Silver Screen Guilty Pleasure

Erik Bates | September 19, 2004
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Scott Hardie | September 19, 2004
Just one? I suppose "Willow" and "The Haunting" are the best examples. I thought they were good (albeit far from perfect), but I still don't mention to people that I like them, because I don't enjoy getting funny looks. I also don't mention liking the Matrix sequels, because I don't enjoy getting into arguments.

Melissa Erin | September 19, 2004
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Steve West | September 19, 2004
Ilsa - She Wolf of the SS. Bad movie that was supposedly done "tongue in cheek" but couldn't quite pull it off. Blood looked suspiciously like ketchup and the wounds were just piles of molded plastic. So bad its hilarious.

Erik Bates | September 19, 2004
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Scott Hardie | September 20, 2004
Well, I think I'm in the minority about the Evil Dead films, not you.

Kris Weberg | September 20, 2004
Batman Forever. I know it's crap, you know it's crap, we both curse the name Schumacher...and yet, my inner 10-year-old likes Jim Carrey and the special effects.

Batman and Robin, however, must be eradicated from the face of the planet.

David Mitzman | September 20, 2004
Up to that point, the most expensive movie ever made, an extremely long movie which could have been cut down an hour, and one with a 5 minute Jack Black scene. Yup, you love it as much as I; Waterworld

Erik Bates | September 20, 2004
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David Mitzman | September 20, 2004
yup, he was the pilot of the plane that attacked Kevin Costner's water boat thingee

Anna Gregoline | September 20, 2004
Wow, I never knew that. Probably cause I fell asleep during Waterworld.

I'd have to say I'm a bit embarassed to love the movie WarGames so much - I mean, lots of people like it, but none seem to have the bizarre love for it that I do.

Mike Eberhart | September 20, 2004
Ocean's Eleven.... The new one. Great movie, ok, not great, but really entertaining....

Scott Horowitz | September 20, 2004
The original Dune movie.... I think Maxim said in its review "There isn't enough Marijuana on Earth to let this movie make even the slightest bit of sense."

John E Gunter | September 20, 2004
I can't really think about any movies that I've seen and liked that I'm embarrased about.

John

Steve West | September 20, 2004
Strange Brew. I can't help it - it cracks me up.

Erik Bates | September 20, 2004
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Jackie Mason | September 20, 2004
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Kris Weberg | September 20, 2004
Don't feel too bad, Jackie -- I've yet to get up the interest to even bother watching the Rings movies.

Melissa Erin | September 21, 2004
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Lori Lancaster | September 21, 2004
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David Mitzman | September 21, 2004
I seem to have a thing for extremely long Kevin Costner directed films. The Postman was another one I like. It was actually pretty decent, way better than Waterworld. I

Scott Horowitz | September 21, 2004
To quote Chris Griffin from Family Guy "How does Kevin Costner keep getting work?"

Scott Horowitz | September 21, 2004
Oh and Half Baked was good for one reason, to hear Bob Saget say , "Marijuana is not a drug. I used to suck dick for coke. Now that's an addiction. You ever suck some dick for marijuana? "

Erik Bates | September 21, 2004
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Jackie Mason | September 21, 2004
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Kris Weberg | September 21, 2004
Actually, I'm seeing an interesting point emerging here -- can a movie be a guilty pleasure if it "knows" that it's a guilty pleasure? I mean, Army of Darkness is clearly taking the piss -- it doesn't care if it's got any special merit, it just wants to entertain you at as basic a level as possible.

It seems like the true guilty pleasures are movies that take themselves seriously, but that most people agree have failed. Maybe even we, in enjoying them, acknowledge that they don't live up to their own ambitions, and perhaps that's what makes them guilty pleasures after all.

Oh, someting that might warrant its own thread, but fits here as well -- what "great" movies of the last, say, 10-15 years, do you hate while everyone else loves them? (Think of the "English Patient" episode of Seinfeld.) I'm excluding older movies, because a lot of people seem to hate older movies almost on principle, and not for specific reasons.

So, what movies do you "guilitly" or tacitly hate, but feel you have to tacitly pretend to like when otehrs bring them up?

Me, I hate Donnie Darko. I have an actual explanation for why, but clearly no one who loved he film wants to hear about it..

Anna Gregoline | September 21, 2004
I didn't think Donnie Darko was that great, although it had a few neat parts.

Hmm. Another guilty pleasure for me is "First Knight" with Sean Connery and Richard Gere. I'm not a huge fan of either of them, and it's all so much romantic drivel, but for some reason, I'm totally taken in by it, and it's so embarrassing.

I'm trying to think of what I hate and everyone else loves. Die Hard? I hate those movies. Also Lethal Weapon. And Predator.

Scott Horowitz | September 21, 2004
I didn't particularly care for Pulp Fiction when everyone else seems to.

Melissa Erin | September 22, 2004
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Steve West | September 22, 2004
Love Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs but never understood the thrill over Taxi Driver.

Anna Gregoline | September 22, 2004
I love Pulp Fiction too, although I'm pretty nonplussed with all other Tarantino films.

Anna Gregoline | September 22, 2004
I thought of another one - I love the movie Speed.

Kris Weberg | September 22, 2004
I dunno, I think Resewrvoir Dogs is better than Pulp by a wide margin -- tighter, at times smarter (though neither film is as smart as it thinks it is), and containing genuine suspense.

Kill Bill, as an exerise in pure spectacle, is awesome; on any other level, it's insubstantial.

Scott Hardie | September 22, 2004
Jackie: I remember watching "What Lies Beneath" together with a group in your dorm room, or Kelly's. I had tried to talk the group out of watching it ("Pitch Black" was our other option and I still want to see it), but I was overruled. I don't know how you could have even enjoyed it, it seemed like most of the running time was taken up by loud conversations about totally unrelated topics in which people stopped paying any attention to the film. :-) The only part of it that I liked was that wonderful shot when Michelle Pfeiffer is knocked to the floor and the camera tilts beneath her to look up at her attacker.

Dave: See "Open Range" when you get a chance. It's a good movie on its own terms, but it's worthy of being seen for fulfilling the promise that Costner showed when he directed "Dances with Wolves." (And my distaste for Jack Black aside, I also love that scene, for the moment when Tina Majorino waves at the attacking plane and Costner smacks her on the back of the head and asks "Whattya thinkin?!")

Kris: I admired "Donnie Darko" for its intricate mystery of symbolism (I have not Googled a movie's meaning that furiously after seeing it since "Mulholland Drive"), though I found the film as a whole to be worth a lot less than the sum of its parts. It earned my appreciation while doing little for my enjoyment. I'd care to hear what you disliked about it.

Scott & Melissa: Actually, my mother charged "Pulp Fiction" with a very odd complaint, but one that made sense when I thought about it: "It was boring!" Tarantino is a flashy, intense director in his very essence, and that kind of focus can lead to some deathly dull pacing; there's a point at which the banality of the dialogue loses its appeal, and far too many scenes of characters moving slowly or staring at each other. Me, I liked the film and count it among my favorites, but I see how people who don't share Tarantino's patience could be bored stiff by his film.

Speaking of being bored stiff, my entry in Kris's poll is "Gladiator." It wasn't a bad movie, but I failed to be moved by it at all, let alone as much as some friends have been. I have no idea what it is about the film's famous quote that inspires anyone to repeat it. ("My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.") Forgive my rudeness in phrasing it this way, but can anyone explain that movie's appeal beyond a chest-pounding, "Braveheart"-like machismo that only appeals to men in need of some masculine reaffirmation?

Also "Shrek," the most overrated comedy since "There's Something About Mary." But that's probably just my seething hatred for Mike Myers's desperate, amateur-hour brand of humor.

Mike Eberhart | September 22, 2004
OH, I thought of another one that I really like, but most people hate. I love watching "A Knight's Tale". Great music in that movie.

Anna Gregoline | September 22, 2004
Pulp Fiction is BORING? That one I will never understand.

I didn't think that much of Gladiator, but I'm happy for that quote you quoted because it now reminds me of Ralphie in the Sopranos, who quoted the movie relentlessly, which provided an insight into how weak and insecure he really was.

I haven't seen Shrek, but seen and heard enough of it to know that the premise/plot seems to not make sense considering their message.

Lori Lancaster | September 22, 2004
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Anna Gregoline | September 22, 2004
I fell alseep during Kill Bill Vol. 1, so I guess it didn't do it for me.

Kris Weberg | September 22, 2004
"Knight's Tale" was a lot of fun. I think the people who disliked it were being a bit purist about the Arthur stuff, honestly.

And yeah, I can see the complaint that Pulp Fiction was boring, in the sense that, if you aren't shocked by the violence or enthralled by the dialogue, very, very little of real significance happens in its three interlinked stories. Tarantino movies are about their style, not about their plots.

Jackie Mason | September 22, 2004
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Scott Horowitz | September 22, 2004
I dunno. I found Pulp Fiction lacking direction. But you can look back at some of the previous academy award winners. I loved ROTK. Chicago was great. I didn't think A Beautiful Mind was anything special. In 1997, The worst movie of the 5 nominated won Best Picture (that being Titanic). I saw all 5 that year, and I think LA Confidential was the best of that bunch.

Anna Gregoline | September 22, 2004
The reason I like Pulp Fiction is because of the seperate story lines (really kind of fresh back when it came out), the violence kept it interesting, and the dialogue was hysterical. I also kind of liked that it was slower-paced - it's sort of a quiet film, in a way.

A Beautiful Mind sucked.

Melissa Erin | September 22, 2004
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Anna Gregoline | September 22, 2004
"...in a freak...gasoline fight accident!"

Melissa Erin | September 22, 2004
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Jackie Mason | September 22, 2004
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Kris Weberg | September 23, 2004
"I invented the piano-key necktie! What have YOU ever done?!!?"

Titanic was beautifully researched an had very convincing special effects. That's the praise I can give the film.

Still, Kate Winslet helped make one of the best movies I've ever seen, Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures.

Anna Gregoline | September 23, 2004
I HATED THAT MOVIE.

No joke. It was so bad we turned it off.

Scott Horowitz | September 23, 2004
Titanic was a great production, not a great movie. As for movies people love that I didn't, another one was Forrest Gump. It just didn't do anything for me.

As for Zoolander, I can't hear Wake Me Up by Wham without cracking up anymore.

Kris Weberg | September 23, 2004
So, Anna, you didn't see how it ended?

Chilling, on many levels.

Anthony Lewis | September 23, 2004
Strange Brew rocks man! And it's on DVD now!!!

Off to DeepDiscountDVD.com to put it on my wish list.

I think I may have to say "Private Lessons" How that movie got made in 1981, I'll never know.

Anna Gregoline | September 23, 2004
I didn't even know what was going on in that movie, and I've blocked what I did see. It was so bad.

Kris, you should see Wisconsin Death Trip.

Scott Hardie | September 23, 2004
I'll back you, Jackie. I have seen "Titanic" perhaps twenty times and it never fails to enthrall me. There are plenty of people who legitimately disliked the film, but it seems to me that many people disliked the movie's popularity and not really the movie itself; if it had been a minor hit in theaters then disappeared, there wouldn't be anywhere near the animosity towards it. (The people who dislike it without having seen it are not worth taking seriously.) It's a terrific entertainment that channels the awesome power that the sunken ship has to fascinate us. I also love "L.A. Confidential" and have seen it about the same number of times, and I'd still rank "Titanic" above it.

</rant>

Kris Weberg | September 23, 2004
Ok. Wisconsin Death Trip. Will investigate it.

As to Heavenly Creatures, the quasi-medieval fantasy scenes are meant to be stupidly childish, but if you notice, they all revolve around a) the girls' unspoken attraction for one another; and b) the deaths of people they dislike.

It's based on a true story, and the real story ended just as chillingly, and as sadly.