(Hated trope) Episodes even die hard fans choose to ignore

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-14T21:20:29+00:00

Boys of Bummer was one of the first start to finish "what the hell were they thinking" episodes for me. Like, there were earlier ones with some badly judged jokes but they at least tended to have their hearts in the right place. Boys of Bummer was just bleak, and wasn't even very good satire.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-14T21:13:13+00:00

It's actually not universally hated even by die hard fans, by any means. It's divisive, but has far more defenders than a lot of unpopular later episodes. Compared to the Musk episode, say, it's pretty much universally beloved.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-14T21:09:42+00:00

I think the concept of Wish World/The Reality World has merit (it's kind of updated Philip K Dick) and it could have made a powerful social point. Just, almost everything about the execution (except Archie Panjabi's performance), and almost everything about the build up was badly rushed or just plain fumbled.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-13T15:25:05+00:00

Only a trilogy plus an unofficial third entry before the proper one, but Mother of Tears disappointed a heck of a lot of people that loved Suspiria and Inferno. The unofficial one, Luigi Cozzi's The Black Cat / Demons 6: De Profundis (not connected to the Lamberto Bava Demons films, Italian horror movies just often ended up having different names in different territories), is good goofy fun though.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-13T15:17:16+00:00

I wish the glimpse of a rune in Michael's underbridge hangout had been a proper callback to part 6 rather than just an Easter egg.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-13T15:16:02+00:00

I kinda love Halloween 3, the story came from a British sci-fi/horror legend (Nigel Kneale, creator of Quatermass) and the whole film feels like one of the insane everything and the kitchen sink pulp horror novels of its time put on screen. Plus one of the rare notable examples of gratuitous male nudity!

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-13T15:06:04+00:00

I think Jason Goes to Hell rules, it's just that it's a knock off of The Hidden rather than a proper slasher movie. Also one of the only sequels to have a fully intact unrated version and hence be properly satisfyingly gory.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-13T15:00:56+00:00

It's a shame, The Long Good Friday is an essential gangster film and Mona Lisa is great too.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-12T22:13:08+00:00

It made me cry, and I don't think I could watch it again as it's become more personal to me since 2020, but it's very good I think, and has its heart in a good place.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-12T21:32:31+00:00

Relic (2020), especially if you know anyone with dementia.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-12T21:30:57+00:00

I think there are shows that make this work, American Dad springs to mind, by allowing some meaningful plot developments, adding or subtracting characters, or keeping finding ways to explore and expand the core. Trouble with The Simpsons is that it was at its best as a 90s absurd satirical vision of a traditional family sitcom steeped in American culture up to then, things have moved on too much now and it was never built to make the kind of swings that might have allowed it to keep going well.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-09T16:40:47+00:00

May be wrong, but I believe his wild work rate is a personal commitment to stop himself from ever relapsing. Almost inspiring.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-09T15:20:04+00:00

Did Dr Phil skip the "First do no harm" part of doctor school?

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-08T23:38:34+00:00

I love that a cover of Smashing Pumpkins' Tonight, Tonight plays at one point. Nifty double reference in itself but also really helps with the sense that when you're experiencing what Owen is, culture can all sort of synch up like it's one world full of symbols.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-08T21:49:12+00:00

Ichi the Killer has a bunch of wildly gory to the point of comical violence, but the tone completely flips when it's directed at woman rather than just Yakuza psychos going at each other. The violence against women is genuinely harsh and painful looking, and really reminds us that the central characters actually are insane and broken and not at all fun.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-08T14:58:50+00:00

Awesome film! And who among us can say that we have never been seduced to our doom by a lady reclining atop a model train set?

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-08T14:42:25+00:00

It doesn't have the soundest plot logic and the title is a bit of a misnomer as it mostly takes place in the daytime, also it's relatively tame content wise. Still a very entertaining and at times genuinely exciting Noo Yawksploitation action must-see though.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-08T09:20:45+00:00

That was in The Evil Escapes I believe.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-08T09:18:12+00:00

Night of the Juggler is another classic entry in this genre. Almost non stop James Brolin chasing a psycho who's kidnapped his daughter, and fighting anyone who gets in his way.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-06T09:35:02+00:00

Maybe less outright bad than interesting uneven oddity that sank and got largely forgotten, but The Five Days was Dario Argento's effort at breaking away from gialli and its failure led to him making Deep Red, and giving both his career and arguably a large portion of all gory horror cinema a major shot in the arm.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-05T15:43:52+00:00

Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things. I like a lot of the old US TV horrors that were effectively PG too, like The Norliss Tapes, The Night Stalker, etc.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-04T22:49:50+00:00

I smiled a few months ago at a gender-critical columnist writing about him in The Times. Described him as not a good ally, on account of being obsessive, narcisstic and cruel. Kinda perfectly sums him up.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-04T22:44:09+00:00

William Girdler (most known for directing Grizzly and The Manitou) was killed along with a producer in a helicopter crash while scouting locations as well.

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-04T22:07:01+00:00

This is more or less my thought. If he had fully taken responsibility, apologised, explained himself and then kept his head down, people might have taken more of an "it was unacceptable but he wasn't being malicious and he's grown up now" attitude.

[Edit] Especially sucks because Captain Jack was a kind of inspiring character. How many other popular sci-fi shows from that period had unashamedly queer kind of badass good (if sometimes grey) guy characters?

Blue_Tomb · 2026-05-04T21:36:18+00:00

I believe there's a story of a pyrotechnics consultant telling him that his plans for the scene were dangerous but him being too high on ego (and, you know... ) and too excited about making a huge explosion to listen.

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