An Interlude
Yet again, I apologize for the lag. Hopefully, I can catch up on all the films I need to write about before the end of this month, but I can make no promises. This entry is less about a particular film I have seen and is more of an interlude about a couple bad movies I’m interested in primarily due to reputation.
Last week, I noticed that After Last Season is now available on dvd. I became aware of this viral sensation a few months ago, via Robert Hubbard. A trailer for an inexplicably strange and amateurish movie appeared on Apple’s website, along with the usual wide releases one might typically expect. A number of those in the internet film community quickly picked up on it and theorized on its precise nature? Was it a real movie? And if so, was it sincere, or an elaborate prank? The website for the film is not terribly helpful on the matter. Neither is this interview with the director, Mark Region (a name many note sound suspiciously fake). Rather than attempt to describe what makes the trailer so perplexing, I’ll just go ahead an post the video:
On June 5, the movie received limited release on a grand total of four screens, putting to rest any theories that the film was not real. Reviews by David Lowery, Rodney Perkins, and Scott Von Doviak all echo the same sense of befuddlement and confirm that the trailer is an accurate representation of the film as a whole. Lowery, specifically, concludes that the film is too dull to truly qualify as Camp as defined by Susan Sontag, which is perhaps why it remains so elusive. Jason Coffman at Film Monthly goes a bit further in his analysis, comparing Region’s inability (disinterest?) to create a believable illusion of reality to Hal Hartley’s straining of suspension of disbelief. Clark Collis on Entertainment Weekly discussed a theory circulating that After Last Season was a viral marketing prank for Spike Jonez’s Where the Wild Things Are. Further theories and discussions can be traced in this article by Tim at BRRRPTZZAP! the Subject.
As for myself, I’ve come to no conclusions as to the intent of After Last Season. I’m not sure actually seeing the film would be of any help.
Via Collis’s article about that film, I discovered another article he wrote about the cult phenomenon that is The Room, a bad movie whose charm is more visceral and obvious. See for yourself:
Wisseau seems to envision himself as an actor in the mold of Marlon Brando or James Dean, and he has admitted an affinity for Tennesse Williams and Orson Welles. The obvious difference, as suggested by the trailer and clips of The Room, is that Wisseau can barely manage competency and comes across more as the deliriously naive grandson of Ed Wood who decided to try his hand at melodrama.
What interests me most about the film is its fanbase, which has created a participatory midnight movie sensation similar to The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Big Lebowski. The differences are, of course, obvious. Rocky Horror is a knowingly campy affair that delights in the grandiose traditions of horror and science fiction movies, while The Big Lebowski is directed by the Coen brothers. Nonetheless, much like Plan Nine from Outer Space, The Room appears to be one of those “good bad” movies that functions as a comedy because it takes itself so seriously, despite the questionable nature of the framing. Rather than strings attached to flying saucers, there is the gratuitous use of green screens and unnecessarily over-the-top acting.
Tags: cult classics, YouTube
Have you seen or heard of The Room? Directed by Tommy Wiseau, I think. RIDICULOUS. Sort of in the same vein as After Last Season.
Good god, I got ahead of myself there.
Wow, yeah, like yourself I’m not sure if actually seeing the movie would do any good. Welcome back by the way, how does your garden grow? (:
Mark:
Why, yes, I have heard about The Room.
Anyway, I think the films are somewhat different, particular in terms of Camp as discussed in Lowery’s review.
Phill:
Thanks! The garden is going well, but it’s getting towards the end of the season, which always makes me sad.
There’s no end to the gardening season! My dad putzes year round. Go for the gold!
Haven’t cared to see THE ROOM yet, but I’ve been kind bothered by all the hype surrounding it (I guess the director has major friends in Hollywood advertising from what I’ve read). A lot of people seem to be comparing THE ROOM to Ed Wood’s films and the work of other low-budget directors but THE ROOM was made for something like 8 million dollars. That’s a hell of a lot of money and immediately takes it out of the “b-movie” category and puts it more inline with a minor Hollywood failure.
I can only imagine what someone like Ed Wood would have done with 8 million dollars. As far as I know guys like Roger Corman have never had an 8 million dollar budget to work with and I think the most expensive film John Waters ever made cost something like 14 million and that was only recently. Most of Waters’ films were made for under 2 million. This probably sounds incredibly bitchy on my part and rather silly, but Wisseau ’s big budget kind blows my mind and I’m surprised it’s not discussed more. On a side note, something like Welcome to the Dollhouse was made for only $800,000 so obviously a good director can do a lot with very little money but no amount of money can help a bad director.
Wisseau spent 6 million dollars on The Room. He claims that he funded it through some kind of import business, but I’ve also seen some suggestions that he has wealthy family or friends who donated to the sad cause as well.
Based on the clips I saw, I do think it’s comparable in terms of quality to Ed Wood’s work, in addition to Wisseau’s seeming naivete regarding said quality. And there is a kind of over-the-top Camp appeal that is comparable. But, yes, he spent far more money than Wood ever spent. Or most B-movie directors, for that matter. I’m pretty sure that Collis discusses the money spent in his article, and that’s partially what fascinates me. Far less money has been spent on far better movies, so it boggles the mind how so much money can be thrown away on so much crap.
In my defense, I don’t think I called The Room a B-movie, though I did tag the article as such. It’s hard to say exactly where each movie fits, but their appeal does seem, in my mind at least, related.
Thanks for the budget correction, AR. At 6 mill or 8 mill, that’s still a ridiculous amount of money to piss away on a “bad” movie that people seem to enjoy just for the shits & giggles it provides.
And I didn’t mean to imply that that you were responsible for labeling The Room as a “B-movie” or low-budget flick but that seems to be the general consensus among film writers who discuss the film, which really confuses me.
Have you seen Troll 2? If not, don’t.