Conflict of Interest On Being Eternally Affiliated with the Worst Movie Ever Made
posted by on September 5 at 14:47 PM
In 1999, on the advice of an intelligent female friend, I watched Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls. This was four years after the film’s theatrical release, which I’d ignored out of solidarity with good taste and political correctness. But when the most intelligent feminist I knew all but ordered me to stop what I was doing and rent Showgirls, I obeyed, and soon learned one of life’s great truths: Paul Verhoeven’s critically savaged, thoroughly diastrous stripper drama is the most amazing inadvertant comedy in the history of cinema, and with some slight contextualization and one major cut, the funniest movie ever made.
Soon after my epiphany, my friend Eric (Fredericksen, then a Stranger staffer, now director of this joint) urged me to share my findings with the world. Northwest Film Forum arranged a screening, I provided live annotation, and since then I’ve toured sporadically around the country as a semi-professional ambassador for the hilarity of Showgirls.
As some of you know, in 2004, I got a call from MGM, the studio that produced Showgirls. Instead of a cease-and-desist order, they had me provide the commentary track to the DVD re-release, which has recently been re-re-released. No matter what I do with the rest of my life, my name will be forever linked with Showgirls.
I couldn’t be happier. The film’s mindblowing comedic magic is eternal. In advance of upcoming screenings in Texas and Florida, I’m hosting a one-nighter tomorrow night at the Triple Door—the only place in the world where you can enjoy Wild Ginger cuisine while watching the worst movie ever made in a nightclub co-owned by Kenny G. Join me, if you please.
Sounds amazing. I had no idea. None at all.
Where in Florida?
Not the worst movie ever made - not by a long shot. It's a bad movie for sure, but if Verhoeven were to come up with some sort of subversive explanation for WHY it was so bad ("it's a statement on _____"), I think we'd buy it.
I have seen David show the movie before and laughed hysterically. Truly funny and I am really sorry I cannot view the movie with him again.
From a Cinema Scope interview:
SCOPE: Does this dichotomy between your Hollywood work and your generally more historical work in the Netherlands say something about the differences between the two places?
VERHOEVEN: I’m not sure. You could also argue that I was typecast after RoboCop and that as long as it was in Fantasyland, I could get projects. But if I wanted to do something realistic—and the most realistic one was Showgirls. It’s very interesting to consider that. A lot of the events in Showgirls are taken from real incidents, which is perhaps why so many people hated it. Mario Kassar, who ran Carolco, which produced a number of my films, knew my Dutch work and that I could do something like Basic Instinct, but after RoboCop and Total Recall, the studios wouldn’t have even thought of me as a thriller director. So I got out of that mode, and then after Showgirls, I couldn’t go there anymore. All the doors that opened with Basic Instinct closed with Showgirls. Not all was lost: I could continue to make expensive and interesting movies like Starship Troopers and Hollow Man. But I also think that once people in Hollywood see Black Book, they’ll be able to trust me with material beyond science fiction.
Every time I see the live commentary it's like a religious experience. I am so happy now there is a DVD that I can pop in during the off season to introduce people to it's wonder. I saw Showgirls in the theater. I was the only female there and that added to the stank of the film. Yes, film. I love you David for showing others the light. You and me...we got ties.
"Oooh... SCARY MONSTER"
Ummm.
No.
yeah, Will will stay home and watch videos of old Seattle Storm games, y'all.
Squeee!! Thank you, David, and thank you, MGM!
i think y'all should know, i'm totally going to this for my anniversary.
i also saw this film in the theater, in high school, and it kinda changed my life. for years, no one appreciated the comic genius of that dolphin sex pool scene quite as much as my friend kelly and i. it was like watching john waters' movies for the first time. but unintentionally funny.
(we were also the only ladies in the audience, and i can't remember how we made it into the theater while still being far younger than eighteen, but i'm glad we pulled it off.)
somebody should try to talk my boyfriend into getting my the coffee table book for said anniversary.
also, schmader, did you steal that image from my myspace post about this show? because that would make me feel extra special. and meta.
"...with some slight contextualization and one major cut, the funniest movie ever made."
David, what major cut are you recommending?
And does the DVD have its chapter marks adjusted to facilitate that major cut?
Um, they have videos of old Seattle Storm games?
I seriously don't think it's that funny.
The only movie that comes close to Showgirls for greatness is Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Dolls loses out, barely, because it has slightly better acting.
The cut is (spoiler alert) the raping of Molly.
On the DVD, it works out so that if you push "next chapter" when the rape scene begins, it takes you right to the end of the scene.
Am I the only one hung up on the Kenny G. thing? That freaks me out...
I think the funniest part is where she throws up - inexplicably (Stress? Drugs? On command to be funny?). You just kind of stare at the screen blankly well into the next scene thinking, "why they hell did she throw up?"
FYI, if it is of interest, there is some Prof. at Wesleyan University Film Dept. that is really into Verhoeven and showed Showgirls to his classes... at least, there was about 8 years ago. But I don't think he was joking...
@15 - what about Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill, Kill?
or the Woody Allen remake?
I saw Showgirls at the Egyptian on opening day with another fag in tow. We were the only ones laughing at the start of the film, but by the end, the whole audience was in breaking up.
Except the rape scene, which is scary.
But we were laughing again when Nomi rouged her nipples and kicked the ass of Michael Bolton.
And every time Gina Gershon says the word "darlin'" you have to do a line of coke.
I have taken most of my friends to see David's commentary and they all come away with a new perspective! It's freakin' HILARIOUS. I love every chip, nail and tit about the film 'Darlin'.
I read a brilliant interview a few months back with Gina Gershon where she mentioned that Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters recently took her to a Showgirls screening in NYC. Needless to say, everyone in the audience was in complete shock to see her in person. She also said that it’s been so long since she made the movie that it’s like watching someone else on screen which is really funny.
My fave: The entire sequence at the Cheetah when Gina demands a lap dance from hell from Nomi, and Nomi's *ahem* hysterical "performance." There should be a Showgirls channel that just shows that scene. By the way, do you like my nails?
Gina Gershon really makes that film delicious! She has the best lines.
@21: "you have to do a line of coke"??? Really? That is so 1980. Wow!
Anyway, I guess I'll have to see this movie to see what all the fuss is about.
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