What's your go-to "comfort food" movie?
It's a miserable cold rainy afternoon. You need to wind down. You want to lie down on the couch, curl up under a blanket, drink a mug of cocoa/tea/chocolate, switch off, and spend a couple of hours just relaxing in front of a movie. You don't want something that will challenge you or make you think. Nothing new and exciting. It doesn't need to cheer you up, because you're not feeling depressed. You just want something that's going to make you feel cosy. Something familiar and comfortable and warm. You want an old favourite that you've seen so many times you can practically quote it word for word, so you don't even need to fully pay attention - but a movie that always makes you feel happy when you see it for the umpteenth time.
What movie do you put on?
The Fifth Element
Alternate: The Princess Bride
Isn't 'The Fifth Element' a sci-fi thriller? (I only saw it once.) That seems a strange choice for comfort food. What makes it so cosy for you?
The Fifth Element is a colorful sci-fi comedy adventure. I wouldn’t call it a thriller. It’s first grade escapism, full of hope and romance and quite heartwarming. I can see how it can be considered “comfort food“.
I find it quite cozy too. Despite the serious themes, there's nothing really serious about the movie. It's easy to watch, and familiar to many of us.
maybe you’re mixing it up with a different movie? It’s a comedy action adventure. And it’s pretty amazing!
@mrbig parallels my reasons pretty well. It's a love story, it's also sci fi, it's funny, it's got outrageous characters and costume design, it just feels good to escape into for awhile.
Galaxy Quest
They come on on TV and I'll keep them on, rather than I settle into them. Oddly, a lot of sci-fi, and I'll group them by their connections:
The Matrix
The Fifth Element
Pitch Black, and The Chronicles of Riddick
Highlander, Highlander 2
Monty Python and the Quest for the holy Grail
The Princess Bride
The Labrynth
Blazing Saddles
The thing about a few of them (Fifth Element, The Matrix, and the Highlander movies, Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick) is that they aren't relaxing, at least thematically, but I found them at a time where I was very impressionable, and they were at least not harmful, even if they were weird (Chronicles of Riddick, Fifth Element). I have nothing but positive feelings around these movies even if they're darker movies.
goddammit that's a good choice
That movie is so wonderfully executed. Every bit of dialogue is as sharp and economic as ever. Did you ever see Mousehunt? That was another Gore Verbinski movie before Pirates and just... the amount of fun he'd have with his camera moves is just so delightful.
For me, it's 'Victor Victoria'. The combination of music, comedy, gender confusion, and general silliness is fun. Julie Andrews' singing is amazing. Robert Preston is a sarcastic gay man with a good heart. Leslie Ann Warren is comedy gold. Art deco backgrounds (it's set in the 1930s). And the songs are great. "These are a few of my favourite things."
When I first started my current job, I would watch The Garden of Words (言の葉の庭) on repeat for most of the workday. The rain scenes were really nice background, and money shots of Cellphones was a big plus as well.
Ratatouille
Back to the Future I&II
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Forrest Gump
National Treasure
Robin Hood: Men in Tights. A Mel Brooks classic.
That one's fun to watch just 'cause you can tell everyone's having fun making it.
I have a full folder of those on the backup drive.
Either the Alien movies from start until I get bored, or Jurassic Park movies from start.
Oh or any old horror movie.
Once a year I rewatch Paris is Burning (which is free and legally up on youtube btw) - but thats not... well its not comforting. Its one of the best documentaries I have ever seen and I have watched it sooo many times. Its about the Ball Culture (edit: "ball culture" refers to a sort of dance off / walk off competition where houses, usually consisting of homeless or estranged youths ganging together in a "house" compete with each other in this mix of drag, dance and class make-belief) in the NYC LGBT scene (Latino and Black gay men and transgender mostly) during the 80's. Its dark AF, inspirational beyond belief though and the people in it are just... ooof. I mean I always feel "better" after watching it but still its not a "nice awesome" kind of better.
My Neighbour Totoro or in general any Ghibli film. In general I'm not a fan of anime because of it's many tired tropes, but Ghibli rocks.
Just the soundtracks alone are often cozy af (minus the exciting tracks).
I don't know why but I can't watch Ghibli movies, they all feel so melancholic and pensive and make me feel so fucking sad I can't explain it
Heh, if you think Totoro and the like are sad... ever seen Grave of the Fireflies? It's not melancholic and pensive, it's downright soul crushingly depressing. It genuinely took me a week to mentally recover from after watching it. However, despite that, it's still an incredible movie that everyone should see at least once, as the message it conveys is incredibly important IMO.
The best movie you'll never want to rewatch.
Pi (1998)
Phantom Thread
There Will Be Blood
Inglourious Basterds
Pulp Fiction
Or if we're talking about seasons then I do like to binge watch Fleabag whenever I'm feeling sad, random episodes of Breaking Bad are nice too (mostly ones from the final season).
It's not on my list, but I absolutely respect your choice of comfort flicks.
Inside Llewyn Davis is like a bowl of chicken noodle soup on a chilly day.
In addition to most of those previously mentioned, this is a list of some movies I can't stop watching if I stumble on them. Basically, comfort-watching for quality and familiarity.
Young Frankenstein
Ratatouille
Princess Mononoke
Big Night
Groundhog Day
Kung Fu Hustle
Drunken Master
Deadpool
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
The Iron Giant
Amélie
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Moulin Rouge
Little Shop of Horrors (musical)
Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall... and Spring
Firefly and Serenity never get old for me and will always have a death-grip on my heartstrings.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is good whether you're paying attention to it or not.
The Resident Evil movies are in that special mindlessly good category that allows them to be re-watched over and over.
Various Youtube vlogs about the sailing and cruising lifestyle:
And to break convention slightly, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Ooh, I love sailing videos also. Also comforting are roadtrip channels where they often have a dashcam and drive around, sometimes not saying anything or occasionally giving history or stories of the places. Travel channels that just do that and let you soak in the ambient sounds and all are some of the best. The worst offenders are ones who have to blast terrible music over their videos and most of the time it's about the person molesting their face into the camera, not the place, sounds, history, culture, etc.
To add a couple more travel channels: Erik Aanderaa, 4Kurbanlife, a few other motorcycle travel channels ...there so much more out there, wish I could remember all the good ones I watched lately. I know, bookmarks, sub, etc but I already have enough channels I watch, I'm afraid to sub to anymore, time is so limited.
And just to play along with the thread even though I rarely watch movies, I'd recommend What We Do In The Shadows if no one's saw it.
There's a guy who takes videos of various hiking trails and parks in my area (PA, Berks and surrounding counties) and talks at length about the history of the various locations. If you can get past the cold weather sniffling the fella is an encyclopedia of things hidden in plain sight. His channel is called Down Hex Highway.
Of all the games that come and go, Skyrim is a constant. Sometimes I just browse through mods on Nexus, and sometimes I wander around in-game, somehow still finding new things, and sometimes I spend three hours reorganizing the hundreds of items I can't bring myself to part with, and sometimes I actually play the game. The only thing I never seem to do is delete Skyrim.
Jurassic Park: It was one of the first PG-13 movies I'd seen. I'd listen to the soundtrack weekly if not daily, my friends got all of its video games and toys, so I associate it with going to their house and sleepovers with Donkey Kong Country & Earthbound.
Blade Runner: The Director's Cut, where they opted to keep the scenes in that had narration, but took the narration out and just replaced it with soft rain noises. The sound effects, the aesthetic-- it reminds me of staying up late watching my dad work and all of the cozy computer lights, where we'd then round out the night playing Lemmings, Cosmic Adventure, or other whatever other DOS/Shareware games he'd gotten.
Away We Go. Came out when I was expanding my music tastes and introduced me to Alexi Murdoch, and inspired me to get a cozier wardrobe; I legit own every outfit John Krasinski had worn throughout that movie (except some weird, brown, button-down shirt he'd had with embroidery on the back; could never find that one. probably for the best). I've since developed a habit of looking out for people in movies who look comfy in their clothes and make an effort to Google whatever the hell they're wearing-- it has mixed success. Often times it's some $200 sweater I'd be too afraid I'd spill spaghetti on. I don't watch this movie as much nowadays because it's all about the uncertainty of having kids and is more optimistic than I am currently/my wife and I aren't having kids, but there's no denying it is a cozy movie.
Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade. Similar to Jurassic Park, this was one of the first fun movies I'd ever seen. Dad would often pick movies for a surprise movie night, not tell us anything about it, and there'd just be a bunch of magical build-up to the title and what the movie was. I was very naive/pop culture isn't what it is today, so I was terrible at guessing, but when the title dropped it was always this big epic "holy shit! it's THIS movie!?" And I'd just feel insatiable excitement afterward. Again John Williams on the soundtrack, Spielberg behind the lens-- it was a magical duo that just screams cozy (don't get me started on Harry Potter! also cozy!)
Lord of the Rings. Duh.
Lately (and strangely) The Twilight Saga.
It's my guilty pleasure. But I lived in Washington State for a while and it reminds me of the nature there. Plus it's fairly melancholy, so it is nice to curl up to with some warm food.
Others go-to's:
Harry Potter series
Star Wars Saga
Lord of the Rings
Princess Bride
About Time
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Another very guilty pleasure: The Princess Switch
Also, the Great British Baking Show is pleasant if you don't have time for a movie and would rather binge-watch something for 8 hours instead.
I don’t really like films as much as I wish I did so I never really like, watch a movie whenever. But it I had to chose one it’d definitely be Persepolis. Quite a short film, quite beautifully animated, lighthearted even with grim subject matter.... it’s a great watch for whenever I’d say :)