Few things are more enjoyable than seeing an awesome movie and then screaming it from the rooftops, telling all of your friends and helping its popularity spread. Similarly, we like to be vocal about a terrible film as a means of venting our frustration and ensuring that our friends don't suffer the same fate of seeing it. However, what about films we like...but
don't like to tell our friends about? I'm talking about those films that, against our better instincts as filmgoers, we are nevertheless drawn to. Even though we're aware of the cynical conventions of the product, we can't help but enjoy the cheese and the silliness, either because it's so earnestly acted or has simply been crafted with entertainment in mind above all else. We all have those guilty pleasures we refuse to admit liking, though have a DVD of hidden at the back of our collection. You'll have to accept my apologies for the list being more balanced in favour of male embarrassment over female, but hey, I'm a guy, what can I do? Anyway, on with the list...
10. Bring It On
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP6mF9YffvQ The first time I watched cheerleading comedy Bring It On, I expected a shallow chick flick that would bathe itself in the cliches of the teen movie genre. While this isn't far wrong, it's the sly, surprisingly subtle bent of satire that makes the film so ludicrously enjoyable to watch, and something I don't like to admit to many people. Kirsten Dunst gets to show off her unexpected comedic chops amid a story that sits on a razor's edge between committing itself entirely to its premise and thoroughly taking the p*** out of it. Though all the major beats can be predicted, it's a film completely bursting with energy, and not quite in that way that makes high schoolers seem irritating to me nowadays either. The optimism, the fun, and the surprisingly clever humour at times makes this a film I have quite an esteem for, though keep it (mostly) secret. If the film's satirical elements had been picked up by more of the audience, then perhaps it wouldn't be so shameful to admit, but given how most still dismiss it as a generic cheerleading comedy, I have to suffer in silence.