FMD: Good Things in Bad Movies

[Johnny Carwash]

Been a while since we had one of these, so thought I'd put up a new topic:

Can you think of any movies that, while sub-par as a whole, featured individual elements of exceptional merit? Could be a certain scene, an actor's performance, cinematography, music, etc.

Pre-emptive note: Don't list some shitty movie where some hot actress got naked, otherwise this thread will end up as seven pages of nothing but that.

[Sabo]

Been a while since we had one of these, so thought I'd put up a new topic:

Can you think of any movies that, while sub-par as a whole, featured individual elements of exceptional merit? Could be a certain scene, an actor's performance, cinematography, music, etc.

Pre-emptive note: Don't list some shitty movie where some hot actress got naked, otherwise this thread will end up as seven pages of nothing but that.

I thought Snake Eyes was a completely shit movie, but the opening scene is a continuous shot of at least two minutes in length. I thought it was an impressive bit of camera and directing work to make it look the way it did.

[Shirley]

It's been a long time since I've seen it, but I remember They Live being a pretty shitty movie, but the whole concept of billboards, commercials, money, etc. actually being messages of OBEY, CONSUME, etc. was pretty awesome.

[The Sybian]

Everything by Michael Bay, cause 'splosions!

[Johnny Carwash]

It's been a long time since I've seen it, but I remember They Live being a pretty shitty movie, but the whole concept of billboards, commercials, money, etc. actually being messages of OBEY, CONSUME, etc. was pretty awesome.

It also has the greatest hand-to-hand fight scene in movie history:



And the best quote:

[Jerloma]

The opening scene of The Interview where Eminem comes out of the closet is pretty hilarious.

[brian]

Everything by Michael Bay, cause 'splosions!

Armageddon sucks ass, but the scene where they're trying to round up Bruce Willis' crew at the beginning makes me laugh.

ETA: Actually the first half-hour is actually pretty funny and entertaining. Pretty much right up to the Liv Tyler/Ben Affleck animal cracker scene and then the whole movie goes to shit.

[The Sybian]

Everything by Michael Bay, cause 'splosions!

Armageddon sucks ass, but the scene where they're trying to round up Bruce Willis' crew at the beginning makes me laugh.

ETA: Actually the first half-hour is actually pretty funny and entertaining. Pretty much right up to the Liv Tyler/Ben Affleck animal cracker scene and then the whole movie goes to shit.

I know I saw Armageddon, but I barely remember anything from the movie, except for hating it. And that it was a complete cliche.

[L-Jam3]

The SAW movies went downhill pretty fast after the surprisingly good first installment, but Donnie Walberg was pretty believable in the second one.

[rass]

The They Live scenes mentioned so far are great, and I'll add to them the ending.

What's wrong baby?

[rass]

Also, this is timely...

[Jerloma]

Mother, mother fuck...mother, mother fuck, fuck...motherfuck, motherfuck, noych, noych, noych

[Johnny Carwash]

The Man with the Golden Gun is arguably the worst Bond movie, but Christopher Lee's performance is fantastic, especially this one monologue. I can't find it on Youtube, but here's a transcription:

Francisco Scaramanga: When I was a boy I was brought up in a circus. My only real friend was a huge, magnificent African bull elephant. One day, his handler mistreated him and he went berserk. Bleeding, dying, he came and found me, stood on one leg, his best trick, picked me up and put me on his back. The drunken handler came along and emptied his gun into his eye... I emptied my stage pistol into his!

James Bond: An eye for an eye.

Francisco Scaramanga: You see, Mr. Bond, I always thought I loved animals. Then I discovered that I enjoyed killing people even more.

[mister d]

Oh my god, J-Lo, that part makes me want to punch a window.

[Jerloma]

Fair enough. It's stupid as hell but for some reason it cracks me up.

[brian]

I'm just going to go ahead and say that none of Kevin Smith's movies (not even Clerks) have aged very well to me. I still enjoy stupid humor from time to time, but I can't for the life of me remember what I thought was funny about his movies.

[Jerloma]

I'm just going to go ahead and say that none of Kevin Smith's movies (not even Clerks) have aged very well to me. I still enjoy stupid humor from time to time, but I can't for the life of me remember what I thought was funny about his movies.

Well that particular one was horrible instantly but yeah, I agree. I don't think I've rewatched Clerks in the past 10 years but I used to think Dogma was the shit and I saw it a couple years ago and I found it practically unwatchable. I have no idea what I was thinking.

[govmentchedda]

I'm just going to go ahead and say that none of Kevin Smith's movies (not even Clerks) have aged very well to me. I still enjoy stupid humor from time to time, but I can't for the life of me remember what I thought was funny about his movies.

Well that particular one was horrible instantly but yeah, I agree. I don't think I've rewatched Clerks in the past 10 years but I used to think Dogma was the shit and I saw it a couple years ago and I found it practically unwatchable. I have no idea what I was thinking.

I liked Chasing Amy and Mallrats at the time, but I haven't rewatched them in years. You're making me not want to.

[brian]

The dialogue in them especially makes me want to vomit. And that's not even scratching the surface of how horrible his movies look from a directing/cinematography standpoint. I mean, I don't expect Mallrats to look like Lawrence of Arabia, but there's still a baseline for what's watchable/expected in an indie movie.

[L-Jam3]

Johnny, I take it you never saw Die Another Day, i.e. the one with the fucking invisible car. THAT is the worst Bond movie.

[Johnny Carwash]

Johnny, I take it you never saw Die Another Day, i.e. the one with the fucking invisible car. THAT is the worst Bond movie.

Yeah, that's the only one I haven't seen. It came out when my confidence in the series was at a low ebb, and almost everything I've heard about it was terrible, so I never bothered.

[L-Jam3]

I watched CLERKS again a couple of years ago, and I think it still holds up fairly well, even if it's now a mid-90s relic. Although I spent the first 29 years of my life in New Jersey, so:

[mister d]

Kevin Smith movies are fine until you get older and are as smart as Kevin Smith.

[DSafetyGuy]

I think part of the reason Kevin Smith's movies have aged poorly is that, when his earliest stuff came out, the "discuss pop culture stuff on minute levels" thing was brand new. Now, these things are completely overdone (just like all of the Tarantino-inspired movies after "Pulp Fiction" came out - watching senior production thesis projects in the mid-90's was often excruciating).

"Chasing Amy", with how much more accepted alternative lifestyles are now, is laughably outdated. But, that doesn't really have anything to do with the movie, as it portrayed much more accurate sentiments from that time.

[Pruitt]

The Iron Lady was a brutal movie - managed to turn a fascinating era into yawn-inducing nonsense.

But Meryl Streep was crazy good as Margaret Thatcher.

Going way back, the Clash's movie Rude Boy was abysmal, but man, what a soundtrack!

And I remember being disappointed by this classic, but remember loving this scene. And it is a classic. (Shout out to Mr. Carwash.)

[howard]

It's been a long time since I've seen it, but I remember They Live being a pretty shitty movie, but the whole concept of billboards, commercials, money, etc. actually being messages of OBEY, CONSUME, etc. was pretty awesome.

And the fight in the alley is awesome.

[mister d]

"Chasing Amy", with how much more accepted alternative lifestyles are now, is laughably outdated. But, that doesn't really have anything to do with the movie, as it portrayed much more accurate sentiments from that time.

With peak Joey Lauren Adams.

[GoodKarma]

Everything by Michael Bay, cause 'splosions!

I would agree with this. Stories may be crap but if I want Shakespeare I'll visit Stratford, Ontario in the summer.

[Giff]

The trailer to Independence Day was awesome. Does that count or is that a completely separate discussion?

[The Sybian]

Everything by Michael Bay, cause 'splosions!

I would agree with this. Stories may be crap but if I want Shakespeare I'll visit Stratford, Ontario in the summer.

I was joking when I said this, but looking at IMDB, I actually saw Bay's first 4 movies, then not one of the numerous movies he directed or produced after that. According to IMDB, he produced 37 movies and directed 20. His first 4 were Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon and Pearl Harbor. I was thinking of The Rock as a horrible movie with some great cinematography, not even realizing it was Bay.

[Johnnie]

Demolition Man. Wesley Snipes giving Dennis Rodman the best idea ever. Dan Cortese singing Jolly Green Giant as a 'classic' song on the piano in the restaurant. Sly Stallone reacting to the safety foam in his car by saying "it turned into a canoli."

Axel Foley's Detroit Lions jacket in all of the Beverly Hills Cop movies. (The first 2 were good and the 3rd was bad, right? What's the consensus?)

The unintentional comedy in every Steven Segal and Jean Claude Van Damme movie.

The inspirational speech from Rocky Balboa that seems to be added into every motivational video ever. (Was that a bad movie?)

And on that note Pacino's motivational speech from Any Given Sunday.

The way the movie The Program highlighted drug usage and all of the illegal stuff in 1993.

[elflaco]

buncha film connoiseur snobs here on dis swamp.

no guilty pleasure like enjoying bad movies in your basement. (the SFW version)

[DaveInSeattle]

Johnny, I take it you never saw Die Another Day, i.e. the one with the fucking invisible car. THAT is the worst Bond movie.

Which was the one with Denise Richards as the Nuclear Scientist? That was the worst one...

Oh, wait...View to a Kill....that was totally the worst one.

[That French Guy]

Johnny, I take it you never saw Die Another Day, i.e. the one with the fucking invisible car. THAT is the worst Bond movie.

don t forget Brosnan kite surfing a tsunami wave with iceberg chunks at the beginning !

Which was the one with Denise Richards as the Nuclear Scientist? That was the worst one....

(edit : I fucked-up title, Johnnie's right)

[Johnnie]

The World Is Not Enough

[govmentchedda]

Everything by Michael Bay, cause 'splosions!

I would agree with this. Stories may be crap but if I want Shakespeare I'll visit Stratford, Ontario in the summer.

I was joking when I said this, but looking at IMDB, I actually saw Bay's first 4 movies, then not one of the numerous movies he directed or produced after that. According to IMDB, he produced 37 movies and directed 20. His first 4 were Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon and Pearl Harbor. I was thinking of The Rock as a horrible movie with some great cinematography, not even realizing it was Bay.

Totally reading this line like the beginning line to Raspberry Beret.

[rass]

Everything by Michael Bay, cause 'splosions!

I would agree with this. Stories may be crap but if I want Shakespeare I'll visit Stratford, Ontario in the summer.

I was joking when I said this, but looking at IMDB, I actually saw Bay's first 4 movies, then not one of the numerous movies he directed or produced after that. According to IMDB, he produced 37 movies and directed 20. His first 4 were Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon and Pearl Harbor. I was thinking of The Rock as a horrible movie with some great cinematography, not even realizing it was Bay.

Totally reading this line like the beginning line to Raspberry Beret.

1999?

[govmentchedda]

Fuck me. Yes, 1999, not Raspberry Beret.