'Bad' Movies that I Enjoy

Six Days, Seven Nights (1998)

We all have those movies that we just enjoy despite they're not exactly well-produced, critically acclaimed or even well-liked in public in general. They're not necessarily bad ... they're just not that good either. Sometimes they're so bad they're good. They are the guilty pleasures we put on every now and then just because we are entertained by their obvious campiness or bad production but still find we cannot bring our hearts to actually dislike. Right? I don't even have an explanation why for most of my own choices. 

I guess they are mainly feel-good films, cheesy rom-coms and silly fantasy/action/adventure flicks that play on all the clichés you could expect and with loads of campy one-liners and acting. There may be little grains of golden moments in-between that you can learn to appreciate, but the overall picture isn't mind-blowing or groundbreaking. Just a bit... silly. Still I find myself re-watching them from time to time. To relax, get a nostalgic kick and a laugh - at an ironic stance.

I think it's okay to have these guilty pleasures as long as you manage to be critical of them, not take them too seriously and appreciate the films of a somewhat higher quality as well. I find that you can actually be entertained AND think while watching movies, contrary to some of the opinions I have met which display a rather obstinate snobbery that honestly baffles me, but I guess every man to his taste.

In the case of Practical Magic (1998), one of the included movies below, Didion via Bitch Flicks makes a pretty good argument why campy movies such as these can be enjoyed and viewed.

Well, here are some of my favorite 'bad'/campy films, in no particular order. Feel free to laugh at me or with me at the end of the list. Anyways, I'll say we should embrace our campy side, guilty pleasures and 'bad' taste more often.

• The Sheik (1921)
• The Son of the Sheik (1926)
• High Road to China (1983)
• Jumanji (1995)
• Six Days Seven Nights (1998)
• The Saint (1997)
• The Italian Job (2003)
• French Kiss (1995)
• Medicine Man (1992)
• Casper (1995)
• That Old Feeling (1997)
• Life as a House (2001)
• Space Jam (1996)
• Domino (2005)
• The Phantom (1996)
• Death Becomes Her (1992)
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
• It's a Boy Girl Thing (2006)
• Constantine (2005)
• The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (2008)
• Heartbreakers (2001)
• Sliding Doors (1998)
• Child 44 (2015)
• The Man With The Iron Mask (1998)
• Anna and the King (1999)
• Just the Ticket (1999)
• Practical Magic (1998)
• Made in America (1993)