What are the guilty pleasure (non-MST3K movies) that you watch to unplug? Here are mine. They are not great movies, but I love them. I don’t need to think and just loose myself in them:
1: Twister It is a perfect Bubblegum movie. So much to see and it’s the perfect 90’s Action Disaster Film.
2: National Treasure Great Nicholas Cage film with engaging action and fantastic pacing.
3: UHF. I love this comedy. It’s perfectly written with great gags and a wonderful and uplifting (if silly) story.
Saw it a 2nd time in theaters because my mom’s friend’s daughter wanted to see it but she was 16. I was 18 and in senior year so I got her in for not just this but American Pie.
These classic ZAZ films: Airplane 1 & 2, Police Squad and all related movies, Top Secret (haven’t seen it in forever though), Hot Shots 1 & 2, and Baseketball.
I’ll also put on any big dumb disaster movie if I happen to scroll past it at the right time. The Day After Tomorrow, 2012, San Andreas. Not the intentionally stupid ones like Lavalanchula, but the earnest ones. If it’s got a skyscraper collapsing into a mile-wide sinkhole, I wanna see it!
I interpret ‘bubblegum’ as anything fun and lighthearted that doesn’t take itself too seriously. No moody Norwegians, no Merchant Ivory. It can be kind of dumb, but doesn’t have to be.
These, definitely. I’ll also toss in Clue, Pitch Perfect, Hot Tub Time Machine, Super Troopers, and Palm Springs as my initial response. If I find a movie that makes me laugh, I tend to watch the heck out of it.
I think a lot of what I think of as “Comedy Central movies” would fit in here. (No idea if Comedy Central still shows these kinds of movies. Comedy Central UK doesn’t show any Comedy Central programs and is mostly an endless Friends marathon.) So things like So I Married an Axe Murderer, Airplane, Top Secret, Weekend at Bernies, Mannequin, etc.
I liked that one as well. I saw it in the theater. I also loved that LAs song so much I went and bought the CD.
I’m not familiar with the term bubblegum movies, is it just for dumb comedies? (if so, Tommy Boy is one of my go-to ‘I need a cheering up, but I don’t want to overwork my brain’ movie)
Guilty pleasures seem to be one folks can’t decide on a definition for. I’ve seen some take it literally… like you’re supposed to feel actual guilt. For me, I describe them as movies I know are crap, and am aware that near every criticism is spot on, and yet, I kind of enjoyed them anyway (the first Suicide Squad would be one of those) - I don’t feel actual guilt. But I might not admit to owning the DVD (like I just did here. lol)
I think it’s similar to ‘bubblegum pop,’ something formulaic and lowest common denominator. But then some of the movies mentioned here don’t seem to fit that, so maybe I’m wrong.
Note, I’m not saying the movies people think of as bubblegum movies are necessarily bad movies. Sometimes formulaic and average in terms of an intelligent script can be fun.
I like Wayne’s World and the first Austin Powers, but that really is his best movie. It’s criminal that so few people even know about it these days, even with that weird Netflix series sort of based on it (never seen it). You used to be able to say “Heed, pants, now!” and expect someone to get it.
I will chime in on the love for Airplane both of them. William Shatner is excellent in a parody of himself in part 2. I also love Clue and can recite much of it.
I would add The Princess Bride to that list.
More on the guilty pleasure side than bubblegum side since it’s heavy and ponderous is Paycheck starring Ben Affleck during the phase where no one thought he could act. The story itself is really interesting. The execution is less successful and it ends with some major scenery chewing by Aaron Eckhardt. I bought it very cheaply years ago and still enjoy it now and again.
I bought it very cheaply years ago and still enjoy it now and again.