Troll2 Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Denver Film Festival: I've Seen 'Troll 2' and Lived
Filed under: Horror », Festival Reports », Fandom »
When I was writing the short-lived Horror Virgin series for Horror Squad, I received a lot of messages asking me if I had Troll 2 scheduled as part of my education. I would constantly stress to them that the point was for me to watch good horror movies, not bad ones, but it didn't matter. Everyone still thought I should see Troll 2 right after Halloween or Friday the 13th.
Well, I've seen it and I'm glad I waited to see it at a midnight showing with like-minded people instead of sitting at home with a copy. This is the kind of movie that needs to be seen with a crowd and with a couple of drinks in your system because it's really that bad. I don't know if it's the worst movie I've ever seen (the 1986 Trick or Treat comes awfully close, as does Frogs), but it certainly comes very close. There's not one redeeming thing to be found in acting, the directing, the story, the effects, or the soundtrack but it is absolutely hilarious in its madness. It's bewildering how a movie can be so bad, and the description cited in Best Worst Movie as "the kind of movie aliens would make if they came to Earth and tried to imitate human emotions and interaction" is spot on. Yet I'd have to argue that it's as though aliens had the end of seen one movie, and it was Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, and they tried to amend their failures with a homage. Bad move, aliens, as it suggested you should have known better.
Looking Ahead to the 2009 Denver Film Festival
Filed under: Festival Reports »
Denver may not be a city that attracts the amount of movie industry buzz that centers around our Western neighbors of Telluride, Sundance and Austin, but we do have a solid and fervent community of film lovers here. We don't have a ton of film events, but what we do have is cherished and obsessed over enough to rival the Alamo Drafthouse.
One of these events is the Starz Denver Film Festival, which is going strong in its 32nd year. After partnering with Starz, over the years, we've played host to Crispin Glover, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, Will Smith, Ang Lee, and enjoyed every on-the-cusp-of-Oscar movie of the past three seasons. This year is no exception as the festival kicks off this week with Precious, which was produced by the Denver-based Sarah Siegel Magness and Gary Magness. Denver will also get a chance to "meet" the film's buzzed about star, Gabourey Sidibe. Three legendary actors will be receiving the spotlight while enjoying our thin air: Ed Harris and his latest film, Touching Home will be the focus of a special evening, and will receive the Mayor's Achivement Award. Hal Holbrook will be receiving the Excellence in Acting Award, and be on hand with his new film, That Evening Sun. Last but not least, J.K. Simmons will be receiving the Cassavetes Award, and be presenting his new film, The Vicious Kind.
But hey, that's the glitzy statuette stuff. If you're a Colorado native, you need to check out the impressive schedule which includes big films such as Leaves of Grass, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, The Last Station, The Young Victoria, and Best Worst Movie with special screenings of its star, Troll 2. If you want to avoid the buzz, there's enough intriguing indies, documentaries, and foreign film selections to make your eyeballs fall out.
Northern Exposures: FanTasia Report #1
Filed under: Comedy », Documentary », Horror », Independent », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », SXSW », Mystery & Suspense », IFC », Festival Reports », Shorts », Fantastic Fest », Other Festivals »
After a long flight on my part and a far longer drive for both of us, Scott Weinberg and I have finally arrived in Montréal for the FanTasia International Film Festival (their thirteenth, our first). The genre-heavy festival lasts for nearly three weeks; alas, we've but one to spare, so without much further ado, here's a look at what I've seen already and what I hope to see before Scott tips his own hand with a title or two to recommend.
Of the features playing, I can highly recommend Michael Paul Stephenson's Troll 2 doc, Best Worst Movie; the Aussie revenge thriller, The Horseman (not to be confused with the barely-seen Dennis Quaid vehicle, Horsemen); and Paul Solet's beautifully bloody baby horror, Grace. Those looking for something a bit stranger might end up being a bit more fond of Black and The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle than I was, though I also seemed more easily pleased by the Nazi zombies of Dead Snow than most, so I guess it all balances out. My enthusiasm for the ultra-kitschy likes of Alien Trespass and Lesbian Vampire Killers, not to mention the admittedly boundary-pushing Deadgirl, is all a bit less than what's already been mentioned, so let's just leave those at that.
Read the rest at HorrorSquad!
'Best Worst Movie' Yields Good First Trailer
Filed under: Documentary », Horror », Independent », SXSW », Trailers and Clips »
Toronto's Hot Docs film festival kicked off last night, and among the acclaimed documentaries playing there is Best Worst Movie, which we reviewed at SXSW last March. The short synopsis: Michael Paul Stephenson was embarrassed to star in Troll 2 as a young lad, only to find himself and other members of the cast coming to terms with the film's growing cult popularity years later. The long version: life's a funny thing.The Toronto Star's Peter Howell, in covering the film and its inspiration, has premiered the latest trailer for it -- see if you can't spot our very own Scott Weinberg in it (hint: he's not the super-genial dentist).
For any of you lucky readers in or around Toronto, it's showing tonight, tomorrow night, and Sunday afternoon. For more information, here's the official Hot Docs page and the official website.
SXSW Review: Best Worst Movie
Filed under: Documentary », Horror », SXSW »
If you starred in one of the worst films ever made, a target of instant derision and international mockery, how long would it take for you to embrace the film and its growing status as an unwitting cult classic? A year or two? A decade or two? Maybe never? Some of the actors in the legendarily awful Troll 2 still leave it off their resumes, while others have come to embrace it alongside a fan base that revels in its ineptitude at packed screenings far and wide, and it's this curious development that makes the documentary Best Worst Movie such an effortlessly interesting watch.
After being forced in the late 1980s to threaten public urination on camera and fend off goblins with bologna sandwiches, director Michael Paul Stephenson has now come around to chronicle the initial embarrassment that the film brought to himself and others and the reluctance of them to embrace the film for all its rampant sloppiness -- a sloppiness yet to be admitted by Troll 2's writer and director (but we'll come back to them). Perhaps due to the risk of navel-gazing, Stephenson hangs the film not on himself, but his on-screen father, George Hardy, whose inherently dynamic personality and charm have garnered him fans regardless (even his own ex-wife vouches for him).
Live from SXSW: A 'Troll 2' Virgin No More
Filed under: Festival Reports », Fandom »
The cult following for the film Troll 2 has always perplexed me. There are lots of lousy movies in the world, after all. What makes this one so special? And doesn't enjoying something ironically get old after a while? (I'm not a fan of that thing hipsters do where something terrible is described as "awesome.")
But I am nothing if not eager to learn, so I took in a double feature Saturday night at South By Southwest. First up was Best Worst Movie, a highly entertaining documentary about the Troll 2 phenomenon, directed by Michael Stephenson, who as a young boy starred in the film. The doc prepared me for a screening of Troll 2 itself, which took place at midnight at the Alamo Drafthouse and was populated mostly -- they asked for a show of hands -- by Troll 2 virgins such as myself. That was nice, actually, because it meant there weren't a lot of people shouting the lines along with the movie, which is always a sure way to prevent newbies from enjoying something.
The verdict? Troll 2 is a singular piece of work. I assumed it would be bad, of course, but it's almost impossible to describe its badness to someone who hasn't seen it. You seldom see a real movie in which none of the actors actually knows how to act, but here it is. Nearly every reading of every line of dialogue is flat-out wrong, and the dialogue itself, as written, is impossibly bad, as if written by non-English-speakers (which it was) and translated by a computer (which it may well have been). There were times when it seemed like a parody of bad movies, like something you'd see on Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job.
Full 2009 SXSW Line-Up Announced
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Documentary », Drama », Horror », Independent », Romance », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », SXSW », Mystery & Suspense », Magnolia », Sony Classics », Warner Brothers », Dreamworks »
SXSW jumped their own gun last night by announcing their line-up of film titles for this year's festival in Austin, TX.Right around the ides of March, we'll be treated to the world premieres of:
- Best Worst Movie (all about the cult surrounding Troll 2 and supposedly containing an appearance by none other than our own Scott Weinberg),
- South By staple Joe Swanberg's latest, Alexander the Last,
- Gerald Perry's For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism (Scott's in this too? WTF?!),
- John Hamburg's bromantic comedy I Love You, Man,
- Gary Hustwit's new doc, Objectified (go queue up Helvetica already!),
- Jody Hill's Observe and Report (because we can't all love Paul Blart: Mall Cop),
SXSW '09 runs from March 13-21, and you can expect plenty of coverage around these parts.
Trolls, Terrors, and Really Awful Movies to Invade ... Morgan, Utah?
Filed under: Horror », Fandom », Newsstand »
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OK, this has gone waaaay out of control, but in a hilariously awesomely geeky way. It started with a sold-out midnight screening of the undeniably (hysterically) awful Troll 2 -- which led to an as-yet-unfinished documentary feature called Best Worst Movie -- which led to ... man oh man is this crazy. Turns out that Morgan, Utah is where "Nilbog" was created for Troll 2 ... so it only stands to reason that the Best Worst Movie crew and the Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow lunatics would join forces and bring Nilbog back to life.
I'm including the Alamo's full and complete press release after the jump, but here's a quick recap of the impending festivities: Screenings of Troll (1986), Troll 2 (1990), The Crawlers (1990, aka Troll 3), Quest for the Mighty Sword (1990, aka The Hobgoblin, aka Troll 3), Beyond Darkness (1990, aka House 5) -- some of which have NEVER been seen before! Oh, and there will be panel discussions and meals with the cast and crew members, fan flick contests, dances, parties, eating competitions, and approximately 214 additional insane activities. All in the name of wonderfully inept filmmaking that's so much fun to watch it almost feels dirty.
The date: June 27 - 29. The place: Nilbog (aka Morgan, Utah). The expense: Event packages start at a mere $40. For a whole LOT more information, check out the full press release below. And remember: You don't wee-wee on hospitality like this!
Yep, Someone Made a Documentary About ... 'Troll 2'
Filed under: Classics », Comedy », Documentary », Horror », Independent », Fandom », Remakes and Sequels », Cinematical Indie »
Ask any movie geek that's seen Troll 2 what one of the worst movies ever made is -- and they'll undoubtedly say Troll 2 ... eventually. It was ranked at the IMDb as the #1 worst film ever made, but that list fluctuates a lot (based mainly on what Uwe Boll's latest film is). Bottom line is that awful is awful, and Claudio Fragasso's Troll 2 is about ten degrees worse than that, multiplied by nine and covered with sprinkles. (Don't believe me? Rent it. I dare you.)Anyway, earlier this year I was fortunate enough to join a VERY enthusiastic (sold-out) crowd at the (now deceased) original Alamo Drafthouse theater for a now-legendary screening of (you guessed it) Troll 2. Plus a whole bunch of the original cast members showed up to join the fun! One such person was a young man called Michael Paul Stephenson, who (18 years ago) played the lead dorky kid in Troll 2. Turns out that Mike was making a documentary about the cult following that Troll 2 has (somehow) earned -- and now it looks like that movie is almost done!
It's called Best Worst Movie, and there's a brand-new teaser clip online that's as lengthy as it is amusing. Plus if you squint real careful, you'll see a Cinematical writer you know and love! Anyway, I think it's hilarious that a movie this rotten could spawn not only a rabid cult following, but also a documentary film about HOW BAD a movie it is!
...and don't forget: Nilbog is goblin spelled backwards!
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