Guilty Pleasures

Following on from my previous post about the Spirit, I thought I’d talk a little bit about those guilty pleasure films that you love, even though the film geek inside you says you probably shouldn’t.

For example, one of my favourite movies of all time is Varsity Blues. That’s right, the one with James Van Der Beek as the high school quarterback. And no, it’s not just because of the whipped-cream bikini, although that definitely helps.

My best friend and I must have watched it together at least 20 times. It’s likely that I’ve watched it more than any other film, with the exception of the original Star Wars trilogy. That doesn’t mean I like it more than the Godfather, it just means that it has incredible re-watch value.

I know this takes me slightly away from my original point, but there are some movies that you can just watch over an over again. The kind of film you’ll put on when you have no idea what you want to watch, especially if you’ve got a rotten hang-over and have an exhausting day of laying on the sofa planned.

Anyway, I digress, back to my guilty pleasure… I know that Varsity Blues isn’t the best written film ever made. It doesn’t have the greatest performances (although John Voight is pretty darn good) or the best direction, but it is an incredibly funny, well put together, piece of popcorn fodder.

I’m sure there will be film fans out there gasping in shock and horror at my admission that I love American teen comedies like this. Well, I guess there’s nothing I can do about that. I love good teen comedies and I love good American Football movies. This is the best of both worlds.

In fact, I’m now almost annoyed that I’ve felt the need to excuse my behaviour by pointing out that I know the film is not as worthy as other great pieces of cinema. It feels a bit like I’ve fallen into the Academy Awards trap – let’s find five worthy dramas that were released in November or December and nominate them in every category. We’ll give Heath Ledger a nod for Dark Knight because he died recently, but god forbid we recognise a comic-book movie as one of the best films of the year.

Hmmm… I seem to have gone slightly off topic again so I can have a rant at the Academy, sorry about that. So, if you’re still reading, what’s your guilty pleasure*?

*(films only please, no filth)