For both the readers and contributors, the Production Design Blog-a-Thon was a terrific study of film, focusing on an aspect that could easily be overlooked, depending either the film in question or the viewer him/herself. The reasoning behind the project was essential--there are so many contributors to a given film, and sadly, many of them can easily be overlooked. The selected films represented diversity, from mainstream (Star Wars) to independent (George Washington); Old Hollywood (Frank Capra) to New Fantasy (Tim Burton). However, every submission was linked by a pure, gleeful love of movies (I choose these adjectives carefully. Re-read some of the contributions and try to tell me they're not accurate).
On another note, the project made me think of other films, ones that most of us wouldn't think to include in such a discussion. I used to call these films "guilty pleasures," but a friend of mine made a wonderful point: If you enjoy a certain film (or album), there should be no shame in admitting it. They are not guilty, merely pleasures. One person's Jean-Luc Godard is another person's Uwe Boll, and vice versa. My point is not to get into an argument of "high" or "low" cinema, but to rather keep the joy of film stirring, and to come clean in sharing some former "guilty pleasures." I have a strong love of foreign and independent cinema, but here are five movies that I heartily enjoy, and will gladly admit to everyone:
1.) "Happy Gilmore"
2.) "Death To Smoochy"
3.) "Must Love Dogs"
4.) "Doom" (videogame adaptation)
5.) "Scream"
Go ahead, give it a try. We all love films that will probably never appear on the Criterion Collection, and admitting this can be exhilarating.
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2 comments:
I'm still waiting for Criterion to give Good Burger the deluxe two-disc, remastered and restored, extended edition treatment. That'll be the day: Good Burger: Criterion Collection - Spine #627.
Great name drop with Uwe Boll, by the way! You haven't lived until you've made it through House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark AND Bloodrayne! Inexplicably, even to me, I do have an inkling of bizarre anticipation for the release of Postal. Is there something wrong with me??
Most likely, yes.
I can't help but wonder: If Uwe Boll wasn't so defensive or personally unpleasant, could he be this generation's Ed Wood?
I also might do some research and write an article on Lloyd Kaufman, something to the effect of "good bad films." Could be thought-provoking.
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