One thing the pandemic has been good for is staying in and watching movies. For me, it’s mostly older movies I’ve wanted to revisit, but hadn’t had time. Some of them replay on television, but I really, really hate being interrupted by 5 minutes of commercials. So off to Netflix and Prime and others I go. Or I look through my bookshelves of Blu-rays/DVDs and dig out a favorite.
I like movies that have a slow build-up, that delve into character before making things explode. Movies we can talk about after they are finished. Turning on Netflix, I’m overwhelmed by choice and spend more time adding to my watchlist than actually watching.
Running Lists
I made a list of the movies I turn to again and again. Some are old, some are newer, but not many. My tastes run to fantasy and science fiction (big surprise), musicals, drama, and opera. Period pieces are great, especially Korean, Chinese, and Japanese. The drawback – they are long, we’re talking 3 – 4+ hours long. Mini-series length. They are so engrossing, I don’t mind.
The Blues Brothers. When I need a pick me up, that’s the movie I put on. I love musicals. I probably left a lot of them off my list, they are hard to find on television, except on PBS. Bollywood movies are usually a blast. Surprisingly, Netflix has a lot of them. I’m a sucker for Disney cartoons like Moana and Brave, although I didn’t list any Disney movies. But I’ll always watch them. I’m sure there are tons more movies I could add, but the ones listed below are some of my favorites, in no particular order. What are some of yours? What movies do you turn to when COVID makes you stay home?
My Watch List:
The Martian (AKA another “Saving Matt Damon” movie at our house)
Field of Dreams
Lord of the Rings/Hobbit
My Neighbor Totoro
Spirited Away (Okay, any Miyazaki movie)
Jaws
The Princess Bride
Aida (the Metropolitan Opera version with Violeta Urmana/Johan Botha)
Red (Mark Rothko) on Great Performances
The Lion in Winter
2001 A Space Odyssey
Apollo 13
Interstellar
Solaris
Singin’ in the Rain
Die Hard
Blade Runner
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Monty Python and The Holy Grail
Lawrence of Arabia
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (Indian)
Red Cliff (Chinese)
Seven Samurai
Hidden Figures
Major League
Blues Brothers
Slapshot
Godzilla (1954 & 2014)
The Producers
The Warrior (Korean)
The Great Battle (Chinese)