It’s great fun talking about movies with fellow film nuts — unless you run afoul of the general consensus. Someone will call a film the Worst Movie Ever, and everyone else agrees loudly. Everyone except you, that is. At that point, you must choose: Go along to get along, or disagree and risk having the whole room pile on you for your questionable taste in cinema.
Look, everyone has an opinion. (And everyone thinks theirs doesn’t stink.) You’re allowed to have yours! Stand up for your favorite film or even for a title you thought was a pretty good popcorn flick that doesn’t deserve all the hate. That’s what members of an online forum did recently. Here are ten of the films they’re not ashamed to love.
1. PROMETHEUS (2012)
This sci-fi horror piece is considered the fifth movie in the Alien franchise. One cinephile thinks some people hated it because they were expecting an Alien movie. (Spoiler alert: They didn’t get what they wanted.) This Ridley Scott piece concerns an ancient map to a distant world, where explorers discover a potential threat to humanity. The ensemble cast includes Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace, Idris Elba, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce, and Logan Marshall-Green.
2. MOVIE 43 (2013)
This anthology comedy concerns a washed-up producer pitching ridiculous ideas for new movies. Each is shown as a short film or comedy skit. Critics absolutely hated Movie 43. Yet one commenter said its very awfulness makes it lovable. However, they think the actors were blackmailed into doing the movie. Among those actors are Josh Duhamel, Seth MacFarlane, Emma Stone, Elizabeth Banks, Seann William Scott, Kate Bosworth, Terrance Howard, Uma Thurman, Chris Pratt, Liev Schreiber, Chloe Grace Moretz, Richard Gere, Julianne Moore, and Tony Shalhoub.
3. THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW (2004)
Strong cast, dumb-as-rocks presentation: Dennis Quaid, Sela Ward, Emmy Rossum, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Tamlyn Tomita star in Roland Emmerich’s disaster flick about catastrophic climate change. The scene where the cold chases people into the library is a howler. One commenter admitted the script is one big cliché, but they love cold weather so much they’d be OK with a new Ice Age.
4. INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996)
Roland Emmerich again, only this time the disaster is an alien invasion. Valiant humans fight the creatures from beyond, yada yada yada. Great group of actors, though, including Will Smith, Mary McDonnell, Jeff Goldblum, Brent Spiner, Bill Pullman, Harvey Fierstein, and Judd Hirsch. A fan said they know the movie is stupid, but it’s great fun to turn off their brain and watch things get blown up real good.
5. MYSTERY MEN (1999)
The late Paul Reubens is among the terrific actors in this comedy about “lesser” superheroes whose powers aren’t that great. Still, they must fight to save the “real” superhero once evil forces capture him. He’s working with Hank Azaria, Eddie Izzard, Janeane Garofalo, William H. Macy, Lena Olin, Ricky Jay, Wes Studi, Tom Waits, Greg Kinnear, and Claire Forlani. Los Angeles Times reviewer Kenneth Turan said the film is tiresome in spots but predicted it would become a cult film.
6. READY PLAYER ONE (2018)
This Steven Spielberg sci-fi outing is set in 2045, where humans flock to a virtual reality simulator to escape the horrors of the present day. It’s nonstop action and full of pop-culture references. One admirer describes the soundtrack as “punchy” and said it gives home theater setups a full-channel workout. In fact, they claim the story is secondary to the movie’s overall impact. Enjoy the ride!
7. WATERWORLD (1995)
This post-apocalyptic drama sure gets a lot of people riled. Kevin Costner plays The Mariner, a mutant with gills in a world that’s all water due to the melting of the polar ice caps.
Some movie buffs claim it’s basically a ripoff of The Road Warrior, only set in the ocean instead of the arid Outback. But one forum commenter claims that if you like post-apocalyptic tales with lots of action and explosions, you’re in for a treat with Waterworld.
8. THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN (2003)
Sometimes abbreviated as LXG, this film is set in 1899, when terrorists were trying to start a worldwide war. A motley assortment of extraordinary gentlemen (one of whom is female) band together to fight the menace.
Those heroes include Dorian Gray, Tom Sawyer, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Captain Nemo, Professor Moriarty, and “vampire chemist” Mina Harker. “Steampunk superhero film” is a sparsely populated genre, but LXG has some pretty devoted fans.
9. BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (2016)
Who would win? That’s a question comic book fans have been asking for years. Zack Snyder directs Ben Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman. Lex Luthor shows up, of course, to goad Batman into taking out the Man of Steel. (Obsess much, Lexie?)
Critics universally loathed this movie, as did many fans. Still, the film has a group of vocal defenders who wish people would just shut up and eat their popcorn and enjoy the film for what it is.
10. THE POLAR EXPRESS (2004)
Some critics thought the animation was weird. (It was.) Others thought the story, based on a children’s picture book about a magic Christmas train, was clumsily fleshed out into feature length. Yet for some film fans, The Polar Express is a beautiful childhood memory they must re-watch every Christmas. If you know, you know.
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