Mari Ness - Comfort movies:

So bayushi wanted to know what my comfort books were. That’s too long of a post right now (although I will get to it eventually) so instead I’m going to chat about something else: comfort DVDs.

Comfort DVDs haven’t replaced the pure joy of cuddling up with a cat and a old familiar book full of familiar friends and familiar words, but cuddling up on a couch or bed with a cat and a comfort DVD brings its own joy (for one, these days you can chat on instant messenger during comfort DVDs, although I rarely bother), and for two, as the cats will note, watching DVDs usually leaves both hands free for scratching the cat. These aren’t necessarily the films I consider the best of all time, or even my all time favorite films (I’ve made some disclaimers below), but almost all of them have a sense of rightness about them, a sense that even in this mad, mad world, some stories do come out ok, and they are films that have the same effect as a cheering cup of tea, or hot chocolate.

1. The Princess Bride. You thought I was going to say The Lord of the Rings first, didn’t you? But those movies, much though I love them, are not comfort movies. And that The Princess Bride definitely does. anaisis and I used to watch this movie regularly during college (usually right after midterms or after a nasty paper or after I’d written some particularly angsty poem) and it, and popcorn, never failed.

2. Love Actually. I’ll be rewatching this one either this weekend, or over Christmas, or both: it’s one of those rare movies with just enough bittersweet realism to keep itself grounded (one of the intertwined stories focuses on a troubled marriage, and another one focuses on the tug of conflicting emotions of the love of family and the potential love of a new guy) and genuinely, joyful, happy endings that make you want to stand up and cheer – or cry.

3. Shakespeare in Love Ok. So it doesn’t exactly have a cheerful ending – and yet, something about those last few moments still leaves me inspired. And the first half of the movie is hilarious.

4. While we’re on the subject of Shakespeare -- Twelfth Night (the one with Ben Kingsley) and Much Ado About Nothing (the Kenneth Branaugh version). Unfortunately, I don’t own the first, and even more unfortunately, iTunes doesn’t have, as far as I can tell, either of the tracks where Kingsley sings, especially my favorite clip, “For the Rain It Raineth Every Day.” So this may be less of a comfort movie and more of a remembered nostalgic comfort movie, since I haven’t been able to watch it in years.

5. Pride and Prejudice, the BBC 2 Colin Firth version. I like the later Keira Knightley movie as well, but it doesn’t have the same comfort or familiarity or rightness about it. (Or Colin Firth in a wet shirt, which has its own soothing and inspiring effect. Come to think of it, Colin Firth is in a lot of the movies I’m mentioning here. Hmm.) I suppose in part this is thanks to the measured pace of this version, which does feel like a Jane Austen book. I also like Sense and Sensibility, the Emma Thompson version.

6. Friends Not all the episodes work; not all the lines work. But at its very best, Friends works, partly because it bases its humour off the characters, allowing the combination of unexpected and expected laughter.

7. The Vicar of Dibley.

8. Singin’ in the Rain.

9. Angel: Not the entire run, since let’s face it, several Angel episodes are either rousing or depressing, not comforting, but “Smile Time,”(the puppet episode) “You’re Welcome,” (where Cordelia returns, even if the whole episode makes me sniffle). Note: this is a clear example of what I mean by “favorite” versus “comforting” – I actually prefer the dark arc of the second season, and some of the greatest moments there, including the bit where Angel locks the Wolfram and Hart employees in the basement but….comforting, not.

10. Ever After. It’s not a great movie. The hero is annoying. It’s one of those things that I watch with a bit of guilt, like The Greatest Show on Earth (WITH THE CLAW!). And yet. On a similar note, Ice Princess.

11. And from Disney: Beauty and the Beast and Lilo and Stitch; I also adore The Emperor’s New Groove, Sleeping Beauty and a few others, but again, not in the comforting sort of way.

12. The Seventh Seal Because sometimes, I like knowing that Death plays – and enjoys playing – the same games that we do. I should have listed this film seventh. Only for really, really rainy and depressing days where I need that view of the universe confirmed.