—————————————————— Hack the Planet: The Best Guilty Pleasure Movies of the '90s | Art Attack | Houston | Houston Press | The Leading Independent News Source in Houston, Texas

Film and TV

Hack the Planet: The Best Guilty Pleasure Movies of the '90s

Truth be told, I don't believe in the term "guilty pleasure" because I don't feel any guilt getting pleasure out of watching Last Action Hero once a month or listening to the Bee Gees without irony. Whether you're a brother, or whether you're a mother, you can't deny the power the Gibb brothers, a good disco beat or the adventures of Jack Slater and Danny Madigan in the mists of cinema legend.

But Last Action Hero is one of my guiltiest pleasures. I'm not supposed to like it, and according to critics in 1993, no one should like it; even still, I spend hours watching it and, in fact, I just now talked myself out of buying a set of all the action figures from the film on Amazon. The movie poster still looks tantalizing, though.

One of the biggest tip-offs that a movie is a true guilty pleasure is this important test: Will you waste three hours of your weekend afternoon watching an edited version of this "bad" movie, forgoing social and personal engagements you had previously planned? Is the movie Hackers, starring Angelina Jolie, Jonny Lee Miller and Matthew Lillard? Congratulations on losing two hours of your life, and remember to HACK THE PLANET.

The best thing about these guilty pleasure flicks from the '90s is that you know that at least a thousand other people are also wasting their lives on it, be it Drop Dead Fred or Major Payne. Some are so bad and dopey that you can't help but love them, even find yourself getting emotionally involved each and every time.

Like, what if I died on the Metro Rail and I had to save my girlfriend from a lecherous murderer bent on seducing and killing her with the help of a sassy black psychic? Shit keeps me up at night, as do shadows on my wall.

I pulled a few of the biggest guilty pleasure films from the '90s for your perusal. Don't act like you wouldn't rather watch Son-In-Law over bullshit new-Millennium fodder Garden State.

Hackers

Son-In-Law

Drop Dead Fred

Half-Baked

Detroit Rock City

Kingpin

Cruel Intentions

Jawbreaker

Devil's Advocate

Point Break

Ghost

Showgirls

Spiceworld

Surf Ninjas

The Rock

KEEP THE HOUSTON PRESS FREE... Since we started the Houston Press, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Houston, and we'd like to keep it that way. With local media under siege, it's more important than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" program, allowing us to keep offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food and culture with no paywalls.
Craig Hlavaty
Contact: Craig Hlavaty