tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post1397776237995376252..comments2024-03-28T15:01:21.285-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: Guilty PleasuresLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-91709824368841631532017-04-02T20:00:51.065-04:002017-04-02T20:00:51.065-04:00Jeff, I can always count on you to come up with mo...Jeff, I can always count on you to come up with movies I haven't seen. I remember <i>Zotz</i> and <i>A Night in Heaven</i>, but not other two. More choices for my Netflix queue.<br /><br />Another good thing about movies that are so bad they're good: you never get your hopes up too far. There's something to be said for low expectations!John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-56567129231159870122017-04-02T18:16:16.415-04:002017-04-02T18:16:16.415-04:00These may well be called "popcorn movies:&quo...These may well be called "popcorn movies:" "Driftwood" (2006, the one with Raviv Ullman and Dallas Page) a low-budget scare flick set in a youth detention center. (Don't confuse it with several other movies also titled "Driftwood.") "Zotz!" A fun flick about the powers of a magic coin with Tom Poston, Jim Bakus and Cecil Kellaway.<br />More in the guilty pleasure category: "A Night In Heaven," with Christopher Atkins as a male stripper who has a fling with one of his professors (Leslie Anne Warren.) Described as having a good movie frustratingly close to its surface, trying to come out. Definitely a guilty pleasure is "Bug" (1975) William Castle's last film. A horror flick about fire starting cockroaches. The movie is stolen by one of the sets: the kitchen from "The Brady Bunch!" Happy viewing! Stock up on that popcorn!Jeff Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00316081079528920123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-9227980353173249072017-04-01T23:51:29.710-04:002017-04-01T23:51:29.710-04:00O'Neil, Blow Up was another of those I saw in ...O'Neil, <i>Blow Up</i> was another of those I saw in college. (I remember going to movies a lot more than I remember studying . . .) And no guilt feelings about <i>Day of the Jackal</i>--a good movie all the way around. That's one I haven't seen in a LONG time.<br /><br />Leigh, I do remember <i>The Big Gundown</i>--as you said, one of Lee Van Cleef's many non-Eastwood spaghetti westerns. And I agree with you about <i>For a Few Dollars More</i>--one of the best sequels ever. As for Eastwood's calling LVC "old man" in that movie, Eastwood was actually only five years younger than Van Cleef.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-30813031958192709962017-04-01T23:16:36.293-04:002017-04-01T23:16:36.293-04:00John, I'm embarrassed that I omitted the title...John, I'm embarrassed that I omitted the title of the Lee Van Cleef movie, <i>The Big Gundown</i>. Van Cleef starred in a number of spaghetti westerns, not that I can remember titles. In one, he manned a river-crossing rope barge and in another, he took on a deadly family that built their wealth and political empire on killing. One of his most memorable adversaries was an amazing gay gunfighter. (If I remember right, that film contained a machine gun… an anachronistic weapon somehow transported from WW-I to the Old West.)<br><br><i>For a Few Dollars More</i> is such a great film, I don't classify it as a guilty pleasure but a treasure. For me, it was my favorite of the Clint Eastwood man-with-no-name trio. At times, Van Cleef's 'old man' character upstaged Eastwood's. Come to think of it, Van Cleef may have been referred to as 'old man' in <i>The Big Gundown</i>.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-11351947726635328302017-04-01T22:08:45.356-04:002017-04-01T22:08:45.356-04:00Like the lists. I'd add one: Michelangelo Anto...Like the lists. I'd add one: Michelangelo Antonioni's BLOW UP starring David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave. Did I miss DAY OF THE JACKYL on your list? Love that movie too.O'Neil De Nouxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03142721824657611738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-31897210339184576912017-04-01T21:03:52.440-04:002017-04-01T21:03:52.440-04:00Bonnie, I never liked Tim Allen until I saw him in...Bonnie, I never liked Tim Allen until I saw him in <i>Galaxy Quest</i>. What a jewel of a movie. When I suggested it to my kids, they thought I'd lost my mind--and then they loved it as well. And yes, <i>Stranger Than Fiction</i> was another pleasant surprise.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-87581244525754727272017-04-01T20:57:25.147-04:002017-04-01T20:57:25.147-04:00John, I love many of the movies on your lists, esp...John, I love many of the movies on your lists, especially Galaxy Quest. I don't think we ever have to apologize for loving a movie that makes us laugh. And there's an underlying sweetness to that movie that makes me love it all the more--I love the way it embraces its characters, regardless of their quirks and flaws. I'd say the same things about another favorite, Stranger than Fiction.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-60188675907324209222017-04-01T19:57:43.382-04:002017-04-01T19:57:43.382-04:00Sorry, folks--I used quotes around some of the mov...Sorry, folks--I used quotes around some of the movie titles in my comment a minute ago. Post-signing fatigue.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-8298701696479586702017-04-01T19:55:14.836-04:002017-04-01T19:55:14.836-04:00Hey gang--I just got home from a booksigning 100 m...Hey gang--I just got home from a booksigning 100 miles south of here, and I need to catch up a bit on responses to your kind comments.<br /><br />Steve, I have all three of those movies you named--but my favorite of the three is <i>Raising Arizona</i>, one of the funniest, quirkiest movies ever made. I love it from start to finish.<br /><br />Leigh, I liked both the chained and unchained versions of <i>Django</i>--and I have <i>THX-1138</i> right here at home. And I really, really hate to admit this, but I was thinking <i>Born Loser</i>, which I first saw while in college, when I listed <i>Billy Jack</i>, which is of course the sequel. Duh. I bet the Lee Van Cleef western you mentioned was <i>For a Few Dollars More</i>, one of the better ones--though he made several. And I too liked <i>The Accountant</i>. I saw <i>Guardians of the Galaxy</i> in a theatre, with one of our sons, and I had mixed feelings about that one. <br /><br />Rob, I've not seen "Redirected," but I've made a note of it--thanks. As for "The Postman"--I thought it, like <i>Waterworld</i> was one of Costner's misfires, but for some reason I liked 'em both. Hey, that's what I mean by "guilty."<br /><br />Liz, I liked <i>Gone in 60 Seconds</i>, but I LOVED <i>Ferris Bueller</i>. And I confess, I also liked <i>The Sixth Sense</i>, only because it surprised the hell out of me. The only movies by M. Night Shyamalan I didn't like were <i>The Happening</i> and <i>The Last Airbender</i>.<br /><br />Eve, I've seen all the movies you named except <i>Fading Gigolo</i>--and I wish I'd named a couple of those. As soon as my lists got compiled, they needed to be redone. So many movies, so little time . . .John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-44201087300124323772017-04-01T18:39:46.449-04:002017-04-01T18:39:46.449-04:00Best in Show, For Your Consideration, Radio Days, ...Best in Show, For Your Consideration, Radio Days, Running on Empty, The Mosquito Coast, Reversal of Fortune, Fading Gigolo, Minnie and Moskowitz, and many more. <br />I've seen a lot on both your lists, and I, too, am not embarrassed a bit! Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-18135874295737477152017-04-01T16:11:38.229-04:002017-04-01T16:11:38.229-04:00Oh, I almost forgot my "favorite" guilty...Oh, I almost forgot my "favorite" guilty pleasure movie, <i>Gone In 60 Seconds</i>, the original version starring Toby Halicki. It has what might still be the longest car chase on film that was shot in one take! Part of the movie took place at the Dom Polski in Dunkirk, N.Y. where I've been several times. The remake with Nicolas Cage is just O.K. & has none of the gritty authentic quality of the original.Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00239163766419735693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-34674810852249436382017-04-01T14:52:46.035-04:002017-04-01T14:52:46.035-04:00Ferris Bueller's Day Off, husband & I watc...<i>Ferris Bueller's Day Off</i>, husband & I watched it again a couple of days ago. If you notice, two or three of the commercials running now contain lines from the movie.<br /><br />How about a category for movies other people love, but you (that is to say, "I") don't? I nominate <i>The Sixth Sense</i>.Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00239163766419735693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-48213205477218071462017-04-01T10:58:35.046-04:002017-04-01T10:58:35.046-04:00The Postman? I hated that movie because it was ba...The Postman? I hated that movie because it was based on a brilliant novel by David Brin, which it mostly ignored. (The first 20 minutes of the flick are pretty solidly from the novel. Then things go to hell.)<br /><br />I just watched a real guilty pleasure flick call Redirected, and it inspired my next blog entry. Stay tuned this Wednesday.Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-22140479078835225432017-04-01T10:48:36.787-04:002017-04-01T10:48:36.787-04:00I know exactly what you mean, John, they’re not go...I know exactly what you mean, John, they’re not gourmet but perhaps ‘funner’ because they aren’t. I thought I was the only person who liked Django.<br /><br />When I was a impecunious student, (‘poor student’ sounds like bad student,) I sometimes took breaks to attend cheap NYC movie houses. At a Union Square hole-in-the-wall theater I saw THX-1138. I’d travel up to 42nd Street where the rough and tough youth hung out, shouting at characters on the screen and cheering when black heroes kicked butt. There I saw the ‘cult film’ predecessor to Billy Jack, Born Losers.<br /><br />Another I liked was a spaghetti western, with Lee Van Cleef. I recently saw a grainy video of it, probably pirated and duped many times. I didn’t recall it starting out that hokey, but before long I was into the story and the denouement was better than I remembered. The music wasn’t bad either.<br /><br />As you know, I loved Guardians of the Galaxy. Last year’s The Accountant I’d add to the list. It was far better than I expected.<br />Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-84325634876135021282017-04-01T09:43:49.552-04:002017-04-01T09:43:49.552-04:00Great list, John.
I used to see zillions of movie...Great list, John.<br /><br />I used to see zillions of movies, but not so much anymore. Three flicks I could probably watch weekly that aren't on your list: Raising Arizona, Bull Durham, and Grosse Pointe Blank. <br /><br />And yeah, it's not about "great," it's about entertainment. Otherwise, what's the point? Really.Steve Liskowhttp://www.steveliskow.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-486736742849558862017-04-01T08:19:30.231-04:002017-04-01T08:19:30.231-04:00Bill, I once heard actor Jeff Daniels say that whe...Bill, I once heard actor Jeff Daniels say that when he first met Clint Eastwood, Daniels was so nervous he couldn't speak. He said Eastwood just looked at him, squinted, and said, "I loved <i>Dumb and Dumber</i>." You're right, I shouldn't be embarrassed to watch these crazy movies.<br /><br />Now if I could just not feel guilty about the Twinkies . . .<br />John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-16071997772351811562017-04-01T08:12:36.024-04:002017-04-01T08:12:36.024-04:00I've seen nearly every movie on your lists, so...I've seen nearly every movie on your lists, some of them more than once, and I never feel guilty about it.mybillcriderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02350478005243505108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-26350321494557963382017-04-01T06:59:47.135-04:002017-04-01T06:59:47.135-04:00Barb, if you're like me, Galaxy Quest was a to...Barb, if you're like me, <i>Galaxy Quest</i> was a total surprise--I never thought it'd be worth watching, when I first heard about it. I had to talk my kids into seeing it, and they wound up loving it as well. I have even RE-watched it, several times.<br /><br />Paul, I agree completely--movies, like all fiction, should (first and foremost) be entertaining. I'm looking forward to being entertained by the ones you mentioned, because some of those I've not yet seen. And thanks for being my pen-pal, on all things cinematic. <br /><br />John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-12113561186085139292017-04-01T05:23:22.171-04:002017-04-01T05:23:22.171-04:00Fun post, John! Great lists of guilty and not-so-g...Fun post, John! Great lists of guilty and not-so-guilty pleasures. And it’s been fun going back and forth with you on movies.<br /><br />I think the first thing a movie should be is entertaining – or in your word ‘fun’ – and if there’s some life lesson in there as well that’s okay too. But for me movies should transport me into their worlds, whatever those worlds are, and entertain me. <br /><br />You mention Snakes on a Plane. As you say, definitely not Citizen Kane or The Grapes of Wrath, but a fun movie. I thought I wasn’t going to like it but caught it on cable late one night and really enjoyed it. So we have the same Twinkie Taste.<br /><br />Some movies that fit into your 2nd list for me would be: Americana (1981), Inside Moves, Soldier in the Rain, Hearts of the West, And Now My Love, Ghost World. And so many more. – And in the first list, just plain guilty pleasures, how ’bout The In-Laws (the original with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin): Serpentine.<br /><br />And no, I don’t think you need to find better things to do with your time, except maybe write, but you can’t do that all the time. So sit back, relax and watch a movie. And don’t feel guilty while you enjoy guilty pleasures :-)<br />Paul D. Markshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15466234708772287399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-78426216678333728452017-04-01T03:32:14.466-04:002017-04-01T03:32:14.466-04:00I love Galaxy Quest! That is all.I love Galaxy Quest! That is all.Barb Goffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16013123434790272424noreply@blogger.com