My Comfort Movies 🎬

Comfort movies: movies you go back to again and again, knowing exactly what to expect and how it's going to end. The result= good vibes, peace and serenity.

Toy Story 2 (1999) 🦖🤠🐷🐴

Toy Story 2 is one of the movies from my childhood that I revisit every now and then. Fun fact: Steve Jobs was the executive producer. It feels like such a Boxing Day type movie. The voice acting is great, I can't imagine Woody or Buzz being voiced by anyone other than Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. I love the scene where Woody gets repaired by the old man, the aliens, the Barbies, the familiarity of it all.

Miss Congeniality (2000) 🔫💜

This movie contains a lot of early noughties tropes, like the classic makeover scene (another example of this is in The Princess Diaries). Despite being a light-hearted comedy, Miss Congeniality deals with some important issues. The protagonist Gracie is the target of misogynistic "banter" from her male colleagues. I grew up in the 2000s, and I remember casual homophobia and transphobia being normalised in a lot of movies and television. At the beginning, Gracie mocks the pageant contestants because she thinks they're dumb and shallow. However, her opinion changes as she spends more time with them, and they gain mutual respect for each other. There are so many scenes that I enjoy, like when Gracie orders pizza and beer for the girls, all the iconic looks (like the Empire State building outfits) and the funny dialogue between her and her pageant coach Victor, played by Michael Caine.

Monsters, Inc. (2001) 💙

Another of my favourites from childhood. This is a real tearjerker. I was so scared of Randall when I was younger. The scene with the contaminated sock ("We have a 23-19!") was a bit traumatising too lmao, poor George. Something I wasn't aware of is that there are lots of hidden references to other Pixar movies, like Toy Story. The Pizza Planet delivery car shows up in multiple Pixar movies! I love the attention to detail 🍕

"George Sanderson, please remain motionless"

Shrek (2001) 💚

Another kids movie with sophisticated dialogue that goes over your head when you're young. There are countless movie references to other movies and TV shows too. Donkey is my favourite for sure, Eddie Murphy does a brilliant job.

Scooby-Doo (2002) 🐶🍔

Another childhood fav. Can we talk about how good the casting was? Matthew Lillard is perfect as Shaggy. Watching this as an adult is crazy because there were so many jokes I understand now, like the fact that Shaggy's love interest is called Mary Jane, another name for marijuana. I also love that the band Sugar Ray make an appearance at the pool party.

"Someone must've spiked my root beer last night. Talk me down man, talk me down."

Mark McGrath, what are you doing here?

Mean Girls (2004) 📞💘

This will always remain a cult classic. The power of Regina George is that people hate her and fear her, but still seek her approval. There's even a Mean Girls holiday, October 3rd, and faaaaar too many iconic quotes to list. I watched Mean Girls for the first time when I was 10. I used to go to Blockbuster (throwback) and browse all the DVDs I wanted to rent but was too young to watch, and Mean Girls was always one of them.

There are great performances from Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert, Tina Fey, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Franzese and Jonathan Bennett. Damien was and still is my favourite character. Also, shoutout to Kevin Knapoor, the Mathlete Rap still slaps in 2022.

Sex and the City (2007) 👠

Now that I have watched the original TV series which aired 1998-2004 (that's a whole other discussion for another day) I realise the movie is inferior to the show. Having said that there are still plenty of flaws within the show. For example, the problematic comments made by Carrie Bradshaw and other characters like: "I'm not even sure that bisexuality exists. I think it's just a layover on the way to Gay Town." It's unclear if the writers wanted Carrie to be unlikeable but if so, they succeeded. I found her to be incredibly self-centered.

The movie version of Carrie is a slight improvement, but she still has her unsavoury moments. Like when she tells Miranda and Charlotte that she wants them to be jealous of her living in "a gorgeous penthouse in Manhattan". I found the television version of Charlotte overly judgemental, she shamed other women constantly (especially Samantha). I probably watched the movie about 30 times with my cousin at sleepovers so I feel a sense of nostalgia every time I see it. I love the scene where Carrie clears out her wardrobe and redecorates her apartment, the wedding dress shoot, when she sees her newly renovated walk-in wardrobe for the first time, and that scene where Samantha is eating tortilla chips with guacamole. The *crunch* noises are so oddly satisfying, ASMR vibes.

Bridesmaids (2011) 💐

When we meet the main character Annie, she's already under pressure, feeling directionless after her business failed and living with 2 slightly annoying flatmates, played by Rebel Wilson and Matt Lucas. When her best friend Lillian gets engaged and she's introduced to Helen, everything starts to unravel and become more and more chaotic. There are so many moments that make me laugh out loud and loads of aesthetic scenes, like when Annie bakes and decorates a cupcake. I look forward to it because it brings me such a sense of calm. I also love when she makes the apology carrot cake for Officer Rhodes.

I'm really in the mood to watch one of these movies now. Brb, getting popcorn. 🍿