comfort movies

Chef

Carol.

Watched Rounders again last night for something close to the tenth time. This can be added to my list. Found an old David Edelstein review--good paragraph on Malkovich.

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/1998/09/place_your_bets.html

fast times / dazed + confused

Shaolin vs. Lama these days.

I guess stuff that I've come to think of as "Thanksgiving movies" counts. The big epic movie series (LOTR, Harry Potter, Star Wars) that I don't have a huge amount of investment in but that are pleasant to have playing in the background while other shit is going on.

Enter the Dragon

it showed up on tv the other day, makes me feel like a little kid whenever I see it

vivid memories of it being on Sat night tv, staying up late while my parents & their friends played cards in the kitchen

oh totally

I second 90s Jackie Chan films. That stuff is pure joy.

Nothing makes me happy faster than Buster Keaton.

not much Merchant Ivory (or that ilk) in this thread. the trailer for a 25th anniversary revival of Howards End reminded me of its
comfort factor.

Bowfinger

Mistress America

My Bodyguard

My Bodyguard was the secret gay love story of my late teens.

Yeah Mistress America is a great one. Baumbach in general too I guess.

xpost

I vastly prefer it to most non-secret gay love stories.

Coming To America

First Blood. Mainly because ITV show it once a week and I've thus become quite attached to it.

Raising Arizona

was stressed out yesterday so I put on The Shining. Sounds counter-intuitive but it worked

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Quick Change, in between Groundhog Day rewatches

Michael Clayton

That Thing You Do

Flying out for thanksgiving tomorrow AM, guess what I just put on

Your deadline was 20 minutes ago

Raiders of the Lost Ark

― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, November 20, 2017 7:47 PM (three days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes! i bought a VHS of it this year and watched it and loved every minute of it. it really is an incredible movie. the whole plot is amazing, the actors are amazing, the soundtrack is so iconic and dynamic (yay Indy theme but also the spooky ark temple theme). it has dumb yet clever screwball humor like Marion accidentally smacking Indy with the mirror as he looks over his previous injuries. that shot of the ark of the covenant burning a hole through the swastika deep in a nazi submarine base. holy shit. literally, holy shit. this movie is the near perfect action film with the ultimately villains. the movie ends with God literally blowing up nazis melting faces and shooting lightning to gloriously smite the third reich. this is a very comforting victory.

ending ofc the x-files style huge warehouse that was a giant matte painting that stayed up on the screen a long, long time and it never broke immersion cos everyone at that time was working at the peak of creativity and technical proficiency. <3 this movie forever. even though it may have contributed to me being afraid of snakes (again the OT implications) the snake pit, the snakes slithering through skeletons and out of mouths, the dark, dark fantasy of it all. it is a light cartoony family movie yet somehow it has this crazy heavy edge to it. the pacing, cinematography, stuntwork, set design, etc. everything is perfectly in harmony with every other element. it is a finely tuned film.

Empire Strikes Back

this movie always reminds me of a certain day, i was a little kid, my mom was cooking soup and me and my brorther were in the kitchen waiting for lunch and the tv had Empire on and it was just the foggy kind of magical and warm and silly experience of hanging out with Yoda and R2-D2 playing around in the swamp. it is weird, kind of hard to explain the feeling, but it was sort of comforting and familiar, like R2 and Yoda were just hanging out while mom makes lunch and we draw monsters. it was very warm and comforting to be in that moment, it is a memory i will treasure forever.

later on i learned about the puppetry involved and Hamill's commitment to working on a set for weeks as the only actor working with two puppets and a bunch of real lizards, snakes, swamp animals, etc., Frank Oz was working on the floor underneath him, delivering line and acting Yoda, and the two communicated via earpiece. it must have been a strange, disorienting experience (love Hamill's story about one day acting out a Luke-Yoda scene and picking up the Rolling Stones on the radio), and i think there is some really strong acting both from Luke and Yoda in these scenes. learning about how this stuff was made doesn't really detract from the magic, it makes it even more magical imo.

National Velvet

^^^^ DING DING DING

god yes

love that one

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Alfredson)

been comfort binging on some oldies on YouTube lately.

Bear Island (great Maclean adventure with Donald Sutherland)
Skyriders (James Coburn in a hostage type rescue adventure)
Puppet on a Chain (classic, and amazing boat chase scene)
Flashpoint (Kris Kristofferson in a compelling conspiracy type mystery)
Sleuth (Caine and Olivier face off)
Where have all the people gone (interesting end of the world stuff)
Stone Cold (ridiculous biker movie starring some quarterback guy)

ridiculous QB = brian bosworth
I’ve not seen the movie but havd heard tell of its ridiculousness

Withnail & I works for me, oddly enough

xp yeah that's him.

Withnail & I is a great Sunday morning hangover cure movie, for me.

haha brian bosworth forces me to mention

most if not all "30 for 30s", if they count

Slums of Beverly Hills

Hobson's Choice

Bow finger

Dude, Where's My Car?

Conan: The Barbarian

Bad Santa

star trek the motion picture

The Shop Around the Corner

Films I've returned to for solace, chronological:

8½
Time Bandits
Paris, Texas
Wings of Desire
Delicatessen
Orlando
Serial Mom
Underground
Ridicule
Black Cat, White Cat
The Girl on the Bridge
Herod's Law
Tuvalu
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Amélie
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... Spring
Mary and Max
Holy Motors
Wrong
Her

Only Jeunet & Kusturica have multiple entries, so far.

are we talking solace comfort or like, flu comfort?

terminator 2

xp flappy: I've put them on during lonely evenings, and they've cheered me.

Lost In Translation

otm

Heat
Rocky

There are certain movies which, if you stumble across them while channel surfing, you are powerless not to watch the rest of it.

One of mine is "All the President's Men," which would be su-u-u-uch a comfort movie right now.