With my first thread in the GAL Forum, the Favourite film thread, picking up speed, it made me think about the other end of the spectrum, and I’d like to propose a counter-debate of sorts.
There are two kinds of worst films, the ones that are so bad they disgust the very essence of your being and you can’t stand to live with having even wanted at one point to see them.
And the best worst films, the kind that are incredibly bad, absolutely nothing about them is good in any sincere way. But they hold your attention and become a staple in your memory for the (better?), whether it be because of how unintentionally hilarious they are in a moment of seriousness and concern, or because the director’s thought process was so bizarre and took the film in such a strange downhill plummet that it flabbergasts you.
I, would like this thread to be in honour of those best worst films, because years I ago I tried the other type of films on a forum, and it came out more depressing than The Smiths if they’d teamed up with The Cure and performed a compilation album, so I’m never treading those waters again.
My choice for this category would be Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. Anyone who’s seen The Room will know how ridiculous it is. I’m sure if we’re picking absolutes I could make the case for a worse film that has far less sense of reality, arguably worse acting, and an even more terrible setting and script, but my choice is not based on the film entirely, but more the director.
I had the pleasure of meeting Tommy Wiseau when he came abroad to premiere his film to foreign audiences and respond to a Q&A not too many years ago. He has this strange Eastern European accent that mixes in with his Louisiana drawl to a produce a speech pattern I have never before come close to seeing. He has a strange face that look like just eyes covered by a mask of melted wax.
He sways in and out of conversation and is eerily socially inept (which has a huge impact on his screenplay) that he maintains a creepiness about him I can’t associate to many other people. His acting in the film is so bad, but passionately bad. Whenever he responds to audience questions and comes face to face with someone who dislikes the film, he has this strange, esoteric, smug look on his face like he understand the film on an entirely different level to anyone else involved.
I am convinced that Tommy Wiseau is an alien sent from a distant planet to harvest our brains through film, and for that reason The Room takes the top spot of Best Worst Films for me.
I was unsure if I should make this thread so close to the last one, but I wanted to get it out of the way while it was still in my head, and while film-talk was still fresh in everyone’s vocabulary.
Again, many thanks in advance for your responses!
