"Mostly, I’ve wasted my life. I always felt I had kind of potential, but I never did use it. Don’t know. More or less I’ve frittered my life away, but then what else is there to do with a life but fritter it away."
-Robert Ormsby
It was rather happenstance, but quite opportune, that I decided to review Best Worst Movie so soon after announcing Birdemic—my favorite bad movie—as my next choice for movie night at The Way Station. Best Worst Movie, you see, is a documentary on the cult surrounding the awesomely bad Troll 2. Although I don't necessarily agree with Troll 2's moniker as the best worst movie, it is certainly a sincere failure; so I gotta give it points for that. As I've said before, above all else a bad movie must be heartfelt for me to take interest. So Troll 2 succeeds (fails?) with flying colors.
With Best Worst Movie, Michael Stephenson (child "star" of Troll 2) poses the question: How do you confront the infamy of association with one of the worst movies ever made? Well, there's really only two options: denial or embrace. George Hardy (the dad in Troll 2) opts for the latter. Initially embarrassed by his participation in Claudio Fragasso's hilariously insane Troll 2, Hardy eventually decides to stake his name to Troll 2's infamy.
And he has fun with it...initially. Screening after screening, convention after convention, Hardy's enthusiasm for the film begins to wane. He realizes that he has grown to love the spotlight and is now unsure how he should feel about that. Maybe he always wanted to be a star. He chose his current career, dentistry, as a means of stability; and though this ebullient man is happy fixing teeth, part of him wonders "what if." The ironic adulation he receives now for Troll 2 is a reminder of the dream he abandoned, the other career that could have been.
Though mostly a light-hearted documentary, Best Worst Movie is tinged with sadness. Of course (because I always gotta bring it back to me), I couldn't help but think of my own artistic struggles while watching this movie. Should I have opted to forego a stable job, instead devoting all of my time toward my true passion? Would I have had the courage to be a starving artist? Would it have paid off? Will my current path pay off? Time will tell if I've made the right decision.
[The trailer:]
Dave's Rating:
4 comments:
Love this movie. I missed the chance to see a double feature of this and Troll 2 -- with most of the cast appearing -- and I am still bummed about it. Kudos to Michael Stephenson for following up on the crazy cult reaction over the years.
Man, that would be an awesome double-feature. I'd love to see Troll 2 on the big screen--as well as the cast and crew.
I just listened to a podcast where they discussed Troll 2 (Lair of the Unwanted - check it out) in-depth and also touched on BWM and it's got me wanting to watch them both already. I've been aware of them for some time but just haven't gotten around to them yet.
Though I did see Birdemic recently...would you say Troll 2 is more or less entertaining? I'm guessing more.
I'll have to check out that podcast.
I think Birdemic is more entertaining than Troll 2, but with these movies it all depends on the crowd you're watching it with.
Post a Comment