MY TOP 15 GUILTY PLEASURES MOVIES.

 

Here’s MY definition of a Guilty Pleasure Movie which could be different from other peoples. To begin with, since I’m a self- appointed movie critic, I go to see  most every kind of movie… the good, the bad and the ugly, and have no guilt for doing so… it’s my job so to speak. So, for me the test of whether the movie is a Guilty Pleasure is whether I liked the movie and, for whatever reason am slightly  embarrassed or hesitant to admit to it. In other words, I may  have varying degrees of guilt about the pleasures I experienced in the enjoyment of these movies. They may contain corny humor, or revel in pseudo-intellectuality; they may be dated in the worst way  or contain special effects so hokey you can't help but grin at their moxie for trying. Then there is always the sexual tone. Often, we can't explain why it is we like these movies; we just do. Often the movies are not all that good..even in the B category or less…other times they quite good but may be considered TOO much of a “chick flick” of gross-out film. In any event, here are My top 15 GUILTY PLEASUE MOVIES with and without explanation.

The order is from most guilty to least guilty.

1.     ONE MILLION YEARS BC  (1966) starring Raquel Welch whom I had a “thing” for back then as I  do now with Scarlett Johansson. Here’s the movie poster… need I say more. Who cares about the story or anything else !!1

 

 

              

         

2.     KILL BILL VOLUME I and II  (2003)   These were a two film set by  Quinton Tarantino , at his best, starring the amazing Uma Thurman… truly a one-woman army…. the body count in Volume I alone was beyond comprehension along with all the remarkable Kung Fu moves.  The other stars were Daryl Hannah, one truly mean lady (“not”.. a lady that is) and  David Carradine. I actually experienced more pleasure in Vol. II than in Vol I, but not by much.

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3.     AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME  (1999) Austin Powers and Dr. Evil are back from their first movie, “Austin Powers; International Man of Mystery”..and Dr. Evil  has invented a new time machine that allows him to go back to the 60's and steal Austin Powers’ mojo, inadvertently leaving him "shagless".   This film, as the others, is something of a “soft” gross-out but is absolutely hilarious as the other Powers’ movies including the last one, the last: “Austin Powers in Goldmember”. They were  hugely popular… I’m sure they show up on many people’s list.

 

4.     ROAD HOUSE   (1989)  Patrick Swayze plays Dalton  who lives like a loner, fights like a professional and loves like there's no tomorrow. He’s the best bouncer in the business. His nights are filled with fast action, hot music and beautiful women. It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it, and he does it most of the time with his shirt off and  with a swagger..sort of a “dirty dance-step swagger.. The mean guy is Ben Gazzara and the hot blond is Kelly Lynch.

 

5.     MAD MAX  (1979)  This was Mel Gibson’s first big  movie and it was so successful there were two  sequels. This set a new standard for violence and awfully mean and nasty characters. It is a couple of years in the future... the highways of Australia are ruled by violent gangs who have turned the highways into a battleground as they loot gasoline and terrorize the innocent. Max (Mel Gibson)is a policeman who had everything... until, a murderous motorcycle gang led by the evil Toecutter burns Max’s partner  to death and murders his wife and son, This makes him go off his rocker, and Max decides to take the law into his own hands as he sets out to get his revenge on the motorcycle gang and become the road warrior known as "Mad Max".

 

 

6.    GREASE  (1978) “Grease is the word”. Good girl Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) and greaser Danny (John Travolta)…they fall in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, the relationship is tested and turned upside down. Great fifties music with  some fine ole fashion  dancing. You’ve got Danny Zuko ( just love that name), leader of the greaser gang "T-Birds". And there’s Rydell High; the "Pink Ladies"  and  hip-hopping, knee-slapping music..a fun, sing-along movie about a different kind of high school life..great characters.  

                 

7.    CHARLIE”S ANGELS  (2000 & 2003) Another twosome of movies with lovely, sexy ladies, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu. The action  doesn’t get any “hotter” than this .It’s a campy take-off on the famous TV series that really works quite well …good action, fun dialogue and 3 hotties doing great action sequences..all done mostly tongue-in-cheek.. just the right touch.

 

8.    SPEED  (1994) Get ready for rush hour. “There's a bomb on the bus!" The acme of high tension and suspense and one of the best “is it the  red-wire or the-blue-wire” films. What a ride and what a way to bring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock to the big screen along with the wily veteran Dennis Hooper. Just like when no one wanted to go to the beach after “Jaws”, I couldn’t ride a bus for a couple of years after seeing this flick.

 

9.    BREAKFAST AT TIFANNY’S  (1961)  Audrey Hepburn plays that daring, darling Holly Golightly (again, love the name) to a new high in entertainment delight! While it has its flaws, there's no denying that Audrey Hepburn still looks ravishing and Henry Mancini's music still makes us swing .  And then there was “cat” and the many other colorful characters but none who came close to topping holly.

 

10.   AIRPLANE  (1980)  The greatest spoof ever made, taking every disaster-movie cliché and twisting it until all the comedy is extracted. All the more ingenious in comparison to the lame mess of sketches that is 'spoof' today . This is a forerunner of the dumb and dumber characters but not so dumb as not to be really funny and almost believable. Great laughs

 

11. ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968) One of the greatest Westerns of all time and almost no one has seen it. By the famous “Spaghetti Western” director, Sergio Leone, who made Clint Eastwood famous as the man with no name, he carries forward in this movie his vision of the old-school grandeur of the West. It’s an epic story of a mysterious stranger with a harmonica who joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.  Henry Fonda is the meanest of characters here with Charles Bronson as the stranger and the beautiful Claudia Cardinale as the damsel in distress.

 

12. SHAUN OF THE DEAD  (2004)  It’s rare for a comedy/horror movie to be both funny and frightening. Shaun decides to turn his very dull life around by winning back his ex-girlfriend, reconciling his relationship with his mother, and dealing with an entire community of zombies. One of the strangest, most gruesome romantic comedies you’ll ever see.

13. PLANET OF THE APES  (1968)  This trippy piece of new-Hollywood sci-fi mixes in issues of race, science, even politics, with turn-of-the-species-upside-down shocks and thrills…plus Charlton Hesston’s bronzed chest in almost every scene.. that didn’t do anything for me.. but the ladies loved it/him.. The twist ending alone lands it on most high “pleasurable” moment lists.

 

14.   WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBITT  (1988)  A toon hating detective is a cartoon rabbit's only hope to prove his innocence when he is accused of murder. Roger is worried that his wife Jessica is playing pattycake with someone else, so the studio hires a detective  to snoop on her. But the stakes are quickly raised when Marvin Acme is found dead and Roger is the prime suspect. Groundbreaking interaction between  live and animated characters . AND, the cartoon character “Jessica” is one of the hottest, sexiest, female characters to grace, or should I say, slink across the screen.

15.  DIRTY DANCING   (1987)   Let's see if we can get through this without any mention of "Baby" and "corner". Oh, what the heck!!!. Great tunes, romantic wish-fulfillment and a '60s innocence make this a “guilty pleasure” populist classic.  And it stars none other than the hip-swinging Patrick Swayze. What  immediately comes to mind: First dance. First love. The time of your life .

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 WELL, as they say , “That’s it folks’… those are my “guilty pleasures” and I’d love to hear from  you as to what you’ll admit to .