Tucker and Dale vs Evil.
It has a silly/dumb sounding name, a premise with every likelihood of being schlocky garbage, and no budget or marketing to speak of. And some of the cast certainly act like they know they’re in a low budget flick just phoning it in. Yet Tyler Labine as Dale and Alan Tudyk as Tucker bring so much humor and endearing energy to it as a couple of misunderstood sweethearts, that it is one of my all-time favorite films.
Honestly I like its message too. If nobody told stories about crazy homicidal hillbillies, none of the movie would’ve happened.
Definitely a great film worth watching.
Alita: Battle Angel.
The film looks stupid because they gave the main character giant anime eyes.
In the context of the film it makes sense and I think the look is meant to mirror the anime it is from… but for the film it still makes the film look stupid. Now the film itself is far from perfect, there is at least one storyline that is utter dogshit. However! The film ultimately was solid.
Sadly it ends setting up future films that will never happen, but I think it’s still enjoyable overall.
Love the universe but the whole anime eyes thing was just way too silly. They should’ve pulled a Sonic and made her look more normal.
Oh I completely agree. The anime eyes did not add to the film. It also sucks because the actress who played Alita, Rose Salazar, did a great job, but it’s such an uncanny valley type look that I didn’t recognize her anywhere else.
It’s one thing when it’s Andy Serkis playing Gollum or something but she was just playing a robot girl, but she looks like a throwaway CGI character.
Also she was the only one with the eyes! That’s the most inexplicable thing. Maybe if other people had the eyes it’d be ok, maybe there a thing people do. But she’s the only one so it’s extra weird.
The live action Chip N’ Dale Rescue Rangers remake on Disney+ is SOOOOOO much better than it has any right to be.
It should be terrible, unwatchable, irredeemable garbage.
It is probably one of the best “kids” movies I’ve seen in the last decade.
Saw that one in theaters. Girlfriend is a Zillenial who has never seen the show. Still loved it. It’s great even on its own. Don’t want to spoil anything so the only other thing I’ll say is just see it. Going in blind is best.
Mystery Men
I don’t understand why this one isn’t better known. It’s great.
Nacho Libre
Napoleon Dynamite
Brain Candy
“Did you tell them they were the orphans’ chips?”
Nacho Libre rules.
Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time 🤷🏿♀️
The recent Dungeons and Dragons.
‘Upgrade’ is an excellent sifi B movie.
Upgrade was not a “B” movie by any stretch. Low budget doesn’t mean B. Upgrade was more well done than much of the “A” stuff that’s put out.
But obviously this is opinion and depends how you define B movies.
The question was does it look like it would suck, at face value. I think Upgrade qualifies.
I totally thought Upgrade would suck. I’ve watched it 10 times now, and every time it gets better. Just stellar work.
A Knight’s Tale. Not only is it a good movie but it was my introduction to Paul Bettany and Alan Tudyk and they were brilliant in it.
Alan Tudyk is a gem! There’s a scene that I love from a doc about the voice acting on Moana. Cuts to Tudyk doing chicken sounds (he played the chicken), when he slyly looks into the camera and says “I went to Julliard”.
If you haven’t, watch Resident Alien.
the clip in all its glory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaGYXjMwS60
It didn’t click until I’d finished watching it that they’d tricked me into loving a sports underdog movie.
It’s true. The cocky rival who cheats, the training montages, the win despite all odds… It has every trope of the genre with a medieval set dressing.
Why dont they do this with more genres? Like I want a musician biopic movie ala Bohemian Rhapsody or Rocketman about a couple bards in England in the dark ages, and it is just Simon and Garfunkel doing Simon and Garfunkel songs on lyres and flutes completely anachronistically. Not satirically. Completely earnestly and yet fun.
“Trudging!”
“I will fong you. I will fong you until your entrails become extrails! I will—pain! Lots of pain!”
I do believe I’ll be watching this movie again today. 😁
Lets not forget Rufus Sewell, who is such an excellent villain
Liked him since Dark City which could be another candidate for this list.
I just can’t get past the dance scene.
I love it. Starts off cringe but then once the Golden Years kicks in it’s magical.
Genuinely a top 3 movie for me. Heath, Paul and Alan are all fantastic in it. I will never not watch it if an opportunity presents itself.
And it left its mark on renaissance jousts everywhere. Always hear We Will Rock You at so many different ren fairs.
That movie has perfect casting. Everyone in it is exactly right for their parts. There is a B movie feel that I can’t quite put my finger on but it is an outright excellent film, one of my personal favorites.
I think it’s that it doesn’t take itself too seriously, while still remaining carefully in the world/rules they set.
Well, that’ll piss some folks off I think. I actually appreciate things like the crowd at the opening joust rocking out to We Will Rock You. The banquet dance scene is better executed; they start out with the old time dance and then fade into modern club dancing, as if to say “Here’s what’s actually taking place” versus “Here’s how the characters feel about it in terms a modern audience can understand.”
I think I’m more talking about how a lot of the sets look like styrofoam? Especially castle interiors or other masonry? There’s just something very 80’s Gragthar The Destroyer about it.
Danny Boyd wrote an excellent video essay on A Knight’s Tale. I too always wonder why there’s always someone cutting onions when I choose to watch.
Clue - A movie based on a board game sounds terrible, but it’s really funny.
For more of a movie that visually looks bad.
Primer - Very low budget time travel movie that gets better every time you watch it.
After the second watch, you should read the hours and hours of content covering the time loops and paradoxes, and then watch it three or four more times to begin to grasp what you read.
Clue didn’t work in the theater because they did this gimmick where they made three versions with three different endings. So because it had to be consistent with three contradictory endings, you CAN’T solve it as you go; it doesn’t function as a mystery movie. And, it was kind of short.
The TV cut crammed all three endings at the end with the “Here’s what REALLY happened” cards inserted, so one ending is now canonical while the others are plausible alternatives, it runs longer, especially the frantic, energetic ending plays longer, so while it still doesn’t function as a mystery movie, it is now an excellent farce.
I think it also found its audience in young millennials on television; it was made for and by my parents’ generation but they don’t like it, while a lot of people my age love it.
There’s a particular character arc twist in Clue that made me jump out of my seat.
Moon. Fantastic mostly 1 man show.
I was surprised by how Mickey 17 used a similar plot point.
The Jumanji remake was FAR better than I expected
This was going to be my pick. I went in with very low expectations which may be the reason it ended up being enjoyable. It was better than it had any reason to be.
Jack black is obnoxious but really nailed the high school girl impression.
We were having a movie night in our neighborhood a few years back where we got a bedsheet and a cheap projector. We hooked it up to a laptop to project a movie on someone’s garage for the neighborhood kids.
We ended up projecting The Lego Movie and most of the kids lost interest about half an hour in - and were falling asleep and ready to go home.
I’ll be damned if it wasn’t one of the best animated movies I’ve ever seen. I sent my wife home with our youngest just so I could stay and finish the movie.
Everything is awesome.
Edit to add: both 1 and 2 have great soundtracks.
Probably not the answer you’re looking for, but Puss In Boots 2. The second Shrek spinoff about the cat? Who honestly expected that to be such a banger
Lol now that you mention it, I didn’t see the first Puss in Boots, but took my kids to see the 2nd in the theater. I distinctly remember thinking “God damn, this movie is fucking good for a sequel to a spinoff to a movie that had two mediocre sequels.”
Honestly, princess bride. I’m usually not all that into rom com type movies, but princess bride is a masterpiece
Hey, that’s the metaplot of the movie!
The Lost City with Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, and Daniel Radcliffe. It seems like a tropey romance-action flick, but is more a parody of genre clichés. The writing, acting, and humour are pretty good.
