Are Bad Movies Actually The Best Movies?

No. Not at all. Not even handy.

But is a bad movie something that should be avoided all together?

Over the past few years, since my discovery of websites such as rottentomatoes and IMDB, I've been completely behind the idea that a bad movie isn't worth wasting my time over. So when I see a trailer for a movie I'm interested in, I watch these sites scrupulously waiting for the first yay or nay from critics and fellow film watchers around the world.

For some reason I trust rt a little more for the bad and anything that gets that little green rotten icon, I tend to avoid. IMDB helps me sort through the good a little bit more. 8.0 on IMDB? Holy shit I'll watch that.

But by sticking with this motif am I missing out on some hidden gems? Even though a movie may only get a 30% on rt, that does mean that there are a few people out there that thought the movie filled it's purpose or maybe even enjoyed the movie.

Case in point: Sucker Punch.

When I started to hear about this movie and saw the trailers I was incredibly excited. Directed by Zack Snyder, the same guy who graced us with Dawn of the Dead, 300, Watchmen and The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole(what the fuck?), I was hoping for something that would have been the same caliber or even better. I love over-the-top action and I love hot ladies destroying shit in movies(The Descent, Alien(s), Kill Bill, Death Proof, etc.). How can this not work?

Well as we get close to opening night for Sucker Punch the reviews start rolling in, bad reviews. I was a little devastated actually. I had very high hopes for the stylized female action flick. So when the film finally bottomed out at 28% on rt I skipped the theater and stayed home instead. 28% wasn't worth my $11.50.

Time passed, movies came and went, we re-elected Harper, excitement for Dark Knight Rises continued to be the highlight of the internet for me and we all grew a little bit. Eventually I decided to download the movie I once was so excited about and finally give it a shot.

Well surprise surprise. I didn't hate it like the internet people made me think I would. Now it wasn't the gem I was hoping it would have been. It kinda broke down like this:

Story: Awful
Characters: Dumb as rocks.
Visuals: Very purdy
Action: This is what I wanted. Over-the-top.

So it wasn't a complete loss. I still got a pretty looking movie with the pulpy filler I was hoping for. The story and characters are what ruined the film in the end.

The point of all this is that even though the movie missed on a few of the most important things a movie needs to get right, it still had enough of what I was looking for that it didn't feel like a complete waste of my time.

I'm sure that every director that's made a dud would like it if everyone could look at those movies like that.

So in my attempt to immerse myself in the shittier pool of movies that's out there(not too much mind you, I don't hate myself), I'm not going to limit myself with the 6.0's and above on IMDB or the little red tomato. I'm going to look outside the nice little comfort zone and take a chance on some movies and hopefully find a little gem hidden somewhere.

Now having said all that, a friend of mine has started a blog about his commitment to watch the worst 100 movies as listed on IMDB's website. This is a man who obviously hates himself. Or loves the rest of us so much that he's making sure we never have to suffer through the same punishment. I'm not quite sure yet. Either way I'm sure he would appreciate it if you read the things he writes as well. You can find his blog full of never ending joy over at the bottom feeding blog.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, if you click the blue words, magical internetty things happen.

So now, in celebration of my new-found respect for the shitty movies, I'm going to watch This Means War. It bottomed out at a measly 25% on rt but managed a 65% audience rating and a 6.4 on imdb.

Wish me luck.