Bad Meaning Good 4

Friday, June 19 2009

Bad_meaning_good_4_-_for_web

On the first Monday of every month DJ Intel and myself host our 'Bad Meaning Good' movie night at The Burlington in Chicago. It is a night of movies devoted to the offbeat oddities and cult favorites from the glory days of trash cinema. Every month we show a double header of thematically-connected films over free pizza from 8-10pm and then 10-midnight, followed by the both of us playing records for the remainder of the evening.

So... Our fourth installment of Bad Meaning Good is just around the corner and you know that means... Bad movies are the order of the day and we wouldn't have it any other way. This month we've come up with another pairing of deliciously stupid films to help numb your brain from the harshness of reality (and trust me, they will do just that).

Showing first, from 8-10pm:
The Stuff (1985)

Synopsis:
"A new taste sensation is sweeping the nation, it's "The Stuff!" When a miner finds a dubious, white substance seeping from the ground he tastes its magic and voila!... The Stuff is then packaged and sold to an unsuspecting American public. This campy B movie classic is an often hilarious parody of American consumerism filled to the brim with dark humor and scores of hilariously disgusting gore."

Yes, it is indeed a very bad movie... But an outrageously entertaining and subversive one as well. Additionally, this should give you a pretty good idea of what happens to a person who consumes 'The Stuff':

Showing second, from 10-midnight.
Street Trash (1987)

Synopsis:
"This very dark comedy follows the path of two transients and a hideously noxious adult beverage known as Viper. The homeless gents soon find that the libation, sold to them for a buck by the owner of a local liquor store, actually melts the body of those who drink it. If they want to avoid certain death, homeless brothers Fred and Kevin will have to resist the temptation to imbibe. ‘Street Trash’ also features a notorious “severed privates” scene in which a group of homeless men play keep away with one of their buddy's severed members as he watches in futility."

Honestly, this is too good to be missed. 'Street Trash' is undoubtedly one of my favorite bad movies of all time and what's better is that it has a trailer for the ages as well.

... Now, how can you watch that and not be completely, unabashedly entertained? I defy you to do so.

Both of these movies deal with themes about excess and consumption in the 80's and I think there's a great deal of Reagan-era commentary at play, despite the poor execution and laughably ridiculous results of the movies themselves. Speaking for myself, I'm a real sucker for entertainment that bathes scathing, left-of-center and beneath-the-surface ideas with liberal amounts of absurdity and outrageous comedy. That's just me. However, regardless of whether you find meaning in the message or are simply enamored with the idea of watching people explode in a hideous display of budget level special effects, this should be a riot of a time.

I'm very much looking forward to it.

Tags: Bad Meaning Good


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