Guilty Pleasures Week: The Fun Movies

It was hard to narrow down this list. Hedwig and the Angry Inch or Harold and Maude? About a Boy or High Fidelity? Ghostbusters or Purple Rain? Edward Scissorhands or Pee-wee’s Big Adventure? Evil Roy Slade or The Big Bus? But those seemed a bit too hip for a guilty pleasures list. So, following are my fun guilty confessions.


Help! (1965)
I know, I know, it’s cooler to prefer A Hard Day’s Night, but I can’t help it. This soundtrack was the first album I bought, and so Help! holds a special place in my heart. Plus, I was six when I first saw it; don't we tend to love everything from the year we turned six? A perfect viewing night is watching A Hard Day’s Night, immediately followed by Help! Damn, were there ever four cuter, more charming boys than The Beatles?


Dogma (1999)
I like Kevin Smith. His dialog is a little over the top and his potty humor a bit much at times, but I still enjoy his movies. Chasing Amy is my favorite (loved Ben Affleck before he jumped the shark into Jennifer Lopez’ arms; take a look at Dan and see why), but Dogma is the one I must watch. Comedy Central shows it a lot on Sunday mornings (I guess it's their religious programming), so I can get a viewing in at leaste every six weeks. Alan Rickman steals the Dogma show. It’s not sacrilegious, as many (and many who’ve never seen it) claim. Irreverent, yes. Sacrilegious, no.


And now for the oh, no, she didn’t moment:

Independence Day (1996)
Don’t ask me why, but I like this movie. It’s dumb, it’s stupid (yes, it deserves both dumb and stupid), it’s loud, it’s (good Lord!) an action film, it's cheesy filmmaking at its finest … and I can't turn the channel if it's on. I want Bill Pullman as my president (yes, the dreamy Bill Pullman, who almost put While You Were Sleeping in my Guilty Pleasure: Romance category); I love it when he roars “Today is your independence day!” Jeff Goldblum (already gushed about above) and Will Smith play off each other quite well, and I love their cocky, cigar-chomping stroll at the end. Added bonus: Very few brain cells are needed to follow the movie.

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