Episode 240 – The Room (2003)

And so, we come to the close of our “Quotes, Unquotes, and Quotes” series and what a ride it’s been! How can we choose the proper film to close out a series that focuses on memorable dialogue, clever quips, hilarious bon mots and the like? Did we choose a towering classic? No. Did we choose an adaptation from a great work of literature? No, no we did not. Did we choose a film that has left a very clear mark on the cinematic landscape? . . . you know, yes, we kinda did. Keep in mind that “leaving a mark” can mean many different things. It can be a shining monument to a concept or idea. It can be terrible scar that changes the viewer forever. Or it can be an unbelievable, horrendous mess left smeared across the film stock that leaves one shaking one’s head and talking randomly to household plants. Guess which of these definitions fits this week’s movie . . . gee, you didn’t even need to the other two guesses. Yes, this week Mike and I don our hazmat suits and plunge waist-deep into the industrial waste disaster that is Tommy Wiseau’s “The Room,” a baffling cinematic extrusion that has somehow become a twenty-year phenomenon as a cult movie at midnight shows. Does this movie deserve to join the ranks of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Rock and Roll High School”? Is it so-bad-it’s-good or is it just so-bad-that-the-creator-should-be-thrown-in-a-sack-and-beaten-with-reeds? Join us and find out, HANH? Don’t worry about it!

Poll question: what movie did you go into expecting to hate or be bored by but ended up really enjoying?

P.S. In case anyone is interested, this is the source of the tile of this current series: https://youtu.be/_2LqmcjIeMU?t=85

3 thoughts on “Episode 240 – The Room (2003)”

  1. Denis is in fact a real name, one of my dearest friends is named Denis, which would be the French version of Dennis …. I guess.

    I think Mike knows this story but I ran a video store on Newbury street in Boston after we worked together. David Mamet was a customer and we would discuss and sometimes argue over the movies we liked and didn’t like. We challenged each other to watch films we would never have considered that the other thought was a must see. I hate war films and he decided I should see “ Apocalypse Now” and I really did like it despite being convinced it would be terrible. I had him watch Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast and he ended up really liking that so we expanded each other’s worlds a little.

    Off to to clear the glue traps of penguins… that are everywhere these days! Not even my moose scares them away!

    1. Moose? And here I thought you just had the walrus! “Apocalypse: Now” was a very powerful film. I saw it under odd circumstances but in a theater in the way it was originally meant to be seen; with no opening credits. They were meant to be handed out to the audience on paper as Coppola didn’t want anything to distract the audience from the story. “Beauty and the Beast” I’ve seen at least twice; once in high school and once in college. It’s a stunning film and the makeup not the least of its amazing qualities, especially for the time.

      Thanks, Vince! And keep spraying for penguins!

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