Films that are so bad they're good

A few days ago, I openly admitted to my love of Night at the Museum, a tweet which was met with strong reactions whether they were in agreement or disapproval. It’s silly, reeeeally cheesy and painfully scripted in parts but it’s fun and appeals to the inner child in all of us who actually thought the giant T-Rex came alive at night. And many years ago, when Pearl Harbor came out, I recall one critic saying that no intelligent person could possibly enjoy that film. But surely if I wanted to study the TRUTH behind what happened at Pearl Harbor I would watch a documentary, right?

My question is why do films have to be intellectually stimulating to be good? Films are enjoyed largely because they are escapism in its simplest form. So what is wrong with escaping into a world where your brain can switch off for a couple of hours?

Case in point – Fast and the Furious 5 became the highest ranking film in countries around the world during its opening weekend! (And there really isn’t a whole lot in that to stimulate the intellect!) But people said it was fun, had impressive action sequences and lots of fit men so I heard no complaints from the viewing public.

And for this film buff, there’s not much I enjoy more than a Kea-moo (a phrase not coined by me to describe Keanu Reeves’ cow-like facial expressions while acting) moment in one of his many films. While many have argued that the Matrix was brilliant, the sequels were widely panned as were many of his other films but watching his deadpan/alien/dude face is still one of my favourite pastimes.

So to the films made not for the Oscars, not for the glitz and the glamour of award season, but for the viewing public, the people who choose to spend their hard earned cash escaping into a world of car-chases, soppy overly-sentimental shmaltz, inaccuracies or general silliness for a few hours – I salute you! Thanks for doing what you do! J

So bad, they’re actually brilliant:

• Kung Pow - mocks everything about badly dubbed horror films with poor taste and horrific script - brilliant!

• Pearl Harbor - its overly sentimental, horrifically innacurate in its history and stars Ben Affleck... but its soppy wartime romance at its cheesiest, a weepy if you like that sorta thing.

• Roadhouse - A blind singer, a bar so violent they have the band perform behind a safety fence and a hard-as-nails pacifist bouncer... Why is it good? Patrick Swayze, that's why!

• Twister - that rare combination of separated spouses, tornadoes and cheesy dialogue... oh and the dude from Men in Tights trying to play an ass. Every time it's repeated on ITV2 I find myself watching it.

• Transformers 2 - Megan Fox screaming "SAM!" every 5 seconds, zero plot and lots of running and panting. Why is it good? For the British Transformer who keeps saying "Bollocks" and the crazy twins.

• Legally Blonde - "You got into Harvard?" "What, like it's hard?" blonde ditz follows her clever boyfriend to Harvard to study law after he dumps her because she isn't "serious" enough.  Why is it good? I don't know, it might just be so bad it's bad ... but I still watch it! :)

LE xx