good-bad

good-bad

English

Adjective

good-bad (comparative more good-bad, superlative most good-bad)

1. (film, literature) Enjoyably schlocky, poor in quality but nonetheless compelling.
   • 1945, November 2. George Orwell, "Good Bad Books", Tribune, 2 November.

     The existence of good bad literature--the fact that one can be amused or excited or even moved by a book that one's intellect simply refuses to take seriously--is a reminder that art is not the same thing as cerebration.

   • 2014, Sarah Nilsen, Projecting America, 1958, McFarland.

     Touch of Evil is not a good movie, but it is a good bad movie, which is more fun than the mediocre or even the adequate.

   • 2015, July 6, David Fear et al, 25 Best Modern Exploitation Movies. Rolling Stone.

     Is Showgirls good-bad or just bad-bad?

   • 2019, Nov 29, Donald Clarke, The Two Popes: one giant leap of faith. The Irish Times.

     The Shoes of the Fisherman is a good-bad film that owes no duty to history or to what were then current affairs.