"Guilty Pleasure" Movies

[scotpens]

My guilty pleasure: The star-studded, over-the-top cliché-fest The Oscar (1966), with the legendarily wooden Stephen Boyd as a small-time hustler who claws his way to the top of the Hollywood heap. Tony Bennett attempts his first and only dramatic acting performance (playing a character called Hymie Kelly!), after which he wisely stuck to singing. Jill St. John strips. Harlan Ellison was one of the credited writers of this classic turkey.

Great for an evening of MST3K-style riffing and wisecracking.

 

[Greg Cox]

So you just printed the script verbatim?

The kid's version was basically a picture book. But the "adult" version was 184 pages long.

I still have copies on my "brag" shelf.

I looked a little online and didn't think about "Scholastic" books and how these young novelizations are probably a good way to get kids to do some kind of reading at least. So maybe these aren't quite as crazy as I thought.

Let me ask you as one who works in this area what's the oddest thing you've seen that got novelized?

Honestly, it's when they novelize a movie based on a novel. Bram Stoker's Dracula by Fred Saberhagen, for instance.

Unless the movie is wildly different than the original novel, it's hard to see the point of hiring somebody to write, say, The Island of Doctor Moreau, when H.G. Wells already did a perfectly good job of it.

Which is not to say such projects can't turn out well. One of my favorite novelizations is Paul Monette's adaptation of Nosferatu the Vampyre, which, when you think about it, is a novel based on a remake of a silent movie based on Dracula by Bram Stoker!

 

[publiusr]

We did a junior novelization of the sequel, too!

So you just printed the script verbatim?

The kid's version was basically a picture book. But the "adult" version was 184 pages long.

I still have copies on my "brag" shelf.

In the novel the Washington monument got the blast, not the White House--and Nimzicki was called "the iron sphincter"

 

[sojourner]

So you just printed the script verbatim?

The kid's version was basically a picture book. But the "adult" version was 184 pages long.

I still have copies on my "brag" shelf.

In the novel the Washington monument got the blast, not the White House--and Nimzicki was called "the iron sphincter"

In the sequel to Mortal Kombat??? I think you are confused.

 

[Brolan]

Spaced Invaders, second rate but funny.

 

[Forbin]

The A-Team movie. I LOVED it. I thought I'd sneer at yet another lame spoof of an old TV show, but I LOVED it. Especially the falling tank scene, which by all rights was utterly absurd - yet I laughed my ass off and enjoyed it thoroughly.

 

[Mage]

I've always had a soft spot for Super Mario Bros. and Masters of the Universe even though they're widely viewed as crap.

Heck yea! I liked Super Mario Bros.!

Independence Day. I love it.

Me too! "Welcome to Earth..." --> Will Smith's character knocks out the alien.

His rant at the alien before the knockout punch was pretty good too.

I could have been at a barbeque!!! I love that movie.

And yes, Masters Of The Universe is amazing.

 

[Aldo]

The A-Team movie. I LOVED it. I thought I'd sneer at yet another lame spoof of an old TV show, but I LOVED it. Especially the falling tank scene, which by all rights was utterly absurd - yet I laughed my ass off and enjoyed it thoroughly.

I really do need to watch that movie again. I had actually forgotten about that scene till I saw that you mentioned it.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

is it considered a guilty pleasure to like I, Robot quite a lot?

 

[AgentCoop]

"Battle Beyond the Stars" of course.

Ooooohhhhh...good one. I'm old enough to have seen BBTS in the theatre. I dragged my older brother to see it, thinking it would be as good as Star Wars. Sadly, my younger self thought it was as good as Star Wars. I know better now, but I suspect that if I saw it now (haven't seen it in a couple of decades) my nostalgia filter would allow me to still enjoy "John-Boy In Space".

 

[Mudd]

Roger Corman's Fantastic Four.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

My turn to confess a few.

The Core - Screw the science, or lack thereof. The characters are great, and the drama is exciting.

Mission to Mars - Yup. It's pretty awful. But it's got something in the Buck Rogers zone. Its history of the solar system pushes all the right sci-fi buttons to tickle my fancy.

Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings - The script by Peter S. Beagle and Chris Conkling is more faithful than that other set of films. I enjoy the music too, at least to a point; "Mithrandir" is a very nice number.

 

[Greg Cox]

My turn to confess a few.

The Core - Screw the science, or lack thereof. The characters are great, and the drama is exciting.
.

I like The Core, too. It reminds me of some old-school sci-fi epic like Fantastic Voyage.

 

[BigJake]

I'm watching The Quick and the Dead right now. It's kind of terrible, but it's weirdly compelling and has a strong cast.

 

[sojourner]

I'm watching Heartbreak Ridge. Definitely a guilty pleasure.

 

[publiusr]

Message From Space, Starcrash, etc.

 

[JRS]

Masters of the Universe is one of my guilty pleasure films also, I just think Frank Langella is brilliant as Skeletor. Plus I enjoy the laser battles.
Another one of mine is the much frowned Postman, starring Kevin Costner. I think its a good film.
Just to mention a few

 

[AgentCoop]

I'm watching The Quick and the Dead right now. It's kind of terrible, but it's weirdly compelling and has a strong cast.

See, I think The Quick And The Dead is a brilliant movie from beginning to end. To each their own, I guess.

 

[BigJake]

^ You know, having watched it again... I kind of agree with that.

I mean, it's cartoony as all get out, but it knows just what it's doing and does it well.

 

[FPAlpha]

Michael Bay's Armageddon

That movie takes a dump on the laws of physics, logic and realism and substitutes it with a million one liners, even more slow mo scenes, an equal amount of US flags and the most absurd plot ever.

I just love this movie!