My Favourite Most Embarrassing /Crap Films

Here is a list of my ten favourite crap/embarrassing films. Some of them have been slated by reviewers, at times the acting is so bad it makes you cringe and in some cases the dialogue so cheesy you need a cracker to go with it, but I love 'em all the same. I'm really proud of our film collection at home which is full of stylish films, art-house films, Japanese horror films, gangster classics and war epics but everybody secretly loves and needs an embarrassing crap film or two in their collection. These films all mean something to me, mainly because I first saw them when I was young and watching them now makes me smile. Sharon Stone appears in three of them funnily enough. I think she's so underrated and we need to see a lot more of her, especially after her superb performance in Casino. Here they are in no particular order:

* The Specialist (1994) - Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone star in this silly film with a dumb plot. A high action thriller with lots of explosions and over the top 'baddie' performances from the like of James Woods.
Most memorable scene - The Stone and Stallone nude shower scene with Stallone's ridiculously pumped up biceps has got to be the most un-sexy scene of all time, but very amusing.

* Point Break (1991) - Littered with mistakes and factual errors with a cheesy dialogue to boot. I love this film - I used to watch it over and over again whilst fantasising about Keanu Reeves in a wetsuit and wanting to be a surfer chick.
Cheesiest lines - Johhny Utah: Surfin's the source man...swear to God Ben Harp: You're a real blue flame special, aren't you, son? Young, dumb and full of come, I know. What I don't know is how you got assigned here. Guess we must just have ourselves an asshole shortage, huh?



* Breakin' a.k.a Breakdance (1984) This is one of my favourite films of all time. Jazz dancer Kelly meets street dancers Turbo and Ozone and together they enter a dance competition to show the world that breakdancing is just as groundbreaking as anything else . Along the way they impressive the street crowds with their amazing breakdancing moves accompanied by an amazing 80's hip hop soundtrack. The acting is at times wooden as the cast were all dancers and not actors, but as a result the dance scenes are fantastic. It even featured on this site Badmovies.org.
Useless Trivia - In the first dance scene, Jean-Claude Van Damme makes his first ever on-screen appearance as a man in the crowd clapping to the music.
Most memorable scene - Dance scene where a kid on crutches busts some amazing moves surrounded by a cheering and clapping street crowd.






* Dirty Dancing (1987) - This is a film which I could watch over and over again, and I did when I was a teenager. Set in a family camp in the summer of 1963, Baby falls in love with dance teacher Johnny Castle played by Patrick Swayze and he teaches her how to dance.
Cheesiest line - Nobody puts baby in a corner.
Useless Trivia - A few of the scenes were improvised - in the scene where Johnny and Baby are practicing dancing and she keeps laughing when he runs his arm down hers, it was not part of the scene, she was actually laughing and his frustration was genuine.

* Basic Instinct (1992) It's been described as sleazy, amoral and worryingly entertaining which is probably what it is. Cop Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) becomes involved with suspect Catherine Trammell (Sharon Stone) which later to obsession with a bit of murder, bondage-style sex and drugs along the way.
Most memorable scene - Probably one of the most famous scenes in cinema history where Sharon Stone reveals all by uncrossing her legs seductively to a room full of police officers.

* Footloose (1984) - Kevin Bacon plays rebellious city boy Ren in a Protestant backwater town where rock music and dancing is banned. Sarah Jessica Parker also makes one of her first appearances. It's a totally absurd storyline but the choreography and music are great.
Most memorable scene - Ren has a game of "Chicken" with the tough guy boyfriend of his love interest Ariel (Lori Singer). They drive tractors at each other and Ren wins.

* Sliver (1993) - Voyeurism is the order of the day in this glossy sex-thriller starting Sharon Stone and William Baldwin. Based on the novel by Ira Levin (the author of Rosemary's baby), the acting is ordinary and I can't put my finger on why I like it. The last time I saw it was about 7 years ago and I liked it but I may have been drunk.
Useless trivia - The producer of the film initially wanted Roman Polanski to direct the film. Since Polanski can't return to the United States, they planned on having a second unit director shoot some footage of New York, whilst Polanski would direct the film in Paris.

* K-9 (1989) - Detective Tom Dooley (James Belushi) enlists the help of a police dog to catch a criminal. It's a typical 80s cop v drug baron movie aimed at kids with loads of dog disobedience jokes (good if you're a kid and you like dogs). The scene where Jerry Lee (the dog) nearly dies had me in floods of tears whenever I watched it.
Most memorable scene - Jerry Lee pretends to be dead whilst Dooley sits by his bedside talking about how much he'll miss him etc. Whenever he looks away, Jerry Lee opens one eye and closes it again when he looks backs. Er I was a kid remember.



* Carry On Behind (1975) No film list is complete without a Carry On film. It scored 3.4 out of 10 on the IMDB site - I've never seen a film score so low. But who cares, I love it. It's jam packed with the usual smutty jokes for which the Carry On series is famous. It was a tough decision to make as I love most of the Carry On series but Professors Vrooshka and Crump just tipped the scale.
Most memorable scene - The film comes to a climax with a sinking caravan site, a striptease accidentally booked instead of a cabaret with freshly painted chairs that cause mayhem - all this accompanied by constant innuendos - an absolute classic.