This post has one of my favorite films of all time (Akira), as well as one of my favorite bad movies of all time (Roller Boogie). Let's go!

191. Akira
192. Gone With the Pope
193. Roller Boogie
194. Pick Up
195. Exterminator II
196. Hustler Squad
197. Atomic Rulers of the World
198. Prisoners of the Lost Universe
199. Three Colors: White
200. The Scar

Akira (1988)

Akira is not only an incredible film, it is the beginning of a genre. Although there were crossover animations from Japan before Akira, it is really this film that allowed anime to expand into a global phenomenon. The animation in this film is gorgeous. The story is nuanced and engaging. This is one of the all-time sci-fi classics.

Standout Moment: The ending climax is incredible.

Gone With the Pope (2010)

Gone With the Pope is a film made by a lounge singer about a group of ex-cons who go on a crazy quest to kidnap the pope. It seems that they just kind of made up the film as they went along. It is one of the most entertaining bad movies I've ever seen, though. It is full of great and memorable moments.

Standout Moment: The pope-heist is low budget in the best way.

Roller Boogie (1979)

Roller Boogie is an obvious attempt to cash in on the popularity of Saturday Night Fever. This film apparently exists in an alternate reality where roller disco is "cool" and "popular" and everyone is doing it everywhere no matter what. Layered on top of the nightmare hellscape of a roller-disco-saturated late 70's LA is a Dirty Dancing style "Rich girl falls in love with the guy on the wrong side of tracks" story, as well as a "let's save our roller-disco" story, AND a "gangsters are going to kill us" story, AND a "we have to win this roller disco competition" story. There is a lot of stuff happening in this film, and none of it is very exciting. In fact, most scenes feature extras that are much more interesting than any of the main characters.

Standout Moment: The opening ten minutes set up the ridiculous premise with a relish rarely seen in ripoff teen films.

Pick-Up (1975)

Pick-Up attempts to be a much more artistic endeavor than it actually is. It is an art film made by someone who thinks that art films just need to have random weirdness to consider themselves "deep." There is no real thought behind what happens in this film, and the moments that are thought-out are incredibly on the nose. There are beautiful shots, and the premise is interesting, but in the end it becomes little more than a particularly weird exploitation flick.

Standout Moment: The poor guy who calls in every once in a while is a strange shift in tone for a film full of strange shifts in tone.

Exterminator II (1984)

This film hates its female lead. In any typical film of the genre, the bad guys would do something bad to the hero's girlfriend/wife/sister, which makes him go crazy and seek revenge. In this film, not only does it fall into the same cliche as every other film in the revenge genre, it goes above and beyond in the injustices served upon the female lead. She gets assaulted several times and eventually killed, each time supposedly ramping up the empathy and rage in a man who starts out the film setting random punks on fire. It becomes more and more ridiculous every time something new happens to her.

Standout Moment: The soundtrack is so ridiculous it adds a whole other level of insanity.

Hustler Squad (1976)

The poster for Hustler Squad is about a ten times the extremity of the actual film, so if you are into a film that is about a tenth of the poster, than you would probably like Hustler Squad.

Standout Moment: The actresses are actually all pretty great.

Atomic Rulers of the World (1964)

This is another film, like Evil Brain From Outer Space, that was a recut of several episodes from the Japanese TV show, Super Giant. Many of my thoughts on Evil Brain From Outer Space pertain to this film, as well. I will say, though, that this one is not nearly as entertaining as Evil Brain.

Standout Moment: The beginning has that same great Robot Council.

Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983)

Another attempt at ripping off Star Wars. This one went in a different direction than most, with the conceit being alternate dimensions rather than a trip into outer space, but it still follows the same basic storyline. The ending gets incredibly convoluted, and the last twenty minutes seem to be there for the sake of filling time.

Standout Moment: The ogre dude is my favorite.

Three Colors: White (1994)

It is impossible to expect what this film is going to do next. It throws out typical story beats and maneuvers through a twisted story full of humor, pathos, and tragedy. The characters themselves seem too big for a normal film, as well. The interlocking pieces are all very bizarre, but they work well together. I am unsure as to how I feel about the ending, but the film is worth watching nonetheless.

Standout Moment: The opening twenty minutes are beautifully crafted.

The Scar (1976)

From the first moment of this film I was hooked. It is a beautiful and empathetic exploration of the duality of progress. The characters are multi-faceted and the drama is both personal and grand. I watched it on a whim and I wasn't disappointed.

Standout Moment: The conversations between the main character and the reporter.

365 Films- Post 25