Battlefield Earth? The awfulness is legendary. If you’re going to see awful films, you might as well see them with David Schmader as your guide:
From Bad to Worse… is a six-week descent in the depths of cinematic hell led by local writer/performer David Schmader. Schmader premiered his annotated screening of Paul Verhoeven’s notorious stripper drama Showgirls at the Northwest Film Forum in 1999, after which he toured the “live cinema essay” to film festivals around the country and recorded his critically acclaimed commentary for MGM’s special-edition Showgirls DVD in 2002. During the Showgirls touring, audience members asked, “What movie’s next?,” and From Bad to Worse… is the start of the answer.
A week ago, I barely survived Battlefield Earth. Tonight?
The horror. The horror.
That reminds me, I need to get my tickets to Can’t Stop the Music…
The compression quality (or lack of) in that clip makes Ebert look like a horrific burn victim, which adds to the comedy.
Also, fuck Bill Cosby. He’ll burn in Hell.
Why isn’t Step Brother’s playing?
We went to Battlefield Earth, and I’m going to Road House AND Gigli. I should have just bought the pass to all of them – it’s a good deal! Schmader could host films of live cattle births, and I’d probably show up. He’s a genius.
Oh my god, I LOVED that shitty movie when I was little!
The show last week was awesome, I’m looking forward to tonight’s too. Hm, I could use a coca-cola right about now.
Leonard part 6 was a truly painful movie to watch. The others are funny in their over-the-top way and it’s fun to watch them in a Mystery Science Theater 3K fashion (especially road house). But when a comedy movie utterly fails at comedy, it’s just hard to watch.
I’d recommend checking out rifftrax.com, too. The guys from Mystery Science Theater gave Battlefield Earth a great ass-kicking.
I have no idea how Schmader does, but I think the medium already has its masters.
I enjoyed last week and am going to the show tonight.
Schmader didn’t have an overwhelming number of quips at his disposal or anything. Really he seemed content to make little comments on the direction the film was taking, plot holes, and an occasional joke but I think he picked films that are funny in their own awfulness. An MST3k treatment isn’t necessary.
9: True.
MST3K = MAD TV.
From Bad to Worse = inverted art-appreciation course.
So is Ishtar too old for inclusion or what?
Bill Cosby was funny, up to about 1977, His 1960s albums for Warner Brothers, and the first few UNI albums are great and he did some good movies in the early 70s: Hickey & Boggs, Let’s Do It Again, Uptown Saturday Night, A Piece of the Action,and Mother, Jugs, & Speed.
Cosby was never as edgy as Richard Pryor but they came from different places from different times.
(BTW, I miss Gene Siskel).
@10, wow, how incredibly wrong that statement was. Shame on you. I’m appalled.
When I first watched the film and heard “Bill Cosby” and “Worst movie of the year,” I was thinking Ghost Dad. My dad forced me to go see that with him and my mom when I was in high school. He actually apologized afterward, it was so bad.
The new “Day the Earth Stood Still” is pretty awful. Save yourselves a ticket and get it off a bit torrent. Unless, of course, you enjoy feeling… dirty.
Dear David Schmader,
That was mean.
“Leonard Part 6” was not enjoyably bad. At least not to me. If you were trying for a multi-cultural terribleness, you should have gone with “Mahagony.” Though, maybe you feared it was too soon after the Brown Derby got ahold of that one.
I think you broke my brain with this one. I saw it as a kid (like before I was 10), and remembered liking it. No wonder my parents wouldn’t let me see it again.
Painful, man, painful.
Ow.
Kudos,
TheMisanthrope