Hey Sunday Brunch lovers! Okay, so last week we learned what everyone is afraid of… Snakes, water, I’m surprised nobody mentioned clowns…or did they? We had a regular fear fest! Maybe talking about our greatest fears will ensure we don’t have to face them, huh?
Last week’s winner? Stacy!
This week my guests will share their answers with us, and you, gentle readers, can give your answer to my question in the comment section below. I’ll choose one random person from the comments and reward them with an ebook surprise, it’s that simple!
Tell me what your answer to today’s question would be in the comments, and you could win an e-book!
This weeks question is:
Do you have a “guilty pleasure” movie? (What is it?)
My guilty pleasure movie is Orange County (not to be confused with the TV show, The OC). It stars Colin Hanks (Tom Hanks’s son), Jack Black, and John Lithgow. It also features cameos by Lily Tomlin, Chevy Chase, and Ben Stiller. Orange County is about a high school senior named Shaun who wants to be a writer. He’s sure that the only way he’ll succeed is by going to Stanford, where his favorite author is a professor. But his high school counselor sends in the wrong transcripts, and his application to Stanford is denied. His girlfriend and his perpetually hung-over brother (Jack Black) come up with plans to save the day…
And Shaun’s day basically goes downhill from there.
Orange County is about the absurdity of high school, the inescapable insanity of family, and the inexplicable bonds that make us who we are, for better or for worse. It’s a bit juvenile, but also has some surprisingly insightful moments, and it never fails to make me laugh.
For what it’s worth, this is also the movie I watch when I’m having a Bad Writer Day. It helps me remember that a certain amount of craziness is just part of the whole author gig. –Author Marie Sexton
Find Orange County’s IMDB page HERE.
Find Never a Hero: Amazon B&N ARE
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When it comes to movies I tend to go for the big bang. Action movies. Something that makes it worthwhile to have a blu ray player, HD, and surround sound. Iron Man, The Avengers, The Expendables, Red, White House Down, Star Trek. Anything with Jason Statham. So when ZAM asks me if I have a guilty pleasure movie, I squirm in my seat a little…because I do and it’s so far removed from action movies as to be a bit embarrassing for me. I have a secret love for The Wedding Date.
Yeah, that’s me, embarrassed to be found liking — owning— a chick flick.
It’s odd that I even tolerate this movie because I’ve never liked that redhead from Will & Grace. She irritates me. In this movie though, I actually sort of like her. Well, the character at least and the way she plays her doesn’t rub me entirely the wrong way. The movie has a couple of really winning points with me though. One is the British cousin “Hello, asshole” and her really funny cracks. The other is Dermot Mulroney. He’s warm and funny and oh my God so sexy. His naked ass causes my breath to stall in my chest. The way he plays the date for hire character, the escort, is so well done that you can’t help but fall in love with him. He completely commands the movie and not just because of his naked ass or the quirky little smile with the scar that clips his upper lip. Some of it can be laid at the door of his looks and some at the smoky voice that makes the hairs stand up on your forearms. But honestly, another reason is because of the script and the acting talent he brings to it. What woman who doesn’t see herself as attractive wouldn’t fall for a man who makes her believe in herself and her ability to attract him? And Dermot Mulroney makes you believe. When he makes the heroine in the movie believe, he makes the rest of us watching believe that about ourselves too. Oddly, his birthday is the same as mine (Halloween) albeit three years after me. That just makes it all so much better.
So I guess I can’t be embarrassed now that ZAM’s wormed this dirty, guilty little secret pleasure out of me. I think it’s probably the only chick flick I’ve ever truly liked. I know it’s the only one I own. LOL Other than The Wedding Date, I’ll take Loki any day. 😉 — Author Lex Valentine. (EDITOR’s Note. I um…want Loki Too…)
Book: Fire Season (Audiobook): Buy at Audible
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I actually have three guilty pleasure movies. First one is Lake Placid. I love B horror movies, but Lake Placid, IMO, is one of the best. It’s got a great cast, and they’re giving it their all, despite the fact they’re making a movie about a giant crocodile terrorizing a small town. The dialogue is amusing, and the gore is shocking but not overdone. Betty White and her swearing was a complete and total bonus.
My second is Sahara. I don’t usually like Matthew McConaughey in anything, and I certainly never pictured him as Dirk Pitt. Steve Zahn was even further from the way I pictured Al Giordino, but holy crap, I thought they batted that one out of the park. Those two guys had great on screen chemistry and I loved the way they interacted with each other and the rest of the cast. Unfortunately, I guess Clive Cussler (and other moviegoers) disagreed, so my hopes of a franchise were smashed.
Finally, my third, and possibly most embarrassing guilty pleasure movie – Josie and the Pussycats. There is something about the campy, cotton candy, tongue-in-cheek humor that completely sucked me in. Hell, I even loved the music, which is really unusual for me since I’m very picky about music. It also had an awesome cast, including Paulo Costanzo (I like everything I’ve seen him do) and Alan Cumming, who is completely adorable.
So, there are my guilty pleasure movies. Feel free to mock me, because you wouldn’t be the first : ) — Author KC Burn
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KC: I love B horror movies, too!
Me too! Like The Blob!
My guilty pleasure movie is Rocky Horror Picture show. I could not wait until it came out in video and have watched it every Halloween. Sometimes I even watch it twice, just to catch all the visual pranks in the movie.
I met my hubby at Rocky Horror on Halloween. That’s been a joke for thirty years, especially for our kids. LOL
Moonstruck with Cher and Nicolas Cage.
Olympia Dukakis is the best.
Rose – Do you love him, Loretta?
Loretta – No.
Rose – Good. *looks at her husband* When you love them they drive you crazy because they know they can.
Aw… I LOVE that movie.
I have to admit to having not seen either Marie’s or KC’s guilty pleasure movies and, at least in the case of Marie’s movie that’s a little odd because my hubs LOVES Jack Black.
Orange County was very fun.
I am not sure if they count as guilty pleasure movies or not, but my movies-to-watch-when-feeling-blah are The Princess Bride , Spirited Away (maybe with subtitles, depending on how blah I feel), and Megamind . Oh, I know, the original Hoodwinked . It’s funny and awful at the same time, so it must count, but I can’t watch it more than once every couple of years or I will never get the song about the horns out of my head. I hope just mentioning it doesn’t make it stick. I sang it for a whole week once. But it is a cute movie, once you get past the first few minutes.
Very fun, I’ve never seen Hoodwinked. (I should try it.) I do love the Princess Bride and Spirited Away.
ZAM
I’ve seen Orange County & really liked it, but like Lex, I’m not a fan of chick flicks either so I’ve not seen The Wedding Date.
Susan – I love Rocky Horror – don’t feel guilty about that pleasure! OMG, Tim Curry is so hot!
I’ve crushed on Tim Curry for years. Last year I got an audio book of Tim Curry reading “A Christmas Carol.” Now I can have him read me a story every year.
ZAM
I love My Best Friends Wedding. I’m in lust with Rupert Everett ~sigh~ and the best scenes are with him singing. Every time I hear “Say a Little Prayer” I think of him! Thank you for the giveaway!
That’s a good choice!
ZAM
I don’t believe in guilty pleasures–you should be able to like what you like! However, I do have a favorite movie that I have to, uh, explain. The 1980 musical XANADU features Olivia Newton-John as Kira, a roller-skating muse who is dispatched to LA. There, she convinces struggling graphic artist Sonny (played by Michael Beck) and retired club owner/jazz musician Danny (Gene Kelly in his final role) to open a roller disco, and falls into a star-crossed romance with Sonny. I admit there are a ton of things wrong with the movie. Olivia struggles so badly in the many dance numbers that her feet aren’t even shown in some of them. Gene Kelly is adorable, but basically wasted in a thankless role. Michael Beck is awful as the romantic lead, surly and with no range (you will giggle hysterically during his confrontation with Kira’s father Zeus, guaranteed). There’s an endless animated sequence (I’m guessing it takes the place of a sex scene) that looks like it was done by people on drugs. And yet, when XANADU comes on TV, I will not budge from my seat as I am continuously reminded of its brilliance. The soundtrack is excellent (I find it more consistently good than GREASE, which has earned me undeserved mockery over the years). There are some very cool, rather subversive moments: where else would you see a ’40s zoot suit/Tubes performance mashup with Olivia singing over it all? And the finale is a stunner: the lengthy skating sequence at the disco’s opening night takes my breath away to this day. I know people like the new stage version, but I have no desire to see it: it’s clear that the Broadway people KNOW the story is cheesy, while the movie’s earnest quality is so much of what makes it great.
Okay, now I’m (finally) going to have to watch that. I’ve never seen it. I did like Grease.
ZAM
The Holiday is my guilty pleasure movie. Kate Winslet and Jack Black are so cute together. The scenes with Eli Wallach and Kate make the movie. The Wedding Date and My Best Friend’s Wedding are great movies also.
All excellent choices.
Okay, here it is… MY guilty pleasure movie is “American Dreamer,” With Jobeth Williams and Tom Conti. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086886/
It’s a movie I used to rent and watch whenever I got a little down in the dumps. It’s about a woman who is bored with her marriage and uses books to add drama to an otherwise humdrum existence. Of course, she hits her head and imagines she’s the heroine of these suspense novels, and the rest is farce and I dunno.
I adore that movie. It’s not a surprise probably that the love interest is the man who (under a woman’s name) writes the books. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to work that trope into one of my own novels for years.
ZAM