Watched: 06/21/2024
Format: Amazon Prime
Viewing: First
Director: Sean-Michael Argo
Where to start?
Since high school, intentionally watching bad movies has been a routine part of my film viewing. I couldn't count how many bad movies I've watched with the aid of MST3K, RiffTrax, Dug, etc... or just putting a bad movie on myself and giving it a go with no professional support. But the number of these films watched has been... astronomical. And, in fact, my guilt regarding watching so many bad movies is part of why I've recently taken on my homework task of watching movies by the big name directors I've previously avoided.
And so it is that, thanks to Dug, I've now seen a movie that was not just bad for many of the reasons a movie doesn't work out (flat acting, a wandering script, horrendous editing...), but Ember Days (2013) pioneered new and innovative ways in how it chose to be a very bad movie. It's one of those movies where you'd love a whole other movie to cover what went into this movie, what the filmmakers were thinking, and how they think of their product now.
I do not say this lightly: this is possibly one of the worst movies I've ever seen. That's a spot which is, honestly, pretty hard to reach (and I'm pretty sure is usually occupied by Monster-a-Go-Go). And I say this in the same year I watched Showgirls 2: Penny's From Heaven.
If I have any sympathy for the film, it is most certainly due to the zero-budget nature of the production. And, yes, I appreciate that a bunch of people outside of Hollywood decided to make a movie, and you shouldn't bag on people trying.
But I watched it, and I'm here to tell the tale.
What makes Ember Days so magical?