Chris Gore, Founder/Owner of FilmThreat/Author/Filmmaker: Why are 99 percent of movies garbage, well
you know sometimes they’re garbage movies are made on purpose.
Film Courage: Here’s a thought, have movies lost their cool because television has become
so good?
So if you think back to growing up TV was was more restricted and everything cool happened
in movies like Kramer Versus Kramer.
Oooh…there were some scenes that I wasn't supposed to see but I saw them anyway right?
Now you can see it all on TV.
Chris: Yes I do think that television has succeeded so well when it comes to long-form
storytelling.
I do think that there is a bit of abuse in that where I've seen series that were six
episodes/six hours that would have made a really good two-hour movie.
But I think that there's an appetite for the serialized long-form storytelling and we've
become used to that.
We've become used to the binge watching so going to the theater to see a story that's
going to wrap itself up in hopefully two hours maybe is not as satisfying and even when you
look at the Star Wars films or the Marvel movies, it really is just every Marvel movie
is a continuation of the last Marvel movie in some form because we know there's going
to be easter eggs.
We know there's going to be cameos from characters.
So Marvel movies in a sense have become not only its own genre but sort of a form of long-form
storytelling with the Disney plus series the those kind of filling in the blanks between
movies.
But I think that television is great.
I mean television is where no clothes in movies has migrated.
There's hardly people without clothing in films anymore.
I mean you're going sacrifice something at the box office if you choose to include grown
up themes in your feature film being released to theaters, if there's birthday suits in
it that has migrated onto television.
you know it's Mr. Skin [AuthorJim McBride] who was recently on the Film Threat podcast
told me it's a golden age of birthday suits in television, not so much at the movies.
There aren't like the genre of teen whoopie comedy kind of doesn't even exist.
People forget that the original Porky's film [1981] such as it was it does feature people
without clothing but also there's an underlying message of anti-semitism woven within that
film that of course no one remembers except for me, I remember this.
I don't know why I remember weird facts but maybe this is also why television, part of
the reason that television in a way is more popular than than films I don't know if anyone's
ever done this study I would love to see because I think box office isn't a relevant metric
by which to look at.
It's something the industry uses as a piece of marketing I don't like that box office
is so important.
It tends to be to Hollywood because it's again a piece of marketing.
My mother who doesn't pay attention to the industry whatsoever she knows what the number
one movie at the box office is because it's used in the marketing of movies right.
But that's not an important number because that number is irrelevant because due to inflation
if adjusted to inflation and you can look this up Gone With The Wind [1939] is in the
top films not whatever the purported top films are right.
Because we're not privy to a lot of the data from these streaming services.
We really don't know what is incredibly popular but they wouldn't be making so many of these
series if they weren't at least getting numbers that got the eyeballs they needed to be somewhat
profitable but because we as the general public are not privy to those numbers, other than
the people who have access to that data, we're not able to learn the lessons from that.
There are lessons to be learned about the failure of something like Terminator: Dark
Fate [2019].
Right there's a lesson to be learned.
I don't think Hollywood's quite learned the lesson yet.
That's kind of how we learn right?
You see what resonates with an audience and box office is one barometer of that adjusted
to inflation I think is the better way to report those numbers.
Film Courage: Do you have more hope for the future of television or film?
Chris: I certainly have hope for the future of television.
There are I think that statistically speaking if I watch something on television and I vet
that choice the idea that I'll have a good experience with a show based on recommendations
(friend recommendations) tends to hit more often than not with the movies, not so much
with the movies.
It's probably 50/50 or less.
There will be a decent experience if I know what I'm getting into I am a person that does
enjoy a good bad film.
Film Courage: Why?
Chris: Good/bad films are just I mean look there's a certain kind of television that
is made for stoners right.
I think a show like Archer (that’s the animated show) Archer that's like stoner tv.
I mean most of the Adult Swim shows are for stoners right?
They're sort of a good/bad.
I mean like Tim & Eric [Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim] their show.
It's kind of based on that and there are films I tend to like but I know that they're bad
Troma movies by Lloyd Kaufman one of the longest existing independent film studios is Troma
Studios.
What you're getting into you also should be aware that James Gunn from The Suicide Squad
and The Guardians Of The Galaxy franchise, he began his career at Troma Studios, he wrote
Tromeo and Juliet [1996] so I know it's going to be bad, it's not like something that's
going to change my life but I will laugh and I don't have to be fully engaged in it except
for maybe the scenes where there's lots of gore or violence which you can always count
on in a Troma movie but that's the place where a lot of people cut their teeth is in the
exploitation genre.
Everyone from James Gunn, Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard who famously worked for Roger Corman,
it's a place you can play and it's okay to fail and to learn the basics.
I think it's just as important to watch a bad film and take the lessons from it as it
is to watch a good film.
So why are 99 percent of movies garbage well sometimes garbage movies are made on purpose.
There's a big business in that.
Just ask Lloyd Kaufman or Charlie Band Full Moon Entertainment famously done most famously
known for the Puppet Master series (love the Puppet Master films) they're dumb fun.
I think it's kind of like just knowing what you you know you can't eat steak for dinner
at every meal.
Sometimes fast food or quick meals are going to work their way in and that's what I consider
a bad movie.
I just want to know I'm getting one, unlike Terminator: Dark Fate where I go into every
movie hopeful going to every movie it's going to be awesome and it's not.
Film Courage: When an artist wins a Razzie, how much of it do you think was actually planned
or none of it?
I mean does anyone really want to win?
Chris: I don't know that anyone ever wants to win a Razzie [a Golden Raspberry Award].
I mean Showgirls [1995] won a Razzie.
I mean that film actually we look at now there's so much more going on in that film Showgirls.
There are bad movies that age differently.
Maybe they were ahead of its time, they're ahead of their time like a film like the original
Blade Runner [1982] or a film like Showgirls that there was much more going on beneath
the surface.
I mean the trans community in particular has embraced the movie Showgirls as just having
much deeper meaning.
There's a documentary that discusses this that I highly recommend that you check out
called you You Don’t Nomi [2020].
Check out that documentary.
That's a whole deep dive analysis of Showgirls, a sort of re-examination of that.
Additionally, like why there's a whole fandom around Showgirls which I find fascinating
great documentary that breaks that apart and looks at it but we just don't know what's
going to age well with time.
What's going to defy, what will be a cult classic which no filmmaker wants to win a
Razzie or have a film that's called a “cult classic,” because both of those things imply
that you failed and I don't think I've ever met a filmmaker that tried to make a bad movie.
Although I will say this, John Waters has a great quote about that.
John Waters said if you try to make a bad film you can't fail.
Question For The Viewers:
What is your favorite bad movie?