Ok, I realize that I might not have been 100% fair in criticizing my friend who loved Labyrinth in the last post.  After all, I think almost everyone has at least a few movies they really like despite the fact that they're not exactly quality entertainment.  I'm not thinking here of Adam Sandler movies (actually, I am, but not all of them), so much as movies that are cheesy or bad or silly even for the cheesy, bad, or silly genre that they belong to.  (So, under this definition, I think that Tommy Boy wouldn't qualify as a bad movie you like, but Beverly Hills Ninja would.)  Maybe the best standard for judging if a movie falls into this category is if you're a little embarrassed to admit how much you like it.  So, in the spirit of fair play and such, here are a few of my favorite bad movies:

Big Trouble in Little China - I know this has minor cult movie associations, which ought to relieve the embarrassment a bit, but that's totally offset by the fact that if I find this movie on cable TV in the middle of a Saturday, I will sit and watch the whole darned thing, regardless of the fact that I've probably already seen it a dozen times.

Mannequin - Honestly, this movie is so embarrasingly awful that I hesitated to own up to it.  If you don't recall it, it's an '80s romance starring Andrew McCarthy as a guy who falls in love with a mannequin who can come to life played by Kim Cattrall.  The plot involved Cattrall being an Ancient Egyptian princess who appealed to the gods to escape an arranged marriage and McCarthy's talent for creating innovative department store window displays.  Really, there's no excuse for me liking this, not even the Hollywood Montrose character.

Summer School - With Mark Harmon and Cheers-era Kirstie Alley.  Incredibly predictable combination of the goof-off does good formula combined with the unconventional teacher shtick.  And I still get a huge kick out of it.

Incidentally, nothing is more irritating than someone who puts something like Gone With the Wind or The Terminator on a list of bad movies that they like.  First, those aren't bad movies.  Second, don't pretend that you're really embarrassed to own up to them.  Third, you're not going to fool anyone into thinking that you're so sophisticated that any time that you spend watching movies instead of reading Chaucer in the original Middle English is slumming for you.



 


Comments

Kara

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:57:26

Anything Andrew McCarthy reminds me so much of middle school/high school.

My favorite movie is Clue which when you tell other people that they just think it's lame where I should be saying American History X, Fight Club or Seven...but I love Clue I will watch it over and over again and if it's on Comedy Central I'll watch.

I also have a love/hate relationship with the movie The cutting edge. While I hate the female role and the premise if it's on tv I'll watch the whole damn thing and curse myself for wasting 2 hours of my life. AGAIN. Along the same lines is Three and a half men. Incredibly cheesy but a fun movie that I can't believe I sit and watch again and again if it's on tv.

Desperately seeking susan is another one where I just can't believe I'll sit and waste time watching it where I don't really love the movie it's there I'm there and I get sucked in.

 

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:36:55

My guilty pleasures...

Road House, Patrick Swayze is a cool bouncer who knows some ninja like shit, and rip a momo's throat out... just sick...

Police Academy 1-64, man they man a ton of those in the 80s, but damn I loved watching them..

Bloodsport, really Jean Claude's break out movie, but its cornier than pig shit...

Any movie with Steven Seagal, the dude rocks a pony tail, and acts bad ass, My Dad always says behind every pony tail is a jack ass...

And my last one ... The Last Dragon... this is by far the goofest martial arts movie ever made... its kind of like what if Spike Lee tried to make a funny Kung Fu movie...

 

nac

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:53:38

Holy Crap! Why is it that all your movies are my faves too. I love Big Trouble in Little China. Anytime I watch those movies I think of the pitch meeting. Imagine the pitch for Roadhouse, "So the main character is a bouncer at a rougneck bar. But he's also studying to be a zen master. His love interest is a Dr." Really. I think the pitch meeeting would be 100% better than the movie itself, because of how serious and sincerre the people making the movie are about its premise.

 



Leave a Reply