What Terrible Movies Can Teach Us

‘The Room’ Isn’t Just So Bad It’s Good. It’s a Master Class on the Pretensions of the Film Industry

It’s film awards season, which means movie lovers and Academy/Screen Actors Guild/Nickelodeon-watching kid voters alike have been busy sorting out the best films from last year.

Many of the most hyped-up contenders of this year’s (or any) film awards season are truly worthy of the honors they seek. Whether it’s because of their unique, high-concept plot, sublime acting performances, perfectly executed action thrills, or some other form of excellence, they deliver on their promises.

And then you have the other films up “for your consideration”—and those that really, really thought they would …

The Outrageous California Hustlers of King Richard and Licorice Pizza | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

The Outrageous California Hustlers of King Richard and Licorice Pizza

Two Best Picture Nominees Suggest You Have to Be Both Crazy and Ambitious to Make It in This State

Do you have to be crazy to make it in California?

This question ties together two excellent films—King Richard and Licorice Pizza—that are nominees for best picture at this month’s Academy …

Is Oakland Too Real for the Oscars?

The Bay Area’s Second City Gave Us the Year’s Surprise Hits—Black Panther, Blindspotting, and Sorry to Bother You—But the Academy Hasn’t Returned the Love

The best California movie scene of recent vintage is the opening of the 2018 film Sorry to Bother You. A young man and his girlfriend are getting intimate in what …