Today’s 5 Fandom Friday prompt is “Comfort Films,” and boy, do I have a lot of comfort movies. It’ll be difficult to narrow it down to just five, but I will do my best.
Pacific Rim
I have no idea why I’ve latched onto a movie about giant robots punching giant monsters, but I could watch Pacific Rim over and over and over. And I would if it wouldn’t make my husband throw the TV out the window. Aside from adoring Guillermo del Toro’s delightfully weird aesthetic (and shirtless Charlie Hunnam doesn’t hurt, either), I love the earnestness of Pacific Rim. It’s not pretentious or overwrought. It’s just a gorgeous movie about giant monsters, giant robots who save the world, and dudes who respect the hell out of ladies. I love it.
Wreck It Ralph
This is a relatively new addition to my comfort movie pile, too, and I’m blaming my husband for this one. He loves Wreck It Ralph and will start it up whenever he wants something familiar as background noise while he’s working in the evenings. And I’m not gonna lie, the toilet humor makes me laugh. I’m not much of a Sarah Silverman fan, but her performance as Vanellope is juvenile perfection. It’s silly and funny and heartwarming, and it usually leads to me wanting to watch Guardians of the Galaxy because John C. Reilly.
Willow
This one’s a childhood fave, and I have to have seen it over a hundred times. It came out when I was 8 or 9 years old. I saw it in the theater and fell in love with the amazing fantasy world (and also Sorsha, my first redhaired heroine crush). I watched a VHS version we taped off of TV until the tape was worn through, and then I watched the legit VHS version we bought until it was all warped and weird. I still know every line. I just wish George Lucas had done more with this world than the craptastic books by Chris Claremont that came out when I was in high school. At least I still have Willow.
The Princess Bride
Another childhood favorite, and I can quote all the dialogue from this one, too. I was really into fantasy when I was a kid (well, I still am, but you should’ve seen my childhood unicorn collection), and between The Princess Bride in 1987 and Willow the next year, I was in fantasy heaven. The dashing Dread Pirate Roberts sparked an enormous crush on Cary Elwes that lasted up until he played that slimy storm chaser in Twister. This movie is snarky perfection.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Okay, this is kinda cheating because it’s three movies instead of one, but I will argue you to exhaustion that it’s actually a single story split into three volumes. Fight me, Helen.
I love The Lord of the Rings so much that I have two tattoos based on it. This is another one that my husband and I will put in if we want something familiar, but it doesn’t matter how many times I watch the movies. I’m still going to sob like a baby repeatedly. Middle Earth was one of the first intensely developed fantasy worlds, and for me, Peter Jackson’s movies are the perfect adaptation of it.
What are your comfort movies? Let’s talk in the comments!
