Don't you forget...

RO: John Hughes died a few days ago. Ordinarily I don't pay too much attention when someone famous dies other than the occasional "who cares" or "wow, too bad." I confess I did watch the Diana funeral and when I caught a few minutes of the Michael Jackson tribute, I stuck around and watched the rest,blubbering a few times. And there's a spot in my garden that always reminds me of JFK Jr., because that's where I was pulling weeds when I learned that his plane was missing and presumed crashed. I didn't cry when I found out about John Hughes and there will be no memorial flower bed since I was not in the garden, I was on the computer..where I am most of the time these days.

What I did do was click on a number of links to clips from his movies. What an incredible collection. I wouldn't have called myself a John Hughes fan, but seeing the filmography (is that a word?)reminded me of all of those films..which I seem to quote more often than I realize. Bueller? Bueller?, Flintstones..meet the Flintstones (from Planes, Trains..)..those aren't pillows!

Now, none of his films is on my all-time ten best list (The Godfather, Godfather2, Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, Out of Africa, It's a Wonderful Life, and four that change frequently but this week I'd answer...High Noon, Double Indemnity, Pride and Prejudice and Walkabout) but they were so fun and so evocative of the 80's. That hair, that make-up...those shoulder pads!

I wasn't even a teenager (and that particular form of angst was over) but they still spoke to me. I'm sure they'd be seen as terribly naive by young people today but I remember them very fondly. They were funny and smart..Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Home Alone, The Breakfast Club, Mr. Mom and I'm sure I've forgotten a bunch. They're not exactly guilty pleasures (e.g., Legally Blonde, Miss Congeniality or Kingpin which I can watch once a month and still find funny.) They're something else..a piece of my history I guess.

So which movies fit that bill for you? And which are your guilty pleasures? Top ten?

HALLIE: I loved Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller. Couldn't stand Home Alone.

Here's my Top Ten guilty pleasures -- movies I cannot resist:

1. Earth Girls Are Easy - Geena Davis as the EG, Jeff Goldblum and Jim Carey soooo young as two of the three aliens. Set in the Valley, where else? Here we sing along with "'Cause I'm a blond...yay yay yeah!"

2. Arsenic and Old Lace - Cary Grant and slapstick at its finest. Hold the elderberry wine.

3. The Philadelphia Story - Grant and Hepburn! Eat your heart out, Brangelina.

4. Some Like It Hot - "Nobody's perfect!"

5. Ninotchka - Garbo smiles

6. Bull Durham - Toenail painting was never the same

7. Who Framed Roger Rabbit - Jessica Rabbit: "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way."

8. Witness for the Prosecution - One of the all time best mysteries ever filmed, and was Marlene Dietrich extraordinary? Did you know it was from an Agatha Christie short story?

9. Tootsie - "I have a name it's Dorothy. It's not Tootsie or Toots or Sweetie or Honey or Doll." 10. When Harry Met Sally - I wanted what she was eating.

RO: LOVE Witness for the Prosecution..wanna kiss me, duckie??...I never faint, because I'm not sure I'll fall gracefully and I don't use smelling salts because they puff up the eyes. I'm Christine Vole! And Bull Durham..dancing to Sixty Minute Man? Oh, my. But Earth Girls are Easy? Hallie, this is a side of you I've never witnessed before.

ROBERTA: I did enjoy Home Alone! That's an amazing list of films...here are some of my faves, lots of romances
1. WHEN HARRY MET SALLY

2. YOU'VE GOT MAIL

3. WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

4. SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE

5. I'm blocking the name of the one starring Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson in which she's a waitress and he's a rich and crazy author (RO: As Good As it Gets)

6. NOTTING HILL

7. FUNNY GIRL

8. THE BIG CHILL

9. HOPSCOTCH

10. TOOTSIE and yes I agree with this one Hallie. I still remember tons of great lines from this one--when Dustin Hoffman comes down the stairs dressed as a woman on the soap--how explains who he really is. hysterical!

JAN: Roberta and Hallie, I share some of your list, as you'll see. I also don't think there should be any guilt whatsoever in the pleasure of Tootsie. In studying screenplay writing, it's used as an example of excellent structure, character development and reversals.
1. TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU

2. LONESOME DOVE (the original television mini series but none of the sequels)

3. SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE

4. YOU'VE GOT MAIL

5. REBECCA

6. GONE WITH THE WIND

7. Not so Surprisingly, THE WOMEN

8. HIGH FIDELITY

9. SPACE BALLS (Mel Brooks)

10. GYPSY (with Natalie Wood)
I will watch any version of any Jane Austen novel, and especially Pride and Prejudice, even if I've just watched it the night before, but don't feel guilty about it.

HANK: I'm typing my top ten guilty pleasures without looking at yours, just to see. Not in order, though..

1. HIGH SOCIETY

2. PHILADEPHIA STORY ( I could watch this a million times..)

3. SULLIVANS TRAVELS

4. BRING IT ON

5.WORKING GIRL (love love love this..cry every time!)

6. YOU'VE GOT MAIL

7. HARVEY

8. DESK SET (endlessly clever)

9. THE WOMEN

10. THE THIN MAN (all of them..)Oh, must add --what's the one that has time travel, and Sean Connery as Agamemmnon? You know... oh! Time Bandits. And Lars and the Real Girl. Love it!
Okay--checking yours now....Oh, of course! When Harry Met Sally. And Sleepless. And Annie Hall. And Tootsie. But I don't feel guilty about those.

RO: Some of these are legitimate classics...but Bring It On?Is that the cheerleading movie with Kirsten Dunst? Earth Girls? Spaceballs? I love that you gals are secure enough to admit to loving some pretty goofy movies!

Now I don't feel so bad about Kingpin, the totally tasteless movie with Bill Murray, Woody Harrelson (one-handed bowler) and Randy Quaid as an Amish bowling wiz (I've been Munsoned!!)

And don't forget to come back on Wednesday for our guest blogger, RJ Ellory!