daruma / January 27, 2004 10:08 PM

What if it's one of your favorite movies that other people think is bad? I'll go with Prince's "Grafitti Bridge." My girlfriend's is "Better Off Dead."

armaghetto / January 27, 2004 11:08 PM

Either "Black Belt Jones" or "Orgazmo"

Mike / January 28, 2004 12:45 AM

There's an obscure kung-fu movie called Return of the Chinese Boxer that cracks me up to no end. They used to play it on Samurai Sunday on channel 50 back in the day. Also, more recently, Mission of Justice is always good for a laugh.

Orgazmo is a great movie, BTW. :)

paul / January 28, 2004 2:45 AM

this question reminds me of a gretchen helfritch episode from not too long ago.

I always liked The Big Brawl, an old (and bad) Jackie Chan flick...

A lex, x, x / January 28, 2004 7:18 AM

"Just One of the Guys". A poignant story of a young girl's quest to find her true inner self during extreme social injustice and bad gender politics.

Uh...yeah, no. A dorky 80s flick about a high school girl who wants to be taken seriously as a journalist, so she enrolls in another school as a boy. My favorite part is the end, when she fesses up to her new crush at prom, opens up her tux and declares, "I HAVE TITS!"

I just saw it again recently, and the scary thing is when dressed like a boy, she looks exactly like Jimmy Fallon.

jennifer / January 28, 2004 8:51 AM

I'm a huge fan of Mannequin and Real Genius.

paul / January 28, 2004 9:12 AM

Long before Peter Jackson did LoTR, he did Dead Alive, which, while being a bad movie, is one of the best displays of gore on film.

Brenda / January 28, 2004 9:13 AM

So many to choose from! But if I had to choose, I'd say the current frontrunner on my list is Showgirls.

Charles Murgatroit / January 28, 2004 9:22 AM

I can't settle on a favorite, so here's my Top 5 List

Xanadu
The 5,000 fingers of Dr. T
Casino Royale
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Sixteen Candles

jima / January 28, 2004 9:26 AM

My faves, in order of watchability (most to least):

• Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979). The acting is TV sitcom level, the special effects are nonexistent, the jokes are crude and pun-laden, and the plot (high school kids take over their school with the help of rock 'n' roll) is dumb. But the film stars The Ramones, so it's all right. The movie equivalent of Mad Magazine. "Do your parents know you're Ramones?!"
• Avenging Disco Godfather (1979). Though Dolemite is rightfully considered Rudy Ray Moore's "best" film, I'll have to pick this film as my personal favorite of the films that Moore starred in. He's a kung-fu fightin' disco club proprietor who attacks illegal drugs in his neighborhood (with the catchy slogan "Attack The Wack"), who runs afoul of the local drug kingpins and has to beat up a lot of people with his half-hearted kicks and punches. Moore's final scene is a bad movie moment to be treasured forever.
• Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (1965). One of the best/worst/cheapest films made by legendary ultra-indie filmmaker Ray Dennis Steckler (creator of the film with the best name ever, The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies). Rat Pfink is actually the collision of two separate films. The first is actually a taut thriller about a trio of hoods who stalk Cee Bee Baumont (Carolyn Brandt), who hangs out with a rock'n'roller who bears a strong resemblance to Charlie Callas. The second film shows the adventures of Rat Pfink and Boo Boo, two incredibly low-budget superheroes who do battle with the hoods in scenes that are about as realistic as an average Benny Hill episode. Also features "Kogar the Swinging Ape." The film was supposed to be titled Rat Pfink and Boo Boo, but the people who made the title sequence for the movie messed it up, and Steckler couldn't afford to get them re-done. THAT'S how cheap this movie is.
• On the Air Live with Captain Midnight (1979). The heart-warming adventure of a high-school kid who cuts class and broadcasts a pirate radio station out of his van. His best friend is Gargan, a radio-building genius with a serious spazz-out problem. Together they broadcast Led Zeppelin songs to the masses, collect money for their radio equipment from appreciative schoolkids, keep one step ahead of "Uncle Charlie" (the FCC), and organize a stunt at Magic Mountain theme park in which Captain Midnight skydives out of an airplane and walks into the sunset, ending the film. This film used to show up on USA's "Night Flight" a lot in the 1980s, which is where I first saw it and remembered it fondly. A video rental store in the Chicago 'burbs had a copy of the movie, and when we tried to rent it from the store, we discovered that the movie had no entry in the store's computer database, which meant that no one had rented it in the years that the store had been using the computer system. A few months later, when we went to rent it again, the movie was gone forever, not unlike the Phantom Tollbooth that showed up, taught its valuable lessons, and then moved on.
• The Goldwyn Follies (1938). Worst musical ever! Producer Samuel Goldwyn wanted to have his own series of musical extravaganzas, so he hired a whole bunch of talented people (George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rogers, Gregg Toland, George Balanchine) and came up with a muddled mess of a movie. Best part: the dumb antics of The Ritz Brothers, a legendary trio of bumbling actors who want to be The Marx Brothers, but end up just being lame. Not to be missed: The Ritz Brothers dressed up as mermaids, playing banjos.
• Bela Lugosi Meets A Brookyln Gorilla (1952). Bela Lugosi near the end of his career (right before he hooked up with Ed Wood), as a scientist working in the jungle (which jungle? ANY jungle) trying to turn humans into apes. He crosses paths with two third-rate lounge singers, played Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo, a duo who were cast because of their similarity to Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Well, Duke doesn't really look or sound like Dean, but Sammy Petrillo is possibly the best Jerry Lewis imitator ever (apart from Jerry Langford). So good, in fact, that rumor has it that Jerry actually sued Petrillo to stop him from doing so much of Jerry's act. So we get Duke and Sammy laughing it up with natives in the jungle, Duke singing a bunch of songs, Sammy spazzing out just like Jerry Lewis, and Duke getting turned into an ape (not Sammy, amazingly enough). In a novel twist, the entire movie turns out to have been a dream. Hooray! Svengoolie showed this film a few years back, and the tape of it is one of my most prized possessions.
• Can't Stop The Music (1980). The Village People movie. Also starring Steve Guttenberg in short-shorts and rollerstakes, Valerie Perrine as the love interest, and Bruce Jenner as the guy who gets angry for no apparent reason. Valuable as a historical document because (a) we get to see that people were doing the "YMCA" letters with their hands as far back as 1980, (b) we learn why the Construction Worker guy was hardly ever allowed to sing (he no sing the words too good), and (c) we learn the true occupation of the Leather Guy (toll-booth worker). The Village People have almost no conflicts or stumbling blocks on their way to gigantic success, so watching the movie is sorta like eating too much candy. After a while you just get sick of the thing and shut it off. Directed by Nancy Walker, who played Valerie Harper's mother on "Rhoda" and did the Bounty paper towel commercials.

Onid / January 28, 2004 9:34 AM

There was a time that HBO was playing "Just one of the guys" a lot. I hate that movie and yet everytime it was on I watched it. In fact I regularly check the IMDB page to see what the actors are up to now. Teen Witch is also one of my favorites. It is the story of a dorky, ugly girl who finds out that she is a witch and then she gains self confidence and becomes beautiful. (Butterfly out of a cocoon and all that) But the thing of it is that the only difference between "ugly" teen witch and beautiful teen witch is that she took off her glasses. Good stuff.

Kenzo / January 28, 2004 9:55 AM

I hate to be like this, but "Just One of the Guys" is one of my all-time favorites. That is why I have to make a correction--

"Uh...yeah, no. A dorky 80s flick about a high school girl who wants to be taken seriously as a journalist, so she enrolls in another school as a boy. My favorite part is the end, when she fesses up to her new crush at prom, opens up her tux and declares, "I HAVE TITS!""

Actually, it was the guy who exclaims "Where do you get off having tits?!", when let privy to Terri's true gender.

I had too much time on my hands during my earlyteens, I suppose.

Craig / January 28, 2004 10:01 AM

Dolemite, Scene 3.

Dolemite is released from jail and has a limo waiting for him with three of his ho's. They help him get dressed. (Note: He don't wear no cotton drawers.) Once outfitted, Dolemite starts talking to his women. [8th frame down the page]

Dolemite: What's your name?

Ho: Chi, [Read as: Shy] short for Chicago.

Dolemite: Well I sure hope you ain't cold like the windy city, cause I sure could use some warming up tonight!

Dolemite gets in the car and his suave comment convinces the three women have sex with him.

End Scene.

Benjamin / January 28, 2004 10:02 AM

I used to think it was a good movie, but recent popular opinion has me rethinking it all now: 'The Pope of Greenwich Village', starring Mickey Rourke (first sign of a bad movie), Darryl Hannah, and Eric Roberts. When I was in junior high I saw 'The Golden Child' with Eddie Murphy about 6 or 7 times one summer. I could still watch it today; in fact I caught a few minutes of it just recently and I must say it still cracks me up. What's even funnier is I haven't seen an Eddie Murphy movie since.

A lex, x, x / January 28, 2004 10:03 AM

OOooo, Onid! "Teen Witch"! How could I forget "Teen Witch"? I loved that movie...

A lex, x, x / January 28, 2004 10:06 AM

Kenzo, actually her name was Terry with a "Y" not an "I"

Heh! Just teasing...
(But it was though)

Andrew / January 28, 2004 10:23 AM

My favs are the aforementioned "5,000 Fingers of Dr. T," as well as "The Warriors" and "Condorman."

Cinnamon / January 28, 2004 10:36 AM

I'm going to have to go with "So I Married An Axe Murderer"

suzanne / January 28, 2004 10:39 AM

"Xanadu" why? roller skating choreography to die for,olivia newton-john and gene kelley in a creepy flashback scence, more roller skates and great 80's fashion. not to mention the music is abfab!

Naz / January 28, 2004 10:47 AM

Before any of them became famous: Girls Just Want to Have Fun featuring very young Sarah Jessica Parker, Helen Hunt, Jonathan Silverman and Shannon Doherty. And of course, Cyndi Lauper's song.

Naz / January 28, 2004 10:49 AM

Oh, man, just saw Mannequin up there. Damn. That's a good one. Which reminds me of Weird Science.

Alice / January 28, 2004 10:50 AM

My current favorite is "Party Girl." It's the most pointless movie ever, but it's Parker Posey! And she wants to be a librarian!

april / January 28, 2004 11:01 AM

Without a doubt: Dirty Dancing!!

It was 7th grade. Unsupervised slumber party. Boys were invited. Need I say more?

Seth Zurer / January 28, 2004 11:05 AM

Has anyone seen the israeli sci-fi disco musical "the apple"? I have it on good authority that this is the worst film ever made, so awful that it draws you deeper and deeper into its gaping maw, until fascination with its misguided awfulness drives you mad. I have not seen it, but only heard about it second hand.

lacey / January 28, 2004 11:13 AM

The first one to come to mind is "Hackers." But there were tons in the 80s.

Onid / January 28, 2004 11:37 AM

A lex, x, x: Do you remember the scene in "Teen Witch" where the teen(5 foot something) sits on the Poltergeist(barely 4 feet) womans lap. That was horrible. And yet I watch it every time I come across it...

I guess I don't so much hate "Just one of the guys" as much as it bugs me. Terr(y)(i)'s "guy" voice drives me nuts. And, again, I watch it every time I come across it...

Could this be why no one wants to watch TV with me? Well, this and my tendency to watch the RFN channel on satellite (Rural Farm Network). I cannot get enough of that "Classic Tractor" show. It's like public access TV from all over the country. Channel 9400 on a Dish network satellite near you!!!

Mark / January 28, 2004 11:39 AM

I was reminded again -- by catching it on cable the other week -- of the sublimeness of Can't Buy Me Love .

Especially amusing was an 11 year old Seth Green as Chuckie.

Naz / January 28, 2004 11:48 AM

I love HACKERS! That's when I first saw Angelina Jolie.

If we're just talking about worst movie, folks you should watch SPECIES 2. Or maybe not. The screenwriters did something like this:

GORE + BLOOD + SEX + SEX WITH GORE & BLOOD + ALIEN SEX + NATASHA HENSRIDGE NAKED AGAIN + HR GIGER DESIGNS = INSTANT BLOCKBUSTER.

They just forgot a plot.

And their brains.

Andrew / January 28, 2004 12:04 PM

Has anyone seen A Boy And His Dog? The film is so bad, they actually used one sequence twice, possibly to pad it out a bit. It's hailed as a sci-fi classic (it's based on a Harlan Ellison short story), but it's barely watchable. Here's a summary.

miss ellen / January 28, 2004 12:12 PM

OMG, Naz, my friend & I just rented "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" after thinking about how much we loved it as younguns.

Completely forgot it was set in Chicago, but I was 8 when I was watching it. After laughing about it for awhile, I actually checked on Blockbuster & they had a copy (VHS, though) at the Blockbuster on Washtenaw, so we had to rent it.

Great fun, I tell ya. The scene when the punks trash the party is hilarious :)

So, I gotta throw my vote to this one, as well....

Ian / January 28, 2004 12:40 PM

Tom McHugh took one look at her and he was deeply in love. Everyone took one look at him and he was in deep trouble. (Mystery Date)

april / January 28, 2004 1:00 PM

Does anyone know if there's a site that lists all movies set in Chicago? I know that this topic was covered awhile ago here, but there's got to be more than what was mentioned. Thanks to anyone who can help!

Naz / January 28, 2004 1:10 PM

Here's a list.

And more.

Charles Murgatroit / January 28, 2004 1:16 PM

Oh and I forgot... Phantom of the Paradise.

Miranda / January 28, 2004 1:16 PM

I'll second that emotion for 'Can't Stop the Music'

And I'll also throw in "Nell," "Lair of the White Worm," "Freeway," and "Strait-Jacket." So bad they're good...

Dan / January 28, 2004 1:22 PM

That's easy >> The 7 faces of Dr. Lao. A total B-movie staple, that is hypnotic and hallucinagenic in the same way "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was. Tony Randall (of the Odd Couple fame) plays Dr. Lao, who brings his mysterious circus to a small Depression-era town. Various performers, freaks and oddities (all played by Randall, who is surprisingly good) teach the townspeople various lessons. Equal parts campily bad, hilarious, repulsive, and entertaining. With that gal who plays Jeanie on "I Dream of Jeanie"

sandor / January 28, 2004 1:31 PM

But, but... Weird Science is a great movie!

I guess if we're talking a movie I like that was pretty much universally panned, that'd have to be Hudson Hawk.

Naz / January 28, 2004 2:03 PM

I never said I thought that Weird Science bad, just that Mannequin for whatever reason reminded me of it. I dig Weird Science. I mean Kelly LeBrock!

Speaking of Mannequin, look at Kim Catrall now. From that, Police Academy and now Sex in the City.

Kenan / January 28, 2004 2:09 PM

I haven't actually seen this one yet, but damned if it didn't make the Netflix queue.

travis / January 28, 2004 2:21 PM

Big Trouble in Little China

Ian / January 28, 2004 2:51 PM

Gleaming the Cube. How can nobody have said that?

I'm totally disappointed in all you motherfuckers.

Except Travis because Big Trouble in Little China is an EXCELLENT pick.

jima / January 28, 2004 3:24 PM

So when do we schedule the GB Bad Film Festival?

kegz / January 28, 2004 3:26 PM

Can't Buy Me Love - the story of Cindi Mancini and Ronald Miller

At one point I would have said Pump Up the Volume, but after revisiting it as an adult, I was just embarrassed.

Naz / January 28, 2004 3:32 PM

Gleaming the Cube is not a bad movie at all. My first ever "skate movie". Thrashin' is a bad movie but a good bad movie.

Big Trouble in Little China is a GOOD movie.

april / January 28, 2004 3:58 PM

If memory serves, Dream A Little Dream was pretty ridiculous. However, it scored a few points in my book by throwing in "Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison.

Ian / January 28, 2004 4:12 PM

Tony is like thirteen, Christian is a dweeb with lame gloves and the plot is thinner than a Victoria's Secret nightie. Now I'm not saying that I don't like Gleaming the Cube but let us be honest -- it is a bad movie.

Jeff / January 28, 2004 4:32 PM

Zombies, zombies, zombies. Anything with zombies. You take a dead guy and have that guy walk around and eat brains and I'm a happy, happy camper.

There's good zombie movies, sure, but I love the bad ones, too. Night of the Creeps ('80s teen movie crossed with Evil Dead)? Gotta have it.

I went to film school. I watched (and loved) my Orson Welles and my Truffaut.

But damn!

Gimme zombies.

Naz / January 28, 2004 4:33 PM

What you mean you don't like the Asian-half-brother-killed-time-for-revenge plot? That's the plot for tons of half-assed action films. At least they had skating!

Ian / January 28, 2004 4:52 PM

Aah, but as Skateboard Superstunts has so aptly demonstrated, skating alone does not make a good movie!

Especially when clips are doubled up - in the same sequences no less!

Andrew / January 28, 2004 5:14 PM

Jeff: zombies, zombies, zombies for you! Also, Brains4Zombies.com!

Benjamin / January 28, 2004 5:54 PM

Howard the Duck.

Shasta MacNasty / January 28, 2004 6:44 PM

Coffy

Pam Grier at her most bootylicious.

Best. Scene. Ever: When she gets in to a cat fit with a jealous ho, Jealous ho reaches for Coffy's hair only to find out that Coffy slipped a few razor blades in there first.

YESSSSS!!!!

douglas / January 28, 2004 10:51 PM

lionheart

Van Damme at his corny bad-acting,ass-kicking best!

armaghetto / January 29, 2004 2:16 AM

I've never seen "Rock n' Roll High School", but every time I see him, my friend insists on asking me "Does your mother know you're a Ramon?" (Ramon being my first name)

And I've always thought Bloodsport was Van Damme's finest moment. (Frank Dux? Like put up your Dukes, right?

Kenzo / January 29, 2004 10:30 AM

A lex, x, x--

IMDB spells "Terry(-i)" both ways. How can we start our fan club with such inconsistent references?

I guess we'll never know.

Pete / January 29, 2004 10:31 AM

Just a few that come to mind:

The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here!

Phantasm

Hell's Angels On Wheels (which might have simply been the victim of poor broadcast-TV editing)

Carlos / January 29, 2004 11:55 AM

Howard the Duck

'nuff said.

A lex, x, x / January 29, 2004 12:13 PM

Kenzo: I'm sayin'!

Bobby Nashville / January 29, 2004 12:57 PM

Hey folks, here are two of my best/worst faves:

Showgirls is so amazingly bad that its hilarious. On the bad horror movie tip, it's awfully hard to top Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers!

Rock on

Bobby

Mike / January 29, 2004 10:08 PM

Long before Peter Jackson did LoTR, he did Dead Alive, which, while being a bad movie, is one of the best displays of gore on film.

For some reason, that reminded me of Body Parts - an underrated horror flick.

starring Mickey Rourke (first sign of a bad movie)

You must not have seen Barfly. Awesome movie.

I also thought of a few other great B movies: Damnation Alley and Deathrace 2000.

ian / February 3, 2004 11:25 AM

Step off, fools. The WORST movie EVER made is a little film called THE APPLE. It is a disco musical made in 1980 set in the future - the future being 1994 - a whole 14 YEARS!

Seriously. So effing bad you'll crap yourself laughing. If you can find it anywhere, steal it.

Tom / July 6, 2004 12:50 AM

Movies are all wrong and mess with your head and make YOU less smart while you think you're learning something--misinformation. They use stereotypes (unfavorable as well as favorable ones) to develope characters because it's easier and faster (and fit an agenda?). Stereotypes are often the opposite of the truth used to put a group down, or only marginally applicable to the group, or if ever true have over time moderated or disapeared and even reversed.
They use concensus opinion of places, institutions, businesses, EVERYTHING!!!, again because it's it's easier and faster. As anyone who has expertise in at least one area knows, the consensus opinions of that area are wildly innaccurate, miss the big picture and are silly. Well its the same in every area!
Snap out of the spell and above all keep impressionable children away from these things

michael / October 27, 2004 2:43 AM

you all missed the all time bad movies mine are a toss up between Killer tomatos and eraserhead