Movies have healing properties. They affect our moods. The right one can make us feel better. And recovery is often as much a psychological process as it is physical one. So any film that is familiar enough to fall asleep to and not too much of a thinker or a downer is just what the doctor ordered.
A friend of mine said he couldn't name a specific title because he'd want to use his sick time to catch up on all the movies he hasn't seen yet. That's a valid point. But as for me, when I'm sick, I can't focus and I don't want to multitask. I want my old favorites around me: my mug, my robe, my recliner, and my movies.
Most of the picks below will probably peg me as a child of the eighties, but it's really the genres that are important -- prescribing the right remedy to match what you're going through and what you need.
Classic call-in flicks:
Princess Bride
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Sick over the holidays:
Elf or Home Alone
Love Actually or It's a Wonderful Life
Too sick to follow a plot:
Top Hat or Viva Las Vegas
Overboard or Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
It hurts when I laugh:
History of the World, Part 1 or A Night at the Opera
Caddyshack or Wayne's World
I want my mommy:
Tangled or Finding Nemo
Mary Poppins or The NeverEnding Story
Long term care:
All 3 Lord of the Rings or all 3 original Star Wars
All 3 Back to the Futures or all 3 Godfathers
On the mend:
Star Trek: Wrath of Khan or Top Gun
The Thin Man or O Brother Where Art Thou
Which movies do you want to watch when you're home sick?
6 comments:
This is a brilliant blog post idea! I always watch the Princess Bride when I'm sick because my grandfather (despite much pleading on my part) refuses to wear a newsy cap and tell me whimsical stories which were better appreciated in his day before these newfangled game-boys took over the minds of America's youth.
My favorites when I'm really feeling crummy are Sleepless in Seattle and While You Were Sleeping. But when I just feel like a goof-off day it has to be either Animal House, or Revenge of the Nerds, or Ferris Bueller.
The first Harry Potter movies! Or all 8, for really long-term care.
I do enjoy chipping away at the never-ending backlog of films I want to see when I'm laid low. However, the negative aspect of watching new films when I'm sick is that if the movie is bad, I tend to feel worse after seeing it!
Howl's Moving Castle, Minority Report, or Bladerunner would be some of mine.
Cinema Paradiso and When Harry Met Sally are favorite comfort DVDs. Classic tv shows like Taxi with Danny DeVito also offer comfort and humor.
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