There’a always a few out there. You know, the ones you only watch by yourself and won’t rent from your regular video store. Or the ones you argue about with your friends because they think you are crazy for actually liking it.
Here’s a couple of mine:
“Flash Gordon”, the 1980 De Laurentis movie. Cheesy as hell, but I love the Deco look of Mongo, and any movie that includes Brian Blessed and Max Von Sydow is at least worth a look. I adored the old Buster Crabbe serial and was happy to see that they kept all the comic-booky aspects in the remake. And there’s all that great Queen music. My husband has had a 20-year lech for Ornella Muti, so we have fun watching it together.
“Mom and Dad Save the World” starring Jeffrey Jones, Teri Garr and Jon Lovitz. I think I am one of maybe three people who say it when it first came out. Looks like Dr. Suess designed the sets & props, parodies everything from Flash Gordon to those apalling '70s and '80’s fantasy-sci-fi “barbarian” movies that usually starred John Saxon. For me, it was diet-coke-out-the-nose funny, but I haven’t been able to make hardly anyone else see that. Oh well.
When I saw “Catch 22” I loved every minute of it. There were a few gory flashback scenes of the wounded dying, but it was really good.
All my friends (from the Navy base) hated it. They said dumb stuff like “You could never do that, smuggling chocolate in wartime. And they made all the officers seem stupid.”
I have not yet met anyone who liked Silver Streak as much as I do.
I have never met anyone who had ever seen Round Midnight, but everyone I describe it to glazes over after about fifteen seconds.
Here’s two real stinkers that I loved: the 13th Warrior and Starship Troopers. Embarrassingly enough, I just plain liked the 13th Warrior. Apparently, it was originally written by a fairly “decent” writer. (The guy who wrote the Lost World.) Plau, I liked Starship Troopers just because it was hilarious. (Best Quote: “You must be that great big, smart bug.” Best Costume: Dougie Howser as a Gestapo officer in Indiana Jones (sp?).
Yet even with that said, I have no excuse for liing those movies.
Michael Crichton wrote Eaters of the Dead, the book the movie is based on. I liked it, but it reminded me of a Viking version of the Magnifent Seven (itself a Western remake of the Seven Samarai, but I’ve never seen the Seven Samarai, so how can anything remind me of thiat?)
There are tons of movies in my collection that get a lot of derision from others. I, too, like The Blair Witch Project, and I’m looking forward to the next installment, which I understand hits on Halloween.
Cutthroat Island. Go ahead, scoff, but, dammit, it’s a fun movie! And the ship battle at the end is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen on film.
Event Horizon. When I saw it in the theater, I left thinking, “eh. Solid two-star movie.” But now, the more I see and think about it, the more I like it. Can’t really explain why.
Godzilla. Often cited as one of the dumbest movies in recent history. But, so what. I have no problem enjoying the sight of a big lizard stomping around a city. Sure, it’s deeply flawed on many levels, but dammit, there’s only so far you can go with a guy in a rubber suit. The new Zilla was cool, dammit. Just turn off your brain and eat your popcorn.
Ishtar – nice light comedy, with at least one classic scene (the arms auction).
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle – you had to know the original show to understand this one. It was the perfect tribute and if the plot seemed episodic and the jokes weak at times – hello, the original was that way, too. Obviously a labor of love by everyone involved.
The Man Who Loved Women – put people off by making them think the movie was a comedy. While it had some funny moments, it was a touching drama about the nature of love.
Soldier The Kurt Russell science fiction film. It got terrible reviews, but I just liked it. The Mummy and Blast from the Past. I guess I have a thing for Brendan Fraser. But I did like these films! Star Wars - Phantom Menace. Well, it wasn’t the best of the “Star Wars” series, but I didn’t hate it, at all. .
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, without a doubt. Terry Gilliam helms a masterful epic, replete with Python-style silliness, and everyone ignores it! Sir John Neville tore up the screen. “Remarkable. Unbelievable. Impossible. And true.”
I really enjoyed “The Stupids” with Tom Arnold. Apparently I’m the only one, though, because every one I’ve ever talked to (except for my little brother) couldn’t be bothered. Things are always better when you’re dealing with a complex stupidity.
“It’s the Lord!”
“Actually, it’s pronounced ‘Lloyd’.”
Other movies:
Eyes Wide Shut
Existenz
Mr. T: Be Somebody or Be Somebody’s Fool
I liked The Fisher King, perhaps because I’m a sucker for sweet endings. Everyone else I know seemed to think it was a pile of crap, but there you go.
Another was the The Goonies, but I basically liked it after seeing it again last year. It’s just so 80’s! It even stars Corey Feldman! I laughed out loud through the whole movie.
Another movie roundly criticized was The Money Pit with Tom Hanks and Shelly Long.
For some reason, I’ve stopped what I was doing and watched it whenever it airs on the tube. I still find it funny. Other’s have said, in no uncertain terms, that it stank.