[...] Short version: Towelhead manages to balance humor and drama in this cautionary tale of a 13 year old girl’s burgeoning sexuality. [...]

Point taken – I defer to your experience.

Vic

But yea, the ‘bats’ movies. oi!

I’ll have to put that movie on my Netflix list. Sounds like a comedy; I need a good comedy these days.

A movie that is made without A-list actors/actresses on an extremely tight (low) budget and does not have a wide-spread theatrical release. It is campy without meaning to be and the acting is sub-par at best.

When I think of B-movies I tend to think of horror and sci-fi movies from the 70’s and 80’s such as “Kingdom of the SPiders”, “Sleepaway Camp”, “Silent Night, Deadly Night”, etc. However, just because I categorize a movie as a B-movie doesn’t mean I do not like it. All the ones I mentioned are some of my favorites from that time. I guess I see it being solely based on one’s personal way of thinking about movies.

Indeed. Although I disagree with your idea that genre automatically defines a movie as a “B.”

You’re making me think too hard about a topic I consider inconsequential.

Vic

I define it in terms of basic content (monster movies, creature features, jungle adventures, space operas) – regardless of craft. There are a lot of truly great B-films, from Raiders of the Lost Ark, to Big Trouble in Little China to Hard Target. Some of these more expensive than others.

Still, I find it difficult to believe that you guys could not label THE MUMMY franchise, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or Stealth as anything other than B-Schlock, all of which had big budgets.

Check out Sci-Fi channel on saturday nights at 9:00. Violá!

Anyway the difference between a minor wanting something and an adult wanting something is that they are going under the assumption that minors are compulsive and unable to make rational decisions with consequences in mind, while adults are assumed to have the ability to make rational and less compulsive decisions. To state it simply, adults should “know better.”

And this is not just some wild and crazy theory or some “religious” thing. This is actually proven science. Studies have proven that as you age, your brain either produces more of a chemical that inhibits compulsive behavior, or less of a chemical that causes compulsive behavior. I forgot which, I do believe it is the first, more of a inhibiting chemical.

And from my personal experiences, I KNOW that younger people often act much quicker without thinking, doing things to simply satisfy a short term craving, while older people tend to be more capable of controlling these urges if they realize there are negative consequences down the road.

So that’s why if you, as an adult, do something sexual with a minor, you are the only one to get in trouble. Because the minor doesn’t know what he or she’s doing, while you do, so you’re the one that’s taking advantage of someone who is vulnerable. Even if they think they are giving consent, they are not qualified (as minors) to make such a decision. Just like I’m sure every child on the block wants to give their consent to be able to drive cars. Should we let them? I’m sure 100% of them will say they are “SURE” they “know” how to drive cars because they’ve seen it done by their parents or on tv. I know when I was younger I thought I would know how to do everything if only the adults would let me. Now that I’m older, I realized how DEAD I would be if those age restrictions were not in place…

Vic

It has been a pleasure turning things over in this regard.

Cheers dude.

Ah, now we’re getting down to our different point of views. I don’t consider Raiders, Jaws, or Star Wars B-movies. (Well, I suppose the first Star Wars strays pretty close to the line).

When I think of B-movies, I think primarily of the classic examples of movies from the 1950s that were really shlocky and cheesy – movies where they had monsters that were obviously guys in rubber suits and that sort of thing. Movies that are unintentionally silly, not necessarily movies that set out to be silly.

To my mind, modern B-movie are films like Grindhouse (intentional, yes), the recent Death Race movie (although I haven’t seen it) and pretty much any horror/sci-fi direct-to-DVD movie that you’ll find on the shelves of your local blockbuster.

Vic

Isn’t Jaws simply a good old fashioned Monster movie populated with good actors and a talented filmmaker? B-level stuff with A-level pretentions. Ditto on Starwars. Aren’t Jaws/SW/Raiders given credit for the massive shift in 70’s era mainstream-art films like Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, The Conversation and Chinatown towards the blockbuster mentality?

How am I off base here?

also you should read your own wikipedia link:

This passage is directly copied from that: “By 1990, the cost of the average U.S. film had passed $25 million.[101] Of the nine films released that year to gross more than $100 million at the U.S. box office, two would have been strictly B movie material before the late 1970s: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Dick Tracy. Three more—the science-fiction thriller Total Recall, the action-filled detective thriller Die Hard 2, and the year’s biggest hit, the slapstick kiddie comedy Home Alone—were also far closer to the traditional arena of the Bs than to classic A-list subject matter”