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"The Room"


JimBartell

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I must confess to being an aficionado of Very Bad Movies. I own my own copies of most of Ed Wood's oeuvre, including his masterpiece "Plan 9 from Outer Space". But firmly entrenched as the nadir of Cinema has always been "Manos: The Hands of Fate". Produced by a fertilizer salesman, filmed on a 16mm Bell & Howell that only held 32 seconds of film and shot entirely MOS (all dialogue was dubbed in one day by 4 actors), I thought this baby was unassailable.

 

I was wrong. I just found out about Tommy Wiseau's masterwork, "The Room". I bought a copy from Amazon for $8.50 and watched it twice this weekend.

 

Oh. My. God.

 

I won't bore you with a review as you can read many on IMDB and even Wikipedia, but if you like the shlock like I do, you cannot miss this movie. It's like watching ET perform Shakespeare.

 

One interesting note is he rented a "first time directors package" from Birns & Sawyer, which included a ARRI BL and a Sony HD camera meant for behind the scenes filming . Not understanding the differences between the formats he sagely decided to simply mount the two cameras side by side and filmed in both formats simultaneously. Seriously.

 

Do yourself a treat. Get a copy of this movie and prepare to laugh your ass off, once the shock & awe wear off.

 

Jim "So, how's your sex life?" Bartell

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JIM!!

 

In June I was shooting a feature up in Maine and my AC turns me onto this gem one evening while amusing ourselves on YouTube. I have been obsessed with it ever since. It is everything you say it is, but so much more. Watch it a few times. It only gets better. Are you aware the budget on that film was $6 million?

 

Jim, you're a party animal, I know. If you want an evening of fun that rivals any other you may experience in your life, get yourself to one of the midnight screenings of the film. For those of you that don't know, this film is SO bad it has formed a cult following similar to that of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". Fans dress up, act out scenes, yell and throw stuff at the screen, etc. I went for my first time last month. The experience cannot be described other than to say it must be experienced.

 

I have a "viewers guide" that tells you what to do while watching at the screenings. Let me know if you're going to make it.

 

"Cheep, cheep, cheep"

 

-Afton

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"Oh, Hi" Afton,

 

I want that viewers guide. I'm dusting off my tux and I have a giant box of plastic spoons from Cosco. Now I just need a football.

 

I guess that $6M went for the billboard that was up for 5 years and the magazine ads. It certainly didn't make it onto the screen. BTW, the tuxedo football scene is filmed in the parking lot of Birns & Sawyer. Been there many times.

 

If you go to the IMDB page for "The Room" and read the User Comments and Message Boards there are posts from a couple of people who worked on this movie. Very informative and hilarious.

 

Also, if you get the DVD there is an interview with Tommy Wiseau where you will discover he is just as clue-free as you would expect. He explains how every scene was "meticulously crafted" and if he had to do it again wouldn't change a thing. This for a movie where three of the main actors and two entire crews quit. And a sex scene had to be reused because the actress refused to be near him again.

 

Also, I recommend the RiffTrax for this movie. Makes it even more fun if you can't get to the theater.

 

Jim "If you think I'm tired today, wait'll you see me tomorrow" Bartell

Edited by JimBartell
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I am almost afraid to watch the whole thing. I just found an interview on youtube that had clips interspersed and really have few words about the "awesomeness" of this film ;-0 Apparently it cost 6 million to produce. 6 MILLION! What could I have done with 6 Million...........

Embrace the madness Amelia! You have nothing to lose but your sanity!

 

I'm holding with the theory that the bulk of the money was spent on the billboard and ads. Of course, the only source for the 6 million dollar figure is Tommy himself, and his grip on reality seems tenuous at best.

 

Jim "Leave your stupid comments in your pocket!!" Bartell

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almost as good as the movie are the "special features" including an interview with the genius behind it. I got the dvd as a gift a while back and pop it in to amaze dp friends when they stop by. Michael Price thought it was an snl skit it was so bad.

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almost as good as the movie are the "special features" including an interview with the genius behind it. I got the dvd as a gift a while back and pop it in to amaze dp friends when they stop by. Michael Price thought it was an snl skit it was so bad.

 

 

I looked into this shit, it really makes me wanna see it

and found the next screening:

http://www.theroommovie.com/#

 

AUG 29th, 2009 at the Laemmle 5 on Sunset!

 

u guys interested?

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almost as good as the movie are the "special features" including an interview with the genius behind it. I got the dvd as a gift a while back and pop it in to amaze dp friends when they stop by. Michael Price thought it was an snl skit it was so bad.

 

 

I looked into this shit, it really makes me wanna see it

and found the next screening:

http://www.theroommovie.com/#

 

AUG 29th, 2009 at the Laemmle 5 on Sunset!

 

u guys interested?

 

"Oh, Hi" Ron, "Oh, Hi" Jerry,

 

Ron couldn't be more right. The included interview and several I've read on-line are very illustrative. When asked questions like "Why are the guys wearing tuxedo's and playing football?", which is, trust me, a very logical question, his answer will leave you even more confused. The best reasoning I can figure out is that it all makes perfect sense to him.

 

And I'll go to the screening if Ron goes.

 

Jim "I feel like I'm sitting on an atomic bomb waiting for it to go off" Bartell

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