Dictionary

B-movie en · NOUN

Etymology

Analogous to the B-side (i.e. the second side, the primary side being designated A) of a musical recording.

Meanings

1. A low-budget motion picture, especially one with poor production values.
   • But as it is, the script is so riddled with juvenalia, borrowed character types and misguided flights of poetic fancy that it feels like the work of a teenager who has seen too many B movies. 2002 February 12, Bruce Weber, “Theater Review: Straight Play or Musical, It Turns Into a Mystery”, in The New York Times (E section), New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 May 2015, page 5:
   • Full of sly jokes, riddles and metafictional high-jinks, his work had the voltage of a thriller (offering a rare voice of disapproval, the New Yorker critic James Wood accused his works of pedalling a “B-movie atmosphere”). 2024 May 1, Lisa Allardice, “Brooklyn’s bard: Paul Auster’s tricksy fiction captivated a generation”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 May 2024:

Forms

Coordinates

Z-movie

Deriveds

B-movieish · B-moviesque

Relateds

midnight movie

Synonyms

B-picture

Translations (6)

sv B-rulle (Translations) · sv B-film (Translations) · ja B級映画 (Translations) · cmn B級片 /B级片 (Translations) · fr série B (Translations) · ko B급 영화 (Translations)