Top Five… Guilty Pleasures
They are the ugly ducklings of cinema. The movies we love because no one else will. Let our new writer Lester Square take you through his favourite cinematic guilty pleasures…
1am: a few weeks ago. I am slumped on a sofa in Lester Square Towers mindlessly flicking between genuine TV stations and Sky Sports News, looking for chewing gum for the eyes. And then… BINGO! Escape From New York. Kurt Russell in a glider and an eyepatch, running round apocalyptic Manhattan, taking orders from the baddie in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, trying to save the president and occasionally running into somebody with the best cleavage in cinema history.
1.30am: I’m still on the sofa.
2am: still there. This is stupid – I watched this a fortnight ago. It’s utter crap, I am supposed to be at work in six hours and I can’t move. Must. See. The. End. Will Kurt save the US? Has he ever changed his hairstyle?
Later that day: in work, dark rims round eyes. Colleague asks what I was up to last night. I couldn’t tell her, I was too embarrassed.
Escape From New York is truly a guilty pleasure, just like all the Carry On films, Snakes on a Plane, and A Night at the Museum. Oh, and Transformers. But not my Big Fat Greek Wedding, definitely not…
5th equal. Waterworld (1995)
This really is a car crash of a movie, truly soppingly wet dreadful. Lame singing star Michael Bolton (Kevin Costner) runs around a catamaran on various pulleys and Dennis Hopper is on a boat trying to get a kid who has a map on its back. Or something. Truly crap. I must have watched it 30 times.
5th equal. Under Siege (1992)
‘Casey, Casey Ryback is on that boat?’ Seagal at his peak, and that is saying something. Trapped on a boat with crap sailors, awful music (Tommy Lee Jones) but great food, the former Navy Seal recaptures a nuclear-missile loaded boat from Lee Jones and Busey, while talking on a small phone to the bunkers of the Pentagon. ‘Welcome to the revolution!!’
4. Flash Gordon (1980)
Possibly the campest film in history. An American sports jock with Farrah Fawcett hair flies around space in a red vest, avoids nasty plants, future James Bonds, and a big tippy disc with spikes in it. Along the way he watches in awe at the greatest piece of overacting ever. ‘Diiiii-ve!’. Great soundtrack as well.
3. Independence Day (1996)
Earth, or more importantly, Washington and New York, is under attack from aliens. Jeff Goldblum plays chess, Randy Quaid sprays crops, Will Smith plays Will Smith. Somehow this advanced race that has invaded us is susceptible to a virus from a ZX Spectrum. ‘Welcome to Earth.’
2. Point Break (1991)
Keanu Reeves on a surfboard. Bank robbers on a surfboard. Gary Busey!! Gangsta surfers. Yet somehow, we still liked Swayze at the end of this quality rubbish. Imagine going to a movie executive with the plot for this.
1. Wimbledon (2004)
I have never met anybody else who likes this film but no idea why. It’s great. Good little love story, which looks like a tourist board film for London and Brighton and has Bettany, Dunst, Neill and the greatest of all sports that really isn’t very important, tennis. If Andrew Murray ever wins, it won’t be half as much fun.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE GUILTY PLEASURE MOVIES?
Ross v Ross 
November 12, 2009 at 1:07 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHA I did not expect Wimbledon to be on dat list, brilliant!
I never felt guilty about watchin under siege tho “You’re not a cook” “Yeah well .. I also cook”
My guilty pleasure .. 17 again, Effron is all kinds of awesome!
November 12, 2009 at 1:24 pm
great list Lester. Bettany is the perfect everyman journeyman in that movie – it just wouldnt have worked with anyone else.
for me its Wild Wild West. the whole world thinks its terrible, i think its the best movie about cowboys with giant mechanical spiders ive ever seen.
but you know what – its not a guilty pleasure, cos i dont feel guilty about it
its just a, um, pleasure.
November 12, 2009 at 1:53 pm
I actually did a post about this a while back! Check it out…
http://mcneilmatinee.blogspot.com/2008/08/modern-guilt.html
November 12, 2009 at 2:40 pm
One from the Witherspoon canon for me, Sweet Home Alabama.
The film is so obvious, you can guess within 3 minutes what is going to happen and it must have been made 300 times before, just with a different title, but can’t stop watching it if it is on (my DvD)
It’s still full of surprises – on my last viewing I discovered that the main love interest isn’t Matthew McConaughey, it is someone else playing Matthew McConaughey
November 12, 2009 at 2:49 pm
you say potato, I say patato..
you say Witherspoon, I say Midler
Beaches, Big Business, Ruthless People, heck even What Women Want – if Bette’s in it im buying it.
November 12, 2009 at 3:05 pm
@ Paul… Damn man! Big Bette fan huh?? I just suffered through her Vegas show at Caesers, but something tells me it mighta been right up your alley!
November 12, 2009 at 3:19 pm
‘suffered through her Vegas show’, Hatter?
‘begged your partner/mom/Shelly Long to take you to her Vegas show’, you mean.
November 12, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Oh man, no way are Point Break and Independence Day guilty pleasures for me, I will defend both of those movies as being really good and good respectively.
I honestly don’t have films that I consider guilty pleasures, I mean, I love Uwe Boll films, but I think they are genuinely entertaining in their crappiness, nothing guilty about that. Maybe the Matt Dillon Employee Of The Month, Pam from The Office as a hooker, that’s all I have to say.
November 12, 2009 at 5:15 pm
I think I like more movies that count as guilty pleasures than good films, but my number one has to be Highlander. Only the first movie, as the sequels and show were horrible. But the first one had some great lines, a good villain, a Scottish Egyptian, a Belgian Scott, and (like Flash Gordon) a soundtrack by Queen. What more could you ask for?
November 12, 2009 at 5:42 pm
My interpretation of “Guilty Pleasure” is something you know is utter crap but you can’t help enjoying it. As far as I am concerned Escape From New York and Point Break are good films.
The fallout from Waterworld resulted in a great quote from Kevin Reynolds: “Kevin Costner should only act in movies he directs. That way, he can work with his favorite actor and director.”
Ahi, Good call on Highlander, how did Sean Connery deliver the line with a straight face when he had to ask what haggis was? Simple he didn’t try to. And how did he cope with an Egyptian accent? Simple he just didn’t bother trying.
November 12, 2009 at 5:58 pm
I’d have to disagree with “Point Break.” I think it’s a stellar picture. A little ridiculous? Sure, but so are most action pictures. I’m doing an action marathon on my site right now and “Point Break” is easily my favorite so far.
As far as my guilty pleasures the one that I always go back to is “Moulin Rouge.” I know plenty of people think it’s great but I think it’s an awful film but still will watch it again in an instant and enjoy it.
November 12, 2009 at 8:33 pm
What a great post – guilty pleasures are what makes film so ****ing fun (bit carried away there). Ok so here are mine…
The Brady Bunch Movie
I know but I just find this utterly hilarious… plus big props to A Very Brady Sequel.
Adventures in Baby Sitting
“Don’t **** with the babysitter”
“Thors a homo”
“hey look, a talking penis”
…just a fraction of the gems on offer.
Get Over It
Ben Foster, Kristen Dunst and er Sisqo put on a school musical under the direction of a their deluded drama teacher played by Martin Short. I am compelled to watch this every time it’s on TV so that would be about 40 odd times now.
November 12, 2009 at 10:09 pm
What is it about Reese. Just Like Heaven is an extreme guilty pleasure for me.
And Liar Liar with Carey.
November 13, 2009 at 3:12 am
Some good shouts Lester. You’re right about Waterworld, something oddly hypnotic about it. Reminds me of when I was stuck indoors as a kid and played Can’t Touch The Ground – did you ever play that? No? It’s awesome, basically you can’t touch the ground, um, and thats about it.
Never seen Wimbledon, probably never will. Tennis sucks tennisballs.
My guilty pleasure is She’s The Man, staring the delectable and hilarious kids favourite Amanda Bynes, who has to pretend she’s her brother. She has to room with the hunky guy she fancies, hilarity ensues. Vinnie Jones plays the schools hardman soccah coach, in an odd duck-out-of-water role.
November 13, 2009 at 3:37 am
Great list. Makes me want to come up with one of my own. Off the top of my head I would have to say Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter or something like Freddy vs. Jason… there are tons though…
November 14, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Solid list – I’m actually surprised they are “guilty” pleasures (well, except maybe Flash Gordon). My one true guilty pleasure remains Demolition Man. No matter how terrible the movie is (“He doesn’t know how to use the sea shells?”) , I physically can’t turn it off when it’s on.
November 16, 2009 at 9:14 am
Demolition Man is one of my guilty pleasures too as is Sydney White and Return of the Killer Tomatoes and Repossessed (the latter two just because I love Anthony Starke)
November 16, 2009 at 10:30 am
brilliant, though i’d prefer Independence Day on the numer one spot (and lest we’d forget last years guilty pleasure John Rambo!)
November 16, 2009 at 11:34 am
Goody….guilty pleasures! Great to know I am not alone….:D
1. Fools Rush In… it is a very very average movie, which is made immensely watchable by the very presence of Salma Hayek. I fell in love with her then, am still in love with her.
2. Predator, Commando, Conan the Barbarian, True Lies….pretty much every Arnie movie from the 80’s and early 90’s. I probably watched Commando and Predator about a hundred times each….then again, I haven’t watched them for about 10 years now.
3. From dusk till Dawn: Again I watched the Salma Hayek Dance scene so many times I could probably describe each muscle twitch from memory. And it was excessive violence that bordered on hilarity. Still love the movie.
4. Desperado: Banderas hams it up, and Salma Hayek sizzles like nobody else can. Cheesy plot, cheesy characters (except the always amazing Danny Trejo) and over the top action, but it is all good. Plus the always enjoyable guitar case rocket launcher.
5. Peter Sellers and his Pink Panther movies: A shot in the dark was wonderful, and so was The original Pink Panther, but the subsequent sequels slipped into campiness. But I love em all.
November 16, 2009 at 11:46 am
Um, Sandip, should we be giving Salma’s security team a heads up?
I disagree with Desperado being a guilty pleasure; it’s simply a pleasure.
And if you liked Predator and Commando, keep your eye on this site – they may be squaring off very soon…
November 16, 2009 at 11:52 am
The Wraith
David Lynch’s Dune
Teen Witch
Gleaming the Cube
Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead
All crap, but I love ’em!
November 16, 2009 at 12:14 pm
hey, i love wimbledon too and never really get why others don’t!
November 16, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Love these types of lists – we all have them in our heads at least. For me, they tend to be romantic, movies that I know play on or perpetuate stereotypes about love and sex but that I fall into anyway. Number one on my list is Dirty Dancing 2 Havana Nights. The beautiful leads and sexy dancing just drive the total stupidity right out of my head. There are many others in this category, but that’s my current fave. Anyone else have rom/coms chick flics as their guilty pleasure? Which ones?
November 16, 2009 at 2:20 pm
only an idiot would mention ‘escape from new york’ in such an article. it’s indisputably a cult classic, a time honoured cult classic, and the distinction should be obvious for anybody who’s writing about movies. ridiculous. this is the worst page imdb has ever linked me to.
November 16, 2009 at 2:38 pm
I’ve got a loooooonnnnng list of these in my IMDB acct, I’ve dubbed the list “Crapola”.
I’m actually surprised not to see Harley Davidson & the Marlboro Man on here, one of the best cheesy flicks of the 90s & one of Roger Ebert’s pers faves. Others of mine:
Reign of Fire – flimsy story, cool dragons, & I actually think McConaghey was really good in it!
Moonraker – if I had to pick a Bond flick for the list, it’d be this one, the worst movie in the entire series.
Deep Rising – because it’s just so damned funny!
Fortress – I’ve got a weak spot for Stuart Gordon.
Event Horizon – I just don’t know why.
November 16, 2009 at 2:40 pm
I can’t believe that no one else has mentioned “Newsies” yet. It’s a MUSICAL with 18-year-old Christian Bale leading other tap-dancing newsboys in a strike against Joseph Pulitzer, with support from Bill Pullman chronicling the whole thing for a competing publication and Ann-Margaret trying to be a Swedish vaudeville singer. It was the worst-performing Disney movie to date and probably has the worst film editing I’ve ever seen in a major motion picture.
But it’s got a cult following, especially among Gen X women, and I can see why. It’s just absolutely the most fun someone can have with a non-pornographic DVD. The music is contagious, and any time I hear it, I end up dancing around the living room. So, yeah, it’s crap, but it’s totally fun and addictive crap!!!
November 16, 2009 at 2:59 pm
:P…lol….I think I would get blown up if I made a move in her direction these days…her husband probably has her surrounded by ex navy seals or something… cant wait for the face off…
November 16, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Weekend at Bernies – two bratpackers dragging a corpse around for a weekend, pretending its alive. And everyone believes them. One of the worst plots of movie history. If you submitted a treatment for this today you’d probably get arrested, and a media hate campaign about you.
November 16, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Sometimes it seems as if every movie I like is a guilty pleasure!
November 16, 2009 at 3:52 pm
5: Clash of the Titans – Ray Harryhausen effects, plenty of overacting, and Harry Hamlin. Awesome. So wonderfully bad…
4: Airborne – Fish out of water story about a surfer kid from LA stuck in Cleveland. Look for a young Jack Black and Seth Greene.
3: Postman – Another epic piece of trash from Costner… with the inclusion of an overacted, Shakespeare-spouting villain and a character actually named Ford Lincoln Mercury.
2: Tinkerbell – I watch this with my children fairly regularly (sounds like an excuse but hear me out)… It grew on me so much that I realized the other day that my kids had already gone to bed when I stopped on a channel playing it and watched it through to the end.
1: Starship Troopers – To some, this is a good movie… to many, many more, this is a terrible movie. To me, this is a terrible movie that is awesome in every way. Which part is best? Micheal Ironside as a 1-armed badass? Casper Van Dien attempting to be a believable badass? Gary Busey’s somehow-uglier-than-he-is son? Doogie a psychic colonel that looks like he’s 14?
November 16, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Ok you have to reach way back in your memories on this one.
Second Sight: John Larroquette and Bronson Pinchot as a detective and psyhic. Action, romance with a nun, guns and crappy special effects.
Vibes: Jeff Goldblum, Cyndi Lauper and Peter Falk. Again psychics but this time looking for a lost city.
I love them so much that I actually have them on my Amazon Wish list but they are total crap movies
November 16, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I actually like Wimbledon a lot.
It’s refreshing to see Dunst not play a “magical pixie girl” for a change, instead she’s basically a horny tennis player who wants some afternoon delights between matches. In a world where every other romantic female lead is a yoga-practicing environmentalist ad agency executive named Anna, Claire or Kate we need all the variety we can get.
The theme about Paul Bettany and his age is also well done and is something anyone in their early 30’s can relate to. Sam Neill, also, always great.
November 16, 2009 at 5:21 pm
I love Wimbledon. It’s like Love, Actually, or Bring It On; a light, fluffy movie that leaves you feeling happy. Paul Bettany carries it with flair, although I do wish that they’d gotten him someone with more chemistry that Kristen Dunst. *shrugs* I love it anyway, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in a towel is a high point.
November 16, 2009 at 5:44 pm
There are two reasons “Escape from New York” is worth watching, and the reasons are Adrienne Barbeau’s left breast and Adrienne Barbeau’s right breast.
November 16, 2009 at 5:48 pm
I have to say my number one guilty pleasure film would be 1999’s ‘The Mummy’. I’ve seen this film countless times and I really can’t tell you why. It’s cheesy, over-the-top, and ridiculous but I love every inch of it. It has gotten to the point where I feel obligated to watch it every time it’s on TV. The sequels are even worse but this one will always be watchable for me.
November 16, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Josie and the Pussycats.
It’s actually a clever parody of our over-marketed media and it is also pure eye candy!
November 16, 2009 at 6:16 pm
1) Demolition Man
2) The Postman
3) Cool Runnings
4) Big Trouble in Little china
5) Waterworld
It would be interesting how many people would buy these DVD’s if they were in a bundle package.
November 16, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Commando-The cheezy Arnie one-liners make this awesome.
Showgirls-Laughably stupid, plus save by the bell chick full frontal.
Independence Day-Perfectly rips off the hokey spirit of the V mini-series.
Freddy Got Fingered-Dumbest movie ever, yet still funny.
Roadhouse-The name is DALTON
November 16, 2009 at 6:22 pm
“Escape From New York” should not be seen as a guilty pleasure. It is brilliant in the world it creates from a remarkably tiny budget. Couldn’t agree with you more on “Flash Gordon” though. That one is the mother of all guilty pleasures. Now I need to watch it again darn it! “Under Seige” and “Point Break” are good too. I hated “Waterworld” though. That was an extravagant waste of money.
Good article!
November 16, 2009 at 6:23 pm
dude, i love wimbledon, i own wimbledon.
5. Con-Air
4. Frequency
3. Phantom Menace
2. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
1. Captain Ron
November 16, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Understand, I don’t feel “guilty” here because I admire these films so much but:
1) FEMME FATALE
2) DOMINO
3) POINT BREAK
4) WILD THINGS
5) FROM DUSK TILL DAWN
November 16, 2009 at 6:30 pm
“the greatest of all sports that really isn’t very important, tennis.”
um.. as opposed to sports that ARE important?!
November 16, 2009 at 6:31 pm
i’ve got to second Josie and the Pussycats. Love it! Still have ‘Back Door Lover’ by Du Jour in my head!!
November 16, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Honorable Mention:
Meatballs, New Jack City,Star Trek 5 (Kirk: What does God need with a Starship?), Bachelor Party, Beastmaster, Hawk the Slayer, Johnny Suede, Master of the Flying Guillitine, My Bodyguard, Mystery Men, Orgazmo, Out for Justice (can I change this to #1?), PCU, Switchblade Sisters, Zapped.
November 16, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Dinosaur: I know, a ripoff of Land Before Time, whatever.
Enough: nothing like seeing J-Lo as a women scorned.
The Day After Tomorrow: better than ID4 I think.
The Score: Brando, DeNiro & Ed Norton, c’mon
Planet of the Apes remake: Mark Whalberg’s speech at the end kills me.
November 16, 2009 at 7:09 pm
A little-known movie from 1981 called Super Fuzz. It’s awful. Terrible. Really bad. But I’ve seen it many times and love it.
November 16, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Great post! I too consider ID 4 as one of many guilty pleasures. In fact, I just featured one of them recently on my blog » http://tinyurl.com/yf49fez Attila is so bad it’s good, the quintessential guilty pleasure! I also love this 1984 comedy “Top Secret” with Val Kilmer. It’s fluffy, even ridiculous at times, but I love it!
November 16, 2009 at 9:10 pm
-Steven Seagal’s Out for Justice- “Anybody know why Richie did Bobby Lupo?” Crappy movie that I never fail to sit through when I encounter it channel surfing.
-Roadhouse- Patrick Swayze’s at his honkey tonk best.
-The Beastmaster- Marc Singer, Tanya Roberts and ferrets, ferrets, ferrets!
-Addams Family Values- Wednesday and Pugsley go to camp with the beautiful people and Joan Cusack as a black widow marrying Fester. The only one of these I own on DVD.
November 16, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Family’s gone for the night? No obligations? A little wine at hand?
One word: XANADU.
This is a terrible, terrible movie. The lead actor is horrible and pretty much never worked again. Gene Kelly gets put through the most awful song and dance routines ever filmed. The finale features disco roller skating teams.
But …
Olivia Newton-John is ethereal as always; the costuming is outrageous and the music by ELO is beyond compare. I love this movie.
November 16, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Escape from New York is not a guilty pleasure under any measurement; Escape from L.A. may be though.
November 16, 2009 at 10:58 pm
GREAT list! Fun topic! I’ll share mine:
5. Runaway (acid-spewing metal spiders!)
4. Electric Dreams (Bud Cort as a love-sick computer!)
3. 2012 (only seen it once, and already know I’ll see it 50 times)
2. Xanadu (right there with you, kelysian)
1. Just One of the Guys (might have it memorized…)
Would have 1982’s “Forbidden Zone” on here, but don’t feel the slightest bit guilty about loving that one. Many seem to think I should though.
November 16, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Hocus Pocus. You know, the kids’ Halloween movie with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as witches? I love it. Can’t get enough of it. And no matter how many times I watch it, I crack up all over again. Too, too funny.
November 16, 2009 at 11:21 pm
A Night at the Roxbury: I can’t believe no one else has listed this yet. It’s incredibly corny and stupid and awesom, and I keep wondering why I don’t have it on DVD yet.
Get Over It: This movie caused me to believe Ben Foster was a bad actor. Then I watched him on My Name is Earl and 3:10 to Yuma. Now I know that it was just his character that was bad. Still love it anyway. Colin Hanks never fails to crack me up.
Newsies: This was fine 9 years ago, when I was a boy-crazy teenager. But I’m 25 now. I ought to have better taste by now. But I obviously don’t. 😀
White Chicks: Terry Jones is frickin’ hilarious. ‘Nough said.
Robin Hood: Prince of Theives: I feel slightly guilty about liking this, but not the least bit guilty about Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Odd.
I suspect New Moon will be added to this list after I’ve seen it, if only for Taylor Lautner. Every time I see a pic of him from New Moon, I drool a bit, then feel like a dirty old woman since he’s still underage.
BTW, I do not feel guilty at all for loving Josie and the Pussycats or ID4. They’re great.
November 17, 2009 at 12:21 am
This is the best list ever. Wimbledon… I love it and I don’t know why. All of the other movies are great as well.
November 17, 2009 at 1:00 am
“From Dusk Til Dawn” is a guilty pleasure. Looks like Clooney & Co had fun being in it, though.
“Major League” is another one.
“Thir13en Ghosts” is pretty bad, but I can watch it over & over again. Also “House on Haunted Hill” by the same production company.
“Demolition Man” with a blonde Wesley Snipes chewing the senery and Denis Leary looking hot even though he’s filthy and Sandra Bullock bouncing around like a 12-year-old. Gotta love that one. Three words: Schwarznegger Presidential Library.
November 17, 2009 at 1:13 am
I’d go with Twister (if it only had Bill Paxton dead-panning his “Evil Bill” speech it’d be awesome) and anything non-Pearl Harbour by Michael Bay. Pearl Harbour of course makes me feel guilty, but there’s no pleasure involved. Additionally anything starring a professional wrestler, who isn’t Soft S***e Steve Austin, and anything with Sarah Michelle Gellar in it. Best put Southland Tales at the head of the list then.
And sorry, but i won’t feel guilt for loving Bring It On, it rocks on multiple levels.
As for Wimbledon, i’d just love to be there for the pitch. “So Tim Henman, see, he gets it on with Maria Sharapova, right, and then he wins Wimbledon. Excellent. We’ll change the names of course. Now, what to call it?”
November 17, 2009 at 1:30 am
I’ve also gotta give a shout out to Weekend at Bernie’s. I agree with most of you who say that you don’t really feel guilty about your guilty pleasure, but the look on people’s faces when I say I love this movie makes me think I should call it a guilty pleasure (although I secretly think they love it too).
November 17, 2009 at 2:27 am
Fright night 2
kangaroo jack
mindwarp
November 17, 2009 at 5:12 am
I don’t know why I love this movie, ” Stone Cold ” the first (and only” starring role for former football ‘ bad boy ‘ Brian Bosworth going undercover with a biker gang that has attracted both The Fed’s and The Mob’s attention. With Lance Henriksin (at his villianous best ) as ‘ Chains ” Cooper, the head biker & William Forstyhe as his right hand guy ” Iceman ‘ (cause he’s ‘ iced’ so many people. Complete trash, but you have to love the bike chases and the finale that has the gang laying siege to a downtown courthouse! And Lance’s great line: ‘ At times like this I allways think of my father’s last words. Which where: Don’t son! that gun is loaded !’ . Just bought it on DVD from Amazon. Watched it about 15 times since August.
November 17, 2009 at 5:14 am
So guilty but feels so damn good
Mortal Kombat, Aliens vs Predators, Night at the Roxbury, Virus, Final Destination
November 17, 2009 at 5:23 am
heh…wow…you have four of my mom’s faves up there,too…wimbledon,being the only one she has never seen..l
kooky…you have teh same film tastes as a 59 yr old woman…heh
November 17, 2009 at 6:39 am
I LOVE WIMBLEDON! You are the only other person to admit to liking it.
November 17, 2009 at 7:07 am
From Dusk To Dawn
Waterworld
Big Trouble in Little China
…and many others deserve their places on these lists … but for the creme de la creme of guilty pleasures, you have to go way back ..skimming past terrible but wildly entertaining clunkers like The Ten Commandments, Land of the Pharoahs and The Egyptian until you reach the very worst, most endearing, howlingly funny, jaw-dropping, unbelievably bad film of all time … Ed Wood’s “Glen or Glenda” … it’s a riot, and it makes his “Plan 9 from outer Space” look like Tolstoy .
November 17, 2009 at 7:32 am
My top 5 favourites are movies that i should probably have stopped watching years ago considering the fact that i’m now 18 and so technically an “adult”. But i still love them and watch them.
1- 10 Things I hate about you.
2- Anastacia (the disney version)
3- An american tale
4- Josie and the pussycats
5- Bring it on
In saying this however they’re not really guilty pleasures. 🙂 they’re just my favourites!
November 17, 2009 at 8:04 am
surf ii (the end of the trilogy)…so funny and so badly acted, but thats the whole point and it has eddy deezen in it. (dont know him? google him, youll know then)
dungeons and dragons…Yes im ashamed but i cant help watching it
RAD (bmx movie)
Windrider (aussie windsurfing movie, nicole kidmans in it..AND its when she’s a curly head ginger….AND she gets her kit off!)
bubbleboy….laughed my ass off
November 17, 2009 at 9:17 am
I LOVED Wimbledon. And I thought I was the only one who liked it!
I would also like to see one of these lists done from a girl’s perspective, every one I’ve ever read seems to be done by a dude. Come on! Xanadu for the number 1 spot!
November 17, 2009 at 9:26 am
Really, “guilty pleasure” movies, are movies people are too pussy to tell other people they like,withput adding “yes I’m ashamed” or “i know it’s a guilty pleasure”, as if to justify you liking a film to a bunch of faceless w*****s. Well I like ID4 and eat s**t if you don’t!
November 17, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Guys, Demolition Man was pretty bad, but how about Judge Dredd? Definitely on par, one of my favourite guily pleasures.
By the way, if someone here says the same about Rocky Balboa, don’t listen. That one is epic. The latest Rambo also rocks. Come to think of it, Stallone made relatively few terrible films.
November 17, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Oops, HAS made, that is. Cheers!
November 17, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Tintin,
One of Stallone’s films that is guitily underrated, I reckon, is Copland. Great show, and Stallone carries it.
November 17, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I LOVE that Demolition Man shows up on so many peoples’ replies. I was just talking last night about how I watch it every time it’s on.
Also, Commando, Beastmaster, Resident Evil 3.
But the one biggest guilty pleasure I have has to be Twilight. It’s just awful and yet I cannot seem to stop watching it. I actually laughed through the whole thing when I went to see it in the theaters.
November 17, 2009 at 2:32 pm
@ david: But I love Copland! Mr S shows in it he’s a good an dedicated actor. He’s frail, shy, repressed … Would you have expected that? And the belly of his! Not a huge one, but it shows. A remarkable movie.
Back to guilty pleasures, my wife has just admitted she had seen A Walk to Remember around a dozen times. Tried once. Didn’t work for me.
November 17, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Like some of the original choices Copland is not a guilty please it is a good film.
November 17, 2009 at 2:48 pm
@fandango
I wasn’t suggesting Copland was a guilty pleasure, just underrated.
Surely there is no right or wrong when it comes to the list, one man’s demolition man is another Josie and the pussycats
November 17, 2009 at 2:59 pm
“Balls of Fury”
Good mindless entertainment.
Hehehehe…
November 17, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Good call with “Independence Day” — watch that one every damn year on cable. I have a weird thing for Jeff Goldblum, especially when he wears geeky glasses. Hee hee.
I’d have to say my big five are…
1) “Con Air”
2) Any movie in the “Resident Evil” trilogy
3) “Deep Blue Sea”
4) “Spiceworld”
5) This is soooo shameful, but “13 Going on 30” (I KNOW)
November 17, 2009 at 3:16 pm
She’s All That, Rocky III, the Ewan McGregor parts of Attack of the Clones, and Mr. Destiny are all flicks I have watched repeatedly and will watch again, God knows why. And then there was a little item that, while not exactly mainstream, was an attempt by a number of then-notable porn stars to go closer to mainstream: the soft-core RSVP. With the likes of Annette Haven and Harry Reems, a few B and C list “legit” actors and one truly bounteous Playmate in the mix, along a budget and script and pacing that were equally pathetic, it should be unwatchable. But the director had a genuine eye for the true talents of most of his leads and went with that, rather than pretending there was really any other reason for the exercise. As a result certain moments work, and some of the gags actually go over, at least if you’re in a generous mood.
November 17, 2009 at 3:26 pm
And Logan Crow: thanks for mentioning Electric Dreams. For ages I thought I was the only person in the universe who “got” that one.
November 17, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I click through the channels and stop dead on:
1. Big Trouble in Little China – Kurt looks great in lip stick!
2. 5th Element – I adore the Diva!
3. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – Who doesn’t love Clint? I thinks it is his squint.
4. MIB – Favorite line: “Oh, K, something’s peakin’!”
5. Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension – “Remember, no matter where you go, there you are.” Profound….
November 17, 2009 at 4:10 pm
mcarter, good call with Resident Evil, I know they are utter crap but I have seen all three and actually own the first one on DVD. I would also suggest Underworld and The Craft.
November 17, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Hey hey hey Fandango, lets not go there with Underworld, nothing guilty about it. Perhaps some of the thoughts while watching Kate Beckinsale clad in tight leather, but not the film.
Good shout by PollyFoxburr above, Thir13een ghosts is awful (black woman interrupts recording of satanic prayer by ‘scratching’ record) but I keep coming back, the ghosts themselves look great
April 2, 2010 at 11:17 pm
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