Guilty Pleasures

If you were ever to come over to my apartment, which I wouldn't recommend (small + dirty), you'd probably notice I keep things rather simple. Nothing on the walls, little laptop in the corner, few books scattered about, modest sized bed and TV on the dresser. The only thing you'd probably really notice is the movie collection that lays above the desk in the corner of the room. There's only about a 100 films there, but they're all there for a reason: when I'm in the mood for something I have something that'll suffice.

If you glanced over my movie collection you'd see a lot of the usual suspects for a movie lover. Charlie Chaplin, Kurosawa, Hitchcock, Leone, Lee, some foreign films, some cult hits, action classics, and legendary dramas. Though if you took a little bit harder of a look you'd notice a few films you probably wouldn't expect. Sitting between Kurosawa and Lean, lying before Casablanca, but just after Spartacus, the movies that no matter how many times I watch them nobody can convince me they're not pure entertainment. No I'm not talking about your Iron Man, Dark Knight, or Hellboys (which I have as well), I'm talking about the other films, the ones you own despite consensus of mediocrity.

Sometimes it's nice to see a film with no real expectations, no classic stature to live up too, nor crowd of fans to let down if you didn't like it as much as they did. Those films are our guilty pleasures. They may be horrible films we get a kick out of watching, mediocre films that just tickle us in the right way, or perhaps despite all evidence to the contrary we still find them great in their own way. You love them every time you watch them, stay up at 11pm to catch it on TV, but you may or may not buy it. Probably give it a long debate when it's in the $5 bin. Personally I don't own many of these just because I don't have that much money to spend to begin with. Though I do admit of the films I would say meet the criteria (which is debatable as well) I do own two:

1. Unleashed, directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Jet Li, Bob Hoskins, and Morgan Freeman. As action films go this one is just great fun. Insanely creative action scenes, countered by a love of classical music and some great shots that I just enjoy it so much every time I put it in. I can turn my brain off and fall into the world of Danny (Li), whose life has been through so much turmoil he's been beaten into the persona of little more than an attack dog. Of course Freeman is excellent as the blind piano tuner who helps Danny build a new life for himself, I really just enjoy this movie.

2. Perhaps more so a guilty pleasure, Blade 2 (pictured above), directed by Guillermo Del Toro and starring Wesley Snipes and Ron Perlman. I never cared much for the original Blade, but I really got into this sequel. The new, genetic mutated vampires, old school toughness, with new age action, Del Toro crafted such a gritty and fun action film, the only one of he series in which I think Blade as a character works. Here Blade is the quiet tough guy, no heavy handed speeches, some of juvenile humor, but some great badass moments that I can't help but love. Everything just felt so perfectly tuned this time around, I couldn't help but feel as if this was the film that Blade should have been.


Let's be honest though, as guilty pleasures go, these are probably rather mundane. There's a few even I might not admit too, and I admit to quite a bit on this blog. We all have our films, the ones we secretly watch on our weekends off, and enjoy every second of even though everyone tells us otherwise. I think it's these sort of things though that help to define us. Let's be honest if all movie buffs liked exactly the same movies it would sort of defeat the purpose right? It's our differences, those things we like that few else do, that I think may our blogs worth reading. So, enough of my rambling already!

What are some of your guilty pleasures?