Tommy Wiseau's "The Room"

Happy Birthday Greg Sestero. I hope his book will be good.

How much is the total cost?

$15 (compared to a standard $10).

i say yes, go. absolutely.

dude I went to see the showing w/Wiseau&Sestero when they came to town here. HOLY SHIT. on this tour Tommy Wiseau asks people from the audience to come onstage to play a game & win some Room-related prizes. then after like 40 people have lined up he tells them they have to catch this crumpled-up water bottle that Sestero throws at them twenty-five times in a row without dropping it. why? there is no explanation. who really knows if dude is just playing up his weirdo angle because that's all he's got left, but both times I've seen him I have thought this guy is literally the most absurd human being. also he wears a second belt just around the bottom of his ass, presumably to make his ass look good.

Tommy Wiseau asks people from the audience to come onstage to play a game & win some Room-related prizes. then after like 40 people have lined up he tells them they have to catch this crumpled-up water bottle that Sestero throws at them twenty-five times in a row without dropping it. why? there is no explanation.

That makes it a perfect Room-related game then.

he is a demoen

I've always been one to suspect that some guys try to act a lot weirder in public than they actually are, but based on everything I've read about Tommy he really is that strange. Sestero's book should shine a lot of light on this, he's already said that it really asks more questions than it answers, but it should explain a lot of the stranger lines in the movie

how did wiseau get the money to make this thing anyway?

that'll be in the book! (apparently he claimed to import jeans or something, but really who knows. apparently the cast/crew was paid pretty well!)

his actual response to that question:

"We import from Korea the leather jackets that we design here in America. If you work, you have to save money, right? I didn't get money from the sky."

I love that first sentence

haha - he speaks weirdo

i love this quote

AVC: What do you think Philip Haldiman brought to the role of Denny?

TW: I think he brought a lot stuff. One thing was people actually, he’s really retarded a little bit.

I’m working about vampires movie as well, it’s the other movie where we’re shooting in San Francisco again. I say shooting, I didn’t say shot, because somebody misquote me and I hate that. Somebody wrote “He is shooting,” I say, “I’m not shooting, I shot or shooting, I know what the present past or whatever you talk about.”

how could someone misquote this???

these quotations are golden - more

During some of the emotional scenes, like the “You’re tearing me apart” scene, how did you work with the actors or with yourself to draw on these emotions? There was so much emotion in a lot of the scenes.

One of the things is I’m very pro this rehearsal process. You see, the emotion you draw from your experiences but also I believe it does help me because of my background in the theater. You can draw emotion, you can fake emotion, but I don’t believe in be fake, to be honest with you. I can do the scene with you right now if you want me to. Give me the words I will present it to you. You want to test me, it’s fine with me, Rachel. By the way, we have several people who have test me and guess what? They lost.

(later)

I am going to take you up on your offer to test you on your ability to add emotion to a scene. Let’s say I stood you up for drinks.

Are you talking to Tommy or the character Johnny?

Johnny.

Okay, Johnny, sure no problem. So Rachel, why didn’t you show up for the… we’re supposed to drink, right?

We were, I’m sorry I didn’t come, I met someone else.

(Screaming) Why are you doing this to me, you know? I spent my time. Why you did this, right? You supposed to show up 2:00, I was waiting for you.

I met someone else, I’m sorry.

Sorry doesn’t cut it, I’m sorry! Sorry doesn’t cut it, what do you think?

I think that I can make my own decisions, Johnny.

I’m sorry Rachel, but this is not how it works, you know? I left Lisa for you and I thought we had going on something together and now what?

Maybe you should go back to Lisa then.

Yeah, yeah, I almost got into an accident for your information. You know that, don’t you? Did Mark tell you about it? You confuse me with another boyfriend, my name is Johnny.

Can I make it up to you and cook you dinner?

Are you promise?

I promise.

Okay, I will try. What time?

7:00.

Okay, I will be there. Scene! So who lost?

I lost.

Thank you, I didn’t say you lost. That was good sport.

I never viewed acting as a domination sport where it was me vs my scenemates

*revelation*

he is rather intimidating on Tim and Eric

Sestero was born in Walnut Creek, California and grew up in Danville, California. He is of French and American descent with dual citizenships, and speaks both French and English.[1] During his freshman year of high school, Sestero wrote a screenplay, a sequel to the 1990 film Home Alone, with a leading role for himself opposite actor Macaulay Culkin. Sestero submitted the screenplay to Hughes Productions and received a commendatory letter from the late 1980s icon John Hughes.[2]

Sestero - what a prettyboy

http://assets1.theroomsoundboard.com/LeaveYourCommentsPocket.mp3

thank you poly

this guy is like the Wesley Willis of filmmakers

"laisser vos commentaires stupides dans votre poche"

great for leaving messages on people machines!
http://theroomsoundboard.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEfJ4jEH69A&feature=related

Sestero was at the screening when I saw it for the first time. He gave out sexy posters.

he IS sexy

From this interview with Michael J. Nelson:

Jamie: Have you gotten requests [to riff The Room]?

Mike: We did an MP3 version of it, we haven’t thought about it for a live show. But that one rises above, too. You have to see Tommy Wiseau’s nude backside, unfortunately, and I don’t know if I can subject a live audience to that.

Jamie: Well, I think in New York you could, because that movie is huge here.

Mike: Is it? Do they still do midnight shows and stuff?

Jamie: Yes they do. So, if you do ever decide to do The Room live, I would definitely suggest doing it in New York.

Mike: That’s a good thought. We have not staged it from New York, we’d always wanted to, so maybe The Room launch would be a good one.

Jamie: Have you ever gotten any responses from current filmmakers after riffing one of their movies?

Mike: Yeah! Well, I wouldn’t say it was an angry response, but Tommy Wiseau did call us. We had a long phone conversation with Tommy Wiseau, which I confess, we were trying to keep him on the phone as long as we could. Because it was just so much fun to listen to. But I really think that he didn’t understand the concept, and he thought that we were selling his movie, and we were trying to explain over and over, “No, we were just selling an MP3 that people can either choose to listen to or not,” and he insisted, still, that “Well, you still owe me money,” and we were like, “No! It’s a separate thing!” But then we eventually talked to the guy who played Mark. He’s a good guy, he listened to the RiffTrax, and he liked it a lot. So he explained to Tommy what it was, and said, “No, no, they’re just poking fun at the movie like everybody else.” So he understood that.

We had a long phone conversation with Tommy Wiseau, which I confess, we were trying to keep him on the phone as long as we could.

haha. I just imagine them scrambling to attach their recording gear to the phones as they talk and signalling for everyone else in office to listen in on.

Also, I like how Greg Sestero is like the only guy on the planet who can translate reality in a way such that Tommy understands.

"Part of why it took me so long to rent this is because the cover art is this guy's creepy face that creates an impression of darkness. But parts of the movie made it seem like the thinks he's portraying the perfect man or something, like with the roses and all that. But he had this weird, creepy, dark presence, in the midst of everyone else who just seemed bland and insipid.
The dialogue was so odd, lines often didn't seem to logically follow one another and it seems like characters just kept looping back to repeat certain things over and over, like "don't worry about it." "everything will be fine'. "it doesn't matter. "it doesn't make any difference" when it made no sense...
Like "I have cancer.' "Don't worry, everything will be fine.
"What kind of drugs are you using"? "it makes no difference"
Or a person would bring something up, then say, "I don't want to talk about it' or get angry at the other person for pursuing it, or a person would come to the house and then say one minute later " I have to go now".
Just a really failed attempt at creating reality with regard to banal things like drinking coffee, tossing a football around, having a conversation with your mom, etc."

"Yeah it seemed like it was made by aliens with cursory knowledge of human life.
At first I didn't really get whether Denny was meant to be an adult or a child."

"Maybe that bit with Denny was meant to show how reasonable, trusting, patient and understanding Johnny could be about such things to emphasize his betrayal more.
And perhaps Denny's love was meant to be revealed as more of an innocent crush, or to show cracks in the fabric of their lives.
He seemed very intrusive on their relationship in general, jumping on their bed and all that.
The love scenes were very icky and I was taken about when the third one arrived so shortly after the second. Was it meant to show how awful the gf was, that she could fake her way through something like that so soon after betraying him?"

"That reminds me, what is the significance of the tape recording when they'd already confessed? Was it mostly in hearing his friend say "I don't like him anymore"? They made such a thing of it, but the affair was already clear from other things?"

a Room virgin speaks
the puzzle goes on ....

fucking brilliant movie. i watched this 50 times in the month after i discovered it.

That's another part of the big mystery of the movie, even its outward presence is confusing. The title of the movie makes no sense whatsoever. The cover with the spooky-looking Wiseau portrays his character as evil or creepy, when in reality he's the honest, hard-working good guy. And the quote on the DVD (something like "Enjoy this quirky black comedy, it's a riot!") is also confusing as it implies that this was meant to be a dark comedy, which I really do not like is the case. Maybe I'm just not cynical enough but there is no way this was meant to be a comedy. There are definitely some bits that are meant to be funny or lighthearted but that quote makes it seem as though Wiseau was aiming for this kind of response. Like say the horse_ebooks twitter account there is something decidedly non-human about it. It's like if an early version of IBM's Jeopardy computer Watson was asked to write a screenplay. You can see a computer coming to a conclusion of "men like to play sports casually as a form of bonding, but we also need dialogue in this scene, so all the characters must throw a football while five feet apart" or "most movies use illness as a subplot to create drama, so we will give a character cancer".

I watched this and Birdemic for the first time within a week of each other. While Birdemic is also a perfect storm of shitty filmmaking, shitty acting, and a low budget, there have been movies like it in the past (of course, there's the infamous Plan 9...) With The Room you really get the sense that <i>there will never be another movie like this again</i>.

okay some questionable word choices above but I think you get the point

(something like "Enjoy this quirky black comedy, it's a riot!") is also confusing as it implies that this was meant to be a dark comedy, which I really do not like is the case.

it was a post-hoc marketing move to capitalize on the fact that people thought it was so bad it was funny. clearly it was not intended to be funny.

I watched this and Birdemic for the first time within a week of each other. While Birdemic is also a perfect storm of shitty filmmaking, shitty acting, and a low budget, there have been movies like it in the past (of course, there's the infamous Plan 9...) With The Room you really get the sense that there will never be another movie like this again

i did this too. and yes, they are qualitatively different movies. Birdemic is just bad and cheap, like many movies before it. The Room is on a different plane altogether. It is almost Lynchian in its execution, where nothing is as it initially seems. It genuinely straddles a three-way fence of high art, amateurism, and outsider genius. It is so perfect that I fear, like you, that there will never be anything like it again.

Birdemic does have its worth though as a bizzare actin gfail. The main character's acting is so wooden and strange - he realy seems like some kind of robot - I bet none of the actors realized hwo terrible the eagles would look when they were put in later or they would have quit

Birdemic is the rare bad movie that gets EVERYTHING wrong - it really looks like one of those 8th grade school project films where you accidentally pick up a ton of wind noise and there are real jarring audio/video cuts everywhere. The characters in Birdemic are terrible actors but it's a totally different degree than in The Room. It's as if you just asked randoms off the street if they wanted to be in a film and gave them no time to rehearse. Sestero's acting is really something else. I find it hard to explain why I find practically every line he gets to be hilarious.

I lik eho win th eend the eagles just fly away and there is no resolution or explanation at all

it definitely has a very Wiseau-esque lapse in logic when the characters decide to have a picnic as a way of showing them "getting back to nature" (which is the theme of the film, I guess) despite the fact that people are repeatedly getting killed by staying outside

and that biologist is like "in ancient times eagles DID ATTACK cavemen - they woudl scratch ath their faces"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DtbPOXFk00

midnite showing this friday... tempting, but knowing myself, i'll probably walk away disgusted with half the audience in attendance

you gotta go. dammit i wish this was happening near me

The audience were certainly challenging when I saw it here in Melb, and I dunno how that compares to elsewhere, but damn it was loud. Loads of screaming and callbacks and it was hard to hear the film sometimes.

xpost

you haven't seen this yet?!

?!
?!
?!
http://1heckofaguy.com/wp-content/photos/ex-qn-mark.jpg
seriously though, you gotta get on that

<3

the audience at the late-night showing I went to actually made quite enjoyable contributions (imo)

Oh same here, that was the best part. Every time Lisa would say she was going into the kitchen some guy would scream WHAT FUCKING KITCHEN!?

if you go you will learn so much about that movie that you didn't know before