If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe I'd been married long time ago Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe? If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe I'd been married long time ago Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe? If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe I'd been married long time ago Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe? He came to town like a midwinter storm He rode through the fields, so handsome and strong His eyes was his tools and his smile was his gun But all he had come for was having some fun If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe I'd been married long time ago Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe? If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe I'd been married long time ago Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe? He brought disaster wherever he went The hearts of the girls was to Hell, broken, sent They all ran away so nobody would know And left only men 'cause of Cotton-Eye Joe If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe I'd been married long time ago Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe? If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe I'd been married long time ago Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe? If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe I'd been married long time ago Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe? If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe I'd been married long time ago Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe? If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe I'd been married long time ago Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe?
“I have some ideas for my movie. Uhh, one: Steven Seagal needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine. Two: whenever Steven Seagal is not on screen, all the other characters should be asking ‘Where’s Steven Seagal?’”
The scene in "On Deady Ground" where actual bad ass R. Lee Ermey has to sing the praises of Steven Seagall's character made me visibly angry while watching it haha.
Neil Breen is an American treasure, and his movies bring me such joy and laughter. My favorite genre in the last few years has become "Writer/Directors Who Don't Know They Aren't Good At Making Movies."
@patricklapointe4979 Mr. Breen is apparently very successful in real estate. The dude who made the "Easy Rider sequel " also financed it himself. If these characters could get other's money, then they would really deserve respect.
@@brianthomas2434 The IMDB makes mention that Breen's Double Down was shot on 35mm film and with Arriflex cameras so at least he offered a real cinematographic look for his film.
@@patricklapointe4979 Per Red Letter Media, who watched Breen’s filmmaking tutorial DVD, Neil is an architect, which is something I never expected him to be. So I suppose he has had at least some success in that field.
I don't think Hauser was actually cast in "Champagne & Bullets". I think he just drunkenly stumbled onto the set, and, everybody was too scared to ask him to leave.
'Delusioneer' is now my word of the week - I doubt if I will find a way of slipping into any everyday conversation but I will have it ready just in case. It's a brilliant word. Thank you.
“High functioning cinematic egomaniac” is probably the best description of Breen I’ve ever heard. Few others of his ilk have been able to somehow balance the business and artistic aspects of low-budget filmmaking… kind of.
You are quite right-l’m kind of impressed by Breen,as he seems to be successful enough(financially,at least)that he can keep financing his movies.Granted,working as a Las Vegas realtor could (l would suppose)be quite lucrative.
Another way Y.K. Kim is different from everyone on the list: he actually realised how bad his film turned out and before it became a cult classic, he was embarrassed by it (when Alamo Draft House called him to get the rights, he kept hanging up on them because he assumed they had to be joking.) As fun as Miami Connection is, you made the right call, he's too self-aware to be on this list.
Also, Jack from RLM nailed it when he described it more as a passion project, as the entire movie is an ensemble project including his school - rather than making a movie purely to show how great he is.
Met Tommy Wiseau a few years ago--still looks and sounds exactly the same. If you ever get a chance to see the room in a crowded theatre where half the crowd is clinically mad and armed with 5000 pack boxes of Plastic spoons, do it. Well worth the experience.
"Sadly The Astrologer only saw a limited theatrical run and due to stealing all of it's music never saw a home release." Many many sadder things have happened the stars foretell me.
Segal's ego was so big that when he wrote the script, he didn't think that in order to save the environment, maaaaybe he shouldn't blow up a major oil rig that will spew all the oil onto the ground and choking black smoke in the air. I give Shatner a pass on bad egosploitation simply because I'm sure it was very, very difficult to shake his role as Kirk and that's all anyone would see him as.
Egosploitation is a term I never knew I needed until now. The deluded writer/director/star is the essential component of so many great/bad films and needed a shorthand.
Kung Fu Hustle is one of the rare examples that works well, largely because Stephen Chow created the movie as a love letter to the genre rather than one to himself. Plus he's far more talented than any of the people on this list.
"Kung Fu Hustle" isn't egosploitation at all. There are many filmmakers, from Orson Welles to Mel Brooks and Woody Allen, who have routinely taken on all three roles without being overly egotistical about it. There are also individual attempts, like Billy Bob Thornton's "Sling Blade" and Ben Affleck's "The Town", that deliver what they intend to without the flaws that ego inevitably brings to a production.
@@mintonmediaa touch of evil is a pure vanity project for wells. Wells, though was actually talented and made a very good movie So not all belong on this video
There are plenty of good movies where the star is also the director. When the results are competent-to-good/very good, it’s not an issue. It’s when the star/auteur is woefully out of their depth that you get the kinds of movies on this list.
Vanity projects are one of my favorite kinds of b-movie. It's cathartic to so someone so narcissistic fails so miserably to make themselves cool. Hilarious stuff.
This channel rocks. I've watched every video after discovering it via algorithm for the nightmare on elm Street borrowing blockbusters. And it helped me get great ideas for Christmas and bday presents for my brother. Thanks sir!
I too only discovered it recently, via the nightmare on elm street video popping up in my recommendation, but I'm super happy it did. Fantastic channel.
No doubt. This guy actually knows what he talks about and does the research which is more than I can say for much bigger channels that talk about movies who give their half baked ignorant opinions on a movie
I absolutely adored Vinegar Syndrome’s restoration and completion of New York Ninja. I had the pleasure to see it in an independent theater with an appreciative audience for this sort of schlock. I bought a blu-ray player just to have my own copy !!
@@Abrakadabro666 It is definitely the most well-made of the titles profiled in this video. It even had an ending that was suggesting a sequel which is a real sign of confidence with the movie.
I love the weird egosploitation genre. So much so that my wife bought me a poster of the lyrics to friends from Miami Connection & blown photo of the weird yarn lion from Samurai Cop for my birthday. I was also recently an associate producer for Len Kabasinski's latest movie Pact of Vengeance. Though I'd class him more in the super low budget so bad it's good genre than as an egosploitation director. He's not always the star in his flicks. But who knows he might direct his egosploitation masterpiece if Vinegar Syndrome actually let him direct a sequel to New York Ninja.
Nice to meet you. I'm 'online friendly' with Len and there's an interview with him in the BMB book. I did think of him for this video but, at the end of the day, he's just not arrogant enough!
Len, just going off of what I have seen of him from Red Letter Media and a few scattered internet things, doesn’t really seem to have an ego, at least not to me. Like he just seems to like what he likes, it’s just that what he likes falls into the category of typical egosplotation films.
You worked for a man I unironiclly have so much respect for. He does what he loves. He is very good at the fight parts. And has a sense of humor about the rest to go on Red Letter Media!
i think he has high functioning autism, he's always coming off like he's barely conscious of social structures no hate, most of my best friends have autism (or at least they act like it)
I'm new to your channel but have seen tons of videos from bad movie channels like RLM, Bad Movie Beatdown and others. So I was really surprised how many movies you list here that I've never heard of. That is an impressive feat!
@@peterpohan3850 OP already listed RLM; all the rest are indeed good, if not great, but as an cultural force and influence on YT's history, RLM are the most important and successful in terms lasting impact and legacy
I've been watching all these videos nonstop for the past couple of months. You do this, SO damn well. Can't wait for a Brucesploitation vid, as your exploitation videos are some of my favotite.
SO pleased to see CITY DRAGON get a mention. Absolute insanity. I spoke to MC Kung Fu this year and he says a blu ray is coming next year, as well as a sequel!
This channel has given me such a unique insight into sub genres I would have never have dived into had it not been for the blessing of the algorithm one day. Especially your Bondsploitation video which paved a way for me to discover brilliance such as ESPY and then going on to find the likes of 100 Shot, 100 Killed duology and for that I can never thank you enough.
Great video. The Geteven part reminds me of Bert Williams "The Nest of the Cuckoo Birds". A WW2 vet, high diver and character actor decides to forge his own big acting break by making a horror film in the Florida swamps, and makes a mesmerising no budget horror film equivalent of outsider art.
i do have to admit that i prefer new videos from your channel to new videos from most of the other channels i am subscribed to. i really dig your well structured videos and your ability to focus your editing on pristine moments of the films you talk about. your channel is great and in many cases even evolving this review style!
Neal Breen is either extremely clever and in on the whole thing or is so much the ultimate arbiter of egosploitation that no amount of exposure to the reality of people's reactions to what he's doing can shake him from his self-worship. I genuinely don't think it's completely possible to be certain which is true.
Breen is not an idiot. I believe he first set out to make artsy movies with a naive mindset that he could do a lot himself. When they caught the attention of the funnybad audience, he understood to keep making creative art-house inspired movies without trying to change his methods or learn the tricks of mainstream professional filmmaking. That way he can express himself while his genuine visions came through, while also bewildering a common viewer and entertaining the funnybad audience. If he elevated his craft to adhere to the usual standards and not avant-garde, he'd lose his audience. I'm very certain they are part genuine, part self-aware. Or he's too stubborn to take a filmmaking class
No he seems to have severe autism or another disorder. It's almost unbelievable how a man can be so lacking in self awareness, but Neil's pulled it off.
@@darvon906 agreed. What worries me is that he comes off as completely sincere about his ideas to kill millions of people to fix the world's problems. I think he might have a Thanos complex
There’s a picture of a real-estate business card of Breen’s floating around on line, but apparently he just dabbled in that for a short time and was mostly an architect. He does seem to prefer being called an architect, whether that’s true or not. I was under the impression that DeHart was a lawyer first and only after some time as one also a filmmaker, but I might be mistaken.
Since I saw some clips of him in the video, I think that a vanity project deserving a mention would be the anime series written, directed and produced by Adriano Celentano, featuring a young badass version of himself as messianic saviour of society through his music and kung-fu, with even a Paint drawing he made for the credit titles. I don't know whether this "masterpiece" ever made it outside of his native Italy, but there he even had a prime-time variety show on national tv to promote the first batch of the episodes.
I think Celentano was or is a musician, quite prominent in Italy or so I understand. Back in the 1970s, he got ticked off that the Italian charts were dominated by American and British artists singing in English so he came up with a song called "Prisencolinensinainciusol" in which almost all of the lyrics were complete gibberish but sounded vaguely like English. There is a video on UA-cam of a performance of the song from Italian TV, which is worth a look. It has some pretty cool dancing and the song itself is actually quite catchy.
@@loumencken9644 I didn't know this song, and I didn't even know something like it existed, but, thanks to your mention here, I looked it up and just heard it. I really liked it. Had I not known all along that the lyrics were pure gibberish, I would have been desperate trying to understand what is being said, which does sound superficially like American English. I don't know if this is true, but I have heard that the composer, Celentano, made this song to prove the point that the Italian public was so conditioned to uncritically admire all music in English, that they would still like it even if it didn't make any sense at all.
Thank you for your content - your channel is an amazing gateway to some really brilliant movies, and I really dig the dry presentation combined with absolutely inspired editing. Thanks to this list I had the pleasure of watching "Empire of the Dark" yesterday and I feel that my life will never be the same again.
I notice William Smith and Eric Roberts turn up multiple times in this video. Also, the Riverdance guy made a movie about himself as a bad-ass? That seems...insanely wrong on so many levels. Shatner making his own weird vanity project, on the other hand, just seems in character.
Ninja in the Claws of the CIA and Zen Kwon Do in Paris were Joh Liu's two other vanity projects looking to help further Liu's own Martial Art, Zen Kwon Do. France, Belgium, and Germany LOVED John Liu, and we're already big fans of him because of his films. After beating (supposedly) Chuck Norris in a full contact karate tournament around 1979-1980, Zen Kwon Do became increasingly popular, and Liu was living the high life. His earnings, as well as "donations", that he received from high profile students, helped him make his remaining films..... which were completely bonkers. Supposedly made with Liu incorporating his private life (ie affairs with women, fights with notable martial artists), along with bold exaggerations and flat out lies, his CIA film flopped as his marriage to a high profile model and heiress wained. In one last ditch effort, he flew to New York to hopefully jump on the ninja movie craze using his connections. And we all know how that turned out. He currently lives in a boathouse in Vietnam...... Possibly? It makes sense since his last film was Trinity Goes East, filmed in South Vietnam, where he plays an aging master who decides to train a Terrence Hill look alike. Made by Toby Russell, it eventually received a stateside dvd release thanks to BCI. He still has the skills. But now he has no interest in talking about his film career, unfortunately. He is embarrassed, to say the least. I wish there was a way to discourage him from feeling in such a way. He would be a wealth of knowledge, and it might help revitalize his career to some extent.
I recently discovered your channel and have since devoured almost every one of your videos. Absolutely top notch, one of the best finds I’ve made in ages. I appreciate your efforts and insights and hope to see more from you. Thanks so much!
I've probably seen maybe between 300-400 "bad" movies at this point but everyone of your videos i discover stuff ive never heard of before and for that i have to thank you. roots of evil and crime killer look incredibly fun
I just stumbled upon your channel and I am so glad I did. Bad movies are THE BEST and your videos are super great! I've seen a bunch of these egomaniacs' films but there's a few here I haven't, guess they're going on the list.
I saw ON DEADLY GROUND in the theater. Afterwards, I became an environmental activist. As in, I actively avoid any environment in which Steven Seagal may be inhabiting. Uh-thank you.
Stevie Seagull is not "the real deal." lol read-up on his fighting background and the effectiveness of his marital art in a real world setting. Thanks for the great video! Do you go to Chiller??
You dropped this right on time, my friend. Has a helluva week. But that is nothing to worry about, now that I have a documentary about Egosploitation and Vanity projects
What I love about many of these 20th century pieces is that it's clear that this is what those "alpha male, dude bros" used to do before the internet. They would raise money through dubious means and create a film with them as the saviour. I'm convinced that some of the r/thathappened stories are just ripped from a number of these scripts. XD
Makes one wonder how many vanity projects aren't becoming movies because of the Internet and Social Media. Though that might be the possible silver lining if one reads the kind of posts, links and Tweets that such individuals seem prone to make and post on social media.
@hedgehog3180 Considering how much of a vain-glorious, hateful creep he really is, it would be a safe bet that his notoriety would be used as a attempted selling point in a project that would either never come to fruition or rightfully drop out of sight.
I fell down a Neil Breen themed rabbit hole and came across this. I assumed it would be a savage take down of all things within, but it wasn’t which was surprisingly awesome. The fact that everything wasn’t just 💩 on really impressed me and gave me an appreciation for everything not Breen or Segal. I really enjoyed this and you have a new fan/subscriber.
Neil has just released the trailer for his latest masterpiece and follow up to Twisted Pair called Cade - The Tortured Crossing. If anything it looks worse than any of his previous works with NO actual locations and using nothing but green screened stock photo backdrops. It's mind blowing.
Awww I thought for sure you'd get Diamond Cobra vs The White Fox. It had every hallmark of a vanity project and helmed by a woman, so something different.
I love this channel. All I needed to see was on deadly ground and you started on the BEST scene with R Lee Ermys ridiculous speech dialogue he has to read about how tough forest Taft (Seagal) is. I quote this all the time
This listicle is better than eating tuna out of the can whilst living in my car! Thanks for the respite - 1Ø/1Ø would ego again. (May all of Vinegar Syndrome's endeavors be baking soda free!)
Hell yeah. You've made a video about vanity projects. They are my favorite trash for internet hack-frauds to talk about. Actually watching them is too much cringe and second-hand embarrassment for me. So thank you for the sacrifice you made.
Sir, you have a gift. No, you have complete authorship of an intensely entertaining and captivating corner of culture and the web and I look forward to any content you produce. So funny so awesome!!!
This is a really great video and I'm definitely subscribing big fan now just after this one. That clip of R Lee Ermey talking about Steven Seagal is the funniest thing I've ever seen
Neil Breen is a genius! New movie out next year too, but there’s no corruption or hacking in it, so I’m not sure how to feel about it. The genius of Neil is that his movies get progressively worse and worse and no one uses stock video like Mr Breen haha. He is a legend!
No corruption OR hacking! What is going to be? Only topless women and his Ferrari? Actually that sound palatable as long as we don't see Neil's butt or balls.
Neil Breen starts his movies with the intention of making one thing, but in the middle, he inevitably changes it to where he becomes a judgemental, sentient being lecturing the world on how awesome he is. I have talked to several people who have worked on his projects because his insanity is so captivating.
Seagals films always have him introduced as some bad ass e.g. ex navy seal and cia, he has a perfect record on all his missions, who every terrorist is scared of and hes also native American 🙄 his movies are comedy gold tho
My favorite genre of bad movie, as bad they can get, at least someone had the drive to make them. I watched Feeders 2 last night (admittedly the Rifftrax edition) and it was just fun. I know I couldn't make anything better anyway lol
Amazing selection, glad as in Irishman to see Fatal Deviation and Blackbird get a mention. Only one film I’m surprised wasn’t included is Honourable Men (2004)
You're so right! I actually went to college where the writer/director/producer/star was an adjunct professor and....yep, that rampant ego is something to see.
Ah man this channel is quality. It hits both my need for some hilarious shit to watch when I'm stoned and my love for cinema both bad and good. 10/10, this shit is hilarious.
The only difference could be the production costs I suppose. But I don't think they would deliver the same quality of any of the titles mentioned in this video.
Seeing Fatal Deviation in here means I get to share a dubious claim to fame. The co-writer/director Shay Casserley was a videographer local to where I grew up. I remember a friend showing me the film and being stunned that one of the main creative visionaries credited was the man who filmed my first holy communion and a number of school plays. I'm pretty sure my parents still have the VHS tapes.
From a channel talking about the best worst movies to another : you're pretty awesome ! The ego projects are some of the best movies. So incredibly misguided and everything... Pure pleasure for us !
This was funny and sad at the same time…and I LOVE IT! I’m a fan of MST3K, RLM and God Awful Movies because bad movies are absolutely fascinating! I’m now subbed. Cheers
Good Bad or Bad Bad might interest you. They've covered a few of the movies on this list, as well as an egosploitation piece called "Meltdown" that includes Robert Z'Dar.
Another one for this would be “Brown Bunny”. That film not only is terrible but the director literally made Chloe Sevingy give him dome on camera. It was porn literally. He busted in her mouth too.
This video went way too easy on Segal. Also, I know his later movies aren't written and directed by him on paper but it's his company and ever aspect of every movie they release is decided on based on how much it strokes his ego. I'm convinced they only exist to launder money for Russian Mafia.
“I am not of this earth.”
We’re well aware of that Neil, thanks.
That quote from New York Ninja:
"Where did he come from? Where did he go?"
All I could think is "Where did you run to Cotton Eye Joe?"
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from, where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe?
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from, where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe?
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from, where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe?
He came to town like a midwinter storm
He rode through the fields, so handsome and strong
His eyes was his tools and his smile was his gun
But all he had come for was having some fun
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from, where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe?
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from, where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe?
He brought disaster wherever he went
The hearts of the girls was to Hell, broken, sent
They all ran away so nobody would know
And left only men 'cause of Cotton-Eye Joe
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from, where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe?
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from, where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe?
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from, where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe?
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from, where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe?
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eye Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from, where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eye Joe?
Half of the dialogue in a typical Seagall movie is the characters talking about how awesome Seagall is
Well, I'm sorry to hear that
(30 second pause)
Cause now, I will snatch every motherfucker birthday
“I have some ideas for my movie.
Uhh, one: Steven Seagal needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine.
Two: whenever Steven Seagal is not on screen, all the other characters should be asking ‘Where’s Steven Seagal?’”
It must have killed Gunny to deliver that cock polishing rant about Segal’s character. Ermey could have broken him in half with his sheer presence
Are you talking about Jonathan Livingston Seagull?
The scene in "On Deady Ground" where actual bad ass R. Lee Ermey has to sing the praises of Steven Seagall's character made me visibly angry while watching it haha.
Neil Breen is an American treasure, and his movies bring me such joy and laughter. My favorite genre in the last few years has become "Writer/Directors Who Don't Know They Aren't Good At Making Movies."
Can anybody answer the question: where the hell does he get the money!?!?!
@patricklapointe4979 Mr. Breen is apparently very successful in real estate. The dude who made the "Easy Rider sequel " also financed it himself. If these characters could get other's money, then they would really deserve respect.
@@brianthomas2434 The IMDB makes mention that Breen's Double Down was shot on 35mm film and with Arriflex cameras so at least he offered a real cinematographic look for his film.
@@patricklapointe4979 Per Red Letter Media, who watched Breen’s filmmaking tutorial DVD, Neil is an architect, which is something I never expected him to be. So I suppose he has had at least some success in that field.
I've never cried with laughter so much in my life
I don't think Hauser was actually cast in "Champagne & Bullets". I think he just drunkenly stumbled onto the set, and, everybody was too scared to ask him to leave.
I am sure there a story about how they were able to get him in a role.
@@3baxcb the follow him in secret. He didn't know he was in the movie. They used his cousin in other shots.
@Henryetta Collins Does anyone have a picture of the two cousins, which shows how similar they looked at the time?
I think Brandon Tenold is gonna sue somebody.
How, Brandon Mandela effected them into believing it.@@tomaszwitkowski9507
Nothing can ever prepare you for the first time you hear the Shimmy Slide.
Thank you so much for teaching me the terms "Egosploitation" and "Delusioneer." They're words I never knew I needed until I received them.
I love to hear this!
I love good phrases also! Always on the lookout for them.
Delusioneer is ready to be jammed into my current vocabulary.
If they are wealthy they becomes delusionaires
'Delusioneer' is now my word of the week - I doubt if I will find a way of slipping into any everyday conversation but I will have it ready just in case. It's a brilliant word. Thank you.
“High functioning cinematic egomaniac” is probably the best description of Breen I’ve ever heard. Few others of his ilk have been able to somehow balance the business and artistic aspects of low-budget filmmaking… kind of.
Hmmm,
not too sure about the 'High functioning' bit though.
You are quite right-l’m kind of impressed by Breen,as he seems to be successful enough(financially,at least)that he can keep financing his movies.Granted,working as a Las Vegas realtor could (l would suppose)be quite lucrative.
Another way Y.K. Kim is different from everyone on the list: he actually realised how bad his film turned out and before it became a cult classic, he was embarrassed by it (when Alamo Draft House called him to get the rights, he kept hanging up on them because he assumed they had to be joking.) As fun as Miami Connection is, you made the right call, he's too self-aware to be on this list.
He was perfectly fine with Mike, Bill, and Kevin doing a Rifftrax take of the movie. He even said he planned to watch what they did with it.
Also, Jack from RLM nailed it when he described it more as a passion project, as the entire movie is an ensemble project including his school - rather than making a movie purely to show how great he is.
Met Tommy Wiseau a few years ago--still looks and sounds exactly the same. If you ever get a chance to see the room in a crowded theatre where half the crowd is clinically mad and armed with 5000 pack boxes of Plastic spoons, do it. Well worth the experience.
Did this two weeks ago. If you thought The Room was crazy, wait til you see Big Shark.
@@amorgusexcellent--I'll be watching for that. And any Niel Breen film festivals in my area...
"Sadly The Astrologer only saw a limited theatrical run and due to stealing all of it's music never saw a home release." Many many sadder things have happened the stars foretell me.
Segal's ego was so big that when he wrote the script, he didn't think that in order to save the environment, maaaaybe he shouldn't blow up a major oil rig that will spew all the oil onto the ground and choking black smoke in the air.
I give Shatner a pass on bad egosploitation simply because I'm sure it was very, very difficult to shake his role as Kirk and that's all anyone would see him as.
- I just read the greatest script I've ever read my life.
- Who wrote it?
- I did.
I give Shatner a pass because I believe that he’s genuinely not all there mentally
@@punkgoestheweasel There certainly was a point there that he seemed a bit "not all there" :D
I don't know why, but "I just eat tuna out of the can and live in the car" makes me absolutely die laughing.
I really wonder if he realized that this just sounded like he's broke.
Egosploitation is a term I never knew I needed until now. The deluded writer/director/star is the essential component of so many great/bad films and needed a shorthand.
Kung Fu Hustle is one of the rare examples that works well, largely because Stephen Chow created the movie as a love letter to the genre rather than one to himself. Plus he's far more talented than any of the people on this list.
"Kung Fu Hustle" isn't egosploitation at all. There are many filmmakers, from Orson Welles to Mel Brooks and Woody Allen, who have routinely taken on all three roles without being overly egotistical about it. There are also individual attempts, like Billy Bob Thornton's "Sling Blade" and Ben Affleck's "The Town", that deliver what they intend to without the flaws that ego inevitably brings to a production.
Kung Fu Hustle doesn’t fall under the category at all.
lol Wrong.
@@mintonmediaa touch of evil is a pure vanity project for wells. Wells, though was actually talented and made a very good movie So not all belong on this video
There are plenty of good movies where the star is also the director. When the results are competent-to-good/very good, it’s not an issue.
It’s when the star/auteur is woefully out of their depth that you get the kinds of movies on this list.
Breen, Wiseau and De Hart should join and make the Avengers of bad movies
our eyes are not ready XD
I’m pretty sure that they are three of the four horsemen of the apocalypse
Got an idea for a title and synopsis?
The light of the ego clash would be visible from the moon.
@@jlarrybrewer1149 Then who would be the fourth member?
Ben And Arthur was definitely the gay version of "The Room."
"Friends for eternity, sharing utilities, picking pubes off bars of soap!" Rifftrax does a fantastically hilarious commentary of Miami Connection.
😂 One of my favorite riffed movies!
RiffTrax needs to take on every movie on this list that they haven't already.
Very,very true.
DeHart is the one I find most interesting as he almost seems to have an air of sadness at times, as if he becomes self aware somewhere along the line
He could have been a fit in a revisionist Western film.
@@3baxcb poo o😊😊o😊
Vanity projects are one of my favorite kinds of b-movie. It's cathartic to so someone so narcissistic fails so miserably to make themselves cool. Hilarious stuff.
i think you're confusing catharsis with schadenfreude buddy.
@@eatmywords ah your right, I didn't remember the word and that was the only one I could think of
@@atomiccrusader4560 yes, i doubt anyone can come away from watching these travesties feeling better 😄
5:27 Repeating the textual movie information in the movie-within-a-movie is just... perfect. Absolutely perfect. Well done.
This channel rocks. I've watched every video after discovering it via algorithm for the nightmare on elm Street borrowing blockbusters. And it helped me get great ideas for Christmas and bday presents for my brother. Thanks sir!
I only discovered it recently, it’s great isn’t it. Informative but everything is said with a little wink
I too only discovered it recently, via the nightmare on elm street video popping up in my recommendation, but I'm super happy it did. Fantastic channel.
@@nextgencowboy do share it with your friends.
This channel needs to grow for our's sake
I’ve been watching his videos for a while and I got the Bad Movie Bible book for Christmas last year. He’s real good.
Every time I hear about Uranus exploding, it reminds me of chili night in the Army
This channel is criminally underrated. The fact you don’t have a million subs baffles me. Keep up the great work
One day...
@@TheBadMovieBible that’s the attitude
No doubt. This guy actually knows what he talks about and does the research which is more than I can say for much bigger channels that talk about movies who give their half baked ignorant opinions on a movie
I absolutely adored Vinegar Syndrome’s restoration and completion of New York Ninja. I had the pleasure to see it in an independent theater with an appreciative audience for this sort of schlock. I bought a blu-ray player just to have my own copy !!
Got a copy myself and I agree. Total fun and shockingly gorgeous
@@Abrakadabro666 It is definitely the most well-made of the titles profiled in this video. It even had an ending that was suggesting a sequel which is a real sign of confidence with the movie.
Cheers! 🙌
I love the weird egosploitation genre. So much so that my wife bought me a poster of the lyrics to friends from Miami Connection & blown photo of the weird yarn lion from Samurai Cop for my birthday. I was also recently an associate producer for Len Kabasinski's latest movie Pact of Vengeance. Though I'd class him more in the super low budget so bad it's good genre than as an egosploitation director. He's not always the star in his flicks. But who knows he might direct his egosploitation masterpiece if Vinegar Syndrome actually let him direct a sequel to New York Ninja.
Nice to meet you. I'm 'online friendly' with Len and there's an interview with him in the BMB book. I did think of him for this video but, at the end of the day, he's just not arrogant enough!
Len, just going off of what I have seen of him from Red Letter Media and a few scattered internet things, doesn’t really seem to have an ego, at least not to me. Like he just seems to like what he likes, it’s just that what he likes falls into the category of typical egosplotation films.
You worked for a man I unironiclly have so much respect for. He does what he loves. He is very good at the fight parts. And has a sense of humor about the rest to go on Red Letter Media!
THE YARN LION!
@@zak22wolftheultramanzenith35 Yeah, I don't think he is a "vanity" director. He just wants to have fun and do his schlocky movies.
Neil Breen is an accidental genius when it comes to comedy 🎭
The editing skills of this channel is out of this world! Always a treat good sir
Thanks very much.
better than most of the movies 🤣
Want to say this is probably the best UA-cam channel I’ve come across. Thank you.
Very kind of you.
I find Neil Breen truly terrifying.
i think he has high functioning autism, he's always coming off like he's barely conscious of social structures
no hate, most of my best friends have autism (or at least they act like it)
@@youruncleted k
Hopefully he’s harmless, but I don’t know. 😐
He IS a Ferrari owner.
I'd upvote, but you currently have 69 likes, so I will leave it as it is, nice.
I'm new to your channel but have seen tons of videos from bad movie channels like RLM, Bad Movie Beatdown and others. So I was really surprised how many movies you list here that I've never heard of. That is an impressive feat!
I'm cursed with an urge to dig!
The best ones are: Jason Brants channel and Shitcase Cinema
@@peterpohan3850 OP already listed RLM; all the rest are indeed good, if not great, but as an cultural force and influence on YT's history, RLM are the most important and successful in terms lasting impact and legacy
Late to the party but Good Bad or Bad Bad is fun little podcast here on YT for fun Bad movie discussions.
You might like Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. It's an excellent British spoof based on all these types.
Freakin brilliant as always. I'm always sad when one of these videos ends.
I've been watching all these videos nonstop for the past couple of months. You do this, SO damn well. Can't wait for a Brucesploitation vid, as your exploitation videos are some of my favotite.
The RLM guys coined the term "black wife beater shirt-movies" for these movies, but "'egosploitation" fits perfectly.
you're a hack fraud - the term is black tank-top movies
SO pleased to see CITY DRAGON get a mention. Absolute insanity. I spoke to MC Kung Fu this year and he says a blu ray is coming next year, as well as a sequel!
This channel has given me such a unique insight into sub genres I would have never have dived into had it not been for the blessing of the algorithm one day. Especially your Bondsploitation video which paved a way for me to discover brilliance such as ESPY and then going on to find the likes of 100 Shot, 100 Killed duology and for that I can never thank you enough.
I love to hear this, thanks for sharing.
Great video. The Geteven part reminds me of Bert Williams "The Nest of the Cuckoo Birds". A WW2 vet, high diver and character actor decides to forge his own big acting break by making a horror film in the Florida swamps, and makes a mesmerising no budget horror film equivalent of outsider art.
i do have to admit that i prefer new videos from your channel to new videos from most of the other channels i am subscribed to. i really dig your well structured videos and your ability to focus your editing on pristine moments of the films you talk about. your channel is great and in many cases even evolving this review style!
Very kind of you, thanks.
Pontius Pilate wasn’t a Roman emperor but was the territorial governor of the Judaea region
Neal Breen is either extremely clever and in on the whole thing or is so much the ultimate arbiter of egosploitation that no amount of exposure to the reality of people's reactions to what he's doing can shake him from his self-worship.
I genuinely don't think it's completely possible to be certain which is true.
As Rich Evans of RedLetterMedia has said many times, "Neal Breen has gotta be on some kind of watchlist."
Breen is not an idiot. I believe he first set out to make artsy movies with a naive mindset that he could do a lot himself. When they caught the attention of the funnybad audience, he understood to keep making creative art-house inspired movies without trying to change his methods or learn the tricks of mainstream professional filmmaking. That way he can express himself while his genuine visions came through, while also bewildering a common viewer and entertaining the funnybad audience. If he elevated his craft to adhere to the usual standards and not avant-garde, he'd lose his audience.
I'm very certain they are part genuine, part self-aware. Or he's too stubborn to take a filmmaking class
No he seems to have severe autism or another disorder. It's almost unbelievable how a man can be so lacking in self awareness, but Neil's pulled it off.
@@darvon906 agreed. What worries me is that he comes off as completely sincere about his ideas to kill millions of people to fix the world's problems. I think he might have a Thanos complex
@@voodoodad9606 hashtag EyesOnBreen
There’s a picture of a real-estate business card of Breen’s floating around on line, but apparently he just dabbled in that for a short time and was mostly an architect. He does seem to prefer being called an architect, whether that’s true or not.
I was under the impression that DeHart was a lawyer first and only after some time as one also a filmmaker, but I might be mistaken.
As an architect myself I’m in no way surprised Neil Breen is one. Outside of acting I think it’s hard to find a profession so full of self importance.
I am so thankful the algorithm led me to your channel, your work is superb!
Since I saw some clips of him in the video, I think that a vanity project deserving a mention would be the anime series written, directed and produced by Adriano Celentano, featuring a young badass version of himself as messianic saviour of society through his music and kung-fu, with even a Paint drawing he made for the credit titles. I don't know whether this "masterpiece" ever made it outside of his native Italy, but there he even had a prime-time variety show on national tv to promote the first batch of the episodes.
Are you talking about the same individual who started out as a singer and songwriter and then quickly turned to acting?
I think Celentano was or is a musician, quite prominent in Italy or so I understand. Back in the 1970s, he got ticked off that the Italian charts were dominated by American and British artists singing in English so he came up with a song called "Prisencolinensinainciusol" in which almost all of the lyrics were complete gibberish but sounded vaguely like English. There is a video on UA-cam of a performance of the song from Italian TV, which is worth a look. It has some pretty cool dancing and the song itself is actually quite catchy.
@@loumencken9644 I didn't know this song, and I didn't even know something like it existed, but, thanks to your mention here, I looked it up and just heard it. I really liked it. Had I not known all along that the lyrics were pure gibberish, I would have been desperate trying to understand what is being said, which does sound superficially like American English. I don't know if this is true, but I have heard that the composer, Celentano, made this song to prove the point that the Italian public was so conditioned to uncritically admire all music in English, that they would still like it even if it didn't make any sense at all.
A new Bad Movie Bible video? About 'triple threats'? Instant click, right there.
Thank you for your content - your channel is an amazing gateway to some really brilliant movies, and I really dig the dry presentation combined with absolutely inspired editing.
Thanks to this list I had the pleasure of watching "Empire of the Dark" yesterday and I feel that my life will never be the same again.
Thank you. I'm so happy you watched it!
I notice William Smith and Eric Roberts turn up multiple times in this video. Also, the Riverdance guy made a movie about himself as a bad-ass? That seems...insanely wrong on so many levels. Shatner making his own weird vanity project, on the other hand, just seems in character.
Ninja in the Claws of the CIA and Zen Kwon Do in Paris were Joh Liu's two other vanity projects looking to help further Liu's own Martial Art, Zen Kwon Do. France, Belgium, and Germany LOVED John Liu, and we're already big fans of him because of his films. After beating (supposedly) Chuck Norris in a full contact karate tournament around 1979-1980, Zen Kwon Do became increasingly popular, and Liu was living the high life. His earnings, as well as "donations", that he received from high profile students, helped him make his remaining films..... which were completely bonkers. Supposedly made with Liu incorporating his private life (ie affairs with women, fights with notable martial artists), along with bold exaggerations and flat out lies, his CIA film flopped as his marriage to a high profile model and heiress wained. In one last ditch effort, he flew to New York to hopefully jump on the ninja movie craze using his connections. And we all know how that turned out. He currently lives in a boathouse in Vietnam...... Possibly? It makes sense since his last film was Trinity Goes East, filmed in South Vietnam, where he plays an aging master who decides to train a Terrence Hill look alike. Made by Toby Russell, it eventually received a stateside dvd release thanks to BCI. He still has the skills. But now he has no interest in talking about his film career, unfortunately. He is embarrassed, to say the least. I wish there was a way to discourage him from feeling in such a way. He would be a wealth of knowledge, and it might help revitalize his career to some extent.
Y se rodó en Barcelona y la Costa Brava ☺️☺️. Haciendo pasar por Alemania, Francia, Estados Unidos y Zambia 😳😃😃
The dry deadpan narration is the cherry on top.
I didn't know I needed this, but it feel perfect
I recently discovered your channel and have since devoured almost every one of your videos. Absolutely top notch, one of the best finds I’ve made in ages. I appreciate your efforts and insights and hope to see more from you. Thanks so much!
I've probably seen maybe between 300-400 "bad" movies at this point but everyone of your videos i discover stuff ive never heard of before and for that i have to thank you. roots of evil and crime killer look incredibly fun
449 movies got released in America last year. So you will always have more bad movies to watch.
I am loving these long videos. I could listen to you talk about these movies for hours
I just stumbled upon your channel and I am so glad I did. Bad movies are THE BEST and your videos are super great! I've seen a bunch of these egomaniacs' films but there's a few here I haven't, guess they're going on the list.
I saw ON DEADLY GROUND in the theater. Afterwards, I became an environmental activist. As in, I actively avoid any environment in which Steven Seagal may be inhabiting. Uh-thank you.
Stevie Seagull is not "the real deal." lol read-up on his fighting background and the effectiveness of his marital art in a real world setting. Thanks for the great video! Do you go to Chiller??
He IS an aikido master so in that respect he's the real deal. The fact that aikido isn't the most useful martial art is another thing. :)
@@jonstiffer4994look up how he got the title
You dropped this right on time, my friend. Has a helluva week. But that is nothing to worry about, now that I have a documentary about Egosploitation and Vanity projects
I can`t wait to see these flix!!! I live and breathe vanity projects! THANK YOU!!!
I’m constantly on the hunt for them!
@@karnerblue7658 Have you ever seen Zeus : The Crime Killer? SOOOOO Hi-larious!
OMG, I'm so glad I stumbled upon your Channel. This channel is a Hidden Gem the public needs to see.
What I love about many of these 20th century pieces is that it's clear that this is what those "alpha male, dude bros" used to do before the internet. They would raise money through dubious means and create a film with them as the saviour. I'm convinced that some of the r/thathappened stories are just ripped from a number of these scripts. XD
Makes one wonder how many vanity projects aren't becoming movies because of the Internet and Social Media. Though that might be the possible silver lining if one reads the kind of posts, links and Tweets that such individuals seem prone to make and post on social media.
@@3baxcb Imagine the kinds of movies Andrew Tate would have made, we're really missing out on some prime funnybad material.
@hedgehog3180 Considering how much of a vain-glorious, hateful creep he really is, it would be a safe bet that his notoriety would be used as a attempted selling point in a project that would either never come to fruition or rightfully drop out of sight.
I fell down a Neil Breen themed rabbit hole and came across this. I assumed it would be a savage take down of all things within, but it wasn’t which was surprisingly awesome. The fact that everything wasn’t just 💩 on really impressed me and gave me an appreciation for everything not Breen or Segal. I really enjoyed this and you have a new fan/subscriber.
On Roots of Evil: if I could do that with my stomach I'd want to make an entire film about myself just posing in front of a mirror too.
That scene honestly freaked me out, it looked like body horror. I had no idea that was possible to do.
What a wonderful video. Thanks!
Neil has just released the trailer for his latest masterpiece and follow up to Twisted Pair called Cade - The Tortured Crossing. If anything it looks worse than any of his previous works with NO actual locations and using nothing but green screened stock photo backdrops. It's mind blowing.
Awww I thought for sure you'd get Diamond Cobra vs The White Fox. It had every hallmark of a vanity project and helmed by a woman, so something different.
He'd probably get a copyright strike just for saying the name.
I love this channel. All I needed to see was on deadly ground and you started on the BEST scene with R Lee Ermys ridiculous speech dialogue he has to read about how tough forest Taft (Seagal) is. I quote this all the time
This listicle is better than eating tuna out of the can whilst living in my car!
Thanks for the respite - 1Ø/1Ø would ego again.
(May all of Vinegar Syndrome's endeavors be baking soda free!)
Hell yeah. You've made a video about vanity projects. They are my favorite trash for internet hack-frauds to talk about. Actually watching them is too much cringe and second-hand embarrassment for me. So thank you for the sacrifice you made.
Sir, you have a gift. No, you have complete authorship of an intensely entertaining and captivating corner of culture and the web and I look forward to any content you produce. So funny so awesome!!!
Thanks very much!
This is a really great video and I'm definitely subscribing big fan now just after this one. That clip of R Lee Ermey talking about Steven Seagal is the funniest thing I've ever seen
I love your channel! Thanks for posting.
Thanks for watching.
5:27 is the most brilliant bit of editing I think I've ever seen. Proud to be a patron of your work.
Neil Breen is a genius! New movie out next year too, but there’s no corruption or hacking in it, so I’m not sure how to feel about it. The genius of Neil is that his movies get progressively worse and worse and no one uses stock video like Mr Breen haha. He is a legend!
No corruption OR hacking! What is going to be? Only topless women and his Ferrari? Actually that sound palatable as long as we don't see Neil's butt or balls.
Neil Breen starts his movies with the intention of making one thing, but in the middle, he inevitably changes it to where he becomes a judgemental, sentient being lecturing the world on how awesome he is. I have talked to several people who have worked on his projects because his insanity is so captivating.
Seagals films always have him introduced as some bad ass e.g. ex navy seal and cia, he has a perfect record on all his missions, who every terrorist is scared of and hes also native American 🙄 his movies are comedy gold tho
Your videos are GOLD!
Thank you for giving me new movies to check out!
My favorite genre of bad movie, as bad they can get, at least someone had the drive to make them. I watched Feeders 2 last night (admittedly the Rifftrax edition) and it was just fun. I know I couldn't make anything better anyway lol
Amazing selection, glad as in Irishman to see Fatal Deviation and Blackbird get a mention. Only one film I’m surprised wasn’t included is Honourable Men (2004)
Holt crap, how is Honorable Men not at the top of this list? It makes anything that Neil Breen has done seem like a very humble man.
You're so right! I actually went to college where the writer/director/producer/star was an adjunct professor and....yep, that rampant ego is something to see.
Ah man this channel is quality. It hits both my need for some hilarious shit to watch when I'm stoned and my love for cinema both bad and good. 10/10, this shit is hilarious.
Outstanding, 😎👍👍
"some say he's become self aware, like a resus macaque" that is hilarious writing. ❤
I love vanity projects! Some of these are great fun
"Uranus is a planet of explosions."
Truer words have never been spoken.
With things progressing as they are, expect the egosploitation films of Ye (Kanye West) and Elon Musk to come out soon…
The only difference could be the production costs I suppose. But I don't think they would deliver the same quality of any of the titles mentioned in this video.
Part 2 please!
This was so awesome that I want more more more!
These vanity projects are a gift from the heavens.
Seeing Fatal Deviation in here means I get to share a dubious claim to fame. The co-writer/director Shay Casserley was a videographer local to where I grew up. I remember a friend showing me the film and being stunned that one of the main creative visionaries credited was the man who filmed my first holy communion and a number of school plays. I'm pretty sure my parents still have the VHS tapes.
7:03 this kids reaction to somebody getting murdered is just the cherry on top of an already hilarious cake
This is clearly the best channel on UA-cam!
From a channel talking about the best worst movies to another : you're pretty awesome !
The ego projects are some of the best movies. So incredibly misguided and everything... Pure pleasure for us !
After seeing this and giving a quick glance at the channel it's an easy subscribe. Good stuff.
This was funny and sad at the same time…and I LOVE IT! I’m a fan of MST3K, RLM and God Awful Movies because bad movies are absolutely fascinating! I’m now subbed. Cheers
PS Neil Breen has finish another movie!
Good Bad or Bad Bad might interest you. They've covered a few of the movies on this list, as well as an egosploitation piece called "Meltdown" that includes Robert Z'Dar.
Now I'm hoping GAM does The Empiricist and The Astrologer.
@@shoesoffbootson5317 That’s another good channel! I also get a kick out of Space Ice and Redeye Reviews who have done a lot of Seagal films.
@@LaurenWisniewski06 Absolutely. Though I worry Heath would hate-quit over the Empiricist. 😂
That Celentano clip made me remember the man had a whole cartoon animated as a vanity project.
Another one for this would be “Brown Bunny”. That film not only is terrible but the director literally made Chloe Sevingy give him dome on camera. It was porn literally. He busted in her mouth too.
yay
Sickening movie.
This channel is in my top 10 and always worth the wait.
I have been a Nanarland follower for decades, and very glad to see them referenced here. Respect.
quick correction: pilate wasn't an emperor. he was the 5th governor of judea.
Yes to this entire list. Truly great video.
This video went way too easy on Segal. Also, I know his later movies aren't written and directed by him on paper but it's his company and ever aspect of every movie they release is decided on based on how much it strokes his ego. I'm convinced they only exist to launder money for Russian Mafia.
brilliant as always, please don't ever stop