Our Favorite Guilty Pleasures Streaming Right Now
It's honestly embarrassing how many times we've seen these...
We’re doing something a little different this week. Usually, we only recommend movies that we think are interesting and well-made, but today we are giving you our favorite guilty pleasure movies currently streaming. These are not movies we would conventionally describe as “good,” but we can’t get enough of them anyway. There’s something about an entertaining bad movie that can really hook you. Here’s our picks.
Drew recommends…
National Treasure (streaming on Netflix)
Despite its ludicrous premise (there’s a hidden treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence) and the presence of Hollywood’s most ridiculous actor (Nicolas Cage’s character name is Benjamin Franklin Gates, which tells you all you need to know), National Treasure is truly a national treasure. There just aren’t many movies that are more compulsively watchable than this one. If I come across this while scrolling channels, you can bet I’m stopping to watch.
You’ve almost certainly seen this movie, so I’ll spare you the preposterous plot summary. If you can suspend enough disbelief, National Treasure is a great time. Sure, it uses American history as a vessel for action-adventure mystery in silly ways that will leave your high school history teacher shaking their head. But, this movie seems to revel in that fact. When Ben Gates is using lemon juice and a hair dryer (yes, really) to decipher clues written in invisible ink on the back of the Declaration, I am totally riveted. At that point, you’re either bought in to the mystery or you’re not.
Due to the significant budget, National Treasure was able to pull together a very good cast of established actors. In addition to Cage, there’s Diane Kruger, Sean Bean (pre-Ned Stark), Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel, and Christopher Plummer. You need a group like this to keep a movie like this from sinking into absurdity. These capable actors are able to sell their lines just enough to maintain your investment.
As Gates and his team race to beat Sean Bean’s villain to the ancient fortune, National Treasure becomes a blast to watch and rewatch. As long as you check your skepticism at the door.
Billy recommends...
The Mummy (streaming on Netflix)
Everyone seems to have a movie that you are always trying to convince your friends is good, but none of them will watch it because the premise is so absurd. The Mummy is that for sure. “A group of explorers go to Egypt to find the ancient (the characters say this word a lot) city of blah blah blah and once they find the city they accidentally awaken a mummy who is trying to destroy the whole world.... Ohhhh! It also stars Brendan Fraser.”
I get why that movie doesn’t sound so appealing, but damn, this movie is a blast. The reason is not the action or the beauty of the two main leads, Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. It is because for the first hour we get some great character development with our two main leads, which is rare for a modern action movie. Normally we go straight into the action. Before they meet we see Rachel Weisz’s character, Evelyn, as a librarian (who is half-Egyptian somehow… it was the 90s) who has the pressure of being a great explorer like her father, but she doesn’t have the opportunities because she is a woman. Then we get Brendan Fraser’s character, Rick, who is in a battle with other people while trying to find the lost city of Hamunaptra desperately trying to find validation for his exploring.
We get pretty great reasons to like these characters and once they finally do meet you begin to like them even more. You see them get into legit scary scenarios once they actually get into the action of the story, but the action moments feel earned because we have such a great relationship built with the main characters. Stream The Mummy now before it is gone. It’s a great Indiana Jones knockoff (in a good way) that should not be missed.
Wanted (streaming on Netflix)
Oh Wanted… I remember loving you so much when it first came out. It is one of the first R rated movies that I saw in theaters and I walked out so pumped. Legitimately thought this was the next great action movie. Upon rewatch I realize how bad this movie actually is, but in the best possible way. The cheesiness makes this movie so much fun.
Wanted stars James McAvoy and somehow the writers figured out a way to make him give a bad performance. Though his performance is poor, we still get a character we like. He is the guy that is crapped on his whole life and is too afraid to do anything about it. We can all relate to that in some capacity. The reason I still enjoy this movie while recognizing it is really bad is because they lean into the cheese. We literally have a prophetic seamstress machine and exploding mice in this movie. I hope Hollywood continues to make movies like this.
When stylized well, which Wanted is, writers and directors can create incredibly fun movies while understanding what they are making won’t be reviewed well, but may get some sort of following anyways. Give Wanted a shot immediately. I cannot promise you will enjoy this one, but if it strikes you the correct way, then have a blast like I do with this cheesefest of a movie.
Streaming TV Corner
What we’re watching this week
Billy: Dead to Me (streaming on Netflix)
This new Netflix Original TV show turns out to be a gripping mystery. I expected a much funnier show since Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are producers. Having these producers must be the reason that it is so enjoyable and refreshing. We have Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini give amazing performances that leave you shocked after each episode. I am about half way through and cannot wait to watch more.
The Office Episode of the Week
Drew: “The List” (S8 E1)
The last two seasons of The Office -- everything after Steve Carell leaves the show -- is a little rough. Without Michael Scott to center the show around, the showrunners searched for a replacement and there simply wasn’t one. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t try.
After my second or third time through the show, I actually came around on Robert California, played with creepy gravitas by James Spader. He’s so weird and says so many outrageous things that you can’t help but laugh once you get on the same wavelength as his character. The season 8 premiere, “The List,” is the one where the office finds Robert’s list of names, dividing everyone up in “winners” and “losers” columns. He makes things worse when he invites the “winners” out to lunch, leaving Andy (who had just become the new manager) to deal with the discord.
There’s a number of other wonderful things about “The List,” like Kevin bellowing “WARNING WARNING” whenever Robert enters the room, as well as Andy making it his first order of business as manager to get the Friday before Columbus Day off for the whole office. Plus, you can tell exactly when this episode aired, because the cold open features an extended scene of the characters “planking” in various spots throughout the office. Remember planking? 2011 was a simpler time.
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