Rethinking my Worst Movie Ever

My wife and I caught Batman & Robin on television the other day and decided to watch it. Ever since it came out, I've always maintained that this is my least favorite movie of all time, not only because it was so disappointing but also for nearly killing the Batman franchise. (And yet again why we are so thankful to Christopher Nolan. Hail Nolan! Hail!) It was truly bad.

Sitting down to watch it again, I am struck that this movie is even worse now than when it came out, partly because of the Nolan films. The dialogue is still utterly atrocious, the acting too over-the-top, and the villains terrible representations of their comic book counterparts. (Especially Bane.) And yet, while watching it, I realized something, a truth that so many others have discovered while I stubbornly nursed this decades old grudge: it's actually a fun movie to watch in a so-bad-it's-good kind of way.

I am no stranger to this phenomenon: films made in earnestness that failed so hard they became awesome for other reasons. Plan 9 From Outer Space. Manos:The Hands of Fate. Most Nicholas Cage movies. They develop a cult following because of their stupidity and are, in fact, celebrated because of it. Such movies were the bread-and-butter of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and are still a huge part of Rifftrax. Bad movies can be fun in the right context.

Why we need a Back to the Future remake

 

I know what you’re thinking. There are too many remakes already, don’t give Hollywood any more ideas. Normally, I agree, and I’d hate to see most of my beloved 80′s movies remade. To be fair, they did a good job with Footloose, but the less said about Red Dawn, the better.

Most of the time I’m ambivalent about remakes, but this is one case in which a remake is a good idea. I know, it sounds sacrilegious, but hear me out. This is not another case of Hollywood being out of ideas, it's Hollywood having a very good idea.

Besides, it’s not like we’ve never had good remakes before. Some of our most beloved movies are remakes. Ben Hur, Wizard of Oz, and The Muppet Christmas Carol are fantastic remakes of previous films.

Each was more than just a cynical cash grab; it was either an improvement over the previous version, or it added something new the original lacked. That’s the key to a proper remake: there’s a good reason for it, and Back to the Future has a very, very good reason for being remade.

Ten Best Christmas Movies of the last 30 years

It’s December, and that means the airwaves and cinemas are flooded with Christmas movies. In case you hadn’t noticed, most of those movies are just awful. There’s no way you’d watch them for free on television, and you can’t imagine anyone paying money to see them in a theater. Christmas movies are usually the laziest form of film-making, as it’s usually the same story every time: someone has a problem and the magic of Christmas makes it all better and everyone learns a life lesson.

The good news is that not all Christmas movies are terrible. There’s been a few good ones, and while It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street are indeed classics, I want to focus on the past three decades and look at more recent Christmas fare. These movies that are starting to become classics that will be beloved by future generations.

If you’re in the mood for a Christmas movie and don’t want to get stuck watching Fred Claus, here are ten great Christmas movies that will put you in a good, Christmas spirit.

This Relationship Corner: Try it, You'll Like It

My wife has a habit of putting a book in my hand and demanding I read it. I just finished one a few weeks ago, in fact. We're both book-lovers, so reading has always been a shared interest. However, we often like to read different things, making it hard to talk about books because we don't know what the other is reading. This is why she assigns me homework, because she wants to talk to be about the books she loves so much.

Reading a book is a pretty serious time commitment, which is why I can be pretty picky about what I read. However, when my wife hands me a book, I'll often drop whatever I'm already reading and plow into it. Over the years, she's handed me many, many books and I've enjoyed all of them. Now, when she hands me something, I know I'll enjoy it, or at the very least enjoy talking about it with her.

We can't live in fear

I didn't find out about the Aurora shooting until after I posted my review for The Dark Knight Rises. My wife and I caught an early showing, I banged out my thoughts when we got home, and then I turned on the television. I was tempted to take the review down, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that my review needed to stay up. Not because it's the greatest review in the world, but because I won't let the act of a madman stop me from living my life.

I'm not sure how many people in that early morning crowd knew about the shooting. No one was talking about it or nervously joking that it could happen there. I think we were all in the dark, but I know that by the end of the day yesterday, everyone who planned to go see The Dark Knight Rises knew about what happened. And I'm certain that some of them decided to stay home.

The Enemy of Good

In all the hullabaloo over yesterday's Supreme Court Ruling on Obama's health care act, we forget that Obama didn't come up with the plan. Ironically, a large part of the plan was cribbed from Richard Nixon's own plans. Believe it or not, Tricky Dick wanted to reform health care, and he actually had an ally in Senator  Ted Kennedy. However, because the plan wasn't exactly what Kennedy wanted, because it was just good and not perfect, Kennedy scuttled the whole thing.

Kennedy died before any actual health care reform bill was passed. One of his biggest regrets, aside from inconvenient lakes (zing!), was sabotaging Nixon's plan because it wasn't perfect. Kennedy learned a hard lesson, one we should all be wary of: perfect is the enemy of good.

I'm not here to talk about the specifics of the Affordable Care Act (or "Obamacare" for short). No, I want to talk about the perfection trap, the lie that everything must be perfect or it isn't good. That if you can find one fault, one flaw, then we need to tear everything down and start over.

Six Silly Movie Premises that Worked

This summer, theaters were graced with Battleship, a movie based on the classic board game. While this crazy adaptation didn't work out so well, it hasn't stopped Hollywood from pursuing other silly ideas, including Ouija boards and Tonka Trucks. We’ve seen strange movies come and go, and sometimes those odd premises pay off in ways we just didn’t expect. They might not all be critical successes, but they will at the very least become cult classics.

So before we write off all these movie premises as Hollywood running out of ideas (again) let’s look at some other movies that had people scratching their heads until they saw the finished copy.

Six More Parody Movies that can Stand on Their Own

The trouble with a lot of parody movies is that they’re very context specific. They spoof specific pop culture trends that most people won’ even remember six months later. The years are not kind to those parody movies, and watching them is like pulling up an old Tonight Show monologue from 15 years ago.

You get that it’s supposed to be funny, but you have no idea why anyone’s laughing. (Unless it’s a Bill Clinton joke – those are timeless.)

The good news is that there are plenty of parody movies that transcend time, not needing an audience up to date on the latest pop culture. The best parodies are able to appeal to those who can appreciate the spoof of the source material, and to those who have no clue what’s being spoofed. If the movie is well-written and funny enough, it’s sometimes easy to forget that it’s a parody at all, which is the case for many of the movies listed below.

Still More 80's Movies Your Kids Need to See

I should have known. The instant I put out a list of 80′s movies this new generation needs to see, all I hear about are the movies I’ve criminally left off the list. On the plus side, the next column practically writes itself as I am flooded with suggestions.

I get the passion. The 80′s was a profound time for a lot of us. For me, at least, it represents my childhood, and there was no more magical moment than going to the theater, letting the lights grow dim, and seeing something amazing. Plus, it was filled with all kinds of words I’d never hear in my Saturday Morning Cartoons, so that was extra special.

Eight Good Portrayals of Christians in Mainstream Media

I can name this Christian in one cross

Most of the time, when Christians get portrayed in mainstream television and movies, we aren’t exactly shining beacons of great character. We’re portrayed as ignorant, intolerant, backwards, or just simply the villains. Before you think this is a rant about the “Liberal Media” that’s hostile to Christians, I should point out that when we Christians are left to our own devices, our output isn’t always stellar, either. (Yes Kirk Cameron, I’m talking about you.)

The good news is that there are examples of Christians who are portrayed well. Believe it or not, Hollywood (or in one case the BBC) got it right when it came to portraying what it really means to live a life of faith. These characters aren’t perfect, they have their own flaws and failings, but what they all have in common is a deep abiding faith that guides them and motivates them to help others. They embody the core tenets of the faith, and their imperfections are not that different from our own. After all, perfect characters of any stripe aren’t that interesting, and Christians are no different.

8 Great 80's Movies

As a child of the 80's, I had many people in my life trying to expand my horizons, particularly regarding the merits of media from the 1950's. Sometimes it was the music (referred to as "real music") or the television shows (thank you Nick at Night) but, most of the time my elders wanted me to watch the great movies of the 1950's. To me, all these things were in the stone age. We're talking 3 decades and 6 presidents ago. That's forever for a child. It didn't help matters that when I watched Back to the Future, I was amazed at the primitive world of the 1950's and wondered how anyone could live in that decade. Why on earth would I want to watch a movie made in the 50's?

I was ignorant, and thankfully I was relieved of said ignorance about that decade and have now grown to appreciate those influences: the television, music, and of course the movies. Well, now many of my fellow children of the 80's have children of their own, children who hold a similarly ignorant view of the time period three decades prior, with the strange music, odd television shows, and of course, movies that they readily dismiss. They, too, need to have their ignorance eliminated so they can fully appreciate the contribution that this decade's movies made to our culture.

Today I will profile 8 essential movies of the 80's. It is imperative that this current generation see these movies. If I happen to converse with your child one day, and they don't get a single reference from Airplane, Ghostbusters, or Back to the Future, then I'm blaming you. Because that's just bad parenting.