Okay, so on the way to work today I was listening to The Beatles’ Abbey Road cd (this morning Denis pulled out my portable CD player and the audio adapter for the portable DVD player and told me to use it since I hate the radio).
Now I think we’ll all agree that Abbey Road is one of the best albums The Beatles ever did. It’s an amazing collection of most of my favorite Beatles songs. However, I have to admit that the main reason that I love all the songs on Abbey Road is because 90% of the songs were in the Bee Gees/Peter Frampton “Sgt Pepper’s” movie from 1978. That is at the top of my “all time guilty pleasure movies” and it made me think of more movies that I’d want on my desert island if I only had bad movies that I loved.
1. Xanadu – this is my absolutely all-time favorite. When this came out in the theaters in 1980 my friend Kathy and I saw it eight times. EIGHT TIMES. That is how much I loved this movie. I was thrilled when my mom bought it for me as a gift when I was in my 20s. LOVE IT.
2. Sgt. Pepper’s – this almost ties for first place, but I’ll give Gene Kelly in rollerskates the edge over this druggy, wonderful mess of a 1978 movie this time around. Steve Martin, Alice Cooper, George Burns and Aerosmith are a few of the musical cameos in this one, and I had such a crush on Peter Frampton it’s not even funny. Good stuff.
3. Thank God It’s FRIDAY – Studio 54 was in fullforce in 1978, and Hollywood decided to make a movie about the hot disco scene. I was only nine years old, but I saw this movie and fell in love. It is mainly a cast of nobodies by today’s standards, but Jeff Goldblum plays the smarmy club owner and Debra Winger has a role in this flick featuring Donna Summer as a wannabe singer who gets her shot at fame in the end. Oh, and the Commodores are featured as well.
4. PCU – 1994. I LOVE Jeremy Piven (I longed to name my kid Droz because of this movie). A fluff college movie about a prospective student visiting a college campus for a weekend is just fun fun fun. Also features Jon Favreau before he lost all the weight, and George Clinton sings a song for us as well.
5. Deep Blue Sea – This is one from 1999. I know my sister mentioned this shark movie on her blog a couple days ago. I’m in the same camp – this movie is bad, but you gotta love it. LL Cool J is awesome, and the genetically altered sharks rock.
6. Jaws II – 1978. LOVE IT. In fact, I love Jaws 2 more than the original. There’s something about the way that one girl screams “SSSSHHHHHAAAAARRRRRKKKKK!!!!!!” after witnessing her boyfriend get gnabbed by Big Bitey. I’ve probably seen this movie about 100 times on tv and it never gets old.
7. Corvette Summer – I laughed when I saw this movie was also made in 1978. Man was that my summer or WHAT? If #8 is made then too I’ll just pass out and die at my desk. Corvette Summer played on TV all the time when I was in sixth and seventh grade. I couldn’t escape it and ended up liking it. It starts post-Star Wars Mark Hamill and Annie Potts. He is a high schooler who loves shop class, but when he pet project is stolen he goes in search. Upon arriving in Vegas he meets a hooker and falls in love. Yeah, you read that right.
8. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century – phew, I’m not going to die. This was made in 1979 and was the basis for the successful tv show starring most of the original cast from the movie. I loved this movie so much that at one point I could quote every single line of dialogue. Yeah, you read that right too.
9. Over The Edge – now this movie, also from 1979, I felt guilty watching as a kid. This, too, was on TV all the time and the kids in it were so rotten and horrible that I just knew I shouldn’t be watching this movie about bored suburban kids wreaking havoc in their town. Matt Dillon is the most notable actor in this “gritty” drama. Despite my guilt I watched this movie everytime it was on. It was on a couple years ago and once again I got sucked into it.
10. Can’t Stop The Music – 1980 this time. A movie all about The Village People. Valerie Perrine, Steve Guttenberg, and Bruce Jenner star in this pseudo-autobiographial movie about the discovery of the singing group. The word “bad” doesn’t even fully describe this movie. Trainwreck city – completely fun to watch.
So there’s my list of bad movies that I can’t live without.
What are yours? Comment welcome, and I’ve turned on trackbacks for this post as well!
U R a Phreak! Corvette Summer? :ohmy:
If you wanted a real guilty pleasure you would have chosen Jaws 3D instead. LOL
Ooh, PCU! One of my favorites.
I’d have to add She’s Having a Baby, one of John Hughes’ lesser known films, with not only Kevin Bacon, but also Alec Baldwin!
The scene where the neighborhood husbands are mowing their lawns in synchrony is perfection.
Also, the cameos during the end credits are not to be missed. Everyone from Ted Danson to Magic Johnson to CootieGirl Newton John to Roy Orbison. Anyone who was famous in the late 1980’s is there. So bizarre.