My "guilty pleasures" movies.
Submitted by Bobo LaTuque on Sun, 10/24/2004 - 01:59
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- Here are a few films I like to watch, but wouldn't necessarily tell people that I do.
- Earth vs The Flying Saucers (1956)
- Forbidden Planet (1956)
- From The Earth to The Moon (1958)
- It Came From Outer Space (1953)
- This Island Earth (1955)
- When Worlds Collide (1951)
- Etc.
- I just love these 1950s sci-fi things, no matter how lame some might be. Some of the special effects are pretty bad, others are OK, taking into consideration the budgets and technology available at the time. In all of them there is some pretty questionable acting. You might say "acting"... Forbidden Planet especially has some bad acting (the entire Earl Holliman role is ludicrous- would anyone allow someone that "intellectually challenged" into a space ship?), but my main reason for watching this is Walter Pidgeon; he was a native of my hometown, Saint John, New Brunswick, and as a matter of fact I live within easy walking distance of "Pidgeon Terrace", named for him. When I watch one of his movies I think about him walking down some of the same streets I walk today. Stupid? Of course, but that's why it's a guilty pleasure, no?
- Golden Voyage of Sinbad, The (1974)
- Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, The (1958)
- These are really quite cheesey movies, aren't they? But I do like to pop one in the VCR every now and then when there's nothing on TV. I was always a Ray Harryhausen fan when I was a kid and that has hardly diminished, even with some of the stunning effects technically possible today. Just the idea of how he did the shot-by-shot animation is amazing.
- Incredible Shrinking Man, The (1957)
- Physics? We don't need no stinkin' Physics! Just about everything is wrong when Scott Carey (Grant Williams) is shrunk bit-by-bit after exposure to some very strange mist; the pitch of his voice doesn't increase, he would probably be able to jump much greater distances given his tiny size, etc. etc. But it's another Saturday Matinee-type movie; get some chips and start munchin'. Watch out for the cat!
- Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius (2001)
- I mean, really; what middle-aged man would enjoy this movie? Well, me for one. Sure, it's silly and aimed at kids, but I like it anyway. Don't you, 'sugar booger'?
- Lifeforce (1985)
- NOW we're talking cheesey movies, but I just love this piece of nonsense. Nice hooters on the alien chick, too. (Yes, I do realize how sexist that is, but I'm almost 50 years old; cut me some slack.)
- Nightmare Before Christmas, The (1993)
- Another kiddies (?) movie that I really enjoy. I can even sing along to a couple of the tunes ("What's this? What's this?" and "The Boogeyman" are my favorites.
- Predator (1987)
- Let's face it, this is a pretty poor movie with totally unbelievable characters. Just how were they keeping that (electric) minigun going, and who, exactly, was carrying the 300-odd pounds of ammunition for it? As a matter of fact, they seemed to have an awful lot of ordnance of all types considering they were on foot... But that's neither here nor there; I saw this in a shopping mall cinema in Billings, Montana on vacation in the summer of 1987, and bought it on Laserdisc just a few years later. It comes out every once in a while.
- Star Trek, The Motion Picture/II/III/IV/V/VI/Generations(1979/82/84/86/89/91/94)
- So I'm a Trekkie. So sue me. I just about cried with joy when STTMP came out in 1979. I have all the original series episodes on VHS. For me, these are total immersion movies; turn out the lights, unplug the phone, crank up the surround sound and "Warp speed NOW, Mr. Sulu!"
- Things to Come (1936)
- A silly movie, to be sure (especially the "space gun"), but I love the premise of a world war that goes on for hundreds of years. Dig those airmen's crazy helmets!
- This Land is Mine (1943)
- A transparent propaganda piece, but I am a die-hard Charles Laughton fan, and I love this movie with an odd passion. My favorite scene is when Albert Lory (Laughton) is given his first cigarette just before the Gestapo comes into the kitchen. I laugh my behind off every time I see it.
- Time Machine, The (1960)
- This really isn't that great a movie; the acting is rather dated, Rod Taylor as H. G. Wells was a terrible miscast, and some of the special effects are a bit laughable. But it's one of my favorite movies about my favorite themes, time travel. This is a good one to turn your mind off and just watch.
- Wizard of Oz, The (1939)
- What can I say? A young Judy Garland in that cute dress, some catchy tunes and Burt Lahr all in the same movie. Priceless. Why a guilty pleasure? I'm not sure, but my wife doesn't like this movie so I watch it when she's away or asleep.
Face the reality Bobo, you're a sci-fi freak - like me. There's a support group, I believe :-D
Could be, could be. I do have a number of other sci-fi titles in my collection, such as Silent Running, 2001, A Space Oddysey, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, The Andromeda Strain, The Blob (1958), Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Dr. Cyclops, the first 3 Star Wars movies and a few others.
But a support group? Please! Some addicitions don't need a cure.
Great! You've started adding comments since I was last here. And, wow! - that's really spooky: just last night (I swear this is true) I woke up early and This Land Is Mine was on tv, and it was just a few minutes before that scene in which CL smokes and chokes and then the gestapo come rolling in. I fell asleep again and forgot about it until reading your list here. The long arm of coincidence.