This week I was taking a quick break from work to check my twitter feed when I caught a glimpse of this:
Mr. Fillion’s confession got me thinking. How many of us have that one movie (or whole collection) that we know everyone seems to hate, but we LOVE? I would bet everyone has a few.
It’s the one we pop into the DVD player—it’s so unpopular it may never go to Blu-ray—whenever we’re alone. It’s the one that keeps you from sharing your top ten favorites with others because there is always the chance that someone will laugh.
Maybe it’s the acting. Maybe it’s the ridiculous premise. Maybe the casting—or all of the above.
For Fillion’s courage, I expect he’ll have a few tweets with farcical condescension. He is smart to head off his detractors at the pass. By tweeting as he did, he’s labeled his non-13th Warrior-loving fans as haters, which nobody wants to be. He’s acknowledged the fact that not everybody loves the same movies. And I’m willing to bet that he has just prompted the sale of a dozen (or a few hundred) copies of the movie to younger fans who’ve never seen the picture.
Probably they’ll love it. It is based on the novel Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton, which touches on the themes of Beowulf; the epic poem just about everyone is required to read in high school. This new audience may find it a little slow, maybe tedious, and they may even have a little trouble with the climax and ending, but that’s okay. Nathan Fillion warned them that there were haters, and if he likes it—well, that’s good enough for them. 
What is your guilty pleasure movie? I’d tell you mine, but you’d just laugh!
That’s a wrap for this Toast to Cinema. Thanks for reading!