This is a tough one. Film is a drug, but each film is like a medication that is targeted to induce a particular emotion. If I just need to laugh, I put on The Emperor’s New Groove, which can have me rolling no matter how many times I’ve seen it. If I need a film to be touching and funny, I might choose 50 First Dates. If I want to feel inspired and heroic then Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind or Lawrence of Arabia fits the bill. But the film that probably has the best balance of good feeling is Finding Nemo. Dory is hilarious, but every character has his or her own kind of charm and joy.
A recent acquaintance of mine discussed the idea that lists of "favorite" films are misleading and creates false parameters. Instead, he suggested, we should be discussing "films we go back to again." What films do we put on when we are stressed or need to be comforted? In thinking about it, I believe that I have a set of films that do that, all either from Pixar or Miyazaki.
My basic lists are these:
Pixar:
Finding Nemo
Wall-E
Toy Story 1-3
Monsters Inc.
The Incredibles
Miyazaki:
Naussica of the Valley of the Wind
Castle In The Sky
Spirited Away
My Neighbor Totoro
Princess Mononoke
And a few Disney thrown in for good measure:
The Lion King
The Emperor's New Groove
Mary Poppins
Mulan
Yeah. Most of these are kid's movies that aren't just for kids. A few aren't kids movies at all. But they are comforting and give me pleasure when I really need it.
What is your comfort film?
I really liked Hoodwinked. My favorite part is where Japheth the goat sings that great "Be Prepared!" song.
ReplyDelete