comfort movies

x-post Also I love Ethan Embry in that movie. Sadly he has not aged well.

Kung Fu Hustle - yes!

Kicking and Screaming (the Noah Baumbach one, not the Will Ferell one)

yes!

also: metropolitan, some kind of wonderful, kitty foyle, withnail and i, sixteen candles, parenthood, the secret life of walter mitty, la jetee

casino royale (2007)

miller's crossing

bullitt

ENBB did you know that in some countries Empire Records was called "Rock and Fun"?

AH - how could I have forgotten some kind of wonderful? I should count withnail too I think.

It turns out that I have a lot of comfort movies.

Sunny I did not know that but from now on that's what I'm going to call it. That's great - ha!

well i think movies are just kind of comforting. i mean unless you're watching like The Piano Teacher or something.

The Great Escape, even though it's shown every Christmas anyway. I suppose that it's a comfort because the plot is so familiar, also so many great lines ("I can see... really I can!" trips over James Garner). And while on a Pleasence tip, Fantastic Voyage, and also You Only Live Twice (OK then, that's two - and a half - Bond movies in my list).

Ok - I can't believe I didn't think of this until now but Waiting for Guffman.

The Italian Job (original version), which I'd forgotten about despite it being here on the shelf next to me. And it may not exactly be a movie, more of a documentary, but I used to watch ABBA: The Movie over and over.

I just recently realized that whenever I feel really down I feel like watching "The Thin Red Line" oddly enough. Not for the plot but the general sound, look, and ambience of it.

-- ryan, Monday, July 7, 2008 12:58 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

malick in general make sense - theres something v calming abt the contemplative qualities of his movies

i dont have any comfort movies that ill go so far as to put on but def if i stumble across them on tv i can get into it. awsome 80s comedies back to the future ferris bueller fletch and all sorts of spy/thriller type shit. i have a feeling in a few years time i will have seen the bourne movies 1mx

North By Northwest

Joy Luck Club, Muriel's Wedding, Ryan's Daughter - weepy shit like dat

Usually, this is what I use DVDs of TV shows for... Simpsons, Joy of Painting, et al.

But Wet Hot American Summer is one I can always put in and half watch.

It'll always be a new film. I really dislike rewatching films - when there is so much potential greatness (or rubbish) out there. I was in a bit of a funk a few weeks ago, went to see Mongol, and it cheered me up more than any rewatching of Zoolander would.

Cool Hand Luke

less than zero

Dude, Where's My Car?. I got it as a birthday present when I was 21 or 22, and I've watched it at least 10 times ever since. That movie has whole microcosm in it.

As for older movies, I guess this kind of a cliche, but It's a Wonderful World. They show it on Finnish telly every Christmas, and I've tried to watch it every year since I was 15, though I have missed a few times. I still cry every time I see it. This is basically the most Christmassy thing I do every year, because I don't have family Christmas or anything.

Oh, and Totoro, yes, absolutely! One of the most calm and soothing movies ever, it's bound to put you in a more peaceful state of mind.

you mean Its a Wonderful Life, right?

Yeah, that one, sorry about the typo.

this has been an interesting thread for me, how readily I can scan thru these lists and quickly identify those movies that tend to have a pleasant narcotic effect, and others that I disqualify because for one reason or another they induce/recall some sort of anxiety for me. Not sure why for many of them, though.

but

Clueless
Groundhog Day
Beverly Hills Cop
Any Harry Potter film

-- musically, Monday, 7 July 2008 17:21 (1 hour ago) Link

OTM

oh yeah, Less Than Zero, too!

Less than zero is so bad it's good but is actually so bad that I really kind of wish they would remake it and I don't say that about many movies. Sorry if that didn't make any sense. Too much caffeine. Argh.

miller's crossing

-- omar little, Monday, July 7, 2008 2:29 PM (57 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

yesss

Wow, nobody else's are even in the same genre, or same half of the last century, as mine. The only films I find endlessly rewatchable and comforting are musicals: Fred and Ginger, Gene Kelly and Judy Garland in "Summer Stock," and all the Busby Berkeley stuff, esp. "The Gang's All Here." Chorines waving bananas = comfort!

it is b/c you are special

Solaris

ohwhoa i can't believe i forgot to say, and no one else has said:

Bladerunner

Stand By Me

if i didn't, i should have said When Harry Met Sally (all time)

and still my best friend's wedding. it's like a vacation every time

hannah & her sisters

the great escape

any classic "up all night" movie like dazed & confused (noticed a lot of ppl chose that one)

definitely empire strikes back.
beneath the planet of the apes.
i think 28 days later is becoming this kind of movie for me.

Zorro (1975)

okay you know what, i don't think it was zorro 1975. i think it was the 1940 movie.
the one that was on the disney channel "late" (that is, later than my normal bedtime as a 3-5 year old).

Behind Enemy Lines

basically any of the bond movies except OHMSS and CR

most of the dirty harries

i'm more of a tv show person when i feel like this. Arrested Development, sometimes Chappelle.

movies: Bourne, Casino Royale (2007), Oldboy, Big Lebowski, Do the Right Thing ('til near the end if i'm too bummed), Fellowship of the Ring (up 'til they leave Rivendell), Bladerunner, 40 Year Old Virgin can be good, but sometimes strike the wrong chord.

Spielberg (CE3K, Raiders). And the first Star Wars (1977).

tommy boy

Fame
Quiz Show
Together

the station agent

DIE HARD

and Wonder Boys

― milo z, Monday, July 7, 2008 1:13 PM (2 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^ and out of sight

Empire Records
Withnail & I
Grosse Pointe Blank

... I'm more a TV show person to though, so I'll more readily get out the Simpsons or Goodies box set or something.

Igby Goes Down
Any film of Jane Austen novel
Chariots of Fire

Depends what I want... uplifting, romantic happy ending, or just to have a bloody good bawl.

Local Hero
The Princess Bride
The Maltese Falcon

cosign Bad News Bears

booger eatin moron hive assemble!

realized when talking to my barber that I can talk about Cool Hand Luke at length

I met somebody this week who told me her middle name was "Coolhand." I said, "Oh, your parents must really like Paul Newman." She looked at me like I had three heads.

loves eggs, dashboard jesus

I can't believe I overlooked one of my favorites:

Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, September 23, 2020 1:37 PM (five years ago) bookmarkflaglink

otm

despite it being a war movie, it's (mostly) very tender and (most of) the characters are good-hearted people

That's a good one!

This may be totally unique to me, but both Decision to Leave and No Other Choice have fallen into a pretty regular rewatch zone for me--I think perhaps they are both so visually dynamic it actually rewards a distracted, looking around the edges of the frame kind of viewing.

Also surprised no one (especially me) has mentioned The Nice Guys--a very elusive genre, "comedic/light noir," which is pretty much ideal for comfort viewing.

My weirdest comfort movie as mentioned way above is Paul Schrader’s vv moody 1992 noir Light Sleeper, which has this pacing like your heart rate after you chill out post-breathing exercises, and you settle in without it rising above that level. The music is a big acquired taste, it’s basically Michael Been being extremely moody and sincere and periodically lyrically obvious, intoning over minimal backing tracks, but I think it adds to the overall late night hypnotic, narcotic feel. Having expert comfort food presences like Dafoe and Sarandon helps a lot.