Movies I Love But Would (Almost) Never Recommend

We all have them: movies we love, but wouldn't necessarily admit to loving. They're the movies we think of when asked, "What do you want to watch?", but we don't say anything because chances are no one else wants to watch it. These are the movies that I like or love, but usually keep mum about.

1. The Mummy Returns
I love this movie. It is, hands down, the movie I watch the most frequently*. I love the humor, I love the family dynamics, I love the female protagonist (Evelyn, played by Rachel Weisz), and I won't say that Brendan Fraser, Arnold Vosloo, and Oded Fehr don't make it more enjoyable too. This is not a movie that I would have expected myself to like, yet I always come back to it. I also don't normally like violence, but for some reason I'm not bothered. This is my big secret: The Mummy Returns is one of my favorite films.

2. The Mummy
The second Mummy movie is better than the first, but I do like this one too. It's a lot cheesier, but it still has some good humor, and the characters are likable.

3. The Neverending Story
The Neverending Story isn't always a movie I keep hidden quietly on my shelf, because I think it has kind of a cult following, or fan base. I think maybe I have a thing for interesting characters and fantastical settings, because that seems to be a common theme on this list. Fact one: I like the song that plays during the opening credits. Fact two: I named my French horn Falcor, after the luck dragon. In the movie, Falkor is spelled with a K, but I spell Falcor with a C because "cor" is French for "horn".

4. A.I.
Last week I watched this movie as I worked on my Lego Tower Bridge (post to come), and remembered how much I liked it. I also realized that Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson) was in this movie! I recognized his voice before I recognized his face.

5. Moulin Rouge
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Beautiful music, beautiful sets, beautiful everything... Just be careful about mentioning this movie to people in Utah. Some people are ok with it, others aren't.

6. The Hours
This is another movie that I am careful about mentioning in Utah, but it has a great cast, is well-told, has excellent music by Philip Glass, and is just all around beautiful. Ok, maybe a little depressing too, but beautifully depressing, you know? Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep are on my list of most talented actresses** ever.

7. My Little Ponies
Ah, My Little Ponies, a movie I grew up with. The movie has a surprisingly strong cast (Madeline Kahn!), and is not so dumbed-down that I want to gouge my eyeballs out. There are actually a lot of different characters and settings, so that keeps things kind of interesting. I'm not certain I would like this movie if I hadn't loved it as a child, but really, how can you beat the floom song***? I used to quote that song, the part where the one sister says, "Happy Birthday!" and I didn't realize until years later where I got that from. Anyway, it's a fun movie.

8. The Fifth Element
Do not ask me what I like about this movie, because I don't know. It makes me laugh and smile and cry (except I don't really cry). See #3 above where I talk about liking fantastical settings and characters.

Those are all my "secret list" movies that I can think of right now. What movies do you secretly love?

*Not counting the few movies I have on my iPod, which I watch while I wash the dishes. I watch those the most because I have only five to choose from.
**Is there a gender neutral term for "actor"? I really dislike the word "actresses".
***Located at 2:30 on the YouTube video.