c/bad-movie-defenses

My buddy's 20 minute rant about Super Mario Bros. (1993) made me see it as genius

So last Friday my friend Dave, who runs a retro game shop down in Austin, went off about the live action Super Mario Bros movie. Not the new one, the old one with the weird dystopian city and goombas with tiny heads. He said the director treated it like a cyberpunk noir instead of a kids movie, and honestly that's why it flopped but also why it's interesting now. He pointed out that the production design was insane for 1993, like they built whole sets that felt like Blade Runner if it was made by people who only knew Mario from arcade cabinets. I always hated it because it wasn't the cartoon, but after hearing him break down the villain's motives and the fungus city politics, I rewatched it last night and kinda loved it. Anyone else flip on a movie after someone explained the weird choices as intentional? What movie was it for you?

Vanilla Sky got better after I watched it at a crowded midnight screening

Caught a Fathom Events rerun last month at the AMC in downtown Portland, probably 60 people in the room. Everyone laughed at the dumb parts and went quiet during the weird dream sequences, which made the tone click for me. Alone on my couch I always focused on the plot holes, but in a group it felt like a surreal comedy with a sad heart. Does this movie work better as a shared experience, or do I just need to give Tom Cruise more chances? Has anyone else had a bad movie flip for them in a packed theater?

Watching Waterworld again after 10 years, it actually holds up better than I thought

I dragged my roommate to a revival screening last weekend at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn. We both remembered it as this giant flop from the 90s, that whole cursed production story with the sets sinking and Kevin Costner being difficult. But sitting there for almost 3 hours, I realized the world building is really consistent, and the practical effects look way better than most CGI stuff now. The main issue is pacing in the middle, but the final chase sequence is honestly thrilling. My roommate still hated it, but he also falls asleep during most Marvel movies, so I take his opinion with a grain of salt. Has anyone else gone back to a movie they used to dunk on and found themselves defending it? What changed for you, the rewatch or just getting older?

Unpopular take: Batman v Superman's ultimate cut is actually a solid movie

So I rewatched the 3 hour ultimate edition last weekend and honestly? It works way better than the theatrical version. The subplot with the African bombing and Lex's whole plan actually makes sense, plus they show Clark investigating instead of just being moody. My roommate walked in during the fight scene and laughed at me for defending it, but I stand by it. Maybe the Martha moment is still clunky, but the movie gets way too much hate for what's basically a studio edit problem. Has anyone else tried the longer cut after hating the original, and did it change your mind or make it worse?

The gas station clerk who trashed my favorite slasher flick

I was buying a soda at a 7-Eleven off I-35 and the guy behind the counter spent two minutes ripping into The Strangers while I stood there with my change, and his reasoning was so off base that it actually made me appreciate the movie more, you know, like the house noise scene he hated is the whole point, so has anyone else had a random stranger's bad take accidentally strengthen your case for a movie?

Defending Waterworld after my third watch in two weeks

I rented it again last Thursday from the library, and honestly I think the hate comes from people expecting a normal action movie. The set pieces are wild, the world building is weird in a good way, and Costner's grunting fits the character. Is it perfect? No. But I watched it with my nephew who said it was better than any Marvel movie we saw this year. Does anyone else think the extended cut fixes the pacing issues, or am I just stuck on this boat?

The $3 rental copy of Robot Monster that finally made me get it

I spent years hating this 1953 film, called it unwatchable trash. Then last month I watched it with a rowdy crowd at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn, and the energy changed everything. People were cheering for the gorilla suit alien, laughing at every line, and suddenly I saw it as a wild piece of history, not a failure. It's not good in the usual way, but it's honest and weird in a way modern remakes never are. Has anyone else had a bad movie click for them only in a packed theater?

Finally saw why everyone hates that zombie romance movie, it was me

I used to fast-forward every emotional scene because I thought slow parts were boring, then last week I watched it sober and realized the whole dread builds from those quiet moments. Anyone else ever hate a movie for years and find out the problem was your own attention span?

Overheard a guy at the theater trash The Postman, had to say something

Last Saturday at the AMC in Tucson I caught a guy telling his friend The Postman is unwatchable because it's slow and Kevin Costner looks bored. But I think that's exactly the point, the movie is about the exhaustion of rebuilding after collapse, not action. I read the book years ago and the film actually captures the quiet hopelessness better than most post-apoc stuff. Anyone else find that the so-called boring parts are what make it stick with you?.

The $8 VHS copy of Waterworld that finally made the extended cut click for me

Found it at a thrift store in Phoenix for 8 bucks. I always hated the theatrical version. The plot holes were annoying and Kevin Costner looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. But the extended cut adds back like 40 minutes of world building. The whole thing about the atoll economy and the smokers' hierarchy actually makes sense. It's still goofy, but it's a fun goofy now, not a boring goofy. My buddy Dave watched it with me last Saturday and said he'd never seen it that way either. Anyone else have a director's cut that flipped their opinion on a movie they used to dunk on?

My buddy's rant about The Phantom Menace made me defend it for real

The director's commentary on Manos: The Hands of Fate just blew my mind

Found this old DVD at a garage sale in Cleveland for 50 cents. I always heard the movie was a total disaster, but I put on the commentary track and it turns out Harold Warren shot the whole thing in like 4 days with a camera that only recorded sound half the time. The actor who played Torgo was actually just a guy who showed up to the set by mistake and they kept him because he fit the costume. That changes everything for me. Like, the movie is still bad, but knowing it was basically a weekend project with zero budget and pure chaos, it's kind of a miracle it exists at all. Has anyone else watched a commentary track and walked away liking the movie more?

My $4 thrift store DVD copy of The Room actually made it watchable

Everyone hates The Room for being a trainwreck, but I found that watching it with the Rifftrax commentary track from 2012 turns it into a total comedy goldmine. The trick is to sync the audio on your phone with the DVD player, and you gotta pause both at the same time or it falls apart. The Mark and Lisa scenes especially hit different when the guys are riffing, and it made me appreciate how weirdly structured the whole 108 minute thing is. Has anyone else tried pairing a so-bad-it's-good movie with an MST3K style track, or do you prefer the raw version?

My buddy's 2 AM rant about The Room got me thinking after 10 years of hating it

So last Friday I was over at Mike's place and he put on The Room for like the 15th time. I always laughed at it and called it garbage. But he pointed out how every single scene is just people failing to talk to each other, and honestly that's more real than most oscar bait. I sat through the whole thing without making a joke once. He asked me at 3 AM if I still thought it was the worst movie ever, and I couldn't say yes. Anyone else have a movie flip for them after someone explained it a certain way?

My hard drive died mid-edit on a film I hated, and now I kinda miss it

I spent 6 weeks editing a terrible indie horror flick, the kind with a plot hole big enough to drive a truck through, and my external drive died without warning last Tuesday. I lost every version of the cut, but I also lost all the stress of trying to make something unwatchable look decent, which is weirdly freeing. Anyone else ever had a project fail so hard it actually felt like a relief?

Hot take: Freddy Got Fingered is a legit satire and I'll die on this hill

Everyone I know treats it like pure garbage but I rewatched it last weekend after not seeing it since high school and it clicked. The whole thing is about how stupid the system is, like the scene where he throws sausages around and people treat his nonsense as art just because they think it's a career move. It's over the top on purpose, the same way kids act when adults tell them to do something pointless. Has anyone else had a movie they hated for a decade flip for them after seeing it with older eyes?