Everyone has their favorite guilty pleasure movies, ones that they love but are afraid to admit it in public. These movies are often maligned by critics and friends alike, but they still hold a special appeal. I'm sometimes picky about what movies I watch, I am picky about everything. If I'm going to be spending over an hour and a half of my time watching something, it has to be good and hold my attention the whole time. The following 11 movies aren't considered good by any critical standards, but for some reason hold a special place in my heart.
1. Life Partners
I discovered Life Partners on Netflix and instantly fell in love with it. Leighton Meester, Adam Brody, and Gillian Jacobs are all stars in this movie. Basically what happens is Meester and Jacobs's characters are best friends, but when Jacobs gets into a serious relationship with Brody's character Meester feels left out, and their relationship changes a lot. Here's the trailer:
2. Beyond the Lights
I know this movie spent some time getting a lot of attention, I just feel like it never got the full attention it deserved! I honestly love the story and the characters! Noni, the music world’s latest superstar. It's not all is what it seems, and the pressures of fame have Noni on the edge - until she meets Kaz, a young cop and aspiring politician who’s been assigned to her detail. Drawn to each other, Noni and Kaz fall fast and hard, despite the protests of those around them who urge them to put their career ambitions ahead of their romance. Check the link!
3. Nanny Diaries
Is it just me who's never heard of this movie?? Again, discovered this gem on Netflix (I have a lot of time on my hands). Annie Braddock takes a nanny job with Mr. and Mrs. X, an affluent but highly dysfunctional Manhattan couple. She must find a way to manage her studies, a new boyfriend, and the demands of her new employers and their spoiled offspring. Trailer:
4. Like Sunday, Like Rain.
Another Leighton Meester movie that I found on Netflix! Basically, Meester is a struggling musician, and for a summer she becomes a 12-year-old musician's guardian. Check it out!
Claire (Emma Roberts) and Hailey (JoJo) are inseparable best friends. That is until Hailey has to move. Determined to not move apart from each other, they promise to help mermaid Aquamarine (Sara Paxton) in order to get a wish. I personally really enjoy mermaids.
6. Ever After
Drew Barrymore plays Danielle, a headstrong girl who loves to read by the fire, in this adaptation of the classic folktale. Cinderella doesn't take things lying down, she fights for a better life, that is free from her stepmother and stepsisters. Trailer:
7. A Knight's Tale
Heath Ledger plays a squire sold into service who takes up his master's lance and poses as a knight, ultimately beating England's champion Count Adhemar. On the way, he meets the hilarious Geoffrey Chaucer and goes to a ball where they dance to David Bowie. Cool, right?
8. Little Women
This is personally one of my favorites. 1994 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's classic, the March sisters confront growing pains, financial shortages, family tragedies and romantic rivalries in mid-19th-century Massachusetts. Jo struggles for independence and sometimes clashes with her beloved mother and her sisters Meg, Amy and Beth. She also contends with their cranky Aunt March, their impulsive neighbor Laurie and kindly linguistics professor Friedrich Bhaer. It is also way different than the book!
9. The Help
"The Help" is about a young writer in 1960s Mississippi looking to interview the African American house help of affluent white families. She ends up turning the town upside down with her truthful interviews, bringing to light all of the terrible ways these women are treated. This movie is also based on a book by Katheryn Stockett.
10. What's Eating Gilbert Grape
This movie will probably leave you sobbing very ugly tears. This movie is about a young man living in a very small town who is responsible for taking care of his mentally handicapped brother, and his exceedingly overweight mother, while working at the local grocery store to help support his family, and having an affair with a married woman in town. In a life that seems like a mess, the young man finds himself falling head over heels for an independent young woman named Becky.
11. Cruel Intentions
Annette becomes a pawn in Sebastian's and Kathryn's deliciously diabolical wager of sexual conquest when she writes an article in Seventeen Magazine about how she intends to stay pure until she marries her boyfriend. However, Sebastian gets more than he bargained for as he attempts to woo Annette into his bed.
Stop whatever you are doing and take time to watch these movies!
