http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17121957
Razzies vs Oscars: Can bad movies ever be good?
Truly bad movies can sometimes be more entertaining, and enlightening, than high art. But are their days numbered?
There are two types of bad movies: boring films with lacklustre scripts and ho-hum acting, or outlandish, offensive bombs with over-the-top performances, awful jokes and unbelievable plot lines.
The former are instantly forgettable. The Music Never Stopped, Terri and Priest, all flops from 2011, won’t ring many bells.
But the latter incite anger in some fans and enthusiasm in others, drawn to the size and scale of the cinematic disaster.
Take Human Centipede II, which takes grossout horror to a new level. Or Jack and Jill, in which Adam Sandler plays his own twin sister, and Al Pacino plays himself, madly in love with the female Adam Sandler.
It’s these films that are recognised by the Golden Raspberry Foundation, otherwise known as the Razzies, which announced its nominees for the worst films of 2011 during the flurry of pre-Oscar excitement last weekend.
Human Centipede II and Jack and Jill are both in the running for worst picture. Adam Sandler received a record 11 nominations, including some for his work on another worst-picture nominee, Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star.
Sandler helped write and produce Bucky Larson, the tale of a Midwestern farm boy who moves to LA to pursue a career in pornography. One critic called it “a weirdly sour, hermetic and ragingly misanthropic bit of juvenilia and an enduring embarrassment for everyone involved”.
It was instantly reviled. But will it live on in bad movie infamy?
After all, some films are so terrible that they gain a cult of devoted followers. It’s those films that fans say can enhance our understanding and enjoyment of all movies, and provide some much-needed relief from the predictability of the film industry.
They’re also, aficionados worry, a dying breed.
‘Unexpected delights’
In his Purdue University class on bad films, assistant professor Lance Duerfahrd screens old science fiction movies, 1950s health-and-hygiene films and other poorly produced films. They come complete with bad special effects, actors forgetting their lines and props missing from one scene to the next.
These obvious flaws can provide viewers with a different experience from that of a well-made movie.
“There’s some room for play and room for unexpected delights,” Mr Duerfahrd says. “Most films force-feed us.”
He recalls a scene from the 1950s sci-fi film Robot Monster, in which the titular character - an actor in a gorilla suit wearing a deep-sea diver’s mask - grabs the heroine. Caught off guard, the actress breaks character and yells “Oh, my!”
“Nothing we see in a good film is as real as this surprise,” he says. “He breathes air into the room.”
Watching bad films also helps viewers think critically about cinema.
“I think a bad film makes you think: ‘I could have done a better job, I could make a better movie.’ A bad film makes you creative,” he says.
Bad films also allow for more discussion and a greater sense of community.
“With good movies there’s a competition. People fight over whether The Godfather was the single best movie of all time, or Citizen Kane,” he says. On the other end of the spectrum, there is room for all opinions.
“There’s a generosity in discussing bad movies,” he says.
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