Do you have a movie that you could watch over and over again? One that you know all the lines by heart? One that makes you feel better when the world seems to be falling apart? I have several movies like that but when it comes to the perfect comfort movie, I always turn to Romancing the Stone. It’s got everything I want in a movie: action, adventure, romance, comedy, even a little bit of mystery. I recently watched it again and it honestly still holds up well. Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner have great onscreen chemistry. The pacing of the movie is perfect, and the ending is a happy one. You all know how I feel about happy endings! I love that Kathleen Turner’s character is a writer. She really grows in this movie, starting out as a dowdy, lonely romance writer and ending up confident in her own skin learning to let go of her inhibitions. Simply said, it is a movie that makes me happy no matter how many times I watch it. Do you have a movie you love like that?

Considering my love of Romancing the Stone, when I saw the preview of 2022’s The Lost City with Sandra Bullock, I had high hopes that I would love the film. Nope. Lately, I’ve felt that there aren’t movies being made that I am just dying to watch. There was a time when I would see just about any movie that hit the theaters. Now I’m much more cautious about what I will see. Even with the comfort loungers in most theaters that make you almost feel like you are at home reclining in a comfy chair, I still want to see something worth the price of admission! When I think of the blockbuster movies that are being made these days, I am generally left unimpressed. I don’t need another reboot of Batman or Superman. I certainly don’t need yet another Marvel movie. It’s all gotten so very boring and predictable. It pains me to say this because I loved television shows with superheroes when I was growing up. TV shows like Wonder Woman, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Bionic Woman, the Shazam & Isis Power Hour to name a few. And this is just one genre that I’m touching on here. I love a good mystery or romantic comedy or psychological thriller. I decided to look at a list of movies released in 2022 and out of all of them, Death on the Nile, Where the Crawdads Sing, and The Menu, are the ones that stick out in my mind as worthy of another viewing. Some may question my choice of The Menu, but I found it to be a fun and original take on the numerous culinary shows of our time, many of which I watch. There may be a couple of honorable mentions on that list of movies; I’m thinking of Ticket to Paradise and Top Gun: Maverick (surprising since I wasn’t a huge fan of the original.) And I’ll admit to finding Violent Night hilarious much to my own embarrassment. But when you know that 449 movies were released in the US and Canada in 2022, and only a handful are memorable, it makes you wonder.

Of course, I didn’t see all 449 movies. So when I heard that the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once had won best picture this year, I decided to watch it, albeit at home when it came out on HBO and not in the theater. Thank goodness! The movie was dreadful, and I can’t fathom why it received an Oscar. And, yes, I watched the whole thing, painful as it was to do it. Sigh… Surely, I am not alone in my opinion? Did you see this movie? What are your thoughts?

Anyway, a little advice Hollywood. I’m here to say to film makers that it’s okay not to use CGI for everything. It’s okay if the movie doesn’t have non-stop action. It’s okay not to use raunchy humor. It’s okay to let the characters develop enough for me to care about them. Most of all, take a look at all of the wonderful stories written that have never made it to the big screen. You need only peruse the library or bookstore to find some great stories just begging to be put on the big screen. Of course, with the writers’ strike going on, it makes me grateful there are a lot of favorite movies I can rewatch. What movies are you rewatching?