Guilty Pleasures

Hackers

  • Title: Hackers
  • IMDb: link

Newly released on 4K, 1995’s Hackers is a very silly movie about a group of “innocent” high school hackers who despite breaking multiple laws throughout the film are the victims and heroes of the plot when another hacker (Fisher Stevens) decides to frame them for his crimes. The film stars Jonny Lee Miller as a child prodigy banned from using computers until his 18th birthday where he returns to the world of computers and takes up with a group of local hackers which include the hyper-competitive girl (Angelina Jolie) he has a crush on.

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Guilty Pleasure – One Crazy Summer

  • Title: One Crazy Summer
  • IMDb: link

Throwback Thursday takes us back to a movie that feels every bit the 80s comedy that it is. One Crazy Summer casts John Cusack as an aspiring artist who heads off for a summer vacation to Nantucket with his high school best friend George (Joel Murray) after their graduation. There the artist, who knows nothing of love, will catch the eye of a young rocker (Demi Moore) headed home to help keep her father’s estate from falling into the clutches of a greedy land tycoon (Mark Metcalf), and the bombshell girlfriend (Kimberly Foster) of the local douchebag (Matt Mulhern), who, of course, is also the tycoon’s son.

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Zorro, the Gay Blade

  • Title: Zorro, the Gay Blade
  • IMDb: link

Today’s Throwback Tuesday takes us back to the thrilling days of yesteryear, or 1981 to be exact. A tongue-and-cheek sequel to the popular Zorro franchise in general, and 1940’s The Mark of Zorro in particular, George Hamilton stars in dual roles as both sons of the legendary Zorro (although neither is aware of their father’s vigilante lifestyle prior to his death). Before the end of the movie both Don Diego de la Vega and Bunny Wigglesworth will follow in their father’s footsteps and stand-up for the peoples of 19th Century Los Angeles.

Returning home from his womanizing ways, Don Diego discovers his father has died and an old friend (Ron Leibman) has taken over as Alcalde and is crushing the local population under heavy taxes. After learning of his family tradition, Don Diego will take up the mantle of Zorro.

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Guilty Pleasure – Hard to Kill

  • Title: Hard to Kill
  • IMDb: link

Hard to Kill movie reviewToday’s Throwback Tuesday post takes us back to 1990 and the ouvere of action star Steven Seagal. For me, Hard to Kill fits firmly into the category of a guilty pleasure. Objectively it’s hard to argue that Hard to Kill is anywhere near a great movie, but damn if I haven’t had a great time with every viewing.

Easily my favorite of Seagal’s career, the actor stars as cop whose family is attacked in their home after he stumbles onto a conspiracy involving a politician and local mob boss. After being in a coma for seven years, with his reputation shredded and wife dead, Mason Storm returns to the land of the living to clear his name and seek vengeance for his family.

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Guilty Pleasure – Teen Wolf

  • Title: Teen Wolf
  • IMDb: link

Teen Wolf Blu-ray reviewAlthough it’s hard by any objective standard to classify 1985’s Teen Wolf as a “good movie,” the star vehicle for a young Michael J. Fox written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman is undeniably entertaining.

The story centers around average high school student Scott Howard (Fox) who discovers he’s a werewolf. Rather than hiding this fact, which gives him speed, agility, and power for the first time, Scott brings out the wolf on the basketball court making the sorry team instantly better, and turning himself into a celebrity – something his best friend Stiles (Jerry Levine) is only too happy to exploit for profit.

If you remove the werewolf, Teen Wolf is a pretty generic high school film. We get a good kid, the hot girl he lusts for (Lorie Griffin), her evil boyfriend (Mark Arnold), and the girl (Susan Ursitti) who likes him. Between scenes of the werewolf surfing on top of a van and playing basketball, there’s also Scott learning a life lesson about accepting himself for who he is.

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