10
"He tried to make a conventional film and would up with something so inexplicable and casually surreal that no practicing surrealist could ever convincingly ape its form, except by exact imitation. It is the movie that an alien who has never seen a movie might make after having movies thoroughly explained to him."
-If you needed an excuse to subscribe to Harper's, the Tom Bissell article in the current issue on Tommy Wiseau's camp classic The Room is as good as any. The pure strangeness of The Room is almost impossible to describe to anyone who hasn't seen it, but Bissell's piece is absolutely the most sympathetic yet clear-eyed examination of the phenomenon surrounding the film that I have read so far. Highly, highly recommended.
PDF link?
(I mean, I'm not in the market for a new mag and I'm not paying $17 for ONE article)
Oh Hi Mark!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkEQbf74aDU
Agreed. I was astounded by this piece. I even kind of teared up at the end. Just buy it on the newsstand, Brian, it's worth it! (It's 8 pages long.)
It probably is. Not arguing that at all. But if you saw the monstrous magazine pile at my apartment, you'd understand why I try to avoid feeding that beast and do my reading online.
Not to steal any of Harper's thunder, but this Globe piece did a decent job of explaining the phenomenon. The trailer left me wondering if I understand anything about how the world works.
http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2010/06/19/cult_film_is_good_business_at_coolidge_corner_theatre/
Let the record show that the movie's majesty grows tenfold when viewed in an actual theater with other people. And with Tommy Wiseau gently sexually harassing people in the audience beforehand.
Haven't read the whole thing (gotta get the print edition, heyo!), but I will say the above quote applies just as well to the oeuvre of Ed Wood (esp. Glen or Glenda, which is about as genuine and unvarnished an artistic statement/personal manifesto as any you're likely to encounter, when you think about it).
Oh man. If I subscribe to Harper's, my earnest, pretentious friends will start trying to relate to me again. If I don't, I won't get to read the piece.
My only love, sprung from my only hate!
If you need proof Denny isn't "a little bit retarded", watch this:
http://vimeo.com/13381406