Cinematical Seven: The World's Best 'Comfort' Movies
Filed under: Animation, Classics, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Family Films, Home Entertainment, Cinematical Seven, Lists
You could probably tell if you got me on the phone: I had some severe oral surgery just a few days ago. It was a long time coming (stemming from a genetic calcium deficiency, a nasty fall during Labor Day weekend, and years of simple stupidity on my part), it was very unpleasant, and ... it's over. Aside from the healing process, that is, which is often more uncomfortable than the actual procedures. (If you're reading these words, go brush your teeth right now. Seriously. I'll wait.) So since I'll be spending the next several days drinking soup and popping cocktails made of Vicodin and antibiotics, I'll also need a big stack of "comfort movies" to make me feel better. And to make myself feel even better than that, I choose to share those movies with you.
So if you're low, cranky, depressed, ill, miserable, or simply recovering from a dental procedure that makes Marathon Man look like Mr. Mom, try some of these on for size. Odds are you've seen 'em already, but each one has some sort of magical healing power that I'm very grateful for.
Finding Nemo -- This is my #1. Whenever I can't sleep, have a headache, or am convalescing from endodontic agony, there's just something so sweetly soothing about this movie. Perhaps the underwater locale has something to do with it, but Finding Nemo always chills me out. And if you've ever met me, you know how valuable a movie like that can be. I even like the dentist, and that's saying something.
The Fellowship of the Ring -- The early stuff in Hobbiton is so damn beautiful ... and that music! Plus, the idea of starting off on a VERY long adventure reminds me of watching movies as a kid (when every movie seemed four hours long), and that's a very valuable power for a movie to possess.
The Princess Bride -- 'Nuff said.
Raising Arizona -- Brilliantly funny, masterfully directed, and (best of all) it just never gets old. How is it that I can still chuckle at jokes I've heard 19 times by now? ("You ate sand? We ate sand.") I have no idea. It must be that movie magic I keep hearing about.
King Kong '33 -- I'm a big fan of Peter Jackson's love letter / remake, and it could also qualify as a comfort movie -- but it does get kinda loud in Act II. And a comfort movie needs to be somewhat sedate, you know? As far as pure nostalgia goes, nothing touches the original Kong. (OK, The Wizard of Oz comes close.) This is THE movie that turned me into a movie geek -- and for that I'll be forever grateful.
Weekend at Bernie's 2 -- Just kidding. I'm medicated, not brain-damaged.
Miller's Crossing -- You know how classical music aficionados can become just enraptured by the sounds they're hearing? The notes and the tones are so sublime that they almost defy description? That the rhythms and cadences and melodies are virtually MAGIC? Yeah. That's how I feel about this screenplay.
Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Caddyshack or Stripes -- I was raised on these movies. And I mean that. (I actually called them the "ABCs of American Comedy": A for Animal, B for Blues, etc. Gosh was I a clever little dork.) I'm that guy who could recite these movies word for word as the VHS tape whirred on by. Fortunately I'm also the guy who knows how freaking obnoxious that is. Also in this category: Ghostbusters, 9 to 5, and (weird, I know) Seems Like Old Times.
My mother simply had to throw a few "comfort" titles in: Forrest Gump, Con Air, and Wuthering Heights. Yeah, she's got weird taste too. Plus she keeps begging me to watch a movie called Holiday Heart, but frankly there's not enough Vicodin in Philadelphia to cover that assignment.
So over to you, my fine Cinematical surveyor: What flicks do you crave when you're feeling crappy?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
9-08-2008 @ 5:15AM
Scott Weinberg said...
Kind of obnoxious to add a comment to your own article (maybe), but I forgot a BIGGIE and I've already edited the piece about 19 times. So here goes:
Richard Donner's SUPERMAN.
aka Security Blanket: The Movie.
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9-16-2008 @ 3:21PM
Lisa said...
Castaway with Tom Hanks !!!!
9-08-2008 @ 8:40AM
Jette said...
Comfort movies for me are either the films I grew up watching a lot -- "Breaking Away" and "Auntie Mame" are two biggies -- or old-fashioned romantic comedies: "His Girl Friday," "Bringing Up Baby," "Pat and Mike," "Harold and Maude" and (yes, this fits the category) "Clerks II." Anything not-too-melodramatic with Katherine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, or Barbara Stanwyck does the trick for me.
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9-08-2008 @ 10:19PM
joits said...
i've always liked family man with nic cage, makes me feel good and can definitely lift my spirits. some childhood favorites like goonies, breakfast club and ferris bueller are also movies that are perfect for when you have a crappy mood.
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9-08-2008 @ 10:33PM
Paul said...
Local Hero.
Not just a great comfort movie, but a great film, which gets better every time I watch it.
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9-17-2008 @ 2:06AM
Grace said...
How about Gregory's girl, by the same director, Bill Forsythe,
I think...a very charming movie.
9-08-2008 @ 11:37PM
Terry Dawson said...
"My Neighbor Totoro" offers comfort to the inner 5-year-old -- classic John Ford ("Fort Apache", "Quiet Man") or Frank Capra ("It Happened One Night", "Mr. Deeds", "John Doe", "Lost Horizon") -- agree with "Fellowship of the Ring" -- "Seven Samurai" is another epic to get lost in
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9-08-2008 @ 10:37PM
Terry Dawson said...
"My Neighbor Totoro" offers comfort to the inner 5-year-old -- classic John Ford ("Fort Apache", "Quiet Man") or Frank Capra ("It Happened One Night", "Mr. Deeds", "John Doe", "Lost Horizon") -- agree with "Fellowship of the Ring" -- "Seven Samurai" is another epic to get lost in.
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9-08-2008 @ 10:44PM
totoro said...
My Neighbor Totoro (of course)
Local Hero
White Christmas
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9-08-2008 @ 10:52PM
Ian said...
Ghostbusters for some reason is always what I reach for...
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9-08-2008 @ 11:12PM
cough said...
Well, i'm glad you're recovering. I personally enjoy visiting dentists, I really don't know why. They're just so much fun.
I've never thought about comfort movies, really. I guess my choices would be Spirited Away; Back to the future 1, (I can't say no to Fox and Lloyd.) and Die hard 3. It's amazing what Bruce willis cursing can do.
These can, for a fact, ease me discomforts away in no time. Talk about weird taste huh?
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9-08-2008 @ 11:35PM
Christian M. Howell said...
I'd have to add The Incredibles, The Pursuit of Happyness, Arthur, Arthur II, Home For The Holidays, The Waterboy.
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9-08-2008 @ 11:39PM
Tom said...
Lebowski & Departed
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9-08-2008 @ 11:52PM
Angie said...
School of Rock, Clueless, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin always leave me feeling great. Lots of laughs, no serious or sad conflicts, and-- spoiler alert-- happy endings.
When I was a kid, I had a VHS of the Super Mario Bros. cartoon that had the magical ability to make me feel better whenever I felt ill... so I hear ya.
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9-09-2008 @ 12:08AM
Nick said...
Any Wes Anderson movie, but specifically "Rushmore."
Definitely agree about older movies too. Maybe it's because they're always on TCM, but His Girl Friday and Bringing Up Baby are always good comfort movies. Others are Annie Hall, Ocean's 12 (such an incredibly underrated movie), and Love, Actually used to be one.
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9-09-2008 @ 12:11AM
Nick said...
Also, I'd add pretty much anything that Bill Murray's in makes me feel better. Particularly "Groundhog Day."
9-09-2008 @ 12:13AM
Movie Jay said...
Going totally nerdcore here, but Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Shortly after 9/11, I couldn't turn on the TV without being reminded of the horrible events so I needed to escape with a movie that was far removed from the real world--preferably something to make me laugh.
For something with a little more of a message, I would say Groundhog Day. Ironically enough, it's the movie that I can watch over and over and over and over and over again.
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9-09-2008 @ 12:18AM
Lucinda said...
Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility. Or anything else with Emma Thompson.
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9-09-2008 @ 12:25AM
Justin said...
my top one The Simpsons movie. 19 years and Homer is still there to be dumber then me.
Your right about Finding Nemo. A great thing about it is just the realxing and watch a fish tank aspect.
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9-09-2008 @ 2:43AM
Elisabeth said...
Finding Nemo is the ultimate comfort movie. It really is.
Any musicals -- Oklahoma! is probably THE one to watch on a lousy day.
I crave a lot of crappy movies when I feel crappy -- there was a period when only Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life could cheer me up. I knew it was junk, and that's why it made me feel good...like a bag of M&M's...and then kind of crappy after.
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