POPCORN

Over time we've fit these films into 3 general categories: good movies, bad movies, and good popcorn.

Good movies are good movies.

Bad movies are of two types: watchable and unwatchable. Watchable bad movies are usually watchable because they're unintentionally funny. (At least we think it's unintentional.) They're good popcorn because you can laugh at them. Unwatchable bad movies don't even have that going for them.

Popcorn movies are those which are meant purely for entertainment, as opposed to enriching experiences. "Good popcorn" is a film which has nothing to say and can't be considered good cinema, but is good for what it is: it doesn't overextend itself or take itself too seriously, and it holds your attention.

Even that distinction can get blurred. THE FOURTH WAR could be good popcorn, or it could be a watchable bad movie. We put it in the "good popcorn" category because 1. despite the humanitarian message it attempts to convey, there's still something tongue-in-cheek about the whole thing. We suspect that if the filmmakers had really meant it to be taken seriously, they would have made an unwatchably bad movie. 2. We're just way too fond of that one not to call it good popcorn.

Sometimes we think a movie the filmmakers intended to be Popcorn is so good it transcends Popcorn and gets promoted to Good Movie: LIEBE IM SCHATTEN DES DRACHEN and IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS are examples.

If the colored arrows which mark these are doubled for a good or bad movie, it indicates the best of the best or the best of the worst. Before anybody complains about films being left out, I would like to explain that good bad movies have to be good popcorn. Much as we all enjoyed shredding JEWELS to pieces, for instance, it's not something one would sit all the way through a second time for fun. (Unlike WING COMMANDER. Ha ha ha!)

Finally, a disclaimer that these markings are really meant more for folks who don't understand German. English-speaking folks can sit through some of the undubbed German movies and get a lot out of them. With other films the value is lost if you can't follow the dialog. For that reason, even though some entries such as JAGDREVIER may be favorites with the German fans, they are not marked as recommended movies on the indexes. However, we have tried to make the ratings numbers accurate based on input from those who knew what they were watching.

 

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