These Films Feel Like Home
Whether I'm hanging over, feeling lonely, coming down off shrooms, or just plain depressed, these films can really help. By watching them multiple times, many of them since I was a highschooler, I have imbued these films with such nostalgic power as to turn them into veritable security blankets, able to wrap me up in a metaphorical hug and make me feel like I'm a kid again.
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- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsJohn CusackIben HjejleTodd LouisoRob, a record store owner and compulsive list maker, recounts his top five breakups, including the one in progress.Formerly my favorite film of all time, High Fidelity will always have a strange power over me. I spent years obsessing over this movie, in love with the main character, in love with my own resemblance to him, listening to the same music, wearing the same t-shirts. Only later did I discover he's a pretty terrible guy. Still, this movie will always feel like home.
- DirectorBurr SteersStarsKieran CulkinSusan SarandonJeff GoldblumA young man's peculiar upbringing renders him unable to competently cope with the struggle of growing up.Probably my favorite bildungsroman. Lots of great characters, plus the lead character feels like a combination of Holden Caulfield and Peer Gynt. Not to mention it's an adventure story in New York! What more could you ask for?
- DirectorMike NewellStarsJavier BardemGiovanna MezzogiornoBenjamin BrattFlorentino, rejected by the beautiful Fermina at a young age, devotes much of his adult life to carnal affairs as a desperate attempt to heal his broken heart.This is one of the most effective period pieces I've ever seen. Not because its accurate, but because it transports me to a complete world. Conjuring memories from the book, memories of South America, and memories of past lovers, this movie is truly a beautiful, mysterious, and romantic ride.
- DirectorBob FosseStarsLiza MinnelliMichael YorkHelmut GriemA female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.Another perfect period piece, Cabaret is one of the oldest films on my list. Since the first time watching it in high school, I've longed to take a room at Sally and Brian's boarding house! To listen to old records while drinking prairie oysters and gin, to visit the cabaret every night, to drive in old cars through the streets of pre-war Berlin...and then there's the menage-a-trois! It only serves to bolster the movie''s power that I first obsessed over it while in my own wild threesome.
- DirectorCurtis HansonStarsMichael DouglasTobey MaguireFrances McDormandAn English Professor tries to deal with his wife leaving him, the arrival of his editor who has been waiting for his book for seven years, and the various problems that his friends and associates involve him in.This film is perhaps the least famous or critically praised on my list. It's also massively underrated. But that's not the point. The point is, it's a beautifully rendered world, full of great characters I would love to hang out with, many of whom sleep under the same big old roof, at least for the duration of the film. It takes place over the course of one sleepy, book-themed weekend at a beautiful, old college in a beautiful, old, snowy Pittsburgh. Mostly, it just makes me want to put on a woman's bathrobe and smoke a joint, while I bang on an old typewriter in a wood-paneled study, all the while listening to the rain quietly tapping against the window.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsMaggie SmithRyan PhillippeMichael GambonSet in the 1930s, a group of pretentious rich and famous get together for a weekend of relaxation at a hunting resort. But when a murder occurs, each one of these interesting characters becomes a suspect.So I'm starting to see a theme throughout much of my favorite security blanket films: namely, they create a world, often from a different time or country, populated by charismatic people, many of whom I would like to hang out with. Such is the case here. Gosford Park is the standard when it comes to creating a rich tapestry of multi-dimensional, wholly believable characters, all crammed into one place, over the course of a weekend (another recurring theme). Of course, not all the characters are nice, but the bad ones are mostly upstairs, while the downstairs areas house some of my favorite sets and most of my favorite scenes.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsDonald SutherlandElliott GouldTom SkerrittThe staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and high jinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.Another one from Bob Altman, this one may not be as emotionally rich as Gosford Park, however, the characters are even more charismatic. Perhaps a bit sexist at times, the men and women no doubt seem to be enjoying themselves, and it almost takes on a kind of sleepover camp vibe, albeit with many of the campers sharing bunks and drinking martinis.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsYôji MatsudaYuriko IshidaYûko TanakaOn a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.This film, along with Last of the Mo's, always makes me want to go outside, specifically to some remote place in the forest, where I can take in the splendor of the natural world. Or else go running, barefoot, through a field or clearing of some kind, splashing through the occasional stream, stealing glimpses of other forest creatures on the run. It's also maybe one of the best stories ever told, with fully-dimensional characters and no obvious evil villains. I'm sure I'll be watching this one till I die.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsDaniel Day-LewisMadeleine StoweRussell MeansThree trappers protect the daughters of a British Colonel in the midst of the French and Indian War.Like Princess Mononoke, this film fills up my senses and makes me want to go running outside. Especially lovely is the film's recreation of a forgotten North American wilderness, which has mostly been cleared away by now. And the ascent up the mountain is one of the most heartbreakingly, bittersweet, romantic finales of all time. Now I want to go find an outlook where I can look out over the forest while listening to the soundtrack on headphones.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRobin WilliamsRobert Sean LeonardEthan HawkeMaverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.Feeding my love for stories about prep schools, where the many rules only provide more opportunities to rebel, as well as my love for secret societies, this film is a bildungsroman not of one character, but a whole group of awkward, homo-erotic, adolescents, falling in love, writing poetry, sneaking into caves in the woods, and all together discovering and unleashing their artistic sides.
- DirectorRyan MurphyStarsJoseph CrossAnnette BeningBrian CoxA teenage boy comes of age in the 1970's, sent by his neurotic, pretentious mother to live with a jolly, vulgar psychiatrist and his eccentric extended family.A film about madness, this film does a good job of highlighting both the positives and the negatives therin. What at first seems like the best sleepover camp ever, soon becomes a nightmare of studying feces, eating cats, and attempted patricide. Still, I never lose the sense of adventure which comes from living with such an unusual group of people. And, of course, the house is huge and magical.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsGene HackmanGwyneth PaltrowAnjelica HustonThe eccentric members of a dysfunctional family reluctantly gather under the same roof for various reasons.Obviously, I'm a sucker for big old houses full of quirky characters. Much like Wonder Boys, Gosford Park, and Running with Scissors, this film creates an entire world under one roof. Tense at times, the story runs the full gamut of family relations, but the muted performances and Anderson's quirky cinematography help keep it from miring too much in the mud. With a whimsical original soundtrack by Mark Mothersbaugh setting the mood, it's practically impossible not to feel for Richie and his love for his adopted sister. I could spend an eternity in that little yellow tent, listening to records of the Kinks and cuddling the alluring Margot Tenenbaum. Or else sneaking up to the roof with her for a cigarette. Or else sitting in the tub with her, watching her tiny TV.
- DirectorPaul BrickmanStarsTom CruiseRebecca De MornayJoe PantolianoA Chicago teenager is looking for fun at home while his parents are away, but the situation quickly gets out of hand.Another bildungsroman, Risky Business may not feel quite as warm and fuzzy as Igby Goes Down, but it may also be the superior film in terms of tightly structured content. Also, Tom Cruise has never been so likable. While Igby might be having more fun, Neil is having an out of control, real-life sex fantasy, and the scene where he and his hooker girlfriend make love on a real train, set to Tangerine Dream's intoxicating music, will forever be one of the greatest sex scenes ever recorded.
- DirectorJoe WrightStarsKeira KnightleyMatthew MacfadyenBrenda BlethynSparks fly when spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets single, rich, and proud Mr. Darcy. But Mr. Darcy reluctantly finds himself falling in love with a woman beneath his class. Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice?It should come as no surprise, given my affinity for period pieces, that a Jane Austen adaptation would show up on my list at some point. And this one may just be the best of its kind. Featuring Keira Knightley, who seems to have been bred specifically for period pieces, along with frequent collaborator Joe Wright (they also made Atonement and Anna Karenina together), this adaptation hits all the right notes (the gorgeous shots of England, the piano-based soundtrack, the ardent declaration of love in the rain) to make it the best (non)guilty-pleasure romance film ever.
- DirectorHugh HudsonStarsBen CrossIan CharlesonNicholas FarrellTwo British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.Alas! Another period piece. And what's more, it's an old film in its own right. One of the older films on this list, it might be tempting for some to characterise it as a sober, overrated, stiff-upper-lipped bore. However, if you're an anglophile like me, and you like tweed, and prestigious colleges, and history lessons, you'll find this film is practically pornographic. And that's all before the finale, when suddenly Vangelis' synthesized soundtrack and a rampant use of gorgeous slow motion remind you that this film is very much a product of the '80s. And somehow it works. In fact, it's kind of the best thing ever.
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsOscar IsaacCarey MulliganJohn GoodmanA week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.
- DirectorDean DeBloisStarsAmiinaHildur ArsaelsdottirJon Thor BirgissonIn the summer of 2006, Sigur Rós returned home to play a series of free, unannounced concerts for the people of Iceland.The greatest convalescent film I've ever seen, Heima is truly one-of-a-kind. Part documentary, part musical, part music video, this film tells the story of the band Sigur Ros, returning to their native Iceland to perform a series of unannounced, free concerts. The music being what it is, it only makes sense that this would be the world in which it was created. I will watch this anytime I'm recovering from surgery or fighting a fever.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsJim CaviezelSean PennNick NolteAdaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War.
- DirectorRoger AvaryStarsJames Van Der BeekIan SomerhalderShannyn SossamonThe incredibly spoiled and overprivileged students of Camden College are a backdrop for an unusual love triangle between a drug dealer, a virgin and a bisexual classmate.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsCherNicolas CageOlympia DukakisLoretta Castorini, a bookkeeper from Brooklyn, New York, finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls for the brother of the man she has agreed to marry.
- DirectorJames BridgesStarsTimothy BottomsLindsay WagnerJohn HousemanA first-year law student at Harvard Law School struggles with balancing his coursework and a woman, unaware that she has a connection that affects their relationship.
- StarsKeira KnightleySam NeillHans MathesonDoctor Zhivago falls for Lara despite being engaged. Their forbidden love blossoms amidst the upheaval of the Russian Revolution, impacting his career and family.Another Keira Knightley period piece, Doctor Zhivago may not be as heart-warming and passionate as Pride and Prejudice, but what it has instead is a darkly beautiful, poetically sad love story. The tone is only enhanced by the setting, as Russia is transformed during the war, and we get glimpses of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, as well as a Walden-like getaway, where our two main characters are finally able to escape the war, their past, and even their former families, in order to have the one and only thing they ever truly wanted: each other.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsCary ElwesMandy PatinkinRobin WrightA bedridden boy's grandfather reads him the story of a farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.