Good Bad Flicks is a webseries created and hosted by Cecil Trachenburg in which he reviews movies that are either So Bad, It's Good or Needs More Love while also providing some interesting production histories of said movies. He was formerly a part of The Escapist, but was let go in 2017 (along with other members at the time) but is on good terms with the site and still attends their twitch streams. He is also a part of Geek Juice Media (where he riffs alongside Brad Jones amongst others) and The Agony Booth.
You can watch the show on his website
or on Youtube. The show is Patreon supported, donate here if you wish.
Compare with Cinema Wins (which is another show that focuses on the positives of all movies, regardless of critical response), as well as with another escapist show Movie Defense Force, which is identical in premise, and was hosted by Jim Sterling of Jimquisition fame.
Good Bad Flicks provides examples of:
- Accentuate the Negative: Averted. Cecil's whole reason for this show is to take unpopular movies and explain why they are better than their reputation suggests.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: He said that the most unrealistic moment in Catwoman (2004) was Sally ending up with a boyfriend at the end.
- Author Appeal:
- Cecil really loves horror and low budget movies.
- He also seems to like cats alot. (The animal, not the play)
- Full Moon Video is one of his favorite studios, unsurprising since they specialized in exactly the kind of low-budget, direct-to-video films the channel is centered around. And to be fair, Full Moon is an exemplar at having nothing but using it well when it comes to filmmaking.
- Berserk Button:
- Cecil really hates it, if an animal gets killed for a film.
- An even bigger one for him is when Executive Meddling occurs and makes the film worse— case in point, he's genuinely pissed at the treatment Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 got by producers who knew nothing about what they were doing.
- When horror films try to shoehorn in a final Jump Scare just before the end credits. Better known as the "Bughuul!" scare, which originated from Cecil's review of Sinister. Blumhouse Productions in particular is a repeat offender of this trope, much to Cecil's dismay and frustration.
- Body Horror: Plenty of it in some of the movies that are reviewed here.
- Comically Missing the Point: On seeing a banana-eating contest in Spring Break, he thanks the movie for drawing attention to the nutritional importance of potassium.
- Crossover: With Obscurus Lupa in two episodes.
- Deadpan Snarker: Cecil has no lack of snark in his delivery or his editing. As an example, he explains the many investments that went into making Waterworld one of the most expensive films of all time, complete with cheesy cash register sound and money signs appearing all over the screen.
- Due to the Dead: In his "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue, Cecil will give due reverence to a participant in a film who died between the time the film was made and Cecil did his review, especially if the career of a promising actor or filmmaker was cut tragically short.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: An exploration of films that are
So Bad, It's Good, or actual good films that are underappreciated, Cult Classics, or just somehow slipped through all the cracks to be forgotten. - Executive Meddling: In-Universe, Cecil often calls that as one of the main reasons why certain movies turn out to be worse than they could've been.
- Rarely, it goes in the opposite direction, with producers needed to reign in or outright fire an incompetent director.
- Extra-Long Episode: Most of his reviews run between ten and twenty minutes. His "Exploring" series, on the other hand, tends to run at least half an hour per episode, as he examines the entirety of the film from inception to reception, dissecting everything that went into making that film what it ended up being, before finally analyzing the film itself. For instance, his "Exploring Mortal Kombat: The Movie" goes back to the creation of the first game itself, and how it was basically a passion project that got shot down three times in favor of other games before finally getting the go-ahead.
- The Faceless: You never see his face. He was interviewed in the documentaries In Search of Darkness and In Search of Tomorrow.
- Fanservice: As many "So Bad, It's Good" films are low-budget B movies, and many low budget B movies rely on this trope to make money, Cecil doesn't shy away from pointing out when a film has nudity, especially gratuitous nudity. Lacking (or supplementing) actual nudity, he'll comment on costume and camera angle choices intended to invoke the trope.
- Nice Guy: A very humble, easy-going, laid-back individual. His friend and colleague Mister X of Geek Juice has often described him as "the Tom Hanks of the internet".
- Real Men Wear Pink: In his review of Spice World, he unapologetically admits to liking the Spice Girls (with Sporty being his favourite). He also admitting to liking S Club 7, and implying that he might review S Club: Seeing Double one day.
- Reality Is Unrealistic: B-grade sci-fi and horror flicks are notorious for their shaky science. . . so it's really cool when Cecil shows that what sounds like scientific idiocy in the name of plot actually has basis in real science. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.
- Running Gag:
- "Boom Mike!" Pointing out when a a boom mike is visible in the shot. Sometimes given a spin, such "Ah, it's everyone's favorite guest star: Boom Mike."
- "Is that a crew member?" or "They run past a crew member trying to hide," or some other variation, when crew are visible (sometimes barely) in a shot.
- "Meanwhile, in another movie" or "They escape into another movie" or somesuch for particularly jarring transitions between wildly different scenes.
- Shared Universe: Because of his crossovers, he's part of the Reviewaverse.
- Shout-Out: Numerous ones to video games, such as the perfect use of the "what is a man?" quote from Castlevania in his review of America 3000.
- Shown Their Work: It's probably one of the most insightful reviewer shows out there since Cecil likes to go in depth about the movies production history,
Executive Meddling, etc. - So Bad, It's Good: In-Universe, most of the movies he's reviewing. The videos expose the many factors that went into the showcased film getting its "bad" reputation and then Cecil explaining what he believes makes them "good". Even if the movie is objectively bad, there's usually something interesting in or about it that makes it a good watch if you're into that sort of thing. Some particularly disjointed, trainwreck "Frankenfilms" he highlights could be quite educational for aspiring filmmakers as examples of how not to do things. And there are many films that are genuinely good, even great, despite low budget, obvious sets, cheesy costumes, bad acting, or all of the above.
- Spin-Off: Good Bad Games and Netflix Instant Recommendations. Cecil also currently plans on doing a series based on Live-Action TV.
- Title Theme Tune: A short one provided by Psychostick.
- The Voice: Cecil only narrates the videos.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: After covering the film's plot, budget, location, and ancillary information, he'll talk about the writers, director, producers, and actors involved, frequently giving a quick overview of their careers after this particular film. Some have gone on to great fame, others to moderate success, others to great success in less-visible portions of the film industry, some never worked on another film again.
