Top 10 Guilty Pleasure Movies

I thought I'd go for a fun kind of post and I was thinking about what my favorite guilty pleasure movies are the other day.  I have come up with my Top 10 Guilty Pleasure Movies.  None of these are critically acclaimed, but every single one of them is entertaining and I have seen multiple times.  It's just something about these films; I just enjoy sitting back and turning my brain off and watching these every few years.  And, in order for a film to be on here, it has to have less than a 7.0 rating on IMDB, and the ratings on IMDB follow the titles of the films.  Here they are:


Honorable Mention: Smart House - 6.3
I had to give honorable mention to my favorite Disney Channel original movie growing up, Smart House.  It's only a TV Movie, so I couldn't quite count it.  But as a kid I wanted a smart house just like the one in the movie, one that would make me meals, instantly clean up messes, and play whatever I want to watch on the entire wall.  And I would know better than to disobey it and piss it off, unlike the family in this movie.

Second Honorable Mention: Rat Race - 6.4
I remember my parents taking me to see this in theaters, and yes, I was only 12 at the time, so a bit raunchy for 12-year-old me.  But I thought it was one of the funniest movies I had ever seen, and it still to this day makes me laugh.  I got it on DVD in the early 2000s and watched it every few years as I got older, each time understanding a new joke or two.  And the cast is just terrific, from Jon Lovitz to Cuba Gooding Jr. to Rowan Atkinson to Seth Green to Whoopi Goldberg.  


10. Jack Frost - 5.4
Another film with a hard-to-believe premise: A father dies, but his spirit/soul brings a snowman to life and he is able to interact and talk to his son a year after passing.  I liked this movie growing up, and it always made a great movie to watch around the winter holidays.  I particularly like the song "Hey Now Now" by Swirl 360 that plays when Charlie and his "dad" get away from the bullies.  It's so 1990's.

9. Like Mike - 5.2
A kid finds some of Michael Jordan's old sneakers and suddenly gains his basketball ability by wearing the shoes.  It's an interesting story, but I like that it has a basketball theme.  There's a sub-plot of the kid being at an orphanage and trying to get adopted, and eventually does.  Jesse Plemons is in this in the first role I saw him in, as a fellow kid/bully in the orphanage.  I also like the cameos by all the NBA players in this, although no Michael Jordan.

8. Jingle All the Way - 5.6
My favorite guilty pleasure Christmas Movie, Jingle All the Way is fun to watch even outside the Christmas season.  There are so many hard to believe things in this film, but there are so many classic scenes and lines such as "Put the cookie down, now!" and "I'm not a puh-vert!".  It's just a fun film and Arnie just kills it.  And this is not the only time a film Jake Lloyd acted in is on this list.

7. Bruce Almighty - 6.7
This is one of my favorite Jim Carrey roles.  Carrey, playing the titular role, gets the powers of God and uses them with hilarious results.  The casting of Morgan Freeman as God was absolutely perfect.  And Jim perfectly inserts some of his funny and quirky mannerisms into the role.  I'm surprised this doesn't have a bit higher rating, but there are times when the movie just tries too hard to be funny.  I like Jennifer Aniston in this, but she seems a bit out of Bruce's league. 

6. The Island - 6.8
Ewan McGregor in a sci-fi movie?  I'll always go for that. 😉  In this, he plays a clone that escapes his institution along side a very fine looking Scarlett Johansson who also plays a clone.  This movie has been out for a while now, so much so that when this film was shot and set "in the future", well that future is now the past.  I happened to watch The Island the day this was set, July 19, 2019.  This film was also made by Michael Bay, maybe the king of guilty pleasure directors, but he's only on this list once for me.  My favorite line(s): "I'm Tom Lincoln!" "No, I'm Tom Lincoln!"

5. Godzilla (1998) - 5.4
Yes, the 1998 Godzilla starring Matthew Broderick is one of my favorite guilty pleasure films.  I remember how hyped the movie was when it came out, and I even owned a Godzilla toy from that film that screamed like the movie version and stomped and "wagged" it's tail.  I remember seeing it as a kid and it scaring me a bit, but not anymore obviously.  As a sports fan, I loved how the climax was set at Madison Square Garden where the Knicks play.  They set up for a possible sequel with one of Godzilla's babies surviving in the end, but nothing came of it.  Oh well, the sequel probably would have been even worse.

4. Click - 6.4
This is my favorite Adam Sandler movie, believe it or not.  And I just found out, for the longest time this film had Adam Sandler's only death scene (until "Uncut Gems", I believe).  It's got such an interesting (but flawed) concept, but I love it.  He controls the universe with a remote, with unfortunate side effects.  I like how the film teaches us to enjoy moments in life we take for granted, such as time with our parents, working, and foreplay with the wife 🤣.  I also love all the actors in this and their connections to other things or people.  Adam Sandler's mom was played by Julie Kavner, who voices Marge Simpson.  We also see his kids played by Lorraine Nicholson and Jake Hoffman, the children of Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman, respectively.  And we see a small role from Jonah Hill.

3. National Treasure: Book of Secrets - 6.5
You knew Nicolas Cage had to be on here at some point, right?  He's the king of guilty pleasure actors.  In this sequel, he "kidnaps the president" and goes to a secret cave inside Mount Rushmore.  I just love the two National Treasure films, and I wish they had made another.  By this point, a third National Treasure film would feel forced, irrelevant, and not as interesting.  However, a third one is listed on IMDB as "In Development", although I believe it has been that way for a few years.   I believe they are having trouble either writing the script or finding writers for it.

2. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - 6.5
What, I can have a Star Wars film on here!  And there's no better example of a guilty pleasure Star Wars film than Episode I: The Phantom Menace.  I do enjoy watching this and I never skip over it when I watch the Star Wars films (or prequel trilogy).  I remember all the promotions for the film when it came out and each time I watch Episode I, it gives me that feeling of nostalgia.  Sometimes I even get the urge to watch just this film and not Episodes II or III.  Jar Jar doesn't annoy me quite as much as he annoys other Star Wars fans.

1. National Treasure - 6.8
Well, you knew if National Treasure 2 was on here, the first one would have to be on here as well.  I have lost count of the amount of times I have seen this.  I love the history they incorporated into this movie, even if it's not all true.  And, this was for the longest time the only thing I had seen Sean Bean in where he doesn't die.  And, I could be mistaken, but it might be the only film where he plays the villain but doesn't die.

Like I said, I just enjoy turning my brain off and watching any of these films.  I think the thing they have in common is that each one has something happen in it that is just never possible in the real world: A person coming back to life, a dog playing football, a universal remote that controls the universe, and stealing the Declaration of Independence.  Oh, and Star Wars.