I love movies. I love nothing more than on a Sunday afternoon curling up in front of a really good film especially in the autumn or winter, if there is wild weather raging outside and we are safe and warm with all the provisions and supplies we might need around us. That is one of my ideas of pure bliss. And I have a few movies that I will turn to on those occasions.
I am going to get one set of movies out of the way first of all. I’m a parent, so there are a few movies that I have seen ad nauseum which I would never ordinarily choose to watch. Ever. One of those is the Emoji movie. I could weep for the hours I have wasted having to sit through that one because my son loved it once and wanted me to watch it with him. Another is Hop – sweet, not my cup of tea. Finding Nemo – again, sweet but when you can go along with the dialogue, you’ve seen it too many times. Finally – and yes, I know this is going to be tremendously controversial – all of the Star Wars franchise. Sorry, I cannot stand them. Unfortunately, my husband and son love them so I have to tolerate them on occasion. These are, unfortunately, all films I have seen more than five times so I am including them on that basis. They are not, I admit, films I have enjoyed watching more than five times. More than once for certain when I think of the Emoji movie.
A film I could watch endlessly is Devil Wears Prada. I am beyond excited for the second one to come out on 1st May, and I have watched all the trailers avidly. I love this film. I love the glamour, the story, the music, Meryl Streep, Manhattan…all of it. My husband and son hate it so this is a film I watch on my own and I could not be happier doing so. It is bubble gum for the brain and I simply adore it. The same goes for the first Sex and the City film which I have watched more than 5 times for the same reasons (except Meryl Streep, of course). But I love the laughter in it, the friendships, the reality of some relationships, and just the whole glamour and Manhattan-ness of it. Yes, there is a theme – glamour and Manhattan.
Another film I am never reluctant to watch is The Last Samurai. The cinematography is breathtaking and the story beautiful if tragic. I love the underlying spirituality in the film though I’m not unaware of how brutal the Samurai could be. I just find the transition process so sad, and the savagery of the ending always brings me to tears. But it’s just beautiful nonetheless and I always love Ken Watanabe, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Tom Cruise in films.
I love the Godfather trilogy. I grew up with Godfather I and II, and I think they are masterpieces. The acting is superb, the storyline gripping and the attention to detail striking. I could (and have) watch it over and over, especially The Godfather. That has to be filmmaking at its finest. I even liked Godfather III though I know it was panned. It just rounded things out for me a bit more, some redemption for Michael Corleone if it was mixed in with some karmic retribution. No one is unforgiven for the sins he committed, particularly in Godfather II. I am so invested in the story, I know it so well having also read the book that I feel as though I know the characters personally. It’s just an amazing piece of storytelling in all sorts of ways and, as it’s said in another film I have enjoyed and watched many times (You’ve Got Mail), it is full of valuable life lessons!
There are other films I can watch over and again such as You’ve Got Mail because, again, Manhattan and also because it’s just bubble gum for the brain. It’s entertaining, it isn’t challenging and I can just watch it if I’m, say, not feeling well or something. Similarly, I love Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral. They are also incredibly nostalgic for me and I watch them as much for the memories they invoke as for the films themselves which I do enjoy. The final choice I would put in, for exactly the same reasons as these last two, are the Bridget Jones’s Diary films. I have read the books, and I have loved the films for themselves but also for the memories of the person I was, the life I was living when they first came out. They represent a lot to me and I enjoy watching them because of that. Sometimes that nostalgia will bring a tear to my eye, for the things and people I miss from that era, but overall they bring me joy.
Those are the films I will happily watch again and again. Alongside the ones I wish I didn’t have to see again!!
Louisa Simpson 