Comfort Entertainment
Sometimes, things just aren’t going your way. It’s been a tough day, or a tough week, or a tough forever. Sure, you can stock up on chocolate, or ice cream, or drink all the wine. But oftentimes, what you really need is some nice, comfort entertainment. It’s always there for you, it probably won’t give you a stomach ache and it never goes to voicemail. We’ll be honest with you, it’s been a difficult little while for the Sisters lately, so we thought we’d share what movies and TV shows we’ve been marathoning to get us through.
Firefly– I reach for Firefly when I feel vaguely hopeless, but I’m not really sure why. Because I want to laugh, cry and feel a sense of adventure. It’s my go to show for when life is feeling unfair and difficult. So, you know, Tuesdays.
West Wing– West Wing is for when everything is just going to hell in a handbasket. Or when it’s election season here in the US and I can’t handle the nonsense anymore. Fictional nonsense is just sooooo much better. West Wing is comforting because it gives me hope. And because CJ is the best.
Stand By Me– Not that I’ve ever needed an emotional excuse to watch this movie, because its awesomeness is enough, but I find myself pulling this one up when I truly want a good cry, or when I want to feel 12 again. And when I want to quote something with utter abandon.
The Hunger Games– I’m cheating a bit here, because I usually go straight for the books when I really need a cathartic punch in the existential gut. Or if I’m overstocked on Kleenex and really need to burn through my supply. But the movies make me ugly cry every time too, so I’m listing it anyway.
Deep Impact– I love this movie, and I don’t care who knows it. It’s overwrought and the science is….questionable at best. But, I don’t care. Elijah Wood is adorable, Morgan Freeman is amazing and (spoiler alert) humanity mostly survives being hit with a giant frakking asteroid. Deep Impact gets bonus points for only giving Earth a partial victory, which couches the film in just enough realism that I don’t drown in saccharine sweetness. It’s my go to for when I just need a win.
Dollhouse: Epitaph One and Epitaph Two– I treat these two episodes of Dollhouse like a mini series and just watch them as stand alones. I like to pretend they were the whole show, sometimes. They are so dark and bleak and post apocalypse. They have crazy Topher, and caring Adele and Felicia Day. They give me a weird sense of hope sprouting in the deep darkness, the same way that all of Joss Whedon’s work does. They tell that I’m going to get through this.
When I’m dealing with things being unideal and not very nice at all, I like to binge watch shows that are way over the top. It is the only time I’ll really watch drama dramas. You know those dramas when everything is so serious and they’ve all forgotten how to laugh, and everything is about to end right now because CRISIS. Those make me feel relaxed when my life is a bit tough. Especially when I am laying on the couch watching people freak out, it is almost comedic. I may be strange.
Scandal goes from one crisis to another. It is a great example of what I hope my life never is. Also the clothing is really great. Alright, I’ll take the clothes, but not the crisis. Great for relaxing couch watching when blue. Your life is not as hard as theirs.
Damages I’m not sure drama gets more drama then this. Everyone is about to get caught by the cops or the feds for something, and murdering and law things have to happen to stop it!
The Good Wife Politics and law. There are funny episodes, mostly involving Elsbeth. She is ridiculous, and those episodes are fast paced and silly. The other episodes are often direly serious, especially if you get invested.
Hannibal is beautiful and insane. Perfect for when you are off kilter, but don’t watch so many episodes that killing and eating people seems normal. Stop just short of that.
Hayao Miyazaki movies don’t fit the mold of super dramas, but they are beautiful and make me feel curious, optimistic, and happy. Even though an army or dark magic is usually coming the main characters have hope.
Mostly I like things that make me cry. It’s cathartic. But not, like, hopeless crying. I prefer the over-the-top “OMG everything turned out okay in the end!” cry. Here are a handful of my crappy day go-to flicks:
Lord of the Rings – The Return of the King: Mostly I’m just watching it for that scene towards the end, when Aragorn is crowned king, and makes his way into the crowd, and first is reunited with Arwen, who has appeared with a number of elves; together they continue through the crowd and come upon the 4 hobbits. The hobbits ready themselves to bow before the king, and Aragorn holds up his hand and says “NO. You four… bow to no one.” And then the whole crowd bows to the four hobbits. I can run through half a box of tissue on this scene alone, nevermind the rest of the trilogy.
Love, Actually: Yeah, you know what? I don’t care if you hate this movie. I don’t care if you think it’s stupid. It’s not my fault you have a cold dead heart. There is nothing in this movie that I don’t like. Sure, it’s cheesy and no one really lives like any of these people… probably. But whatever. This movie has Emma Thompson and Colin Firth and Martin Freeman and Liam Neeson and Laura Linney and Alan Rickman, and a ridiculous scene where Hugh Grant shakes his ass to a Pointer Sisters song, for heaven’s sake. You say they’re slumming. I say they’re performing a valuable public service by cheering me up always.
Sliding Doors: This movie never gets old and it never gets boring and even people who hate Gwyneth Paltrow love this movie because it is awesome. Sometimes, I will finish watching it and then go right back to the beginning and watch it again. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! NOBODY!
Star Wars – Original Trilogy: I feel like Han Solo and Princess Leia and even that whiny boy Luke Skywalker were my childhood friends. So it’s only natural for me to turn to them when being a grown up is bringing me down. Bonus: the Death Star gets blown up. Every. Single. Time.
Harry Potter: I’m not a huge fan of the first two movies but the rest are some of the best had-a-bad-day fun a girl can have if she’s too depressed to read a book. These movies have everything: Weasley twins; Hermione Granger punching Draco Malfoy in his smug face; Neville Longbottom getting more and more attractive as each year passes; Ron Weasley one-liners; Minerva McGonagall’s disapproving glare; dragons; Sirius Black; even Professor Snape! Oh, and magic. They also have magic.
Go forth and binge, dear reader. Hugs from these TV shows, movies, and from us.
EDIT: It has been pointed out that we forgot all of Jane Austen. So we’d like to add all of Jane Austen. Well, mostly BBC Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility. Oh and for period piece things, North and South too. Good wallowing stuff.