Guilty Pleasure Blogathon

So now that I'm done doing my official project, I've been having some fun doing a couple blogathons. And this one seemed particularly fun. It's about guilty pleasure movies. And as someone who had a sort of odd taste in films, I do have a few fun ones I'd love to share. Here are the rules that had been outlined by Flicks Chicks

1 - You can choose and discuss as many or as few movies as you like. We both did a Top 10, but you can just choose 1 movie if you like. Just tell us a bit about the movie and why you like it so much.

2 - Please create a new post for our Blogathon, rather than linking an old post you may have already done.

3 - Please include our Blogathon Banner anywhere in your post

4 - The deadline for entries is Sunday, 31st August, so there's plenty of time!

Honestly, there's not a ton of movies that I "guiltily" love. Most of the films I do enjoy are generally well-liked by critics. Because as much as I absolutely love Silver Linings Playbook, there's not much to feel "guilty" about.  However, I'm going to do a mix of films I just love that I find most other people haven't paid much attention to, or do actually have not fantastic reviews. So here it goes!

Heather's Absolute Favourite Top 5 Guilty Pleasure Films

1. The Proposal

Starting off with a film that does actually have generally "bad" reviews, I really love this movie. If you haven't seen it (and you should) it starts off with Margaret, a book editor who is incredibly harsh, strict and often mean. But when told she's about to be deported (she's a Canadian), she's so desperate to keep her job that she declares she's actually engaged to her male assistant, Andrew. They go visit his family in Alaska before their Immigration interview (the INS agent is very skeptical of their relationship being valid). Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds were actually so great in their roles. They both really nailed, I thought. And I think the movies works because of the typical role-reversal. It's not a male boss forcing his female assistant to marry him (eek, that sounds not good). But the movie is genuinely funny, and it goes does a slightly different path than normal romcoms (until the end, of course). The premise is funny, Betty White is the hilarious grandmother and both Sandra and Ryan nail it.

2. Dan In Real Life

Dan is a widower with 3 children. He hasn't been able to start dating again, and his daughters occasionally drive him crazy. Every year there's an annual weekend spent at the family cottage with all his extended family. While there, he meets a woman in a small bookstore and they spend the morning talking and connecting over breakfast. Dan is ecstatic as this is the first woman he connects with. But it turns out the woman, Marie, is Dan's brothers new girlfriend, who is joining them at the cottage. I love Steve Carell, but his movie career hasn't been fantastic. And while this film isn't stellar, it is one I really do enjoy. The film is sweet and Steve Carell plays loving father to 3 girls well. The film is warm and funny, but in a comfortable, rainy day way. It's a movie I always love to cozy up to. It's cliche, sure and it doesn't really do anything new. But Dan is always someone you're rooting for, even if he does bring so much of the various messes on himself. 

3. Step Up 2: The Streets

This is truly a guilty pleasure. As much as I enjoy the first film, this one is my favourite. Basically it's about Andy, a girl who's constantly getting into trouble, running around with her dance crew. She has no parents and is living with her mother's best friend, but she's being threatened to be sent to Texas to live with her aunt if she can't behave. Neighbourhood friend Tyler (Channing Tatum's character from movie 1) convinces her to audition for Maryland School of the Arts, where Tyler turned around his life. She agrees, and gets in. But she's extremely behind. Just a street dancer, she has none of the classical training of her peers. She also gets kicked out of her crew. So cute popular boy (who also loves hip-hop dancing and is brother of the dean) and quirky friend convince her to start her own crew and beat her old one at the street dancing competition, The Streets. I don't know why, but I do love this movie. The dancing is fantastic and that's probably why I like it. The first I found didn't have enough dance and was "too much" story. And all the ones after Step Up 2 have dance overshadow story, but I find this one balances well. You have a definite story, with a range of cool, quirky characters and some fantastic dance scenes. Plus, how can you not love the backyard party scene? I just really enjoy it!

4. The Princess Diaries

The Princess Diaries is a movie I always, always, always enjoy. Always have and probably always will. If you don't know already, it's about Mia Thermopolis. She's awkward, weird and has terrible hair. But when her grandmother from Genovia rolls into town, her mother insists she has tea with her. Grudgingly she agrees and gets the bomb dropped that she's actually a princess, and her grandmother the Queen of Genovia, and that she is the heir to the throne. Now she must decide whether she wants to be princess or not and attends Princess lessons until a ball a few months down the road when she'll decide whether she'll take the throne or not. This movie is just a ton of fun. It was definitely a staple (and it's sequel) at sleepovers when I was growing up. It came out in theatres when I was a little below the target audience (I was 9) but it quickly became a classic in my family and with my friends. The story is what kept me hooked. I love her having to decide who she is, I love her crazy initially non-supportive best friend Lily, the love story, and the makeover! It's such a girly movie, and I still think it holds up so well even now when I'm 22 years old (the sequel, not so much)

5. The Parent Trap

Now THIS is a movie I watched growing up. I saw it first at school, on a day that was so snowy, the school was closed and we were waiting for parents to pick us up. I only saw the first half, but made my parents go out and rent it so we could watch the rest (they rented the original, which I told them was NOT the right one). But it's about 2 girls, Hallie and Annie, who meet at summer camp, discover they are twins that were separated from each other when their parents got divorced and switch places when they go home, so they can meet their other parent. They're also on a mission to get them back together. I actually really love this movie, still to this day. The story is interesting, and I always love it. Lindsay Lohan is at her best, and I was shocked when I discover she isn't actually a twin. I think this movie is incredibly cute. Dennis Quaid is always so well-suited for the loving father character and he does it well here.  

So there you go! My top 5 guilty pleasure films. While some are definitely more guilty than others, it was still fun to reflect on my go-to movies that have a bit of "guilt" with them. Regardless, I do love all these movies, no matter whether people love them or hate them.