How would we know a fine wine if we had never tasted a bad one? How could success be measured without failure?
With the Academy Awards still fresh in our memories, let’s take a moment to applaud the bad films that give us perspective, the zero-star efforts that put four-star masterpieces in context, the campy, mistake-riddled, poorly acted celluloid train wrecks we laugh at yet watch intently.
Lance Duerfahrd, an assistant professor of visual culture at Purdue University, teaches a class called “Bad Films.” Here is his list of five of the worst films from the past two decades, with his comments.
1. “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (2009): “It was like watching the Mattel factory explode for 2 hours. The whole time I wanted to throw a blanket over the screen to put it out.”
2. “The Room” (2003): “It’s a new cult phenomenon (our generation’s “Rocky Horror Picture Show”). It’s breaking new ground in empty filmmaking.”
3. “Showgirls” (1995): “This Paul Verhoeven film straddles good taste and bad taste as if they were a pommel horse. Stars Elizabeth Berkeley from the TV show “Saved by the Bell.” The bell didn’t ring in this film.”
4. “Disaster Movie” (2008): “Wanted to set up a human relief fund for the makers of this film (and its spectators). It was a film that filled me with pity.”
5. “Poseidon” (2006): “Remake of “The Poseidon Adventure” from ’72. So many lives were lost on this one.”
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
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