Because I have been in bed for the past two days with a fever, I have been unable to think of a good post. Then I thought, "Why not share the movies you watch over and over again when you're sick with the world?" I mean, all that I have been doing is watching movies day in and day out. So now I give you...
The Best Movies To Watch While Sick or Incapacitated
1. You've Got Mail
This is the perfect movie that you can watch without really paying attention and still know exactly what's going on. I've seen this movie a dozen times, and I have come to realize that the reason I like it so much is because half of it is montages (yes, again, I am referencing music and film mashed together. I'm just a little bit obsessed. Just a little). Because of this, though, it is really really easy to watch, and if you're sick, you can space out or be half in another world and this delightful little music video of a film will still be entertaining. Plus, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan make an adorable couple. Every time I watch this, I think, "I want Tom Hanks to bring me daisies right now..." and then space out into oblivion.
2. Bride and Prejudice
There's nothing that gets your spirits up more than a Bollywood version of Pride and Prejudice. Not only do you get to see the characters fall in love, but they sing and dance too! Plus, the colors in this film are absolutely phenomenal, thus providing something entertaining to watch while delirious. I love the soundtrack to this movie, and think that it is a great movie to make you feel better about life. The fact that it is so universal both in the story and making of it (the characters span three continents) makes you feel more connected with the world even if you are just holed up inside your room with several blankets.
3. Amelie
I debated whether to put this movie on the list, because I don't exactly like to have to read subtitles when I'm sick (I know, I know, I'm lazy, so sue me), but I decided in the end that this movie is really good movie for making you feel better. It's just... therapeutic. Amelie touches every person in the film with her kindness and curiosity to the point that you feel like she has reached out and touched you. One of my favorite scenes is when she gives the fabricated letter to her landlady. It just makes you feel like the world is a better place knowing that there's a character out there who doesn't want anyone to suffer, not even you in your sickbed.
4. Monty Python's Life of Brian
Why I like this one as a sick movie better than the others: it has a plot to keep your interest, but you can pretty much see what's coming if you've read the Bible so you don't have to be fully invested in order to find it humorous. I can't imagine sitting through The Meaning of Life while sick. I'd fall asleep (although, maybe that's something you want when you're sick). Anyway, I like this one because it's nice to have a good laugh that's a little bit intellectual but not intellectual enough that you get confused because you aren't focused. Plus, what better way to feel better than to listen to a song called "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life"?
5. Gone in 60 Seconds
There's a paradox that you have to think about when you're sick: do you want a movie that is easy to watch but will tire you out? Or one that is peaceful and healing but will make you fall asleep? Gone in 60 Seconds is what I call a comfort movie, one that doesn't require much thought and also keeps you entertained. I can say honestly that it's one of my favorites to watch when I'm not feeling good (to the point that I have it on iTunes) just because it has an equal amount of action and plot (and the plot doesn't bore me to death). For some reason, the almost-sex-in-the-car-scene between Angelina Jolie and Nicholas Cage is highly entertaining when you're sick, maybe because it's easy to identify with the waiting-for-something-to-happen-but-you're-just-stuck feeling. All I can say is, when I am stuck in bed, I reach for Eleanor.
6. The Little Mermaid
Goes without saying. Who else but Disney can make you feel like a kid staying home from school again?
7. Child Star: the Shirley Temple Story
Unlike the movies listed above, this one has the distinction of only being good while you're sick. It's totally an entertaining fluff piece, and if you watch it when you aren't sick, it's the type of movie where in order to watch, you have to make sure no one's in the room and no one's coming, and if you get caught, you have to say that you were flipping channels and turn it off until the person leaves. If you're sick, however, everyone just assumes that you're too delirious to know what you're watching. It's also a great movie to watch while sick because not once while you're watching do you actually have to think. You can just let the cute little songs and sugar-coated plot melt over you.
8. Labyrinth
Nothing in the world cheers me up like David Bowie. Nothing. Even if he is a creepy father figure that's a setup for Jennifer Connelly to have an Electra complex. He sings and dances and makes us all escape from the Bog of Eternal Stench which is our sickbed.
9. Ghost Busters
I'd like to know what happened to Rick Moranis. The Key Master was always so entertaining, and I really haven't seen him in, well, anything lately. Oh, well. This classic is still enjoyable now, and I like to watch it when I'm sick because of its classicness as well as its entertaining factor. Somehow, a giant marshmallow man is really fucking cool when you have had a fever for three days. As much as it makes me sad that Hollywood has to stoop to making a third one when all the actors are in their seventies, I still get endless entertainment out of the original and it always makes me feel ten times less sick.
10. Guys and Dolls
Okay, so there a lot of things that I don't like about this movie, one being that it was cast all wrong and they left out the best songs and.... well, I won't go into any more griping. However, it is a really good movie to watch when you're not feeling well because you get honestly invested in the characters and want them to get what they want out of life. It's a nice movie to just let your eyes graze on, and as long as you don't overanalyze what they could have done to make it better (which, when you're sick, is hard to do because it takes energy), it's good. Besides, hearing Frank Sinatra's voice has a healing effect all on its own.
You see? Sometimes a movie can be more healing than a bowl of chicken soup. For those Fall sniffles, take a suggestion from someone who gets sick a lot and also watches movies a lot. These are the best.
Peace!
The Movie Mistress
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