A plea to return to bad movies

[KyleKnapp 5]

Just my two cents - it seems there's been a trend lately towards doing a more "insane movies" version of HDTGM and away from the traditional "terrible movies" version of the show. Over the last year there's been a lot of episodes focusing on movies that are over the top but that the team - especially Jason - loves (I'm thinking Face/Off, Con Air, Bloodsport, etc.), or at least doesn't seem to think are terrible (pretty much the whole Cannon series), and I have to say those episodes just don't make me laugh. The show is *so* much funnier when the hosts - especially Jason, again - really think the movie is garbage.

 

I think Jason is a lot more entertaining when he's railing against a movie he hated, or at least was baffled by, and for the most part the same goes for June. Jason is so goddamn hilarious and intelligent, and you can only listen to him say stuff like "IT. ALL. ADDS. UP." so many times before it's not that funny anymore and seems like a waste of his talent. And he's funnier when he's angry, and I love when he hates a movie so much that he becomes enraged. As for June, I miss movies like Jaws 4 and Gooby where she was completely bewildered and picked scenes apart piece by piece because they were so terribly written and acted. I dunno, maybe this is a really unpopular opinion, but the people I know personally who listen to the show all seem to agree with me. Thoughts?

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

I dunno, movies like Nothing But Trouble and Gooby are just real tough watches sometimes. But The Quest and Bloodsport? They're not, like, good, but they are fun to watch and they make for amazing episodes because the guests and hosts can really dig into what makes them utterly ridiculous.

 

Then there are absolute classics like The Room or Seepaway Camp derived from bad movies that are not tough watches, but mind-boggling and fascinating it their sheer horribleness. I think you need a mix, which the show is doing. I do miss them doing newer movies though. I'd love for them to tackle, like, Gods of Egypt or something disastrous like that.

[Elektra Boogaloo 3371]

I think it's a hard line to walk between movies that are fun to talk about but are bad. I had no problem with the Face/Off and Con Air episodes because I like it when there are different perspectives between the hosts/guest (I like that about Deep Blue Sea too). I agree that it's probably time to get away from the Cannon films. They've probably tapped that well. But more because I feel like a lot of people haven't seen them than them not really being bad. The ones I did see were hands down TERRIBLE. (For example, I don't always watch the movie and I was very confused by the Streets of Fire episode because I had no reference point.)

 

I'd also argue there really haven't been that many very recent movies that Jason liked. I can think of Bloodsport and Teen Witch, which I both thought were good episodes. Whereas I thought the Covenant episode wasn't as fun and that is a movie they clearly all thought was dumb.

[KyleKnapp 5]

You're right. It has to be terrible but terrible in a fun way. I agree with you on The Covenant. But it just seems like a couple years ago they had no trouble finding movies that were both bad and fun - most of the Stallones (especially Rhinestone!), the worst-of-the-worst like The Room and Birdemic, Gymkata. I thought Face/Off was kind of a weak choice because it's a genuinely well-made film, despite the ridiculousness. I didn't enjoy the Bloodsport episode, but to be fair I kind of checked out as soon as I realized that Jason liked it so much, because as stated, I just don't find it very entertaining when he likes the movie.

 

I'd also be open to maybe trying out another bad TV movie - I thought Liz & Dick was one of the best episodes. However I just listened to the Quest and was pretty entertained, mostly because it's a pretty bad movie. But in general I'd love to see a return to the territory of movies like Old Dogs, On the Line, Pluto Nash, Catwoman -- true cinematic garbage that they can just rip apart mercilessly.

[joel_rosenbaum 1269]

Well, for recent examples of "pure cinematic garbage", they've recently covered the Apple, Kazaam, Steel, Lifeforce, Death Spa, Masters of the Universe, and Maximum Overdrive.

[Lando 2019]

I disagree. I love it when Jason enjoys a movie. When he says that Face/Off is 100% believable I died laughing. Same with Bloodsport, that is probably one of my favorite episodes ever.

[Elektra Boogaloo 3371]

I'd also be open to maybe trying out another bad TV movie - I thought Liz & Dick was one of the best episodes. However I just listened to the Quest and was pretty entertained, mostly because it's a pretty bad movie. But in general I'd love to see a return to the territory of movies like Old Dogs, On the Line, Pluto Nash, Catwoman -- true cinematic garbage that they can just rip apart mercilessly.

Ooh. I would be into another bad lifetime movie. Or maybe NICK FURY AGENT OF SHIELD because I don't think we have ever covered anything with David Hasslhoff and he deserves it.

[Cameron H. 23786]

While I think it can be funny when they think a movie is garbage, we have to remember that this podcast was built with the premise that the three of them actually "enjoy bad movies." While the determination of what constitutes as "good" or "bad" is highly subjective, I wouldn't want them to burn themselves, and their audience out, by just doing dreck all the time. Aside from the movies Joel mentioned above, in past year they also did Perfect, Top Dog, and Theodore Rex--all of which I found borderline unwatchable. So, in that regard, I think they're striking a pretty fair balance between "good/bad" and "bad/bad." It might just be they're in a period where you personally unironically like a lot of the movies they're doing. According to Paul, in response to some similar complaints I made regarding the amount of Canon Films being done, he said that they tend to go through periods (i.e. lots of Stallone, 80's movies, etc.), so don't worry, I'm sure they'll circle back around eventually and get to the movies that you suit your sensibilities.

 

Hollywood is nothing but inept, and there will never be a shortage of movies for them to cover.

[KyleKnapp 5]

I think a big part of it is that I don't consistently watch the movies (if I have time, I do, but I enjoy the show just as much when I don't). Definitely agree that Cannon films got old. Honestly the worst part was that it really didn't seem like they were having nearly as much fun anymore... by the time they got to The Apple it had started to seem pretty joyless. I agree on Top Dog and Perfect (unwatchable movies, not great episodes), but there are other borderline-unwatchable ones that made for some of my favorite episodes ever (LOL, Liz and Dick, Gooby).

 

Honestly, I'm looking back at the chronology and the last episode I truly loved was Lake Placid - maybe not incidentally the last episode before the Face/Off - Con Air double bill. After that it was Theodore Rex, Perfect, Cannon films, etc. For me it seemed to turn a corner around then and I haven't felt it come back yet. And a big part of it is that I don't feel as much enjoyment on Jason and June's part. I love listening to them crack up about terrible writing, etc., and that doesn't happen as much as it used to.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

And a big part of it is that I don't feel as much enjoyment on Jason and June's part. I love listening to them crack up about terrible writing, etc., and that doesn't happen as much as it used to.

I personally haven't picked up on this, but maybe the reason you are is because of how busy they've both been recently?

[zmbabwe 7]

I agree. This is why I keep pushing for Dreamcatcher.

[DrOJSimpsonMD 26]

I do agree with the original post to some extent. They started off mostly doing horrible movies with some movies they enjoyed sprinkled in, but it seems that the ratio of the two has flipped and now a much larger chunk of them have been testosterone-fueled action movies. I also agree, I enjoy the podcast more when the movie is just a confusing mess with horrible effects. That being said, I think over-the-top action movies can be really good too, but usually I only enjoy the ones from the 80s and 90s. Not a big fan of the Fast & Furious episodes, Twilight, Crank, that Punisher movie. There just doesn't seem to be a whole lot to make fun of in those movies like there is for Nick Cage or Travola action movies. In the end, it's just my personal taste though. I wouldn't want to keep people who do like those types of episodes from enjoying them.

[joel_rosenbaum 1269]

Here are the Rottentomatoes scores (borrowed from the thread started by Ryan_Sz) for every episode in chronological order, in handy chart format with completely worthless trendline for good measure:

 

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I do agree with the original post to some extent. They started off mostly doing horrible movies with some movies they enjoyed sprinkled in, but it seems that the ratio of the two has flipped and now a much larger chunk of them have been testosterone-fueled action movies. I also agree, I enjoy the podcast more when the movie is just a confusing mess with horrible effects. That being said, I think over-the-top action movies can be really good too, but usually I only enjoy the ones from the 80s and 90s. Not a big fan of the Fast & Furious episodes, Twilight, Crank, that Punisher movie. There just doesn't seem to be a whole lot to make fun of in those movies like there is for Nick Cage or Travola action movies. In the end, it's just my personal taste though. I wouldn't want to keep people who do like those types of episodes from enjoying them.

This just kind of confuses me. I haven't seen this flip at all and I'm going through their episodes and Fast Five, Crank, and Punisher were all within their first 20 episodes. It's been part of their repertoire since the beginning to do crazy current action films that they actually enjoyed but are still over the top and known to be ridiculous. Plus calling Twilight an action movie that you can't make fun of is mind boggling in and of itself lol.

 

Not to mention it's really unfair to judge the fact that they did Con-Air and Face/Off when Jason actually had prevented them from doing those for so long because he enjoyed them so much, but it was us (the audience) that convinced them because they're still bat shit insane.

 

These are the movies they've covered within the last ~6 months. In my opinion, some of these have been so bad that they can't have fun making fun of them (for example Top Dog, Perfect, Streets of Fire, and The Covenant).

 

 

I'm not trying to say that you have to enjoy those episodes where they love the movie, because everyone has different tastes and that's cool, but saying that there has been this flip in the movies they cover just doesn't seem to be accurate.

[ElieB 238]

Hell Comes to Frogtown and Solarbabies... What in the fuckkkkkkkk. The only thing worse than 80s post-apocalypse is 80s post-apocalypse with non-stop roller-skating.

 

Isn't roller-skating one of those things Scheer said was a sure sign of a terrible movie?

 

Edit: Ok. A quick skim through Frogtown and I'm all about it hahaha. Laughing my ass off at the frog people. But YA rollerbladers though...

[DrOJSimpsonMD 26]

I think I felt most strongly about this last summer. Looking at the movies from the last six months, I can't deny that very few of them were "good" movies. I will say this though, the first HDTGM episode I ever listened to was Birdemic, so to me, that and The Room are the gold standard of what a HDTGM movie should be like. I realize that those movies are in a league of their own, but you have to understand that when they do a well polished movie with legitimately good effects, that it takes away what might be my favorite element of the show, making fun of horrible camera work, acting and effects.

 

Like I said though, it's just a matter of taste. I know there are a lot of people that like those types of episodes so I hope they keep doing them. Not everything has to be for me.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I think I felt most strongly about this last summer. Looking at the movies from the last six months, I can't deny that very few of them were "good" movies. I will say this though, the first HDTGM episode I ever listened to was Birdemic, so to me, that and The Room are the gold standard of what a HDTGM movie should be like. I realize that those movies are in a league of their own, but you have to understand that when they do a well polished movie with legitimately good effects, that it takes away what might be my favorite element of the show, making fun of horrible camera work, acting and effects.

 

Like I said though, it's just a matter of taste. I know there are a lot of people that like those types of episodes so I hope they keep doing them. Not everything has to be for me.

Ah okay I understand you now. I was pretty confused and just going "whaaaat?" while reading through most of this thread lol.

[Amy the Gorilla 732]

Ooh. I would be into another bad lifetime movie. Or maybe NICK FURY AGENT OF SHIELD because I don't think we have ever covered anything with David Hasslhoff and he deserves it.

 

Speaking of Lifetime type movies, there are a couple that are my all time horrible favorites that would be the best thing to hear a HDTGM about.

 

1. "Cyber Seduction: His secret life" (2005) which is some bizzaro world anti-porn PSA type movie, but it's hilariously bizzare and seems as if it was made by people who've never watched porn, and know nothing about how the internet works. About a boy who become addicted to porn. I think you can find it on Youtube (In 11 parts)

 

2. "Selling innocence" (2005) I guess 2005 was the year of anti-porn PSAs. This one is on the flip side, and is about a girl who joins an online "modeling agency" then turns to making "porn" I'm not gonna spoil it, but it has one of the most inept "twists" I've ever seen, and it's hilariously campy. I love it so much. (Also I have this weird fascination with J.R. Bourne, who is the only decent actor in the entire cast.) I know you can buy a physical copy on Amazon, but I'm not 100% sure on if it's available online anywhere. It's so worth the watch though.

 

 

Also CyberBully (2011). disappointingly not about porn. haha!

[CarloVanstiphout 34]

How about we just trust Paul, June & Jason; and if you feel they've strayed from what you consider is enjoyable here's a crazy idea: stop listening to the podcast?