10 Greatest Guilty Pleasure Movies Of The 90s
Oh snap, these movies are all that, a bag of chips, and lots of other weird 90s slang.
With everything happening in the world right now, it feels like we should be serious all the time. But sometimes it's hard not to give into the innocent joy of a good old-fashioned guilty pleasure movie.
And despite the fact that a lot of the 1990s were known for their grunge and cynicism (well, at least the early 90s anyway), the decade has more than its fair share of fun, silly movies. These are the sort of movies that you would feel a little foolish admitting that you like, and you certainly wouldn't go around listing them among your favorite films.
But when push comes to shove, which movie have you seen more often, Citizen Kane or Armageddon? And when you dig down deep, which film do you get more genuine, simple-minded enjoyment from? Exactly.
Look, it's great to have high-minded views about film, and to find joy and appreciation in the very best that the medium has to offer. But life is short, the bees are dying, and sometimes you need to sit down and mindlessly shove popcorn into your face.
10. Drop Dead Fred
Whatever happened to Phoebe Cates? It sounds like a Lifetime movie, but it's actually a valid question. OK, sure, we know that she decided to quit acting to devote herself to being a mother to her and Kevin Kline's children (yeah, they're married, Google it), but because of that choice it's very easy to forget that she was one of the great unsung stars of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Just think of her performance in Drop Dead Fred as the sweet but severely repressed Lizzie, a role that contrasts exquisitely with her anarchic, id-like imaginary friend Fred (played by the sadly departed Rik Mayall).
But what's especially interesting about this film is that underneath all of the juvenile sight gags and potty humor, there's a tender strain of melancholy about the nature of childhood and innocence and, let's be real, there are some serious undertones of abuse in both Lizzie's relationship with her mother and her boyfriend.
People overlook Drop Dead Fred because it's childish, but the fact that it is willing to be supremely silly in telling a surprisingly mature story is part of its charm.