, lies and videotape</i> ('89) and the Oscar sweep of <i>The English Patient</i> ('96), with a couple of Very Important Tarantino Films (and countless imitators thereof) in the interim. Certainly that was the period in which the once-obscure Sundance festival became the place where modest, unassuming movies like <i>The Spitfire Grill</i> ('96) could begin to get $10 million distribution deals and the like. (And all of this was paralleled by the mainstreaming of "alternative" bands like R.E.M. and the commercialization of Nirvana and other "grunge" musicians in the early '90s.) Alissa, your youth is showing! :) From the puffy hair to the yuppie lifestyles, When Harry Met Sally… is a classic ’80s film, not a ’90s film; and I suspect many people would argue that the transformation of “indie” from a financial reality to an easily categorized genre of filmmaking took place somewhere between the box-office success of sex, lies and videotape (’89) and the Oscar sweep of The English Patient (’96), with a couple of Very Important Tarantino Films (and countless imitators thereof) in the interim. Certainly that was the period in which the once-obscure Sundance festival became the place where modest, unassuming movies like The Spitfire Grill (’96) could begin to get $10 million distribution deals and the like. (And all of this was paralleled by the mainstreaming of “alternative” bands like R.E.M. and the commercialization of Nirvana and other “grunge” musicians in the early ’90s.)

]]> By: Jeffrey Overstreet http://www.filmwell.org/2009/04/02/in-praise-of-bad-movies/comment-page-1/#comment-28 Jeffrey Overstreet Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:03:30 +0000 http://www.filmwell.org/?p=637#comment-28 Is this where I confess how many times I've seen <i>Top Secret!</i>? No... no... I'm just not brave enough yet. Is this where I confess how many times I’ve seen Top Secret!?

No… no… I’m just not brave enough yet.

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