Five movies everyone loves but doesn’t want to admit to
Is it ever alright to call a movie a guilty pleasure?
You might risk insulting the filmmaker, but more often than not, a director is certainly more than aware that what they’re making isn’t exactly the next Citizen Kane. In some instances, movies are just so bad they’re good, or they’re ridiculous in a way that couldn’t ever have them sitting alongside works of art like Tarkovsky’s Mirror or Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and that’s fine.
We can still love certain ‘bad’ movies. We might be aware that the special effects are terrible, the acting is a bit awful, and the dialogue is poorly written, but that doesn’t always equate to a bad viewing experience. Guilty pleasures should be embraced, even if that means admitting to the fact that you, as an adult, watch The Cat in the Hat on a regular basis. It’s OK.
Cinema can be used as a political tool; other times, it can serve as nothing more than mindless entertainment, and it’s good to enjoy a mix of both. Life is about balance. We might say we love Casablanca or The Godfather, but what we’re really thinking is ‘and Scooby Doo: Monsters Unleashed‘. It’s time we stopped being scared to admit that we love watching a Carry On film at Christmas as well as The Wizard of Oz.
So, here are five movies that most of us will secretly admit to loving, even though they’re not exactly what you might call examples of ‘refined filmmaking’.
Five movies everyone loves but doesn’t want to admit to:
‘The Cat in the Hat’ (Bo Welch, 2003)
I’m going to start with a film that I consider to be a genuine work of art, and if you can’t see that, then there’s something deeply wrong with you. The Cat in the Hat is a masterpiece, and I won’t hear otherwise, because I know that deep down, you know it, too. Directed by Bo Welch, the film was his first and only feature, and the fact that it failed at the box office and critics slammed it is truly a sign of collective human failure.
Yes, Mike Myers is dressed in a strange fursuit and makes countless innuendos, but in doing so, he delivers some of the most quotable lines in movie history. If you ever meet someone who thinks that The Cat in the Hat is a genuinely bad film, then they’re not to be trusted, plain and simple. It’s also worth noting that the set design is really good, and I’d do anything to experience the town of Anville in real life.
‘Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed’ (Raja Gosnell, 2004)
Another kid’s movie that we simply can’t ignore is Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, the sequel to 2002’s iconic Scooby-Doo live action adaptation. Are these movies great? Yes. They might not be what we think of in terms of cinematic excellence, but they’re so much fun, and the chemistry between the Mystery Inc gang is a joy to watch. Sadly, the sequel was panned by critics, but clearly they couldn’t see that Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed is actually an inspiring tale of community and working together, encouraging kids to believe in the power of teamwork, not individualism.
The film sees the gang reckon with their fame following the events of the first movie on Spooky Island, and soon they must prove themselves once again. There are some moments in the film that are genuinely a bit frightening, like the Evil Masked Figure – you wouldn’t want to run into him in a dark alleyway. If you think you’re above watching Monsters Unleashed, then I’ve got some news for you: you’re boring.
‘Carry On’ franchise (various directors, 1958-92)
Every December, you’ll find that a Carry On film is always available to watch on telly, no matter the time of day, and you’re lying if you say you’ve never sat down and watched one – and didn’t enjoy it. As a child, I was obsessed with watching Carry On films, even though I knew they were bad. That’s how it goes – we know they’re problematic, cheaply-made, and incredibly cheesy, but the quintessentially British humour, ridiculous storylines, and questionable acting have had many of us hooked for years.
I cycled through a fair few Carry On movies whenever I was staying at my grandparents’ house, so perhaps I have some fond childhood memories attached to them, but I can guarantee many people have the same. Whether you prefer the nudist jokes and hippy satire of Carry On Camping or the horror parody of Carry On Screaming!, there’s certainly a Carry On movie to suit everyone’s tastes. Even Martin Scorsese admits to Carry on Cleo being a guilty pleasure of his.
‘Deep Blue Sea’ (Renny Harlin, 1998)
When a movie features both Samuel L Jackson and LL Cool J, you know you’re in for a treat. Directed by Renny Harlin, Deep Blue Sea isn’t exactly Jaws, but the shark attack movie is endless fun, and it’s one that many viewers might even admit to enjoying more than Steven Spielberg’s classic blockbuster. Does Jaws feature sharks that have the potential to cure Alzheimer’s disease? I don’t think so. The movie might be full of predictable sequences – it’s not as though shark attack movies were anything new by this point – but what it does, it does well.
Deep Blue Sea actually grossed an impressive $165 million, yet how many theatre-goers would actually step back and claim they love the film? It’s not exactly a high-brow pick – and the graphics really aren’t great – but sometimes you just want to watch killer sharks do their thing, even if that means watching poor Samuel L Jackson get eaten alive.
‘The Football Factory’ (Nick Love, 2004)
Danny Dyer was never going to be the next Daniel Day-Lewis – that was firmly established when he screamed ‘Nice one bruvva’ on the toilet in Human Traffic – so no one expected The Football Factory to be a masterpiece. Yet, it was somehow even worse than people expected, with Nick Love’s football hooliganism film becoming the ultimate geezer fantasy, full of fights, drugs, drinking, and swearing. It’s awful, but it’s so ridiculous that you can’t look away.
Dyer’s got his appeal as a leading man, to be fair to him, and while it might not be the Leonardo DiCaprio or Robert De Niro kind, he’s certainly got a knack for keeping you entertained. “Was it all worth it?” his character asks himself at the end, to which he replies, “Course it facking was.” It’s probably not in anyone’s Letterboxd top four, but it’s definitely one that many of us secretly love watching.
