Tommy Wiseau's "The Room"

Is there really no thread about this horrible-yet-excellent film on ILE?

I'm going to the midnight screening at the Red Vic in SF next week. Part of me thinks that it's "too popular" now that it has been talked up by Tim & Eric, David Wain, NPR, Bill Simmons, etc., etc., but fuck it, I still love it:

this looks awful

There was a feature about this movie in one of the British papers recently. Apparently there are mass screenings every last Saturday of the month in a Hollywood cinema, where the same enthusiasts appear in costume each time. Wiseau is one of them.

yeah it's a pretty big deal around here

Homosexual II/Mandee to thread IMMEDIATELY, code red

She showed me this movie when I was in Denver for a few days - it changed my life.

lol at shakey

Snakes on a Plane!

So much better than Snakes on a Plane, come on.

I'm just judging by the trailer but it looks like garden variety 90s relationship drama indie film...? am I missing something?

It's like that, except way, way, way more inept. Here is a good example:

Or, even better:

omg the patron saint of "baout things"

okay wow wtf that is some shitty filmmaking...

I know that flower store lolz

shakey i caught this @ the red vic last month, it's got a few more midnite screenings coming up. Would def be worth seeing in a room full of savages if some of the cultists weren't so rocky horror annoying about it.

it's basically made by a guy who learned the english language and customs from watching nothing but soap operas.

Future prospects for Wiseau include a sitcom called The Neighbors, a book about the differences between 35 mm film and high-definition video, a Broadway adaptation of The Room, a Dracula movie and a musical show based on Ayn Rand's life.[3]

a musical show based on Ayn Rand's life.

hahaha okay this needs to happen

written by Steve Ditko I hope

He'll never top this. Dude will prolly just become more dull and competent.

Oh hiiiiii

this movie is amazing

RiffTrax has done a good thing.

I hate the RiffTrax for this movie.

forget rifftrax, the movie itself is just...wow

it's basically made by a guy who learned the english language and customs from watching nothing but soap operas.

― Cosmo Vitelli, Wednesday, April 15, 2009 8:58 PM (2 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is the last movie that needs a fuckin' rifftrax

it's redundant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnnTqFTHGuc

lol i don't even need to watch to remember that little gem

i have seen this movie like 45 times

there are only TWO THINGS in life that make me truly happy

1- the smell of a casino
2- the opening credits of 'the room'

that is it.

<3

also: i have the hots for chris-r

WHERE'S MY FUCKING MONEY DENNY

i hate denny so much

he is a grade A creeper

he has no boundaries

got a kick out of this - from imdb:

The Best Movie....EVER!!!, 29 February 2004
Author: houndog5 from los angeles

OK, that may be a stretch, but I have inside knowledge into the facts. You see, I was fortunate enough to have worked on the film. As I read the reviews here, especially the last one, which I am sure was written by our amazing Director/Actor/Producer/Writer, I felt I had to respond. Having the dubious honor of saying I worked on this film, has also brought with it the responsibility of telling the truth about what happened on set. Apparently Tommy had a lot of money sitting around and decided he needed to make a film. Not being able to decide what to shoot, film or video, we shot both. Side by side. Both cameras on the same head, being operated by one camera operator. We shot almost the whole thing in the parking lot and back storage shed (read- sound stage) of a camera rental house in Hollywood. I got the call to work on the show after they had already tried to start with another crew that ended up all being dismissed. I believe that we ended up being crew 2 of 4. The show never had much organization to it from the start. We were told it would be a 3 week shoot. At the end of 3 weeks we were exactly 1/2 way done. Crew calls were usually 8 a.m. tommy would show up around 10:30 or 11. Because he would take the HD video camera home with him every night, we had no choice but to wait for him. Since we were only in one room or outside the door in the parking lot, we did not have anything to do but sit around and wait every day. When Tommy arrived we would have to see if he was in actor mode or director mode. If he was in actor mode, you were not allowed to talk to him so he could "stay in character." Since he was in almost every scene, he was always in his "actor" mode. This also meant that he could not direct. Noting the huge delays every day and the fact that we were never seeming to get anything done, our wonderful script supervisor stepped up and became the director...at least he tried. One day he had to go off and do another show and asked if anyone else wanted to step up and direct and keep some script notes. When nobody volunteered, I stepped up. I loved it. It was my directorial genius that had tommy bump into Lisa as they were taking the bad guy off the roof! I will also take credit for the now famous line "You are tearing me apart, Lisa!" In the first 10 takes, tommy kept saying "You are TAKING me apart!" As the crew tried to keep it together, I felt I should right the situation and corrected the line. The crew was also instrumental in keeping the chicken line in. "CHEEEEEPPPPPPP, CHEEP, CHEEP, CHEEP, CHEEP!" We begged our scripty/director to keep him doing it take after take. Though the crew ultimately followed the original DP out the door and quit, we are all proud to have taken part in the making of this film. Amongst the film crew realms, we are minor celebrities. "Dude, you worked on that thing?" is a phrase that is often heard when The Room is mentioned.

I have the pleasure of driving through Hollywood every day and still seei ng the billboard for the film up and Tommy glaring at me as if to say, "I telled you I could make movie." For those looking for a photo op, it's on Highland, a few blocks south of Sunset. I know that tommy took out an ad in the trade papers asking "For Your Consideration", I only wished that I could see him on stage accepting an Academy Award. It would be well earned. Rumor has it that he has a vampire film in the works... let's hope so... I only hope I get the opportunity to work on it. I can only hope that The Room becomes a cult classic with midnight showings. I'll put my tux on and bring a football. Perhaps I'll stand up for a Q&A afterward and tell the stories I have so fondly tried to burn from my memory. My other dream is for the DVD. There are 100's of hours of behind the scenes footage out there. The camera for the behind the scenes material was always recording. ALWAYS! It will be awesome to see what took place on our set. I hope he puts it out there. I know I would buy several copies for all my friends and family.

ordered it after i watched this for about the 7th time. don't think i could enjoy a midnight screening with the yelling people, but god i love this movie.

I didn't think I'd like the midnight screening, but it was so great. The other people in the audience pointed out things I'd never noticed, and you really have to see the movie on the big screen to understand how shabby a production it is.

watching this was pretty fun and hilarious but i really can't imagine wanting to do it ever again tbh

oh hiii slocki

hi

I have been unable to greet anyone with anything other than "oh hiii x" ever since I saw this movie 3 days ago.

Rumor has it that he has a vampire film in the works

Tommy Wiseau's Twilight would surely be the greatest movie ever.

I can definitely see him as some sort of weird Phantom of the Opera-esque vampire because he already looks that way anyway.

I'm getting images of blood-filled footballs. This is not healthy.

Don't worry about it!

But it's TEARING me etc.

Saw this tonight at a sorta midnight screening at Cinema 21. The theater staff had a large of soundtrack cds that they gave away free.

The film itself was sublime. Here's Tommy talking to the local alt-weekly in a nice long interview: http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/interview-with-tommy-wiseau/Content?oid=1573119

...Can you tell me more about the vampire movie you're working on?

Well this we may shoot at Austin, Texas, but I am... well, it'll be something unique, let's put it this way. So that's basically it. I think that a vampire, generally speaking, is an equal survivor of human behavior, somewhat to certain degrees, which is prolonging the life, if I may say that. So but. Whatever people believe in vampire or I believe in vampire, that's irrelevant, because I think the topic is, it's much more deep which actually relates to human behavior if you really think about it. Of course, all that stuff, it's sort of assumption and a lot of fantasy go into it. But the probability is very high if you really think about it, how you can prolong your life—have different blood type, or what is the....

I think this technology, you look at around you, we go so up, that I believe 10 years from today we probably don't need a doctor. You will have your own doctor, computers will say, "Okay, your sugar level is too low, you have to eat this or that, etc., etc." You know what I mean. Actually, I want to make a movie about this one, too, something like that. But the vampire is a very exciting project that I'm working on currently, yes.

Is that something you're writing?

I already have two scripts for vampires—100 page scripts. We do one at a time.

Are there two separate movies?

Yes. Two separate movies.

Are they connected, plot-wise? Is one a sequel of the other one?

Actually, one is connected somewhat. And one, I give you one clue, that it's connected to all the vampires which you see in the entire world. So it's very deep in the depth. Okay? And, um, [laughs] yeah I have crazy ideas right now, but I don't... Okay, I will tell you anyway. It's too bad that some other people are very snobbish, people who produce vampires movie. Because my vampires are very much connected to all the vampires, let's put it this way. So, I'm not giving more to you [laughs].

the script is even weirder than the film!

okay i thought this one was a joke xp

that one brings him closer to Neil Breen

(JOHNNY HANGS UP THE PHONE. BILLY ENTERS, ALSO DRESSED IN A
TUXEDO AND HOLDING A FOOTBALL.)

JOHNNY

Oh hi Billy. That was some funeral wasn't it.

BILLY

Yeah, I'm just glad it's over.

JOHNNY

Billy, we had to make sure Jimmy was really dead. Now that we
all saw him lain down in that funeral casket we can be sure
he'll never trouble you ever again for his money.

BILLY

There's just some things I don't understand Johnny.

JOHNNY

Like what? Death? The meaning of life? Love?

BILLY

No, I mean what happened at the police station. Didn't you
take Jimmy straight there? It's all very strange.

JOHNNY

Well you know, the police have to deal with all sorts of
crazy people. So, sometimes at the station the police have to
do what may seem to us like some strange things.

BILLY

But they said all his blood was sucked out of his body.

JOHNNY

Some very .... strange things.

real or no??

https://www.reddit.com/r/theroom/comments/6xw2h5/the_original_script/

grudgingly siding with the skeptics on this one :(

I did think the "over 9000" reference was fishy, but I wanted so much to believe it was true

i can't imagine mentally operating in tommy syntax for the duration it'd have required to write that

theres no way that's real

I can't imagine the absurdity of Johnny apprehending Chris-R, taking him to the police station, and then re-appearing a minute later ever occurred to Tommy Wiseau

"Here is your coffee and English muffin and burn your mouth." really was in the original script tho! (its in greg's book)

"I can't imagine the absurdity of Johnny apprehending Chris-R, taking him to the police station, and then re-appearing a minute later ever occurred to Tommy Wiseau"

I love the fast that the threat is so easily eliminated

"come on lets go ! its clear!"

Just wanted to throw this out there - have any of you seen James Bryan and Renee Harmon's LADY STREET FIGHTER (1981)? It's like Tommy was a woman and made an unintelligible super sleazy exploitation action film in the '70s. It's schlock amongst schlock.

Badass title

where can I get that film! LSF?!?!

AGFA (Alamo's film/exploitation preservation arm) put out a new DVD/Blu-Ray that comes out in a couple days - saw it at a Drafthouse last week
https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Street-Fighter-Special-Blu-ray/dp/B07C53MX63

good god, I just realized the unreleased sequel is on the disc version. I might have to track it down now

enjoyed "The Disaster Artist" though it hit a lot of typical beats a bit too easily in some places and i'm sure the truth was actually much stranger. I thought James Franco actually made for a more believable Tommy than Dave Franco made for a believable Greg, but both were good. The final screening scene was i guess just trying to Hollywood it up and compress into a single night the film's ultimately weirdly victorious journey, but it was okay. Gotta read the book now, for sure.

and Nathan Fielder!

you should definitely read the book. the movie left a lot of the crazier stuff out, and I think it does a great job of portraying Tommy as a dangerous sociopath in addition to being an endearing weirdo. unfortunately it cuts off at the same point...I was expecting a couple chapters exploring how the movie eventually became a cult success and how Tommy wound up somehow vindicated. the movie makes it seem like it was a hit right away but the reality is it wasn't really a cult success until what, 5 years later? I mean it grossed $2600 on its theatrical run.

agreed on the casting of Greg - Dave doesn't really resemble him at all and I don't think he captures how stiff and hilarious the real Greg's acting is.

I went to reread the book the other day and cannot find my copy, waahhh! :(

Caught the movie on a flight the other day - never the best environment to watch anything, but I thought it was only just OK. The book is far better and definitely worth a read.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeuSLaKHZSo

oh hi shark

um

Wiseau has the creative mind of a seven-year-old. 'What if there was water in the street all of the sudden, and then and then and then what if there were sharks in the water?'

Meanwhile Greg is trying not to look bored.

Cool that he went back to his Nee Orleans roots for this one.

*New

i see his misogyny is still intact

"water, look at that!" lol

big shark literally tearing him apart

it's literally tearing me apart Lisa
― Rhine Jive Click Bait (Hadrian VIII), Tuesday, February 12, 2019 10:47 PM (thirty-nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha whoops for Tommy Wiseau thread^
― Rhine Jive Click Bait (Hadrian VIII), Tuesday, February 12, 2019 10:48 PM (thirty-eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

zelda ha

someone wrote an excellent (and really long) review of the movie/book here

https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/binx8k/disaster_artist_insanity_is_no_shortcut_to/

I kinda disagree about the shortcomings of the movie - Tommy isn't really presented as a likeable person there either, but yeah the tonal differences are pretty stark. That said, I can forgive that given this was a major motion picture that had to be funny and concise and not go that far off the deep end. Still, really good read

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAv4ceFJH3U

Sometimes, things happen on the internet that are so weird or singular that you can’t really say anything about them other than “well, here it is.” This is one of those things. Courtesy of YouTube channel Octopie and created by Brock LaBorde, this is the “pilot” for an animated series called SpaceWorld that features Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero from The Room has intergalactic bounty hunter rivals, with Wiseau playing the Han Solo-esque TX and Sestero playing a monstrous robot dude named Dorgol.

that was actually pretty funny

she should change her stage name to Tomi Mwiseau https://t.co/JsMLB2zCc1

— Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) March 19, 2021

I've seen a few other clips, and boy ...

who's gonna take the plunge and watch this

From the trailer, it looks like the same scene over and over again with her threatening him with a different weapon each time.

"That really escalated!"

8 seconds later...

"There's no need to escalate this"

this is too self-aware to be good

knowingly ironic, therefore unlikely to enter the canon of catastrophic vanity project auteurism

yeah exactly, The Room seems to be remarkable due to Wiseau's extreme ineptness being diligently mediated by a succession of nigh-professional hands. Neil Breen is a legit weirdo. Zack Snyder somehow convinces ppl to give him a hundred million dollars for his 12-yo-boy Big Ideas. This is just stupid (and made by someone with a repugnant soul).

Given that it features a powerful scumbag in a vanity production at the height of their infamy, it kind of reminds me of OJ Simpson's "Juiced"

The last old time picture palace in Houston that's still a movie theatre is having to permanently close next week, and I'm sad that for the foreseeable future we won't have a midnight movie home for The Room and Rocky Horror.

sorry, i'm on neil breen's planet now, don't have time for the Linton film

I just

First look at Bob Odenkirk in the upcoming remake of ‘THE ROOM,’ which seeks to raise funds for the nonprofit organization amfAR. pic.twitter.com/63LYnAKWev

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) March 9, 2023

the upcoming remake of ‘THE ROOM,’

The only way that could be interesting is if they actually tried to make a good movie

The Room Reloaded

Same Room, Different Test Results

this strikes me as an idea that could potentially be very funny if it was done with a uh...less overexposed bad movie. have they never seen a Neil Breen film?

Should’ve picked like a forgotten D-tier 1970s comedy or something

your terrible ideas

this strikes me as an idea that could potentially be very funny if it was done with a uh...less overexposed bad movie. have they never seen a Neil Breen film?

Nah, The Room is a lot easier to put through the Gus Van Sant/Psycho postmodernism generator

epic bacon substitute