Dictionary

good-bad en · ADJ

Etymology

Attributed to G. K. Chesterton.

Meanings

1. Enjoyably schlocky, poor in quality but nonetheless compelling.
   • The Shoes of the Fisherman is a good-bad film that owes no duty to history or to what were then current affairs. 2019 November 29, Donald Clarke, “The Two Popes: one giant leap of faith”, in The Irish Times:
   • Is Showgirls good-bad or just bad-bad? 2015 July 6, David Fear et al, “25 Best Modern Exploitation Movies”, in Rolling Stone:
   • 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. 1945 November 2, George Orwell, “Good Bad Books”, in Tribune:
   • “Road House” exists right on the edge between the “good-bad movie” and the merely bad. I hesitate to recommend it, because so much depends on the ironic vision of the viewer. This is not a good movie. 1989 May 19, Roger Ebert, “Road House”, in RogerEbert.com:
   • 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. 2014, Sarah Nilsen, Projecting America, 1958, McFarland:

Forms

Relateds

guilty pleasure

wikipedia: G. K. Chesterton