Why do I like B Movies? Why do I reject the cynical approach to B Cinema offered by Mystery Science Theatre 3000 and Rifftrax? Why do I see worth and value in most forms of this much maligned genre of cinema? Well friends let me tell you…
I love clubhouse sandwiches… okay Dever is heading off into a food allegory again, big surprise.? Well, all clubhouses usually contain similar elements: bacon of course, sliced tomato, lettuce, ham, cheese, and turkey, all piled high between three slices of toasted bread. It’s in the delivery and care that makes one sandwich better than the other. No great clubhouse has ever been made in a fast food chain or in the gastronomic factories like Chili’s or Applebees. A great club in never made nor is served by any chain. The best clubhouse are made in independents diners and holes in the walls.
We all like a good clubhouse sandwich…..late at night, during poker game there is no finer food anywhere. Period. Food in America has suffered greatly as a result of the rise of fast food cultural and the industrialization of the American restaurant.
The same has happened to American cinema.
B Movies are Cinema’s clubhouse sandwiches. B Movies are by their very nature independent, innovative, and can never truly exist in its best form in a processed environment.
I basically see within this genre, the potential to save and redeem Cinema and bring it out of the garbled market that the major studios have created. I see a tradition of both freedom and innovation that should be both celebrated and encouraged.
I see that movie going has been turned into a process by the major Hollywood studios. Hollywood has always been a sausage factory, but in the past there was always room for innovation and discovery. In the past, showmen have held sway at the studios, often taking risks that led to some of our finest movies. Today accountants and misconstrued MBA’s rule the day.
In 1980, 50 companies controlled 90% of media , today 9 companies control 90% of media. This rapid and unhealthy industry polarization has stymied and limited access to market and revenue potential for the independent.
Hollywood is thrusting tent pole after tent pole movie on us hoping that the public will embrace a concept that will turn a movie franchise into a cash cow. Hollywood has absconded with some of the key tenets of B Cinema and have twisted them and manipulated them to their own foul purposes. They have never gotten it right.
In the past we have had producers like Val Lewton within the studio system, producers like Robert Lippert, Samuel Z. Arkoff , William Castle and Roger Corman working outside the studio system flew the flag hard and fast. Today there are B Movie producers but unlike their predecessors they have to all deal with large corporate monopolies in order to bring their product to market. With Lippert and Arkoff they could always work one on one with the theatre owner to bring their product to the American public. Today that market access has been severely restricted.
The Asylum, arguably the most active and prolific B player in the market today does not have a direct market, but, rather has to depend on the shrinking reality of the Syfy Channel and has for better or worse turned its eye to the outlets like Lifetime in order to keep its team employed. SYFY fearing market changes has not had the vision to redefine itself, thus loosing market share.
There are once in awhile glimmers of hope.
In Asylum’s film “Battledog” I saw true innovation, a masterful use of resources and story. Only when the film was forced to conform to guidelines created by the cable outlet did it fail. While viewing this film, I was thrilled at both the skill of the producer and the director. I saw elements of greatness in its execution. If this film was released prior to 1982, it would have done serious business in theatres. It was reminiscent on what a true B Movie can be.It was a good clubhouse sandwich.
Aside from market access, another great challenge is the cadres of would be observers of the cinematic scene.
First of all cinema as a party of art has always be subjected to the whims and the pronouncements of those that feel that their viewpoint and perspectives stands above and trumps others opinion. In other areas of life, we usually define those paragons of pomposity as “elites”. The web has seen the world of film criticism get very crowded. This has created market confusion and a digital pollution making it increasing hard to convey information via the web.
Now that aside there is a cadre of web bloggers and paper journalists who bring a welcome discipline, thoughtfulness and detail to their analysis. They bring a much needed reflection to the body Cinema. These kind folks are versed and are intent on serving Cinema as both a discipline and an art form. Unfortunately they are in the minority and because of the data pollution in the web you have to search them out. I am personally grateful for the presence of the likes Avery Guerra/Battles, Kevin Bachelder, Vince Rotolo, Michael Juvinall, Mike White, Jacob Gustafson, Christopher Garp, Keith Makenas and James Shotwell in the blogasphere. These people actually love movies. Now these people are folks I have some personal exposure to…there are many others. You are the independent filmmakers greatest asset, ally and advocate. Many of us are grateful for you.
One of the key issues in the blogasphere is that many of these observers know very little about the process and the art of film. Many of them are just mean spirited typists. I can give you one example of the lack of respect these folks have for film. A producer I know made a film and risked his and his families capital. He produced the film , he sweated gallons of blood making it.
In the hopes of getting promotion for his film, he used Vimeo to provide screeners to various bloggers hoping they would review his film. One of these lovely people decided to hack the Vimeo link. The producer, new to working with bloggers failed to place a watermark on the film. A day after he sent out the screener, four million websites worldwide carried an illegal copy of his film, making his film unmarketable and seeing he and his investor lose their investment. To add insult to injury, the actors, some of them names believed so much in the script they work for the lowest rate legally possible under the Screen Actors Guild. This blogger more or less stole both money and opportunity from this producer and the performers.
I think that educated and thoughtful bloggers, represent the best chance we have within the present day polarized media universe to bring media democracy to the forefront. I just think that the bloggers who do repeated good work should be celebrated. Those that abuse their soapbox should be called out.
Those that hurt cinema should be repudiated and in some cases like the one I mentioned in regards to the piracy, prosecuted.
Moving forward, we have to re-define the market. The public is tired of Hollywood, they are searching for the new, innovative and the fun. While “The Seventh Seal” is a damn fine piece of cinema and should be viewed at least once, it does not have the repeatability or they “ain’t that cool factor” of “Night Of The Comet”.
In the world of B’s we still have the potential for story innovation and discovery. The ability of cinema to redefine itself and speak to a mass audience. The ability to create both excitement and release. This is all contained in B Movies. The ability for a filmmakers to provide an allegorical reflection of society is best served through the B genre. It should be encouraged and it should be encouraged,
Let’s celebrate it and let’s perpetuate it.
I think I will go to my local diner and have a clubhouse. Thank for listening.
Bill Dever is the Founder of The B Movie Celebration and a working B Movie producer
