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Tonight’s the Night: Your Chance to See ‘The Room’

Inspiration for the James Franco film ‘The Disaster Artist’ gets a national release — for one night only.

The-Room-image

In 2009, I wrote about “The Room” for seattlepi.com, wondering when “the worst movie ever made” would get a screening in the Seattle market.

I can stop wondering. The movie that inspired “The Disaster Artist,” for which James Franco won a Golden Globe Award Sunday as best actor in a musical or comedy, opens nationwide Wednesday night in 500 theaters, including more than a dozen in the Puget Sound region.

In Seattle, 8 p.m. screenings are scheduled at Thornton Place and Pacific Place. Lincoln Square Cinemas in Bellevue also has an 8 o’clock showing.

Widely mocked for bad acting and dreadful production values, “The Room” has enjoyed a cult following since its release in 2003. By 2009, it was being described as a “black comedy,” though it really looks like a clumsy attempt at drama with no comedic aspirations.

“But audiences laughed,” I wrote in 2009. “They laughed at the script, at the acting, at characters who appeared with no expository introduction. Some scenes are blurry. Some of the looping doesn’t match the characters’ lip movements. Some Foley effects are completely inappropriate.”

The film’s creator and star, Tommy Wiseau, embraced the ridicule, telling me: “I always say you can laugh, you can cry, you can express yourself, but please don’t hurt each other.”

Wiseau also said, “I want everyone to see ‘The Room.’” Tonight, he gets a little closer to that goal. 

Rearview Mirror: Crocodile Guardians, Late-Summer Potato Salad, and a Halloween Costume Hunt

Rearview Mirror: Crocodile Guardians, Late-Summer Potato Salad, and a Halloween Costume Hunt

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

COOKING WITH ASTER PANTRY A few leaves turn, my inbox fills with fall festival pitches and cozy brunch menus, and suddenly I want to stay home with a glass of wine and cook. I love this nesting season, though I’m not ready to give up summer produce. Earlier this year, I wrote about Seattle chefs…

WALKDONTRUN Returns This Saturday, Turning Downtown Seattle Into a Sprawling Art Show

WALKDONTRUN Returns This Saturday, Turning Downtown Seattle Into a Sprawling Art Show

In its second year, the free festival brings 200-plus artists to a 20-block route September 19, with a secret garden and a former 7-Eleven stocked with art.

Most walks through downtown Seattle involve trying to get somewhere. On September 19, the crosswalk itself might be the reason to stop. Heap Troupe will turn a four-way crossing into a performance, one of dozens of encounters planned for this year’s WALKDONTRUN. The free, all-ages art walk stretches across more than 20 blocks. From 11…

At Two Dot Schoolhouse, Ruth Marie Tomlinson Builds an Artistic Community

At Two Dot Schoolhouse, Ruth Marie Tomlinson Builds an Artistic Community

For nearly 20 years, the Seattle artist and her husband have welcomed artists, writers, and musicians to a historic Montana schoolhouse. Now they’re searching for its next stewards. 

At her solo exhibition last year at The Vestibule, Seattle artist Ruth Marie Tomlinson presented a new series of work inspired by her close readings of British nature writer J.A. Baker’s The Peregrine and Icelandic author Sjón’s The Blue Fox. As if on sheets torn from a sketchbook, her pages included excerpts and outtakes of…

Rearview Mirror: Seahawks Off the Field, Seattle on the Board, and Smoked Oysters

Rearview Mirror: Seahawks Off the Field, Seattle on the Board, and Smoked Oysters

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

HOOKED ON KNOCKS Admittedly, I am late to this one. The Seahawks’ first season of Hard Knocks, the HBO series that follows NFL teams through training camp, premiered in August, but until last week, I had never heard of it. To be honest, my football knowledge starts with knowing what a touchdown is and doesn’t…