Hello again Hoot readers! Hopefully, you enjoyed the brief period of actually good weather that we just experienced. Now that the weather sucks again, though, we’re all back inside watching movies, so we felt like sharing with you our favorite guilty pleasure movies.
Ethan: I am, without too much embellishment, a bit of a cringe connoisseur. I love a good schlocky movie to laugh about. Robert Rodriguez is among my favorite directors of so-bad-its-good films, and though he is responsible for a number of genuinely good movies, the first movie of his that comes to mind is “Sharkboy and Lavagirl.” It is, objectively, a terrible movie. Canned acting, awkward writing, and some truly terrible CGI are but a few of the movie’s many sins. Despite this, I unabashedly love this movie. It is at times really funny, even if by accident, and there are some flashes of talent in the screenplay that make for excellent quotes. “For every person who dreams up the electric lightbulb, there’s one who dreams up the atom bomb” lives rent free in my head years after first hearing it.
James: This is a tough question for me to answer. You see, I rarely watch a movie more than once. Many of the movies that I do occasionally rewatch, like Harry Potter or Marvel movies, can hardly be characterized as “guilty pleasures.” To answer this question, I must go back to the early years of my childhood, to a movie that I haven’t watched in years. As a kid, I would frequently watch “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules.” It’s hardly a cinematic masterpiece, but it’s enjoyable to watch.
Michael: If you haven’t already, watch “War of the Worlds” (2025) starring Ice Cube. Everything about this film is a glorious clusterfuck. Filmed during the pandemic in 2020, but not released until five years later, it’s one of these movies that takes place entirely on a computer, which makes the action disjointed, awkward, and full of bullshit conveniences. The acting is cartoonish, and the dialogue must be heard to be believed: “Initiate the war of the worlds.” “Take your intergalactic asses back home!” The “war” footage itself consists of horribly rendered CGI tripods floating above stock footage – including footage where cars are driving by like nothing’s happening, and footage of real-world conflicts with the aliens photoshopped in. What’s more, the entire movie is filled with product placement for Amazon Prime Delivery, inserted at the worst possible moments. At some point Ice Cube has to activate a delivery drone and in order to do so, I kid you not, he has to place an Amazon order. I’m getting ahead of myself. Watch this as soon as you can. Drunk, responsibly and not underage, preferably.
Chloe: I love bad movies! I love bad TV! I, kind of, love bad music. The show “911” is one of my favorite shows currently airing; I watch it EVERY week. This being said, I watch a lot of movies people consider to be bad, that I think are really good: “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Clue,” and “Lisa Frankenstein” are some of my favorite movies of all time. However, I don’t consider these BAD movies; I think they are perfect movies. What is a bad movie that I still love? “Repo! The Genetic Opera,” of course. And, unless you know me personally, I am going to assume you have never heard of this movie before. That is because you never lived before today. Let me breathe life into you through the wind of Paris Hilton’s acting. Trying to describe this movie is like trying to describe why life is worth living. It’s a horror musical comedy where a man, the Grave Robber, steals corpses so he can take their blood which is actually a really strong pain killer. None of this really matters; he isn’t even the main character. This is a movie you watch for the vibe and to ogle the Grave Robber.
Richard: As the sports editor maybe it’s not so shocking that I’m picking a baseball movie. 1993’s “Rookie of the Year” features 12-year-old Henry Rowengartner (points for a great name) suffering a freak injury which enables him to throw a baseball 100 miles-per-hour. This newfound talent leads to him being signed to a contract by the Chicago Cubs. What ensues is a film that will make you laugh, maybe cry, and fall deeper in love with the great John Candy. The only downside is that the New York Mets are the cause of pain and suffering, which is all too true to my real life experiences.
Anna Jane: Lego Batman. Some might say it’s a kid’s movie, but I say that it’s a movie for all ages. It’s feel good, it’s funny, it’s light, it’s a perfect guilty pleasure movie. If you don’t know the movie, it’s about Lego Joker trying to prove to Lego Batman that Joker is Batman’s number one villain. Along the way Lego Batman finds out that he is the real villain, and has to let Lego Batgirl, Lego Robin, and Lego Alfred into his life. I would not at all consider this movie a “bad” movie, but as it is a Lego cartoon movie, I would say it is a guilty pleasure.
