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Hey everyone on Cinema Discusso. I’m taking a class on called “cult films and their fans” for school this year and one of the projects is to interview some fans of cult films. Unfortunately for me I don’t know anybody who’s a fan of cult films or if they are, they didn’t tell me. The types of movies I’m talking about are pretty broad. Some examples of movies were watching this semester are Freaks, Plan 9 From Outer Space, Polyester, Rocky Horror Picture show, Reefer Madness and Coffy. What I’m really interested in the project is what fans think about these movies. If anybody has some free time it would help me out to answer some or all of the questions below. I figured this people on this forum would have some pretty good answers. Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer. What type of cult films do you like? What is your favorite cult film? Do you have a favorite scene from your favorite movie? How many times have you watched your favorite cult movie? How many times did you have to watch it to “get” the movie? Has what you liked about your favorite cult movie changed over time? How did you discover your favorite cult movie or how did you discover the cult movie community? Do you follow the community of cult movie fans? do you consider a cult film? How would you sum up your favorite cult movie in a few sentences? Do you like a particular director? If you could ask the director something what would it be? What draws you to cult films? Why do you think other people are drawn to cult films? Has watching cult films influenced the way that you look at more mainstream movies? What characters do you identify with when you watch cult films? How do you show your love for cult films? (Purchases, events, fan art, fan stories, etc?) Do you think that cult movies are typically misinterpreted? If you do does that bother you?
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Sep 22, 2019 17:46
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 23:04 |
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My fav cult movie is The Cult. I like it because I love cults. More people should watch cult movies because cults get a bad rap but are actually a lot of fun, I'm a member of at least 3 and hope to join more in the future. You can never have enough cults!
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Sep 22, 2019 23:29
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sometimes I consider a cult film
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Sep 22, 2019 23:56
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Nope, no cult film fans here. THanks for asking.
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Sep 23, 2019 10:13
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That depends. Is Back to the Future a cult film?
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Sep 23, 2019 10:20
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Tank Girl Op https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Uv-9mJCTkk
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Sep 23, 2019 11:31
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urS8GmwmeWQ
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Sep 23, 2019 11:50
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cult movies are weird, because like, there is big ones like rocky horror that are bigger and more popular than most mainstream hits. I don't know if anyone in 2019 hasn't seen rocky horror multiple times. So is it even a cult movie at that point? Then actual cult movies are like ultra niche interest stuff with no wide appeal. and there is a fine line between hipster "I only like this obscure movie, you wouldn't understand" and the thing where a certain movie has very specific focuses that make it resonate with one and only one type of person and bounce off everyone else. Like the thing people call cult movies are often very popular but weird or badly made movies that have a general sense of mainstream acceptance and most people that watch them go "heh, yeah, that was great, what the hell?", where real cult movies are the ones a small group of people connect with entirely that anyone else watching would say "what the hell was that? why did you show me that?"
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Sep 23, 2019 14:15
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i like cult films because i enjoy knowing only some parts of the movie might be great. the treasure hunting aspect is a big draw for me. one scene might be 1/10 while the next one might be a 10/10 thats comes out of nowhere which makes me a have much stronger reaction. i enjoy uneven movies. i identfy strongly with the always messed up main character but my "favorite" cult movie is always changing, gotta keep chasing the next high!
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Sep 23, 2019 15:11
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This was one of the movies we can do an analysis on and it looks pretty awesome. What do you like about it? Edward Mass posted:That depends. Is Back to the Future a cult film? Maybe it might be. Do you think it is? Owlofcreamcheese posted:cult movies are weird, because like, there is big ones like rocky horror that are bigger and more popular than most mainstream hits. I don't know if anyone in 2019 hasn't seen rocky horror multiple times. So is it even a cult movie at that point? Then actual cult movies are like ultra niche interest stuff with no wide appeal. and there is a fine line between hipster "I only like this obscure movie, you wouldn't understand" and the thing where a certain movie has very specific focuses that make it resonate with one and only one type of person and bounce off everyone else. It really depends on what you use to define what a cult movie is I agree. I would say that Rocky Horror is probably no longer really a "cult" film in the sense that it is not obscure but the way the movie is viewed at midnight theatres with audience participation and with a dedicated fan base still keeps it straddling the line between is or isn't. That is kind of the problem with this class I agree but also why were trying to find any actually dedicated fans. Somebody who goes to showings of Rocky Horror or The Room or something a lot is going to have different ideas on the movie than somebody like me whos only seen it once. What do you think is a cult movie? Like it seems like your putting a lot of emphasis on the obscurity or weirdness which I agree are important but do you think the audience can define what a cult movie is or not?
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Sep 23, 2019 15:52
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gurragadon posted:What do you think is a cult movie? Like it seems like your putting a lot of emphasis on the obscurity or weirdness which I agree are important but do you think the audience can define what a cult movie is or not? Its not just BEING obscure, it's deserving to be obscure that makes something seem like a true cult movie. Something like rocky horror or the room seem like just weird or bad movies that generally everyone likes for generally the same reason. If you showed a room full of people it you'd find a ton of them who loved it. If you showed a room full of people "Black Moon", or "The Discovery of Television Among the Bees", no one would like it, they would ask "why did you show me that?" and the expected reaction would be absolutely negative from almost everyone watching it. But like, maybe one guy would be like, way way way into it. (I mean, send that one guy to jail depending on why he was into black moon I guess) Like cult movies to me are the movies that not only are they not popular, but that they would never ever be popular, just a bad or weird movie that everyone likes if they see it seems not the same sort of thing. Not everyone has seen a neil breen movie, but if they did you can name a pretty huge audience that would enjoy a thing like that. A movie like greaser's place is not seen by many people, would not be liked by most people if they did see it and will always be an obscure movie, but a few people REALLLLLY like that movie. It has a cult following.
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Sep 23, 2019 16:38
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Owlofcreamcheese posted:Its not just BEING obscure, it's deserving to be obscure that makes something seem like a true cult movie. So if I’m understanding you correctly a cult movie the way your defining is not only obscure but also inaccessible to be truly considered a "cult movie." Do you consider movies like Pink Flamingos cult movies? Even though I would argue its somewhat well known but I would also say pretty offensive and inaccessible overall. I guess what I mean is do you think that a requirement is also the obscurity and is there a level of popularity where it becomes disqualifies in your opinion? For the movies you talk about I’m interested in knowing what you think about why people like those weird or offensive movies as too. Maybe something about it being obscure, or maybe its just because its something different than the viewer has seen before. Do you in particular like or have a favorite of any of the movies you listed? I would love to watch any of them and hearing what your opinions are about it. Also, I know the category of “cult films” is really broad and kind of undefined but the movie doesn’t have to part of the “canon” or cult movies to be considered. Saying that there even is a “canon” of cult movies would start disqualifying them I would think anyway.
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Sep 23, 2019 17:04
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gurragadon posted:So if I’m understanding you correctly a cult movie the way your defining is not only obscure but also inaccessible to be truly considered a "cult movie." Do you consider movies like Pink Flamingos cult movies? Even though I would argue its somewhat well known but I would also say pretty offensive and inaccessible overall. I guess what I mean is do you think that a requirement is also the obscurity and is there a level of popularity where it becomes disqualifies in your opinion? If you're doing academic stuff look up the Jeffrey Sconce article “Trashing the Academy: Taste, Excess, and an Emerging Politics of Cinematic Style" and the term he uses, paracinema. It might be a more accurate term than the blanket "cult" definition and might help you narrow down both questions and examples. E: also Jack Sargeant has a recentish book (2017 iirc) on underground cinema where he discusses the semiotics and evolution of the term from the midnight debut screenings of Eraserhead to modern day The Room screenings. I, Butthole fucked around with this message at 11:36 on Sep 24, 2019 |
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Sep 24, 2019 11:34
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Owlofcreamcheese posted:cult movies are weird, because like, there is big ones like rocky horror that are bigger and more popular than most mainstream hits. I don't know if anyone in 2019 hasn't seen rocky horror multiple times. So is it even a cult movie at that point? Then actual cult movies are like ultra niche interest stuff with no wide appeal. and there is a fine line between hipster "I only like this obscure movie, you wouldn't understand" and the thing where a certain movie has very specific focuses that make it resonate with one and only one type of person and bounce off everyone else. yeah, well, you know that's just like, uhh, your opinion, man.
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Sep 24, 2019 14:58
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Well that's the thing about cults, they often get bigger over time. It's not unheard of for a movie to start as an obscure cult film and then eventually as years go by the word gets out and it kinda graduates into more mainstream awareness.
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Sep 24, 2019 15:17
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Rocky Horror's initial following came largely from an underground queer culture that has since been able to break through to the mainstream thanks to major civil rights achievements. It's probably one of the best examples of a cult film rising from obscurity to household name, driven by a devoted fanbase and a particular fan culture that helped define the midnight movie era. Now the people who went to screenings back in the 70's have families, it's turned into a right of passage for art-oriented college kids, and it's been remade for broadcast television. The idea of the cult -- a true following of mega fans -- persists, but its lost some of its countercultural edge through broad exposure. Obscurity does not define a cult film. What I'd argue is that cult films are commonly divisive and transgressive in some sense of the word. Often they're plucked from obscurity, though many of the greatest cult films of all time were successes upon their original release: El Topo, Pink Flamingos, Eraserhead -- all amassed major followings on the midnight circuit and built buzz through word of mouth. You could never show Eraserhead to your mother, but that movie found an audience in its day. Meanwhile, others were box office bombs rescued by subsequent screenings and dedicated fans -- The Big Lebowski being one. And hell, sometimes you have a classic that becomes a cult film in a different context. The Wizard of Oz's significance in gay culture for example. So an American standard that drat near everyone has seen becomes a cult film dependent on its particular subcultural connection. Screening the movie as a matinee to a theater full of children and their parents versus screening it at midnight for a room full of LGBTQ adults. Cult in general, I believe, has taken on a broader meaning now. It's no longer films that acquire cult followings but any kind of offbeat, exploitation, horror film that defies mainstream appeal. So people will define themselves as Cult Film Fans, and dig for those obscurities. The films themselves may have little to no following, but they fall under a new kind of genre of "Cult."
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Sep 24, 2019 16:16
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Freakazoid_ posted:yeah, well, you know that's just like, uhh, your opinion, man. I don't know, people use cult as a synonym for weird and bad movies, but stuff like the room is pretty mainstream. It's on major television networks as a major event to show it. I am sure someone doesn't like it but it found an audience very easily. It's not like you are going to show random people "The Color of Pomegranates" and get that kind of reaction. it's a movie that most people would not like, it's got no mainstream hook at all, but the people that like that movie, they really REALLY like that movie and will talk it up as the greatest film in history. And that feels like it's what splits a true cult film from just a weird film.
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Sep 24, 2019 16:39
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Slaapaav posted:i like cult films because i enjoy knowing only some parts of the movie might be great. the treasure hunting aspect is a big draw for me. one scene might be 1/10 while the next one might be a 10/10 thats comes out of nowhere which makes me a have much stronger reaction. Sorry I missed this yesterday. Do you like to be able to tell other people about what you’ve found in cult movies? I, Butthole posted:If you're doing academic stuff look up the Jeffrey Sconce article “Trashing the Academy: Taste, Excess, and an Emerging Politics of Cinematic Style" and the term he uses, paracinema. It might be a more accurate term than the blanket "cult" definition and might help you narrow down both questions and examples. Thanks for the book recommendations, I do like the idea of using the term paracinema instead of “cult” because that term does seem to get a lot of blowback. Is the Jack Sargeant book your recommending “Flesh and Excess: On Underground Film”? TrixRabbi posted:
Thanks this is really helping me further define what cult movies are, which is one of the things were supposed to be thinking about during class. I agree with your assessment of Wizard of Oz and would you agree that Fantasia could also be thought of as a cult movie because of the 60’s counterculture appeal and midnight showings? Even though theres not much thats more mainstream than Disney. You seem to have a broad conception of what a cult movie is, do you have any favorites or “genres”? Owlofcreamcheese posted:I don't know, people use cult as a synonym for weird and bad movies, but stuff like the room is pretty mainstream. It's on major television networks as a major event to show it. I am sure someone doesn't like it but it found an audience very easily. It's not like you are going to show random people "The Color of Pomegranates" and get that kind of reaction. it's a movie that most people would not like, it's got no mainstream hook at all, but the people that like that movie, they really REALLY like that movie and will talk it up as the greatest film in history. And that feels like it's what splits a true cult film from just a weird film. What do you think about the community aspects of “cult.” Like The Room has a ton of showings all the time and your right it is pretty well known but if you go to a showing it has that audience participation and stuff that movies like Rocky Horror have. Isnt it the fans that really make the film a cult film?
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Sep 24, 2019 17:08
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gurragadon posted:Thanks for the book recommendations, I do like the idea of using the term paracinema instead of “cult” because that term does seem to get a lot of blowback. Is the Jack Sargeant book your recommending “Flesh and Excess: On Underground Film”? Yeah, that's the one. It's a good read and complements the Sconce article well.
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Sep 24, 2019 18:33
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gurragadon posted:Isnt it the fans that really make the film a cult film? I mean, your class activity your call. If you want to take things fairly literally then yes the obvious understanding is going to involve groups of people celebrating some specific movie together. As has been mentioned, popular usage seems to be much broader; anything that most people would not like but someone really likes qualifies. It sounds like it's up to you which version you want to engage with.
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Sep 24, 2019 18:46
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Question: Would you be able to post your syllabus? I'm curious to see what the course load looks like.
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Sep 24, 2019 19:34
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