Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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| Image by Tumisu from Pixabay |
It's certainly been a memorable time, of late, with a coup almost being carried out in Russia and then not being carried out at all.
But there's one place where you don't need to enact a well-staged military putsch to have your voice heard.
And that's Speak Your Brain.
Yes indeed. It's the return of the most anticipated feature on the internet. The one in which the first person to comment gets to decide the topic of the day.
But what will that topic be?
And will that person be you?
I can't say.
Only you can do that.
And you can do it in the comments section below.
How about:
ReplyDeleteBAD MOVIES YOU LOVE.
Right off the top of my head, there’s MOONRAKER, which I despised when it premiered, for all the extreme silliness, but now find way more entertaining than most of the “serious” Bond movies (including all of the Brosnan and Craig films).
I’ve got loads more but I’m happy to yield the floor if someone else has another topic (or we can share).
b.t.
Thanks for the topic, bt.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, everybody tells me Mermaids, starring Cher and Bob Hoskins, is a terrible film but I love it. I also love the Peter Cushing Doctor Who movies.
I also like Predator 2, even though everyone tells me it's terrible.
I also agree that Moonraker seems a much better movie now than it did at the time.
ReplyDeletePoint Break. Keanu's acting's wooden & his voice monotone. Patrick Swayze's fight with Warchild's the same choreography as on An Officer & a Gentleman, & Missing in Action. Yet, despite these shortcomings, I've watched Point Break many times. Also, Biggles: Adventures in Time.
ReplyDeleteMoonraker's final bit, with Rog's Space Shuttle shooting down multiple dispersing pod thingies, entering the Earth's atmosphere, seems re-worked in the Airwolf episode, "Where Have All the Children Gone?", in which Airwolf zoom-climbs to 100,000ft to shoot down multiple nuclear warheads, descending into the Earth's atmosphere.
Phillip
Point Break isn’t a bad movie!
DeleteIt’s a ridiculous premise, and Reeves and Swayze are ridiculous characters, but the level of sheer craft is astonishing. The action is razor sharp, and if you squint you can almost pretend it’s a Michael Mann film at times.
I can't think of many films I didn't like on release but like now. However, there are lots of films I liked on release and still do, that lots of folk really dislike;
ReplyDeleteHoward the Duck
God's of Egypt
Tomrrowland
Ghostbusters (2016) - maybe not great but it was ok.
I also really enjoyed Moonracker but I'm afraid_ "Mermiads" was not a film I l enjoyed
Have you seen 'Predator 2' recently, Steve? I ask because I liked it too... til I sat down to watch it on tv the other evening. It did not hold up.
ReplyDeleteYes to the second Cushing Who flick though, mainly because a Dalek - the first I ever saw! - emerging out of the Thames in a ruined, post-apocalyptic London will always be one of world cinema's great moments (fake robo-Bernard Cribbins having his space age lunch with the robo-men... not so much!)
b.t., This is going to take a bit of thought, but for now I'll get started with a couple. Seems to me theres two approaches to the topic. Theres the terrible film we like for whatever reason - nostalgia, its 'so bad its good' - in spite of its (obvious) flaws. And on the other hand the ones that we think are good but somehow majority opinion is against us.
In the first category, 'One Million Years BC' springs to mind (not the only film to be elevated by what we might call 'the Raquel effect')
And a film everyone else is wrong about would be Oliver Stone's 'Alexander'.
-sean
PS I really dislike Bond films.
ReplyDelete-sean
I recently watched 'GI Blues' and 'Blue Hawaii' on BBC iplayer. All the Elvis films are considered to be awful but I find them OK. I also like the Carry On films and all those '70s films produced from British sitcoms - yes, even 'On The Buses'.
ReplyDeleteA fun topic, b.t.! But one that requires a bit of thinking...
ReplyDelete"Beach Blanket Bingo". My wife and I get a kick out of those old 'Beach party' flicks. Certainly not Great Cinema, but fun. And you get some interesting guest shots- James Brown and Lesley Gore were in "Ski Party" (technically not a beach film, but it really is- same cast and plot, just set in snow rather than sand).
"Star Wars-The Phantom Menace ". It seems to arouse the ire of most SW fans, but I greatly liked it.
And I'll second Colin about Elvis films. Especially "Viva Las Vegas"- worth watching just for Ann Margaret...
I’ll go along with ‘The Phantom Menace’.
DeleteI hated it when it came out - and I’m only a casual Star Wars fan. I still think it’s terrible conceptually and as drama.
But a few years back I was channel-surfing with a drink in my hand and it came up, so I started watching it.
It was a very odd experience.
Writing and acting and directing shortcomings are still very much in evidence, but it’s a real curate’s egg of a film. Every now and again something brilliant will pop up - a casual bit of effects artistry, an interesting idea, a memorable moment. Then there’s two or three terrible things, then another great bit. This repeats over and over throughout.
I carried on drinking and watched it right to the end and I reckon I could do that again.
Can’t say there are any really bad films I love, though I recently watched the legendary ‘Starcrash’ for the first time, and thoroughly enjoyed it. So I guess that one…?
ReplyDeleteI am fond of middling films though, or those that are quite good but don’t reach the level of great.
Unwanted sequels like 2010, Poltergeist 2, Damien: Omen 2, that sort of thing.
And not-bad-but-not-good UK films like the Steptoe and Likely Lads films…?
Sean:
ReplyDeleteOne that I love pretty much for nostalgia reasons is Blake Edwards’ epic comedy extravaganza THE GREAT RACE. Boy, my brothers and I loved that thing and watched it many many times — it usually ran over the course of two consecutive nights, because of its length, which somehow made it seem even more special— and we can still crack each other up by quoting certain snatches of dialogue. Alas, seeing it on DVD after having not seen it in decades was an eye-opener. It still looks great, and Natalie Wood is adorable as ever, Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk make a terrific comic team, etc. But it’s simply not nearly as funny as it ought to be. Still love it, though.
b.t.
Colin:
ReplyDeleteI believe KID CREOLE is fairly well-regarded, probably Elvis’ best reviewed film. I haven’t seen it in ages, but remember thinking it had a grittier texture than most of his movies — almost “Noir-ish” in places. Hmm, now I kinda want to watch it again…
Redartz:
Right there with ya on the Beach Party movies.
b.t.
Moonraker is the immortal product placement movie. Once you realise that you can never watch it the same way again.
ReplyDeleteAs for me. Does Batman The Movie (that's the Adam West one) count as bad? Or Dougal And The Blue Cat? Or Blues Brothers 2000? Others might think them bad but not me.
Holy camp classics, dangermash - who could possibly diss the original Batman flick?
ReplyDeleteb.t., I remember 'The Great Race', once I got it clear in my head it wasn't 'Monty Carlo or Bust' (these days I prefer 'Wacky Races' cartoons to either).
Films that turn out to be not as great as you once thought they were is a slightly different subject, although of course there's no reason the topic can't expand to include them. There's loads I liked at a younger age - from 'The Island at the Top of the World' to 'Dracula 1972' - that I have no intention of ever watching again. Who needs the disappointment?
I just wish I'd realized the exclusion zone could go right up to the early 90s before I decided to catch 'Predator 2' recently. Probably 'The Running Man' is one to avoid.
-sean
So Matthew, are you into Exorcist 2 then?
ReplyDeleteOk, I'll get my coat...
-sean
DRACULA A.D. 72 is, I think, objectively “bad” — but also extremely entertaining.
ReplyDeleteDino De Laurentis made 3 huge would-be blockbusters that were soundly thrashed by critics and fans, KING KONG, FLASH GORDON and DUNE, and I dig all of ‘em.
b.t.
Bt, I too have a soft spot for the 1976 King Kong.
ReplyDeleteSean, I also re-watched Predator 2 the other night. I may have watched it on the same channel you did. I still enjoyed it, although it does feel very 1980s.
Dangermash, the Adam West Batman movie is one of the greatest comedies ever made. There is no way it can be described as a bad movie.
Matthew, I think there are quite a few sitcom-based movies that are better than their reputation. The Steptoe ones, Rising Damp, The Likely Lads, Porridge. Even the Please Sir movie has a surprisingly touching charm to it.
Gents… i cant answer this as ive not watched nearly enough movies to have that experience? But, i didn’t want bt to think I wasn’t inspired to contemplate it! It is a great question! Chalie Hose 47
ReplyDeletebt, I should have said "most" of the Elvis films are considered bad rather than "all". There was also a non-musical Elvis film called 'Charro!' from 1969 which I remember watching on TV but I can't recall if I liked it or not. Elvis always wanted to be a proper actor which he finally achieved with 'Charro!' but that was his final film.
ReplyDeleteLike Sean, I get 'The Great Race' confused with 'Monte Carlo Or Bust' but my favourite of that type of film was 'Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines' which had a great theme-song too.
ReplyDelete