-- Mike, post-The Room conversation
"This is so bad it's almost good."
"This is so bad it's gone past good and back to bad again."
-- Rebecca Doppelmeyer and Enid Coleslaw, Ghost World
Last night was Portland's first theatrical screening of Tommy Wiseau's* vanity trainwreck The Room -- a film that Wiseau wrote, produced, directed, and starred in. The majority of the film took place in two rooms on a soundstage, set designs were minimal, outside skylines were digitally added in post-production, the acting was nothing past "F"-grade -- yet somehow he managed to spend $6 million on this. I suppose a large chunk of that was used on the HD video camera (this was back in 2003, so it probably cost a penny or two), so that he could film in both 35mm and HD, side by side on the same camera mount no less, simply because he wasn't aware of the difference between the two formats and wanted to compare.
As for the film itself, I can't even begin to describe the experience.
It is a trainwreck in every sense of the expression: it is a horrible monstrosity that you don't necessarily want to look at, yet you can't take your eyes away from it. And the spoon throwing, yelling reactions at the screen, or trying to gouge your eyes out with the straw from your soda cup doesn't make it any better, only more tolerable.
This movie is a turd wrapped in an enigma and covered with six million dollar bills.
And it is truly one of the most glorious things I have ever seen.
It's back in Portland in two weeks.
I think I may have to go again.
*The man's ambitious, I'll give him that. According to Wikipedia -- Current and upcoming projects for Wiseau include a sitcom pilot called The Neighbors which he is currently pitching to networks, a book on the differences between 35mm and HD video, a Broadway adaptation of The Room, a Dracula movie, a musical based on Ayn Rand's life and an untitled second feature film, on which he will begin production in the summer of 2009.
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