Weekend Small Talk: The Decade's Guiltiest
Every decade has it's guilty pleasures; films that you know you shouldn't like but watch anyway. Often times, they are films that are in a genre you usually don't enjoy or are just films that are so bad that you feel ashamed and hate admiting that you like them. Often times, people overextend the definition to include films that most people enjoy. A film like "The Devil Wears Prada" doesn't fit because it's a quality film and has basically transcended its chick-flick pedigree. On the other hand, "Just My Luck" starring Lindsay Lohan transcends nothing, doesn't even devolve into camp, and is a film that relies on pure cutesiness to get by. It's not one of my top 10 guilty pleasures but it and "The Big Bounce" get honorable mentions because of the fact that I've actually tried to watch them on multiple occassions.
So what are the top ten films from the Aughts that I probably aught not admit to enjoying as much as I do?
10. Live Free or Die Hard: I was really torn about putting this on the list because I think it was one of the better films of 2007. But then I realized that I just wrote that one of the top films of 2007 featured: Bruce Willis walking on a jet wing, shooting a helicopter down with a car, and running a car through multiple walls and then into 90 pound Maggie Q... and she shrugs it off. The movie takes the ridiculousness of past Die Hard films and then multiplies them by a logic usually saved for "Heroes" or "Cannonball Run". I've also watched the film entirely too many times so I had to give it a spot on the list.
This film also features the Y2K Guilty Pleasure President, Justin Long. He's had an amazing run of films that are enjoyable but extremely flawed/just not that good: Dodgeball, Waiting..., Accepted, Idiocracy, Strange Wilderness, etc.
9. Gossip: This isn't a good movie yet I always find myself stopping to watch whenever it's on cable. I really can't explain why. Part of me tries to figure out where the film went wrong or if it ever went right. It does feature three of the more magnetic actors: James Marsden, Josh Jackson, and Norman Reedus (three guys who'll almost always get me to stop and see what movie they're in) but it also features their polar opposite, Kate Hudson, whom I usually can't turn the channel away from fast enough. Another part of me tries to remember how the film ends, then thinks "No, I must be remembering it wrong, it can't end like that." only to find that it does indeed end in an unbelievably ridiculous, cliched fashion. It's a stretch to call this a guilty "pleasure" but even though I know it's terrible, I still watch. It's also the epitome of a movie you'll watch until the commercial, then turn away at the break and completely forget that you were ever watching it.
8. The Covenant: I'll admit to having a bit of a crush on Laura Ramsey (and have had one since "The Real Cancun") so that's one thing it's got going for it. The next is that a few of the actors hang out at the local watering hole that I frequent so that adds an odd familiarity to it. I could come up with other reasons but what they all add up to is the fact that there's really no reason to watch this film and absolutely no legitimate rationale behind watching it more than once, as I have. I was surprised to find that the film was directed by Renny Harlin but it makes sense. With this and "Mindhunters", he has two of the more stupid yet watchable films of the decade.
On a side note, how the hell did Renny Harlin get to be so big? He did two sequels (Nightmare on Elm Street 4 and Die Hard 2), the bomb that is Adventures of Ford Fairlane, and the surprise success Cliffhanger. Who thought after those four movies that they should give him a hundred million dollars to make Cutthroat Island?
7. Jackass - The Movie: I'm sorry but I probably laughed more in this film than any movie I've seen this decade. I'm not sure what that says about me but I really think it's impossible to watch the doctor react to the X-Ray of a matchbox car in Steve-O's ass and not laugh out loud.
6. John Tucker Must Die: How can you not love a film with a guy named Fatso-Fasano in it? And no, that's not a character name, that's the actor's name. The film also features Gossip Girl's Penn Badgley as a kind of alt-nice guy which is interesting because he's a whiny brat in Gossip Girl (which would probably be #1 in my TV guilty pleasures list). Part of me wonders why John Tucker would ever stray from a slutty Sophia Bush, especially for Ashanti, Brittany Snow, and the girl that looks like my buddy's ex-girlfriend, but that's beside the point I guess. The point is... well, I'm not sure. Maybe that's why I keep checking it out when it's on.
5. The Wicker Man: I had no interest in watching this film until I watched this bit on Youtube.Needless to say, after that I HAD to watch it. And you know what, it wasn't THAT bad. OK, I used the fast forward button liberally and wasn't really paying attention but the moments of sheer lunacy almost make up for the long stretches of boredom.
SPOILER WARNING: I also like director Neil LaBute's take on it: "People seemed to think that we didn't get it when Nicolas Cage was running around in a bear suit--I know when something is funny. The great thing is that no matter how many women he hits and kicks, how silly it is that he disguises himself as a bear, we still put the guy inside the Wicker Man and burn him to death. The movie takes a pretty sober turn and that was half the fun of it for me. Always stay a step ahead of the audience and whack them across the knuckles whenever possible." Once you realize that was the illogical approach they took when making the film, it is fun to watch.
4. Sky High: This is a fun teen movie but it's gets the #5 slot because it brings out the creepy uncle in me. I'm sorry but if you say a high school movie with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, a redhead, and an Asian-looking chick, I say SOLD! On top of that, it features Michael Angarano (aka the Fake Shia LeBeouf), Linda Carter, Dave Foley, and Bruce Campbell, Kelly Preston, and Kurt Russell. Whatever, I like it, deal with it.
3. Failure to Launch: It's almost like someone said, let's take "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days", make the plot even more implausible and then cast the only woman in America whom the male species finds more annoying than Kate Hudson, and fuck it, let's put Terry Bradshaw in there as well. And we'll give it to the director of "Showtime", the movie nobody remembers Eddie Murphy and Robert DeNiro ever made. Yet it works. Zooey Deschanel is great, Bradley Cooper does his Bradley Cooper thing, and somehow I snap out of a 90 minute trance wondering why I just watched the movie again.
2. Stick It: It should comes as a shock to nobody that this film was written and directed by the same person who wrote "Bring It On". This self-rip-off might only have been rivaled by the "Legally Blonde" writers churning out "The House Bunny". And while I'll defend "Bring It On" as an interesting tween flick, "Stick It" is just too ridiculous. Yeah, I still defend it but I don't feel good about myself when I do. Yet just as I still get a smirk out of "This isn't a cheerocracy!", I'll admit that "They don't call it gymNICEtics" still gets one of those half-groan/half-giggles out of me.
1. 2001 Maniacs: This campy horror film stars Robert Englund ("Nightmare on Elm Street") and boobs (wet dream from childhood). If you don't have time or the desire to watch the film, you basically get the whole thing in the trailer.
I realy thought twice about posting this film which is why it had to be #1 on the list.
So what are your guilty pleasure of the Aughts?
While I'm not sure I get the buzz around Animal Collective, I can tell you that I totally get the lovefest around up and coming indie rocker phenomenigmanlymachineoflove known as Trey Green. How do I know? Well, I went to high school with him. All bias aside... No, I like my bias on this one. So take a listen over on the side and then buy four or five albums and share them with your friends. Well, share the word with your friends, not the albums; they have to buy their own. 
4. Ron Howard: I was recently told that to understand the problem with 21st Century Hollywood all one has to do is look at USC. At USC, I was informed, almost everyone wants to be Ron Howard. They want to make mainstream movies, completely inoffensive and predictable, that are aimed at making money. There's a lack of passion, daring, innovation, etc. For the most part, I think it's a decent call when it comes to Howard. His films are fairly formulaic. He got his start on fun trifles like "Splash", "Cocoon", "Night Shift", and "Parenthood". He then moved onto bigger budgeted popcorn films like "Apollo 13", "The Beautiful Mind", and "The DaVinci Code". While I know he won awards for "Mind", I was never a huge fan of that film and I don't think it's a very memorable movie.
3. Christopher Nolan: I have to be honest, I wasn't really blown away by either Batman film. Now don't get me wrong, they are both very good films but they aren't films that I would put on my All-Time Favorites list. Personally, I'd only put both a notch above The Prestige. Some people will take that as hate but I really liked The Prestige and think all the films are expertly crafted. Still though, if you are talking the best of Nolan, I go with Memento. Nolan is one of the best director to emerge this decade (if we overlook his little seen first film "The Following" which was from the late 90's), but right now he's #3 on this list.
1. Danny Boyle: Many people might disagree with my #1 selection (hell, I could wake up tomorrow and chage my mind) but as of right now, I have to go with Danny Boyle as my choice for the #1 spot. For starters, I give him a lot of credit for versatility. He's pretty much stayed away from typecasting himself by venturing into almost every genre available. Granted, sometimes he reaches out and misses badly ("A Life Less Ordinary" and "Sunshine") but even those were somewhat interesting messes. "Sunshine" in particular was extremely well made but then suffered from a shockingly odd third act twist that turned the sci-fi film into a slasher flick. I'm not a huge fan of "The Beach" but it has its moments. Still, his successes more than overshadow those missteps. 
Fox's new show "Lie to Me" is another spin on the ol' Psych/Mentalist observation highway. Tim Roth's character is an expert at facial tics and body movements and can tell if anyone is lying. He has used this skill to build his own rather impressive looking company and has high profile clientele and the ear of high ranking justice officials. And while he is able tell if anyone is lying, the key, as Kelli Williams's character explains to us, is finding out why they are lying.
To many in the indie music arena, Animal Collective's latest album, Merriweather Post Pavilion is the most anticipated album of the year. Some reviewers are already calling the Album of the Year race over and handing it to this release. I myself have never been able to get into Animal Collective but who knows, maybe this will be the album to get me into them. We shall see.
And while the drive with undercover agents' true identities is a highly sought after object, the actual characters in this show don't seem all that careful about keeping their own identities under wraps. Undercover Feds apparently work in the same city all the time (the same city in which they live), sometimes with what seems like just a week between jobs. They wander in and out of the FBI building without seeming to care that, you know, they are supposedly in the middle of an undercover sting operation. Swayze actually runs out of the building to his car in broad daylight with the box holding the rocket launcher as if he just picking up a pizza. His young partner (played unconvincingly by model Travis Fimmel) is literally starting to date a girl (using his real identity) minutes after working as an undercover.
Hollywood loves a good bandwagon. Mickey Rourke couldn't get cast for a decade and now he's getting cast in "Iron Man 2" and a handful of other films. Similarly, if someone breaks out, it seems like everyone wants to catch the rising star. Danny McBride went from a role in a small indie film to seemingly popping up in every other comedy that came out (Paul Rudd got the other half). And it now looks like we have a new rising star.
Leighton Meester needs to stretch a bit. She's amazing at playing the poor little rich girl but she needs to do what all young actresses need to: play a normal person. Blake Lively has done it a bit with Accepted and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. (And no, playing the virginal yet slutty pop princess on Entourage isn't going to help Miss Meester either). 
As for the movie, it's written by Karen McCullah Lutz, who also wrote "10 Things I Hate About You" and "Legally Blonde". Granted, she seems to be repeating herself of late, revisiting Blonde with "The House Bunny" and the make-a-bet-that-you-can't-get-someone-to-fall-in-love storyline is a wee bit similar to "The Taming of the Shrew" (although it has an interesting twist in this case). Also it features Cheryl Hines and NewRadio's Vicki Lewis as well as soon-to-be That Girl Bree Turner (a girl who's pretty enough to notice but not stunning enough to remember). What's not to... really like? Well, besides it being a romantic-comedy which most people don't (or won't own up to) liking. 
