Greetings,
So, terrible movies are pretty fun, am I right? Okay, I know I've complained a lot about how complacent and lazy and just plain wrong so many film makers have been, especially in recent years. But since we can't change what has already happened, we may as well enjoy what we can in the cinematic cesspool. So, yes, I do enjoy a good bad movie every so often, for several different reasons. Whether I like them to mock them or because I think they're good whilst others don't, not-so-great movies have their place. But how do we navigate through the billions upon billions of awful movies to find ones that we can actually get a kick out of? Well, for that, you've got to go the professionals, and one of the best to seek out is Good Bad Flicks.
Good Bad Flicks is a web series that began in 2010, and the man behind it is Cecil Trachenburg. As far as I know, he works alone, like many great men. Anyway, I've been a fan of his for a few years now. Coming from a family of bad movie lovers, I gravitated toward his take on them. Going back to some of his first videos, I noticed that he started with a lot of unknown B-movies, usually of the horror genre, and most of which I had never heard. Apparently, that was his intention when he began, to share such movies. As time progressed, he started to review films that fell more into a cult classic status, slightly more well known, and now, in addition to those, he also covers a lot of box office flops that most of us have heard of.
Now, like what I said about myself, Cecil says that he enjoys all the movies he reviews, but for different reasons. Sometimes, he just likes to make fun of the ridiculousness of them, but other times, he sees them as misunderstood gems that other people think are bad simply because they think they're supposed to do so. In turn, this leads him to being more informative about the behind the scenes aspects of certain film productions than some other reviewers. Not to say that just because he's a bit more cinematically educational it means that he's not entertaining. Oh, no. He is plenty funny, as you tend to have to be in order to keep the audience happy. I'm certainly happy.
But besides doing only the expected movie reviews, Cecil has branched off and added some other types of videos to his repertoire, if you will. Of course, like most reviewers, myself included, he has dabbled in the art of List Making, and he weekly tells us of his Netflix Instant Streaming recommendations, which come in handy. For you gamers out there, he even covers some Good Bad Games. He has also done a few somewhat editorial-like pieces, discussing things like "What happened to the PG-13 rating?' and "What happened to movie trailers?", good questions both. But I think the best thing he does is his "Exploring" series. With these, he is even more informative than usual, and while still entertaining, these tend to be a tad less jokey, at least, in my opinion. Still, they are fantastic. I think with the "Exploring" series, more than anything else, this is where he really goes in depth to try to gain these films the legitimate appreciation and respect that they deserve. Sounds good to me. And as someone who likes to think I know very much about cinema, even I learn a lot with these videos. See, I can be humble.
As far as where you can find Cecil Trachenburg and his Good Bad Flicks series, he is pretty much EVERYWHERE! Yeah, he's like a Kardashian that we DON'T want to send off to another planet. Hmmm. I feel like I should take that joke back. Seriously, though, the series can be found on YouTube and his own website. Just do a Google search, if all else fails.
Obviously, I am recommending the Good Bad Flicks series to anyone who finds any kind of joy in such movies, as I do. But even if you don't tend to go that way, you will still be entertained and informed. And who knows? You might even make your way to seeing one of the featured films. Bottom line, this guy is good at what he does, and if you can support him, one way or another, I say go for it. Oh, and by the way, when I say he's "good", I mean, good good. Not good bad. See what I did there?
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
