Saturday Night at the Movies: (Not So Guilty) Pleasures

Binge Watch With Your Head Held High

National Vivisection Day, as Professor Esolen memorably dubs it, is fast approaching. Up north, Rick Mercer has a similarly vivid take on the occasion. But don’t worry. If using a significant chunk of your hard-earned income to pay the salaries of the federal agents your own government is infiltrating into your church to inform on your latest potluck has given you a case of the grumps, I present an antidote. Time for some feel-good movies!

Sometimes, when you’re in one of those moods, and you need that slice of cinematic cheesecake to get you out of a funk, the choice can be a little… embarrassing. You don’t want the neighbors to know about your predilection for The Princess Diaries, you know?

Luckily, you now have me to guide you. Allow me to use this weekly feature to present an all-important cinematic life hack: if the feel-good movie is written by someone famous, it’s no longer a guilty pleasure - it’s art! You’re not practicing escapism with a fun movie and a pint of rocky road, you’re educating yourself. It’s not trash, it’s practically literature. You can hold your head high and not have to change the channel when the neighbor knocks. Best of all, you can watch with all your kids, knowing you’re introducing them to culture.

Do such movies exist? Absolutely. Here are my top two choices to lift your spirits without taxing your conscience:

1. Much Ado About Nothing. Guys, it’s Shakespeare. It’s practically school. You should be getting college credit just for watching it. Now, as it happens, when you start watching and find your soul uplifted by beautiful Tuscan scenery, as Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh have way too much fun fighting with and falling for each other, you might get that guilty feeling that you get while watching some Kate Beckinsale romcom - but just remind yourself that, yes, Kate Beckinsale might technically be in the movie, and it sure seems like a light and fun romcom, but it’s still Shakespeare, darnit. So push that conscience aside and enjoy, guilt-free!

   To give you a taste of the fun involved, here’s a brief scene where Denzel (yes, that Denzel!) and his friends are overacting with great joy, trying to convince Branagh, whom they know is overhearing them, that Emma Thompson deeply adores him and only acts mean to hide her passion (note: this is definitely not true, she can’t stand him). Here, to follow that up, is Thompson quite sincerely acting mean to him and Branagh taking it as an overture of love (“there’s a double meaning to that!”).

   Oh, and I didn’t even mention Michael Keaton chewing his own fair bit of scenery as a ridiculously comic policeman.

   It’s a whole lot of fun all around and guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

2. The Importance of Being Earnest. Speaking of charming people speaking beautiful words in bucolic settings, you can’t go wrong with this one. Again, on the surface, a silly, light romcom with Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon - but you’ll feel significantly less guilty knowing it’s from the play by Oscar Wilde. Again, what might appear, on the surface, like a silly fight over the proper manner to eat english muffins is, in fact, great art!

Honorable Mention: Shakespeare again. This time, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton having a grand old time in The Taming of the Shrew. It’s a really entertaining play, and Zeffirelli does a great job capturing the comedy on film. Here Burton and Taylor have a pun-filled brawl. As with the two movies above, there are no pretensions here to cinematic seriousness, just good fun.

So don’t feel guilty, go get that ice cream, that fuzzy blanket, your best cuddling partner, and enjoy. And don’t forget, as tax day approaches, to write it off as an educational expense!