Guilty Pleasure Movies
We can not choose what flickering bit of celluloid finds its place into our heart. You just have to embrace it, indulge it with multiple viewings no matter the time of day or previous obligations, and let it fill your soul.
Rules for GPMs:
No apologies, no explanation and no justification allowed at any time
Not bound by genre, Rotten Tomatoes scores or public condemnation
Nourishes some deep recess of your soul you never knew you had
Like owning the regrettable decision to wear a baby blue Qiana gown to your Junior Prom— hold your head up high, square your shoulders and toss your head and say 'ya, for better or worse — this is me'. Here's my list, a work in progress:
Baby Boom (Shyer 1987)
Don't let the 78% on Rotten Tomatoes fool you, this film is flawed. It has a great cast — Diane Keaton, Sam Shepard, Harold Ramis, even James Spader in an early supporting role, but this nostalgic, sentimental, obvious comedy is lighter than a stale Snackwell. I love it for the overly romanticized version of Vermont and how wonderfully it captures the 80s, including power ties on women, synthesized soundtrack and a love/hate representation of Yuppie culture.
Jesus Christ Superstar (Jewison 1973)
The music is wonderful, the music is perfect and smarter and more relevant every time I listen to it. But this modern, biblical mash-up of clashing time periods feels sooooo wrong, it's right. Disciples riding around in derelict buses, King Herod the Hippie, and of course, Judas returning from the dead dressed as the Osmond brother no one talks about. Cinematic gold. Really looking forward to the live presentation on Easter, 2018.
The fabulous Carl Anderson as Judas in all his anachronistic glory
Twister (de Bont 1996)
A band of traveling misfits with nifty nick-names (I mean, The Extreme? Are you kidding me?) chase tornadoes and learn a lot about love along the way. Jami Gertz and of course, the inimitable Phillip Seymour Hoffman in particular, are fabulous here. But even they can't save this high-concept film from low results. I still watch it at least once a year, I don't know why.
Meteorological mayhem in middle America
Batman Forever (Schumacher 1995)
Martha and I went to see this in Bangkok to escape the heat and rest our bargain hunting feet. Such a surprise when the cricket-munching audience leapt to their feet during the National Anthem, there in the dark. This bombastic blockbuster is unquestionably shite, but it holds a special place in my heart. Seal's soundtrack is nothing to sneeze at either.
The Ghost and the Darkness (Hopkins 1996)
I don't care if Val Kilmer was nominated for a Razzie for his performance in this film, or the reckless way lions are depicted, or even the flabby script — this is old-fashioned fun in the 'Saturday matinee, popcorn munching, adventure in a foreign land' kind of way. Hardy Boys meets Heart of Darkness. And, bonus — based on a true story. I'm a sucker for movies based on true stories.
Legends of the Fall (Zwick 1997)
Audiences loved this film, the critics — not so much. A sappy soap opera in which hearts are cut out and extraneous scenes are left in. Admit it, you're intrigued.
Little Darlings (Maxwell 1980)
I bet this film is on Roy Moore's Top 10 list. Could this movie even be made today? I'm not so sure, at least not marketed to kids as a summer fun flick ('flick,' get your mind out of the gutter :) Tatum O'Neal and Kristy McNichol in the lead roles as 15 year olds vying to lose their virginity. That makes their older 'partners' — rapists. Child rapists. Whaaaaaat? But as a big Family fan, a touchy-feely drama that ran on ABC in the late 1970s, and wholly-oblivious to the greater inappropriateness, I had to see it.
Besides the ridiculous premise, and some acting that can charitably be described as bad — the dialogue is so awful, by the time the end credits roll to Let Your Love Flow, your face will hurt from wincing. No matter, in some ways this film was ahead of its time and it doesn't glorify sex, so much as seek to demystify it. It's ultimately a nostalgic, and campy and sweet and so it deserves a place on this list.
Can you spot little, tiny baby Agnes Nixon?
Armageddon (Bay 1998)
Is there a film with more continuity errors and flawed science played fast & loose? Who cares! This sappy, red, white and blue tribute to American ingenuity always makes me happy. And that Aerosmith soundtrack, yowzah!
Fear not! Steve Buscemi will save us!
Lethal Weapon 2 (Donner 1989)
Brothers-in-arms
"...guys like you don't die on toilets." How can you beat that? I'm such a sucker for a buddy film, and this one doesn't disappoint. Before there was that drunken anti-Semitic tirade, there was a marvelously mulleted Martin Riggs — jokesy, honorable, charming. Danny Glover (no relation, bah dum toosh!) is so likable here — their chemistry just works and you feel as though you are riding along in the backseat with Joe Pesci. Fun, fun, fun.
Step Mom (Columbus 1998)
Julie Roberts & Susan Sarandon stop fighting long enough to become friends.
I like good films that thoughtfully explore the different approaches to parenting: Captain Fantastic (Ross 2016), Little Miss Sunshine (Dayton Faris 2006), Kramer vs. Kramer (Benton 1979), One True Thing (Franklin 1998), are a few examples. This is not one of those. This is just a straight-up, shameless, tear-jerking melodrama and sometimes that's exactly what you need. Plus, I'm a sucker for the shots of Westchester County in the Fall; always made me so homesick when I was in Singapore.
Mona Lisa Smile (Newell 2003)
Formulaic, predictable, anachronistic, clichéd — this film has it all! But Mona Lisa Smile is also charming and the cast is wonderful and if you ever had one of those teachers that expected a little more, and gave a little more — than this film will strike a chord. Not a fan of Julia Roberts per se, I give her kudos for sharing the screen with so many lovely, younger actresses who are all extremely talented — couldn't have been easy.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band (Schultz 1978)
The machine has yet to be invented that can measure the utterly vacuous, inane mess that is Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Describing Peter Frampton's and the Bee Gees' performances as bad acting is an insult to bad acting, this is something else altogether. And the plot! Ridiculous! Oh but I do love what Earth, Wind & Fire do with Got to Get You Into My Life and Aerosmith's rendition of Come Together. This brings up fond memories though, of saving money and figuring out rides to see it at the theater. I was in love with Peter Frampton, so what's a poor 15 year old girl gonna do?
Oh. My.
Tommy (Russell 1975)
Despite the star-studded ensemble cast, Tommy is a red hot mess, an exhaustive siege on the senses. I remember a Mad magazine spoof that depicted Tina Turner's Acid Queen as nothing but zigzaggy vibrations, which sums this film up nicely. Over-produced with religious zealotry, Tommy is a hot-dog eating contest for the senses. Lots of energy here, lots of enthusiasm but the I still made my kids watch it, the cast alone demands a few viewings. It's not all bad, far from it — mixed in with the absurd there are scenes of absolute brilliance which have endured. Please enjoy this musical interlude, Elton John's magnificent Pinball Wizard:
Love Actually (Curtis 2003)
As are you, Love Actually, as are you.
This is an overly sweet, sappy, even cloying rom-com — a genre of film far at the bottom of my personal genre totem pole. But I adore this film, for all its faults — implausibility, slightly inappropriate romantic entanglements, overwrought sentimentality.
Under the Tuscan Sun (Wells 2003)
Diane Lane is fabulous here, and elevates this flat, formulaic film to...fantastico! The scenery is gorgeous, the characters quirky (in a predictable sort of way) and the happy tied-up-with-a-bow ending is sappy in the extreme. But every time that Polish carpenter tears up, so do I.
Positano!
How could I forget Valley of the Dolls?!? (Robson 1967)
Such a silly, self-important, sixties-swondrful, smack-soaked saga, but I love this film! Sharon Tate, wooden but lovely; Patti Duke trying her level best with a truly crap script and Barbara Perkins, somewhere in the middle. Not every film that pushed boundaries after the fall of the Production Code was a monument to free artistic expression — and this is a fine example of that.
The soundtrack was, dynamite!
About Time (Curtis 2013)
If I could choose a director to make the movie of my life, it would be Richard Curtis.
