The Birds' Nest: Our Guilty Pleasure Films

Firstly, it should be said that a guilty pleasure for all of us is Letterboxd. We all have paid real hard-earned money to be pro (or patron) which essentially just gives you extra statistic features and little gadgets that make logging films more fun. Being a film major is a guilty pleasure in and of itself. You can find our Letterboxd version of this list here (and follow us at @ztbentz, @stateofmoregon, and @kuragin).

1) Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

Z: Unequivocally the best movie in the entire franchise. I'm a die-hard Ethan Hunt apologist and I will literally die on that hill because Mission: Impossible is by far the best mainstream action franchise currently in production and it's not even a competition. The insane practical action scenes, the unparalleled camp, the fucking insane twists, you literally canNOT tell me that anyone is doing it better than Christopher McQuarrie rn.

S: Hopping in here to second all of that, AND to say that this is one of my favorite movies of all time. The opera sequence goes so unimaginably crazy. The IMF is in vacation gear, Ethan DIES (briefly), Benji gets kidnapped, and they even put a guy in a box (6 years before Justin Ferland!). In the immortal words of Stefon: this place has everything! Dead psyched for Dead Reckoning parts 1 and 2.

2) Jack and Jill (2011) - specifically "Dunkaccino"

 

S: A masterpiece. Here's a little piece of trivia for you: originally, this was suppose to be a Starbucks ad, and our boy Alfredo was supposed to say, "it's not Al anymore! It's Frap!" to which the barista would have said, "Frap Pacino?" When Starbucks pulled out, Dunkin' was the only option, leaving us with the immortal "Dunk Accino?!" If you like this, I'd recommend checking out Twitter user DailyDunkaccino for some edits. There are some real gems in there.

3) Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

M: So when I watched this for the first time, I wasn't really sold, and then Sienna made me watch it again and maybe I am. There's something about how the entire thing works together that just makes sense...or doesn't make sense...maybe I need to watch it for a third time this year.

S: IT'S GOOD! Like, is it good? No. But is it good? YES! My friend Matthew and I conceived a whole podcast called Summer of Strange where we were going to watch it every week this past summer. We only got through about two episodes, but we watched it many more times than that (I think he's seen it, like, 14 or 15 times?). I swear to god that if you go into this movie with an open mind, you will emerge a changed person. The unnecessarily-good Danny Elfman score is the cherry on top. I daren't say more lest I spoil the first-time Strange watch experience for anyone.

4) Venom (2018)

Z: I saw this in theaters when it came out and I have the IMAX poster hanging in my room in my parents' house. Tom Hardy went silly mode with this one and I love it and I love the sequel and I PROMISE IT'S NOT IN A TOXIC WAY.

S: I do NOT feel guilty about liking Venom (OR Venom: Let There Be Carnage). However I will say that the first time I ever saw Venom (in theaters), we were behind an ENTIRE ROW of sixth-grade boys. Every time one of them came in during the previews, they would all stand up and T-pose to let them by. When Carnage showed up in the post-credits, at least five of them started Fortnite dancing. I think of them often.

5)  SPF-18 (2017)

M: This movie is so bad but I have never and will never say no to watching it. It's so unbelievable the entire runtime, then you get a little Keanu Reeves treat at the very end. I forget what happens after watching this every time, so it truly is like a new experience every time. Also...it has Noah Centineo in it and Molly Ringwald playing a mom. What more could you want?

6) World War Z (2013)

Z: I used to watch this all the time as a kid and thought it was the coolest shit ever. I've since learned that a lot of people hate it. But I still think it bangs.

7) Tusk (2014)

Z: Justin Long turns into a walrus + weird body horror + an incomprehensible plot + Johnny Depp in horrible old-man makeup playing a French-Canadian homicide detective = one of the most polarizing movies ever made and you already KNOW which end of the spectrum I fall on.

S: They got my guy Gerard Arthur Way on the soundtrack to this fucking movie. Hello?

8)  Bo Burnham: Inside (2021)

M: I am embarrassed to say that Bo Burnham was one of my top artists in 2019 and 2020 and also 2021. I know it's generally pretty cringe to like him, but his entire mode of creating is just really interesting, and I feel for someone who became massively famous at a young age. He's just a guy who was Inside, you know?

Z: (Should I tell the Birdbath readers that this was #2 in my top 10 of 2021 list.... no, no that's too toxic I really shouldn't I don't think my reputation could survive that). I honestly have nothing to say about this one.

S: "That Funny Feeling" is a perfect song!

9)  Braveheart (1995)

S: This is embarrassing. Braveheart truly puts the "guilty" in guilty pleasure: completely stupid, bloated (THREE HOURS!), historically inaccurate, cheesy—and of course directed by (and starring) an antisemitic, racist, homophobic, misogynistic, abusive piece of shit. And I don't even know what it is about it! Maybe it's the score, or the scenery, or the big speeches, or the (completely made up) love story. Probably it's the fact that I had no idea Mel Gibson directed it until I saw, to my horror, the end credits. Either way, I cried! And there's not really anything I can do about that, unfortunately. Freedom! Or whatever!

10)  House of Gucci (2021)

M: I LOVE House of Gucci.  I am well aware that this isn't a good movie. That it is long, and the colors are so unsaturated, and Jared Leto is hilariously much, but WOW do I love this. I've seen it twice, and thought that I would like it less the second time but NO. It's still fantastic. Maybe I just like watching Lady Gaga and Adam Driver but what's wrong with that? Should I look away when they are on screen? What's wrong with a little fashion murder drama? I support women's wrongs! (the wrong being me liking this movie, not Patrizia Reggiani killing her husband).

11) Creep (2014) 

Z: It's LITERALLY tubby time, I don't even know what to tell you.

12) Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

M: He's just like me for real. 

Z: If I told you I enjoy this movie a lot would you shoot me with a gun

S: I've seen this movie more times than I've seen some close family members

13) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

M: Oh? You're a film major who likes Wes Anderson? BOOOO!!!! We are indeed cringe, what do you want from us? We like Wes Anderson! We will be taking a Wes Anderson class next semester!

Z: Top 10 predictable behaviors.

S: Why didn't we pick Rushmore???