Cinema of the Absurd

Welcome to a new feature of Stale Popcorn. It's called "Cinema of the Absurd" (obviously) and it is my way of celebrating the absolutely ridiculous, yet downright wonderful, part of cinema that too often gets shunned and swept under the (usually) flamboyantly camp rug.

Some of these films I believe are legitimately good movies that just receive short thrift from people, while others are clearly not good in the slightest - yet I absolutely adore them. They sometimes star big famous celebrities (John Travolta, Sandra Bullock x2 amongst others) while some are complete no-name casts that rise above their, er, less than lofty aspirations.

It's all in the matter of good fun though really. I hope that these little snapshots can help you ENJOY stuff more. Because if there is one thing that too many cinephiles can be guilty of, it's being too god damned serious. I am guilty of that many times, but sometimes I just can't resist and find myself having a blast.

I will leave this introductory piece with a quote from Roger Ebert's review of Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction (surely a future candidate for this very feature);

Here is a movie so outrageous and preposterous it is either (a) suicidal or (b) throbbing with a horrible fascination. I lean toward (b). It's a lot of things, but boring is not one of them. I cannot recommend the movie, but ... why the hell can't I? Just because it's godawful? What kind of reason is that for staying away from a movie? Godawful and boring, that would be a reason.

This feature will appear on/off on the blog whenever I feel like doing it. The very first entry will revolve around John Travolta, big hair and one of the silliest Broadway productions New York City has ever seen. 'Til then, enjoy the rest of the blog. Cheers (Big Ears)