Do you have any “comfort movies?”
I do not understand people who can love a movie and only see it once.
I have seen some of my favorite movies so many times I have literally lost count.
There are some movies I love so much that watching them gives me the comfort of a child hearing a favorite bedtime story. In my mind I am quizzing myself to see how much of the script I remember, sometimes saying favorite lines about loud right along with the actors, anticipating the best parts to come.
The best part of all is when I am watching something I have seen countless times and notice a new detail that escaped me on all the previous viewings.
A few nights ago I noticed Cast Away was on (I saw that 12 times in the theatre, have no idea how many times on TV) and I had the following thoughts in very rapid sequence: “OOO! Cast Away is on! Damn! it’s almost over! Wait! It’s just about time for the Ice In My Glass speech!” So I turned it on and sure enough Tom Hanks was just about to give that speech, which brought me through many a deep depression during my final semester in seminary (at one time I knew that monologue by heart). After that I should have turned it off, because the rest of the film has nothing to do with the marooned on a desert island premise, but instead I watched it to the end, because it was Cast Away, and damned if I didn’t notice a detail right at the end I had never seen before!
I get tremendous all out of proportion satisfaction from that.
While I’m on the subject of Tom Hanks, Apollo 13 (10 times in the theatre, countless times on TV) is another one of those that always sucks me in. I turn it on and tell myself if it is just for a few minutes, until the top of the hour when the news comes on or something, and I end up watching it to the end. Having it on in the background while I work is strangely comforting. And I’ll make it three for three with Tom by saying that Captain Phillips (only three times in the theatre, but at least 10 on TV by now) has the same effect on me. I say I’ll only watch a little bit but then I leave it on until it’s over. In June I saw Sully and Catch Me If You Can for the first time and they both have potential. Have I mentioned that I adore Mr. Hanks?
But I can also recite whole scenes of Rain Man (6 times in the theatre) from memory and I don’t even like Tom Cruise. I used to fall asleep to a bootleg audio recording I made of Rain Man on cassette tapes.
Jaws (only once in the theatre! but many MANY times on TV) was on over the weekend and I did the same thing I did with Cast Away: “OOO! Jaws is on! Damn! it’s half over! Wait! It’s almost time for the “Indianapolis speech”! I used to know that speech by heart too. It makes me feel old when I get lines wrong!
The worst movie of all for this is The Last Waltz (27 times in the theatre, more than that on TV if you count all the bits and pieces). I tell myself I'll just watch the first song, or just watch one song, and then before I know it I’m turning it up and singing along in harmony and singing parody lyrics and feeling young again.
Recently I’ve noticed I’m reaching out for my “comfort movies” more often, and the reason why is obvious. I need to grab for whatever life preserver I can reach so I can turn my mind off from the horrors of the DJT administration. Comfort movies are a handy form of mild sedation, with many fewer calories than comfort food, and bring a couple of hours of relief from the “interesting times” we are living in politically. Watching a tense suspenseful movie, but not worrying because I know it all comes out right in the end, is a good feeling we don’t get to have nowadays with DJT in the White House and daily breaking news that is full of bad surprises.
Which brings us to the picture at the top of the diary. The other day I wanted to see All the President’s Men (just once in the theatre but dozens of times on video/TV—I used to use it as a sleep tape) so bad I almost rented it for $2.99, but at the last minute remembered it was free on demand from Cinemax.
Obviously that is the most satisfying one of all to watch right now, when every day the WaPo or the NYT or McClatchy or even a surprising source like the WSJ publishes breaking news of more DJT corruption and collusion and incompetence. It is so soothing watching Redford and Hoffman and remembering that (most of) it actually happened, and that a president really can be “hounded out of office by a liberal press”. It gives me hope to hold on for another day.
In fact, I put All the President’s Men on while I was finishing this diary, and it will probably play through to the end. It’s hard to find a place to turn it off! It is as relaxing as taking off grown-up shoes at the end of the day and stepping into my favorite pair of comfy house slippers. Jane Alexander just said: “If you guys could get John Mitchell that would be beautiful.” Everything about the predictability of it makes my mind de-stress, and lets me fantasize that investigative journalism may come through and save the country again please O please O please O please O please O please O please O please O please
Are you the kind of person who watches a movie once and then you are done? Or do you have “comfort movies” too?
I made a list of twenty off the top of my head for the poll at the bottom of the diary. I’m sure that as I answer comments I will think of 10 or 15 more. Which of my comfort movies do you like best/have you seen more than once?
Search wasn’t working right so I couldn’t determine for sure whether I had done this topic before, but even if I have, I think we could all use a new batch of comfort movies to help us get through the DJT nightmare.
Do you have any “comfort films” to recommend?
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