Favorite Feel Good Movie

Mr. Arkadin
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Post by Mr. Arkadin »

Maybe not the greatest films ever made, but they all make me smile (list will probably change tomorrow):

Mon Oncle (1958)
The Inlaws (1979)
Harvey (1950)
The Awful Truth (1937)
Pulp (1972)
Help! (1965)
How to Frame a Figg (1966)
Junior Bonner (1971)
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
Divorce: Italian Style (1961)
The Major and the Minor (1942)
Delicatessen (1991)
The Loved One (1965)
Paddle to the Sea (1966)
Claire's Knee (1970)
Go West (1925)
The Bank Dick (1940)
The Big Store (1941)
The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)
Beat the Devil (1953)
The Time of Your Life (1948)
Brother Orchid (1940)
Saturday's Children (1940)
The Circus (1928)
Ball of Fire (1941)
Smiles of a Summer Night (1953)
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938)
City Lights (1930)
Porco Rosso (1992)
melwalton
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feel good

Post by melwalton »

Any musical comedy from the classic period.

Which brings up a turbulent question, WHAT IS THE CLASSIC ERA?

I see films that were released in the 90s liisted here. That goes beyond overlapping.

I've noticed too occasiional mention of contemporary actors, Should there be limits? I 'd b e sorry to see this site slip intlo a rock and roll format. .... mel
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knitwit45
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Post by knitwit45 »

Hi ya Mel! How are you feeling these days? Did you get to dance on New Years Eve?

I don't think you need to worry about this place becoming a rock and roll haven. We all came here in the first place to discuss older movies, didn't we? There are some great movies (notice I said "some") from the more recent past, and they usually have a thread separate from those about the "classic" era. From the first films of the 1910-1929 period, up thru the 30's, 40's and 50's, you will always be able to find something of interest to you.

I also think that the freedom to post about current movies or events is one of the best things about this place, don't you? If there are discussions I don't care about or actively dislike, I just move on. I may peek, but I try to keep my mouth firmly shut. This is, believe me, a major accomplishment for a woman who loves to talk :oops: :oops:

I have posted like mad on the Joke thread (Sailor walks into a Bar) and jumped in to TV and other threads, but my heart belongs to the classics, just like you. I almost always "lurk" rather than discuss, because there's so much I don't know.

So expand your comment for me, ok? What movie musical is the one you would want on a snowy, can't get out kind of day?
"Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is..
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
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MissGoddess
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Post by MissGoddess »

I have need of these now almost more than ever,
and my favorite "feel good" movies usually fall into two categories:
either comedies (like My Man Godfrey or the Marx Brothers) or really
bad, soapy-trashy films I call "fluffies" (Penelope, with Natalie Wood is one example).

Lately, however, it's changed. I've needed something different, so
westerns
have begun to provide the most soothing antidote to the
craziness around me. At the moment, my two favorite "feel good"
movies are, inexplicably, 3 Bad Men and The Man Who Shot
Liberty Valance
. I know. I need help! LOL
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
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knitwit45
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Post by knitwit45 »

Ms. G, if the movie makes you feel better, or distanced from the "crazies around you", isn't that the whole point? Doesn't make any difference if it's a gore-fest (see Klonnie's movie :shock: :shock: :shock: ) or a fluffy bit of nothing, I think we turn to these movies to escape for a time. As this world spins along at a maddeningly faster and faster pace, I have to get off that merry-go-round, take a deep breath, and renew my inner self, so I can leap back on again.

I have teased Klondike about his favorite feel-good movie, but then I happen to love LadyHawke , set in perhaps the same millenium. It's romantic to the nth degree, but it's pretty gory in spots, also.

This thread should have been called "Whatever Floats Your Boat!" :lol: :lol: :lol:
Dr. Mom
"Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is..
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
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MissGoddess
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Post by MissGoddess »

Hi "Dr. Mom"! :D
Ms. G, if the movie makes you feel better, or distanced from the "crazies around you", isn't that the whole point?
Absolutely, and I'd say this topic, as much or more than any other, is entirely subjective.
Doesn't make any difference if it's a gore-fest (see Klonnie's movie ) or a fluffy bit of nothing, I think we turn to these movies to escape for a time. As this world spins along at a maddeningly faster and faster pace, I have to get off that merry-go-round, take a deep breath, and renew my inner self, so I can leap back on again.

I have teased Klondike about his favorite feel-good movie, but then I happen to love LadyHawke , set in perhaps the same millenium. It's romantic to the nth degree, but it's pretty gory in spots, also.
I'm not familiar with The 13th Warrior, I never even heard of it but I've heard of Ladyhawke. Are they set in medieval times?

I think you also mentioned Persuasion, didn't you? I like that one, too, alot, but for escape I think my Austen of preference is 1996's Emma.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
Mr. Arkadin
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Post by Mr. Arkadin »

knitwit45 wrote:Ms. G, if the movie makes you feel better, or distanced from the "crazies around you", isn't that the whole point? Doesn't make any difference if it's a gore-fest (see Klonnie's movie :shock: :shock: :shock: ) or a fluffy bit of nothing, I think we turn to these movies to escape for a time. As this world spins along at a maddeningly faster and faster pace, I have to get off that merry-go-round, take a deep breath, and renew my inner self, so I can leap back on again.

I have teased Klondike about his favorite feel-good movie, but then I happen to love LadyHawke , set in perhaps the same millenium. It's romantic to the nth degree, but it's pretty gory in spots, also.

This thread should have been called "Whatever Floats Your Boat!" :lol: :lol: :lol:
Dr. Mom
I totally agree. Many of the films I chose are things I saw as a child that remind me of wonderful times. The Big Store for example is hardly The Marx Bros. best film, but it's the first one I ever saw (about 5 or 6 maybe?) and I watched it with my grandfather who loved them. Others such as Paddle to the Sea, I find relaxing. There are many great documentaries I love to watch for this reason. For All Mankind (1989) with its beautiful score by Brian Eno is another such film. I could also have made a list of nothing, but Cary Grant comedies or the older Blondie films. I don't think a person should worry about whether the films are old, new, action, or comedy. If a person finds satisfaction and enjoyment--that's good enough for me.

As for turning this place rock -n- roll...
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knitwit45
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Post by knitwit45 »

Ark, I didn't know you had made a movie! with Rob Reiner, no less :lol: :lol: :lol:

Ms.G, I wore out a tape of LadyHawke. Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Broderick, Leo McKern, a very young, very skinny Alfred Molina, and Rutger Hauer at his most gorgeous hunkiness.

[youtube][/youtube]
"Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is..
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
klondike

Post by klondike »

MissGoddess wrote:


I have teased Klondike about his favorite feel-good movie, but then I happen to love LadyHawke , set in perhaps the same millenium. It's romantic to the nth degree, but it's pretty gory in spots, also.
I'm not familiar with The 13th Warrior, I never even heard of it but I've heard of Ladyhawke. Are they set in medieval times?
Well, first off I have to say that I fail to see how The 13th Warrior could legitimately be called gory, or a gore-fest; the violence is more gratuitous in Liberty Vallance, there's far more pain & suffering (and a good deal less heroism) in Gone With The Wind, and as for the actual depiction of gore (which, in realistic cinema, you need to show some evidence of, when people are fighting with non-ballistic weapons), I would rank this movie similarly to The Vikings, Ladyhawke, The Prince of Thieves, and The Last of the Mohicans, and "milder" in that way than Braveheart or Gladiator or The Kingdom of Heaven or Saving Private Ryan.
As for what the film's about, suffice to say it was inspired by a Michael Crichton novel which attempts to retell the Beowulf legend from the eye-witness POV of a Persian scholar travelling with a band of Viking mercenaries.
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knitwit45
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Post by knitwit45 »

But Klondike, I LIKE 13th Warrior. It doesn't make any difference what genre or time period, as I get older, violence of any kind makes me sort of queasy, and I have to turn away from it. I know, I know, it's a girl thing.

and I still say Antonio Banderas is a hunk......
"Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is..
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
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MissGoddess
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Post by MissGoddess »

Hi Klondike!

As for what the film's about, suffice to say it was inspired by a Michael Crichton novel which attempts to retell the Beowulf legend from the eye-witness POV of a Persian scholar travelling with a band of Viking mercenaries.

I think I'd have to see it to understand
all that, I'm woefully ignorant on Persians, scholars, Vikings
and most certainly of most things Michael Chrichton. Of
mercenary activities, I am not quite as unacquainted. :D

It's been a while since I even read the actual tale of Beowulf,
but I do remember having a hard time understanding what it was
about as well.

Thank you for naming my two favorite movies (I trust it wasn't
a coincidence :wink: ). Can't agree about anything "gratuitous" in TMWSLV, but
then it would never have occurred to me to make such a comparison.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
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srowley75
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Re: Favorite Feel Good Movie

Post by srowley75 »

knitwit45 wrote:What movie lets you slip away for a couple of hours, and when you drift back, you're feeling better?
Difficult question, because it depends on what sort of ill feeling I may be harboring.

If I'm just feeling a bit blue or a little lonely, I might gravitate toward any sort of amusing or just plain entertaining escapist fare. Examples:

*Anything featuring the Marx Bros., especially A Night at the Opera, Animal Crackers, or Duck Soup
*Lubitsch comedies or comedy/musicals: Trouble in Paradise, To Be or Not to Be, Cluny Brown, The Love Parade, The Smiling Lieutenant, Ninotchka
*Joan Crawford or Bette Davis movies from the 1930s-1960s - say what you want about either, they made entertaining pictures
*Great screwball: My Man Godfrey, Bringing Up Baby, The Palm Beach Story, Twentieth Century, The Thin Man
*Almost anything featuring Edna May Oliver or Franklin Pangborn in the cast, even if just for a moment
*Universal Horror films
*Ed Wood fare from the 1950s and early 1960s: Glen or Glenda, Plan 9 From Outer Space, The Violent Years, The Sinister Urge
*Allied Artists B-movies
*Great Hollywood "bad" films: Valley of the Dolls, The Lonely Lady, Mommie Dearest, The Conqueror, Boom!, etc.
*Baby Doll - just one hilarious film. How did this movie ever see the light in 1950s Hollywood?

When I'm feeling depressed or angry at the world, however, I often like to visit or revisit films and TV series featuring characters who face similar struggles or annoyances, yet perhaps aren't as passive as I tend to be and instead fire back - often in vain, but hey, at least they're still in there swinging. Such as:

*Buster Keaton films, especially Sherlock Jr., The General, Our Hospitality, and Steamboat Bill Jr.
*W. C. Fields films: It's a Gift, The Bank Dick, The Man on the Flying Trapeze, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, My Little Chickadee
*Preston Sturges films, especially The Miracle of Morgan's Creek or Unfaithfully Yours
*Barbara Stanwyck films, especially precoders like Night Nurse and Baby Face
*TV series: Roseanne, Daria, Fawlty Towers, Blackadder

Finally, at the risk of giving fellow members the creeps, I admit that if I'm feeling really depressed (e.g., extreme humiliation or mistreatment), I'll opt for something shocking or violent. No matter what our esteemed legislators may try to tell you, fake violence does have its place. Ingesting violence onscreen is always better than engaging in real-life acts. And it does have a purgative quality. Some of the best:

*Italian Horror or Giallos - anything by Dario Argento, Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, Sergio Martino
*1980s slashers
*Kung-Fu - including the Shaw Bros. library
*Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
*John Waters' early work, especially his trio of 1970s films starring Divine
*Blaxploitation from the 1970s
*Irwin Allen (or Allen-inspired) disaster films
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knitwit45
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Post by knitwit45 »

:shock: :shock: :shock: ok, Stephen.....put the remote down......breathe.....


What a great list! when I started this, I thought perhaps one or two movies would be at the top of everyone's lists, but silly me! When you ask MOVIE BUFFS, you're going to get a LIST, not one or two. This is really fun!!!!
"Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is..
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
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charliechaplinfan
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Post by charliechaplinfan »

Can't possibly chose just one or two, or ten, I just haven't that capability.

I wasn't brought up on film (sports household and Dad controlled TV viewing) but I did watch Laurel and Hardy, whenever I see them it just transports me back to childhood. The films I remember the most were Laughing Gravy and The Music Box.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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srowley75
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Post by srowley75 »

Another one to add to my list:

Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding, an Indian film featuring a family dynamic that lies somewhere between Dynasty's Carringtons and the Waltons. Few films that may be described as "uplifting" confront dysfunction yet achieve its honest warmth and joy without becoming a cloying, glurgy mess. And I loved the music enough to buy the soundtrack. I wish my family could relax enough at special occasions to celebrate like these people.
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