I think CF said he's already seen The Disaster Artist 3 times & wants to go again. So he is a fan of The Room.
So directorik, when you saw The Room, was the audience laughing & enjoying it?
I don't mean to put these films & their creators down, CF. Making a film is very hard, so people that finish, even a bad one, deserve acknowledgement, especially if they have little money. I applaud their determination to keep going when people around them may be saying it's bad. A person can seem stupid or crazy for going against everyone's advice. But sometimes you have to be like that when you're doing something new & different that people aren't used to. You need to believe in yourself & push on when things get tough.
On the other hand, this strong self belief can go wrong if you're not able to be a bit objective & be really open to people's opinions. That seems to be the case with these 3 directors in varying degrees. It's a tough balance. How can you tell who's right when you're so close to it? I like learning what I can from these examples.
To Tommy's credit, he did seem to recognize after the audience screenings that The Room is bad, & his willingness to market it that way is why it has fans.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE "The Disaster Artist" (the movie; haven't read the book). Maybe I'll watch it again today.
Thank you for sharing these thoughts, buscando; I agree with most of what you've said.
I understand that a lot of people have fun making fun of how horrible "The Room" is, and yes, that is something I can agree with -- that movie is really shitty. But I don't enjoy laughing at shitty things.
*except for the line, "oh, HAI Mark!" That one is never not funny.
I used to be a film critic. My reviews were published in the local newspaper, twice weekly. I wasn't afraid to give films I loved all the accolades I thought they deserved. I also wasn't afraid to tear a movie to shreds, in as humorous a manner as possible. The editor I worked for liked it when I did this. My readers liked it when I did this.
I don't remember what the turning-point was, but I eventually grew tired of hating on movies. I eventually had an epiphany -- instead of critiquing other people's films, I should make my own. That's my origin-story.
Occasionally, I will shit all over a movie if I really think it deserves it, for ethical reasons. But when it comes to artistic quality, which of course is subjective, I now choose to mostly reserve my public comments for movies that really impress me, in one way or another. Like "The Disaster Artist"!
What's my point, directorik? Yes, of course, we are all entitled to our opinions. It's just that not all opinions are created equally. In my freshman year of college, I remember some random asshole shouting out from the back of Psych 101 that, "opinions are like assholes - we all have one, and they all stink."
Okay, technically that's true. But it paints an incomplete picture. Some buttholes are stinkier than others. How do I know this to be true? Because I ride a bike for a living, in a city that is just as hilly as SFC, and my life-schedule doesn't allow me to shower until AFTER work, and by then, my butthole is VERRRRRRYYYYY stinky!
Sure, everyone can have an opinion about any movie they want. There are people who really enjoy my debut feature film. I know, because they've told me. And there are people who really didn't enjoy my debut feature film. I know, because they've told me. So, is my debut feature film "good" or "bad"?
Here's the answer -- I don't give a fuck! It served a purpose. It got an actual theatrical release. I'm on Rotten Tomatoes. We won some awards at some regional festivals. I made friends with some REALLY talented thespians.
I made that film always intending it to be a stepping-stone and that is EXACTLY what it turned out to be. So why the fuck would I care about the opinion of anyone who might think it's a "bad" movie? I don't.
I've seen some of the films made by other producers on this forum. Some of them are really great. Some of them are really shitty. How many of them have I ever publicly hated on? Zero. Because I know the struggle and I am a firm believer in the idea that all of us benefit when we build each other up.
So, back to my original point -- is "The Room" a "good" movie? Is "Birdemic" a "good" movie? Those are the wrong questions to be asking, and all low-budget filmmakers should instead be asking -- did they turn a profit? And how did they do that?
And more importantly, is there anything I can do to help?