The 10 Best "Guilty Pleasure" Movies

by Courtney Bowerman

Courtney Bowerman

Definition of a guilty pleasure: A hobby, movie, television show, or food that you secretly like, but has been criticized by your family, friends, and basically everyone else on the planet. You feel so embarrassed by liking something that has been deemed lame, so you are forced to hide it from anyone, while at the same time, you are unable to stop liking it.

In the case of movies, there are many movies considered to be “guilty pleasures.” These are the over-the-top movies that have outrageous gross-out humor, characters without any morals whatsoever, or some of the cheesiest dialogue in history. They may have been made of fun by your friends, panned by critics, and even you can’t help but admit that some parts may be lame. Still, every time that any of them are on TV, you will watch it all the way through. The following is a list of some of the movies we can’t help but love:

1. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Admit it, even the most studious, uptight students wanted to play hooky (not that some of us have actually tried it) after watching Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) do it. You would think that a guy like him would be one of the most unlikable characters in movie history: he shamelessly tricks his parents into thinking he’s for a record of nine times, gets his best friend and girlfriend (Alan Ruck and Mia Sara) to ditch with him, repeatedly makes a fool out of his principal (Jeffrey Jones), partakes in tour of Chicago that would have gotten any real person caught in five seconds flat, all the while rubbing it in his sister’s (Jennifer Grey) face. So why does everyone think he’s cool? I’ll tell you why—because he got away with it. You can’t tell me that you never wished you could lip-synch the Beatles’ “Twist and Shout” in a parade with thousands of people.

2. National Lampoon’s Animal House

This was possibly the first movie to portray a fraternity filled with drunken idiots. There’s not a single moral to be learned in this movie, except for “when the going gets tough, the tough get going,” as Bluto Blutarsky (the late John Belushi) puts it. Still, it is one of the funniest movies I have every seen. However, it inspired me never to set foot in a fraternity house.

3. Pee-wee’s Big Adventure

Regardless of what we know about Paul Reubens today, everyone loves Pee-wee Herman, even if you won’t admit that you loved the TV show as a kid. One of the best scenes I’ve ever watched in a movie was when Pee-wee danced his infamous “Tequila” dance to keep from getting beaten up by a tough group of bikers.

4. The American Pie movies

All three of these movies have the sickest, raunchiest jokes that I’ve ever seen, yet despite my better judgment, I couldn’t help but enjoy it. Beneath all that gross humor, the characters have heart that makes their wacky situations seem almost realistic.

5. Irreconcilable Differences

A guide that shows you the wrong way to get divorced. Drew Barrymore plays a long-suffering child whose bitterly divorced celebrity parents are so wrapped up in their own differences and fame that they barely acknowledge her existence—unless they’re using her to get back at each other. She eventually gets so fed up that she files for emancipation, even though she’s only nine years old! This movie is so over-the-top that it makes Mommie Dearest look normal, but we can easily sympathize with Barrymore’s character.

6. Spaceballs

Mel Brooks’ hilarious spoof of the Star Wars franchise. May the Schwartz be with you!

7. Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Another Mel Brooks’ film. Yes, the plot is silly and the jokes consist of stereotypes and rip-offs of other movies, but like all the other Mel Brooks’ films, it makes us laugh, and that’s all that matters. Besides, I’d pick Cary Elwes over Kevin Costner as Robin Hood any day.

8. The Mummy

Although this 1999 remake was heavily criticized, it has to be said that this was way better than the original Mummy movies because the original film had poor special effects and cheesy dialogue. This version—while not scary—was action-packed and entertaining, and even managed some humorous bits too. The sequel, on the other hand, wasn’t so appealing because it didn’t hold with some concepts of its predecessor’s plot, such as the whole incarnation of the mummy’s lover subplot.

9. The Phantom of the Opera

Even several fans of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical thought that its movie version was awful. Aside from the fact that Michael Crawford didn’t play the Phantom and that the filmmakers added a pointless sword-fighting sequence, I don’t think there’s nothing wrong with it! Emmy Rossum shined in the role of Christine, particularly in terms of singing. And Gerard Butler made a decent Phantom, so I can’t understand why people said that his singing was awful. I think they just said that because he didn’t sound as high-pitched as the Phantom usually sounds on Broadway.

10. Braveheart

Yes, this movie won several Academy Awards, but it’s still a guilty pleasure. There are several historical inaccuracies (the whole love affair with the Princess of Wales), cheesy dialogue, and the whole belief that Mel Gibson has an obsession with martyrs. Also, unless you’re as old as your mothers are, Gibson isn’t very attractive. Still, it’s very easy to get into the story, and there are stellar performances given not only by Gibson, but also Sophie Marceau, who plays a princess that does more than look stunning in medieval outfits.

Whether or not you will admit that you like these movies, you can’t stop liking them. Even if the critics don’t like them, they have their own deep, dark place in the minds and hearts of many other moviegoers. If these aren’t your guilty movie pleasures, the question is, what ones do you have?