trashy movies that are fun, clever — with good screenwriting

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On the theory that trashy movies need love, too! For example, here’s director Robert Rodriguez’s The Faculty from 1998:





Mary Beth: So you borrow all this stuff from the school? [chemicals and equipment]

Zeke: Actually, I prefer to think of it as stealing.

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PS Some types of movies and art almost need to be transgressive and rule-breaking to work.

Great topic! I used to love watching Roger Corman movies. Guess I'll nominate these two:





Also a fan of:



Hammer Films did some great stuff along these lines too, like:

And the person who might really need some love is the film’s editor. For example, which of a dozen takes to use to either play up or play down a scene, and all the way through the film, hopefully finding and following a narrative thread.

And this has to be at least as difficult as writing a really good short story or putting together a music album.

He was the man. I haven't watched them in ages, but they were often quality ideas with pretty good executions...especially for the budget.

Also:



His Poe adaptions had some great visuals.

I also love:

Have seen Last man on Earth, and it's successor "Omega Man." Both i think based on same story. Will smith later did another incarnation...I Am Legend.

from 2010

I was just going to watch the beginning of this. And it actually turned out pretty good.

Be warned, there’s a huge, protracted kill scene toward the end — of course there is! — when the piranhas gobble up a bunch of spring breakers. And a couple of others die in interesting ways. It’s gruesome.

Videodrome by David Cronenberg

The Room by Tommy Wiseau

Everything is so bad about The Room that IMO,
makes it worthy of its "so-bad-it's-good" cult movie status.

Probably an obvious choice, but can't ignore it:



Of course, John Waters celebrated his work as "trash."



Creepy, but fun:

Dead by dawn!







Guess these should count, if we count older Cronenberg.

from 1975

Although big budget, the James Bond movies have always been over-the-top, formula (with some variations), and genre.

And in truth . . .



maybe not all that different from the Austin Powers movies!

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PS And I’ll admit it, I’ve basically been a fan of the James Bond movies since age 14.

Fabulous topic!

For myself, I absolutely must nominate the following:

-A Fish Called Wanda
(Why? Because anything with Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis and TWO members of Monty Python is pure gold!)

-Last Action Hero
(Made in 1993, I think--features Schwartzenegger just after he did the second Terminator movie, makes fun of the 1990s-era action flick, and has a whole slew of hidden cameos and movie references. Wasn't appreciated for its metafictional genius at the time but is pure nostalgic gold at this point: a time capsule of sorts, to paraphrase a recent critique of it.)