Bad Idea Theater Movie FAQ
Or; Silent Larry blathers on and on about nothing in particular.
Contents:
Why the heck
would anyone sit down to watch a movie at Burning Man?
Aren't there more exciting things going on?
Oh, lots!
You're not the first person to ask that question. I was the first person to ask that
question. But for some strange reason, it happens. Some actual
observations from our patrons:
- As good a place as any to chill after debauchery elsewhere
- Something to do while getting drunk
- Too drunk to leave (supporting evidence; people passed out on
floor)
- Too cold to leave
- Too windy/dusty to leave
- Came in for one of the above, then shocked to find they enjoy bad
movies
In counterpoint to number 2, some people find the booze helps them get
through the movies. Either way, it works out.
Part of our rational for favoring obscure b-movies
is the thought that it might be kinda silly to sit on your hind end at
Burning Man (not that anything silly ever happens at Burning Man), just
to just watch a flick that has played in mainstream theaters and/or
high-rotation on cable. So we try offer stuff most people might not get
to see at home.
What kinds of movies
do you show?
Short
answer: Bad ones, with emphasis on lesser-known titles.
Long answer: Bad
is subjective; we love these movies and
consider them good movies that are "bad" only by popular standards.
Also, we do sneak in some not-so-bad movies.
We start by mining TV & movie genres such as:
We filter through the above to extract films that are either
intentionally or unintentionally funny, or at least fun to watch. Good bad movies, if
you will. We favor titles that are less known to the
general public.
What do you mean
by "good bad movies"?
- Movies that are we think are good, but would probably would be
considered "bad" by popular standards.
- Movies that are indeed "bad", but are fun to watch.
- Movies that possess elements of both of the above.
Some bad movies are just really, really bad with little or no payoff in
the way of laughs. Example: I always liked to put They Saved
Hitler's Brain on the movie list, just 'cause the title is so nice.
But, it's really bad and slow.
There's a bit of fun toward the end, what with Hitler's wired-up head
in
a jar, making faces and shouting orders. But it's long slow trip to get
there. Contrast with Plan 9 from Outer Space, which is unintentionally
goofy from start to finish. Plan 9 is kind of pushing our envelope in
that it's so well known, but it makes up for it in the sheer majesty of
its awful goodness. Or good awfulness.
I've never
heard of most of the movies you show! What gives?
Then we've done our job. We like to show movies that don't get a lot of
exposure. Many of them are out of print, or at least not
available
on the mass home video market. Hence; we would rather show a cult film
like Doctor
Caligari rather than say The Rocky
Horror Picture Show, which even your nice old aunt Suzie has seen.
Bless her little heart...
That said, some of the films we show have made the rounds of art house
theaters, or show up on cable in the wee hours.
Whut's all this
here fancy "genre" talk an' such?
Here's a quick breakdown. There's a good deal of overlap between most
of these groups.
Badly done,
vintage science fiction:
"Vintage";
think early 50's to late 60's.
"Badly done"; add points for any of the following:
- Microscopic budget
- "You can see the strings!" grade special effects
- Robots of the "walking water heater" variety
- Hot chicks living in caves on the moon
- Robots of the "guy in a gorilla suit with a diving helmet" variety
- Alien dudes or robots who fall for earth women
- Evil scientists who are into maniacal laughter
Cult:
Vintage
educational & industrial safety:
Sometimes referred to as "Social
Engineering" or "Mental Hygiene" films. These gems were short 16mm
films
from the 50's and 60's intended to help youngsters understand the
importance of washing their hands, proper dating techniques, or
preparing to be a happy housewife. Your government, helping you to help
yourself.
While we're sure that industrial safety films were meant to be a
serious matter, you sure couldn't tell that from watching them
now. Learn how to be a danger to yourself and others on the job site,
with some of the most incompetent/unlucky workers you're ever likely to
meet.
Classic exploitation:
"Movie history 101: there used to be
something called "the exploitation movie." What distinguished
exploitation movies from the usual fare was that exploitation movies
were made (often by indie hustlers) with a carny's shrewd nose for a
fast buck. What this usually meant was that the movie's angle (its
"hook") and its marketing campaign were paramount; they were, in fact,
often come up with first, with the movie itself being made as an
afterthought." --
blowhards.com:
Exploitation Movies
Much of what were once the shocking and taboo subjects of the
expoitation films of the 50's & 60's have since become become
fodder
for network TV sitcoms. The shock value of most of these films has aged
into high camp.
Psychotronic:
Ok, this is another one that is tough
to nail down, because everybody's got their own definition of the term.
In it's loosest use, it could include all the other genres we list
here.
A narrower definition seems to be: "Of or relating to a genre of
film characterized by bizarre or shocking story lines, often shot on a
low budget."
Movie trailers:
Spoofs of the above genres:
Montage pieces:
Oddball stuff
that might not fit in any of the above:
What time/day do the
movies start?
We start showing movies just after sundown, about 8pm at Burning Man.
They might run until 3
or 4 am.
With any luck we will be showing movies the first Sunday night, running
each night
all week through Saturday night & during the burn. No movies on the
last Sunday night, but the bar will may be open.
When will you be
showing (insert movie
title here) ?
Seriously, we usually have no
schedule
to
speak of (this could change). Wait, it DID change! Here is the 2007 schedule... sort of. It's more
of a daily theme schedule.
Hey,
I brought this really great movie! You guys wanna play it?
Short answer: Nope, but thanks for
the offer! :)
Long answer: Perhaps you do have a great movie... if only we showed
great movies. We show pretty much mostly "bad" movies, selected per the theme
described above.
So there we have an issue right off the bat. To our astonishment, we've
found that we have developed something of a clientele who show up
expecting to see movies in the theme we have described. We'd hate to
disappoint them by jumping off theme... unless you know how to quell a
drunken riot. Ok that's a tad bit exaggerated, but we do want to stay
on
theme.
Slightly selfish answer: It's like this... We've got a bunch of
time & moola invested in our movie library. We work like fiends to
tote the whole mess out to you-know-where and set it up. After all
that, for the 6 or 7 nights we run movies; we're kinda psyched up to
run as many as we can out of the movies we've been working on for the
year. It's not that we don't want to run your movie... it just means
that running yours would mean we bump one of ours, and we're selfish
bastards.
That said, we welcome suggestions
by folks who grok our movie theme. I've personally had many fine
conversations at the bar with nice folks who gave us some great tips
(uh, movie tips), and some of those movies are now on our play list.
Where do you find these movies?
I get this question a lot,
which suggests that
even among the eclectic Burning Man crowd, a lot of folks do their
movie
shopping at Blockbuster. There are exceptions, but the most prolific of
the home video chain stores tend to not carry obscure B-movies. Or at
most, they carry only a fraction of what's available. We spend a lot of
time digging for likely candidates online. Many of these movies can be
ordered from amazon or other major online distributors. Some have never
had a
conventional distribution and are sold online through specialty sites
only, sometimes directly from the film maker. Some are just plain "not
available", and we may have to dig hard just to come up with a
third-generation transfer. We don't pirate copyrighted work. If there
is a
legitimate release, we buy it.
What movies have you previously
shown?
See:
You guys produced these spoofs, right.?
Nope. Not a one. We're flattered that you'd think that, though. Maybe
one of these days...
What's the deal with that alternate soundtrack
to Harry Potter?
It's called "Wizard People, Dear Readers".
You can download the soundtrack free, but you'll need to have on hand
the movie Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone to go with it.
What is "BIT Lite"?
Bad Idea Theater Lite is a
stripped-down no-frills version we started taking to some southern
California regionals
in 2005. No bar, no dome, just movies under
an awning. It ain't much but it's something.
These questions
suck. I have a real question; What's your email address?
Sure, it's right here. Knock yourself
out!
Do you know how ugly your web site is?
Yep. We'd give you the usual story about how lean html is faster and
more efficient, but quite honestly we don't know what the hell we're
doing. We all know how much better any web site is with midi playback
of random public domain music... Sorry to disappoint.
Oh, lots!
You're not the first person to ask that question. I was the first person to ask that
question. But for some strange reason, it happens. Some actual
observations from our patrons:
Spoofs could be anything from taking
existing film and replacing dialog:
