Guilty pleasure movies: Salve for the soul

The inspiration for this post comes from the news that the director of easily one of my favorite guilty pleasure flicks, Andy Fleming, is teaming up with the extremely funny Steve Coogan for a new flick about to start shooting.

The guilty pleasure movie: "Dick," which never gets much deeper than its title with Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams starring as two dippy teenagers in a surprisingly funny (at least to me) spoof of the Watergate scandal. And the new movie: "Hamlet 2" wills star Mr. Coogan as a high school drama teacher who cooks up a sequel to the bard's play to save his struggling department.

In trying to trim this post down to 10 movies, I found it's high on comedy, but that's just me. I'll never apologize for loving to laugh, no matter how silly the material I'm laughing at is (and be warned, some of these movies are indeed awfully damn silly.) I'll include an honorable mention of the flicks that didn't quite make the cut, and as usual, please feel free to add any movies that are your real guilty pleasures. Here goes:

1. Better off Dead
John Cusack's upcoming movies all look like dire fare in which he'll barely crack a smile, but I'll always take him from his '80s heyday. Besides, to break it down in terms meant for a list like this, he's very funny, the French chick is really cute and I still, from time to time, mimic that manic paperboy seeking his $2 when work just gets to be too much to stomach.

2. Rocky IV
I thought I had reached the breaking point with Rocky when he pulled the ultimate trick when you're losing the spotlight: Go jingo to the max. You get Rocky fighting a superhuman Russian named Draco, Brigitte Neilsen as his almost equally scary girlfriend and even James Brown. I say, and at least as partly as a crude segue, bring it on ...

3. Bring It On
On paper, this would have to be the ultimate guilty pleasure movie. Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku and Gabrielle Union as rival cheerleaders? If you're in a silly enough mood, it works even better as an actual movie, even if, like me, you're way too old to confess to enjoying this one.

4. The Spongebob Squarepants Movie
This one probably doesn't quite fit the criteria because by any objective standard I consider it to be a good movie. The reason it's here is because I can remember going to see it by myself on a Saturday morning and getting more than a few quizzical looks from parents there with their kids. I have no interest in your children, people, I just happen to enjoy many of the same movies that make kids laugh.

5. Bound
If you can get past the novely of Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly as a lesbian couple who show more than a little skin, this Wachowski brothers flick still entertains as a lightweight con-game flick. Joey pants is very funny, and unless you count "V for Vendetta," which they wrote, I'd have to count this as my favorite Wachowski bros. flick.

6. Road Trip
I'm not sure exactly why I like this movie so much. The jokes, from DJ Qualls bedding a rather large black woman and then showing off her panties to Tom Green's epic battle to feed his friend's snake, are crude and familiar at best, but this is the only Todd Phillips movie that always leaves me with a smile on my face.

7. Reign of Fire
Any movie starring Matthew McConnaughey as a dragon-fighter named Denton Van Zan can never be much more than a guilty pleasure at best. As much as its possible, this is just a no-nonsense flick that also stars Christian Bale and Gerard Butler that just happens to be about a future world that has been ravaged by fire-breathing dragons.

8. Lost Boys
There have been tons of better vampire flicks of course, but this one still might be the most fun. Edward Herrmann, who played Max in this and can be seen this fall (though most likely not by me) on Grey's Anatomy, is easily one of my favorite actors. The Coreys are apparently working on some kind of straight-to-DVD sequel, but that would be too much even for me to take, I think.

9. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Sure, it's pretty much just a string of celebrity cameos to celebrate characters Kevin Smith should have given up on years ago, but when it's on this movie is very funny. Will Ferrell and Jon Stewart riffing on the dangers of the clit are worth the price of admission alone.

10. Bad Santa
If there's a more profane movie out there, I can't think of it, but in its own very warped way this one actually wraps up fairly sweetly. Besides, watching Lauren Graham chant "f*** me Santa" over and over as she rides a besotted Billy Bob Thornton in his car or listening to Thornton and Tony Cox do verbal battle with more and more extreme insults will always be funny to me.

Honorable mention: Johnny Dangerously, Bride of Chucky, Time Bandits, War Games, The American President, The Warriors, Labyrinth, Real Genius and Grease

So, there you have it. Please feel free to add any you think I've snubbed, and have an entirely bearable Thursday (and, remember, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" returns tonight at 10 on FX, so just make it through the day and get ready to laugh a lot.)