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Bad Movies We Love Paperback – August 1, 1993

4.4 out of 5 stars 26

Describes poorly made motion pictures which still please because of subject matter, unique perspective, enthusiasm, or audacity

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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Margulies and Rebello, authors of a feature in Movieline magazine titled "Bad Movies We Love," here expand on their column with write-ups on 203 films. Possibly showing the effects of viewing too many bad titles, the writers have movie stars "sneer," "leer," "grimace," "smirk," or "shrug" entire sentences, and they occasionally twist or misstate a fact if it makes for a better story. Most of the chosen films fall into the "women's picture" genre. As expected, names like Elizabeth Taylor, Lana Turner, Joan Crawford, Mickey Rourke, Pia Zadora, and Rob Lowe are plentiful. The reviewers' air of gleeful bitchiness is sometimes very amusing, but it is best appreciated in small doses, since the subject matter calls for a certain amount of repetition in tone and terms (e.g., ham ). Only comprehensive film collections need consider.
- John Smothers, Monmouth Cty. Lib., Manalapan, N.J.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Plume; First Edition (August 1, 1993)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0452270057
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0452270053
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 26

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
26 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2020
tastes vary but whatever; the writing is funny in a snarky way and often includes quotes from the people making the pic. sharon stone, who gets a whole chapter, writes an entro. some of these pics are more fun to read about than actually see. but then i liked the mephisto waltz because of the jerry goldsmith score. i had avoided valley of the dolls but the book made me want to see it. it would be a good gift for a movie lover with a lot of time to sit through them. the writing carries the book but it also has pics.
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2015
This is one of the funniest books I've read in my life. Hollywood really churns out some crap-ola movies sometimes and these two catty and funny authors take the movies apart in all of their glory. They carefully dissect the ridiculous dialogue, bad montages, the bad hair or casting that makes the entire movie laughably bad.

What I really like to do is search for these movies on cable and then record them - setting myself up for a deliciously bad movie night.

This is a great book for the cinema crowd or if you just like to have fun watching over produced bad Hollywood movies from time to time!
6 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2021
A sequel is crying out to be written since we’ve had a RASH of bad movies in the last 25 years!
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2023
Today, film reviews with substance are next to impossible. Anything but lavish praise is treated as an attack. It therefore was fun to remember when critics could be witty, insightful, and honest, as these authors are. There indeed were films I well remember which may have grossed huge amounts, but which were artistic catastrophes. I may have been in the cinema watching them with friends then, but I see their shortcomings. :)
I still enjoy my well-worn copy of the Medved's "Fifty Worst Films of All Times," which was hilarious, but included stills, quotes from dialogue, citations from critics, and treatment of various characters and situations. This book has nothing like that content. Each film is given a page or so, and the (accurate) mention of a deficiency is focused more on the actor than the character or plot. In some cases, the most glaring (and amusing) deficiencies are not mentioned.
It is enjoyable enough, but peripheral.
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2018
I've had this book since its first publishing and it's been my bad-movie bible ever since. I even just bought this for a friend! Great stuff here, and it will make you smile and laugh for years to come.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2012
The number of collections of reviews of bad movies has skyrocketed since the Medved brothers  invented the genre in 1978 . This collection distinguishes itself both in content and tone. The reviews are short, generally about a page each, and concentrate on movies released between 1950 and 1970. The content is very heavy on "women's weepies," a genre that no longer exists and that many readers will not be familiar with. The reviews are typically funny, with tone that ranges from deadpan to catty. Margulies and Rebello do seem to revel in these films, and to thrill in their absurdities.

Unlike collections that specialize in bad horror films or bad science fiction films, movies do not generally make this collection because of poor production values. In fact, many of these films were banner releases at one time, starring prominent actors and in some cases even winning academy awards. They have not aged well, however, and their absurd plot twists and over- (or under-) acting make them laughable today.

My only criticism of the collection is that, in their enthusiasm for these lousy films, Margulies and Rebello suggest that they are fun to watch. In my experience with the films in the collection that I have seen myself, this is not the case. They tend to be very boring. The book is fun to read, but skip the films themselves.
6 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2020
Very funny and informtive
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2016
Excellent
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

R H Warwick
5.0 out of 5 stars What a great title, and it say it all
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 1, 2018
Some of the films I would not have placed there, but loads of them did find the place for them.
If you love so bad films there great,then this is the book for you. I don't think that Douglas Sirk
should be there. They are badish, but his direction etc brings them up to a new bad but good
film. Yes if you look at the basic story it's crap, but his direction takes it up. Just look at his films
then look at "Far From Heaven" which was a film in his style, but it's falling short by a long way.