guilty pleasures, or I Can't Believe I Don't Own This Movie
Inspired by bookishy's recent post, I spent my morning at work brainstorming about my top 3 guilty pleasures movies. Seriously, y'all: I want to run out and buy all of these right now, and then spend the day marathoning them.
Hocus Pocus (1993)
How is this movie so great?! I've waxed poetic about it in the past, but now I'm really, really thinking that I ought to own it. It's so wonderfully dated (their mom is Madonna! in a cone-bra!), full of ridiculous cameos (Sid Caesar! Penny Marshall!) and hilarious special effects (that's one awesomely blue-screened and/or animated "black flame"), and really, really bad jokes (see: any scene with Kathy Najimy and/or Sarah Jessica Parker in). Plus it's all heartwarming and shit, with erstwhile talking cat Zachary Thackery Binx reunited with his ghostly sister at the end--just like modern-day kid and his sister, whoa! Plus this is one that I actually remember seeing in the theater when it came out, with my grandma.
IMDb-ing this movie brings up several additional things, several of them trivial but interesting to no one but me: 1) Thackery Binx, wtf? I swear, I always thought his name was Zachary. Way to capture Ye Olden Names, Disney writers. 2) I was going to note that, based on the number of cast members who don't have IMDb headshots, this movie would have been straight-to-TV on the Disney Channel--nothing that the director went on to make all three High School Musical movies, this guess is confirmed as fact. 3) One of the two bullies grew up to be Dead Gay Larry on Buffy. How is this not awesome? 4) One of the writers is credited as the creator of An American Tail. Another one contined to dabble in horror movies, and also wrote one episode of The Others, a short-lived NBC tv show that was totally lame and yet amazing, which was watched only by my mother and me and cancelled after like 10 episodes. And the third one went on to write Mystery Men, another fantastic guilty pleasure movie which is too amazing for words (but which I have only seen once, so cannot discuss here).
The Faculty (1998)
I don't know if I should be embarrassed for liking this one or not...but I am. Elijah Wood! Josh Hartnett! Again with the awesome celebrity cameos (Jon Stewart! Bebe Neuwirth! Salma Hayek! Famke Janssen!...holy crap, I'd forgotten that.) and excruciatingly bad jokes. Plus all of the kids are people who were only famous in the '90s: Jordana Brewster, Shawn Hatosy (who I might have had a crush on in Anywhere But Here--I mean, what?), Clea DuVall (who was in EVERY supernatural/paranormal show and/or movie that came out between 1998 and 2001, I swear to god), and Usher (hey, remember when Usher had an acting career?). Plus it's set in Ohio! And nobody actually sounds like a teenager, because they were written by Kevin "Dawson's Creek" Williamson (hey, remember when HE had a career?). And Josh Hartnett plays a dude named Zeke. ZEKE. I don't even know.
A League of Their Own (1992)
I'd like to pretend that I enjoy this one ironically. But no. It's SO GOOD. The historical bits are actually pretty good, from what I can tell, and like Hocus Pocus, it's goddamn sappy and emotionally manipulative at times (and by "times" I mean probably three-fourths of the film), but I DON'T CARE. I am not a sporty person, and baseball is definitely never my sport of choice, but this movie makes me want to be on an all-girls baseball team in the '40s. Really. It pushes a lot of the same buttons as The Notebook, but that film is way more acceptable as a guilty pleasure due to the indisputable appeal of Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling (and McAdams/Gosling together, especially, rawr). Geena Davis and Bill Pullman are no match for Their Canadian Hotnesses...but then, coldhearted Joan Allen is no match for (seemingly) coldhearted Tom Hanks. So it evens out. I also have fond memories of watching this at an elementary school sleepover... Oh my god, I want to go home and watch this movie right now.
Yeah, that's it. What, you wanted actual content?
Hocus Pocus (1993)
How is this movie so great?! I've waxed poetic about it in the past, but now I'm really, really thinking that I ought to own it. It's so wonderfully dated (their mom is Madonna! in a cone-bra!), full of ridiculous cameos (Sid Caesar! Penny Marshall!) and hilarious special effects (that's one awesomely blue-screened and/or animated "black flame"), and really, really bad jokes (see: any scene with Kathy Najimy and/or Sarah Jessica Parker in). Plus it's all heartwarming and shit, with erstwhile talking cat Zachary Thackery Binx reunited with his ghostly sister at the end--just like modern-day kid and his sister, whoa! Plus this is one that I actually remember seeing in the theater when it came out, with my grandma.
IMDb-ing this movie brings up several additional things, several of them trivial but interesting to no one but me: 1) Thackery Binx, wtf? I swear, I always thought his name was Zachary. Way to capture Ye Olden Names, Disney writers. 2) I was going to note that, based on the number of cast members who don't have IMDb headshots, this movie would have been straight-to-TV on the Disney Channel--nothing that the director went on to make all three High School Musical movies, this guess is confirmed as fact. 3) One of the two bullies grew up to be Dead Gay Larry on Buffy. How is this not awesome? 4) One of the writers is credited as the creator of An American Tail. Another one contined to dabble in horror movies, and also wrote one episode of The Others, a short-lived NBC tv show that was totally lame and yet amazing, which was watched only by my mother and me and cancelled after like 10 episodes. And the third one went on to write Mystery Men, another fantastic guilty pleasure movie which is too amazing for words (but which I have only seen once, so cannot discuss here).
The Faculty (1998)
I don't know if I should be embarrassed for liking this one or not...but I am. Elijah Wood! Josh Hartnett! Again with the awesome celebrity cameos (Jon Stewart! Bebe Neuwirth! Salma Hayek! Famke Janssen!...holy crap, I'd forgotten that.) and excruciatingly bad jokes. Plus all of the kids are people who were only famous in the '90s: Jordana Brewster, Shawn Hatosy (who I might have had a crush on in Anywhere But Here--I mean, what?), Clea DuVall (who was in EVERY supernatural/paranormal show and/or movie that came out between 1998 and 2001, I swear to god), and Usher (hey, remember when Usher had an acting career?). Plus it's set in Ohio! And nobody actually sounds like a teenager, because they were written by Kevin "Dawson's Creek" Williamson (hey, remember when HE had a career?). And Josh Hartnett plays a dude named Zeke. ZEKE. I don't even know.
A League of Their Own (1992)
I'd like to pretend that I enjoy this one ironically. But no. It's SO GOOD. The historical bits are actually pretty good, from what I can tell, and like Hocus Pocus, it's goddamn sappy and emotionally manipulative at times (and by "times" I mean probably three-fourths of the film), but I DON'T CARE. I am not a sporty person, and baseball is definitely never my sport of choice, but this movie makes me want to be on an all-girls baseball team in the '40s. Really. It pushes a lot of the same buttons as The Notebook, but that film is way more acceptable as a guilty pleasure due to the indisputable appeal of Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling (and McAdams/Gosling together, especially, rawr). Geena Davis and Bill Pullman are no match for Their Canadian Hotnesses...but then, coldhearted Joan Allen is no match for (seemingly) coldhearted Tom Hanks. So it evens out. I also have fond memories of watching this at an elementary school sleepover... Oh my god, I want to go home and watch this movie right now.
Yeah, that's it. What, you wanted actual content?