The Movie Channel You'd Never Stop Watching
November 9, 2012 11:02 AM   Subscribe

MeFi's own Christopher Livingston programs a Movie Channel That He'd Never Stop Watching.

What's your ideal movie channel, MeFi?
posted by alby (164 comments total) 29 users marked this as a favorite
 
Galaxy Quest. Continuously. With occasional breaks for Airplane!
posted by schmod at 11:05 AM on November 9, 2012 [4 favorites]


When I had premium cable, The Right Stuff was my productivity bane. Also, it's over 3 hours long.
posted by muddgirl at 11:07 AM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


"The Incredibles, Starting From The Island Stuff" = yes

But no Clue? No Ferris Bueller? No Princess Bride? (Also Ocean's 11, the Brad Pitt one.)
posted by DU at 11:09 AM on November 9, 2012


Iron Giant, Gattacca, Princess Mononoke, Jurassic Park (just the first one), and Roll Bounce
posted by mlo at 11:10 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


They'd also need to show a different MST3K episode every night at midnight, just like in the Good Old Days of Comedy Central.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:10 AM on November 9, 2012 [10 favorites]


How about some classics? Yojimbo, Rio Bravo, and The Maltese Falcon come to mind.
posted by demiurge at 11:11 AM on November 9, 2012


Good call with Con Air. I'd include the end, too - pretty much as soon as all hell breaks loose inside the plane and suddenly there's guitars wailing on the soundtrack and an airplane destroys a giant neon electric guitar. Cut out the first hour and you miss that.

There are a very few movies I can watch a limitless number of times. The only one I can think of is The Silence of the Lambs. For some reason, no part of it ever gets boring to me, and it's just as tense every time.

Also You Got Served, if I'm high. To be fair I've never watched it sober so it might be just as watchable, but I've got a suspicion.

Also I have watched Finding Nemo so, so many times. Doesn't seem to get old.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 11:14 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


The Fifth Element needs to be on this list, most def. Great idea by the way.
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 11:16 AM on November 9, 2012 [17 favorites]


Anyone can make a list of good movies worth watching over and over. That's not a challenge. The challenge is making a list of admittedly terrible films that suck you in AGAINST YOUR WILL if you run across them on television. Films that you will--NAY MUST--watch until the credits.

For me, that list includes "Smokey and the Bandit II", "Fifth Element" and "Road House."
posted by ColdChef at 11:17 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


Wow, I also love love love Predator and Galaxy Quest and could watch either movie over and over again. Get to the choppah! I would add Contact to the list.
posted by phaedon at 11:19 AM on November 9, 2012


Real Genius. Chinatown. City of Lost Children. Director's Cut of Blade Runner. Big Trouble in Little China.

2nding: The Fifth Element, Ocean's Eleven
posted by mcstayinskool at 11:19 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


The Hunt for Red October
Fifth Element
Most every Denzel Washington movie ever made
posted by bfranklin at 11:19 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


and Nthing Galaxy Quest
posted by mcstayinskool at 11:19 AM on November 9, 2012


Ferris Bueller's Day Off
L.A. Story
Casablanca
Manhattan
V for Vendetta
Monsters, Inc.
True Romance
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
The Shining
Zoolander
Kill Bill
The Princess Bride

(not all of these are terrible - hell most of them are good - but they are ones I would never turn off. In my house, we call this station "Arrested Development and Archer on a continuous loop.)
posted by Navelgazer at 11:19 AM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


What about Miller's Crossing? Something wrong with you all. And Dr. Strangelove! Gotta have that.
posted by Mister_A at 11:20 AM on November 9, 2012 [3 favorites]


All The Fugitive, All The Time
posted by Beardman at 11:21 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


program The Movie Channel You'd Never Stop Watching

10 PLAY "ALIEN
20 PLAY "THE TERMINATOR"
30 PLAY "THE THING"
40 PLAY "DIE HARD"
50 GOTO 10
posted by nathancaswell at 11:22 AM on November 9, 2012 [9 favorites]


You guys, just so you know, I'm lyng in bed with a sinus infection and thanks to this thread I'm hitting the Netflix queue so hard I'm going to get a medal for it.
posted by The Whelk at 11:22 AM on November 9, 2012 [3 favorites]


Anyone can make a list of good movies worth watching over and over. That's not a challenge. The challenge is making a list of admittedly terrible films that suck you in AGAINST YOUR WILL if you run across them on television. Films that you will--NAY MUST--watch until the credits.

National Treasure
posted by capricorn at 11:22 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


If Metafilter weren't such a boyzone, The American President would already have been mentioned at least twice.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:22 AM on November 9, 2012 [7 favorites]


Actually, I would also add No Country for Old Men to that. Or The Big Lebowski. Or Blood Simple. Or Barton Fink. Pretty much those Coen movies.
posted by phaedon at 11:24 AM on November 9, 2012


Jaws, Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Evil Dead II, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.

*drops mike, walks from stage*
posted by Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific at 11:24 AM on November 9, 2012


I watched Hot Fuzz all summer it was on illegal pay-per-view. Also, the Fast and Furious movies.
posted by raihan_ at 11:24 AM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Also? Dirty Dancing.

Doesn't matter what scene it's on, pretty much every woman I know above the age of 24 can instantly recognize it while flicking channels and will be powerless to turn away until every last old lady is up and shaking her tush in the Kellerman's ballroom.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:24 AM on November 9, 2012 [12 favorites]


In my house, we call this station "Arrested Development and Archer on a continuous loop

Throw in some IT Crowd and I will subscribe to your station.
posted by arcticwoman at 11:25 AM on November 9, 2012 [5 favorites]


The Incredibles
Iron Man
Bond Movie Starring Connery, Dalton, Brosnan Or Craig
The Princess Bride
Randomly Selected Lupin III movie
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Alien/s
Randomly Selected Die Hard Movie
X-Men 2
Randomly Selected Terminator Movie Other Than Salvation

Personally I think it makes me a model of self-restraint that I own all of these and still frequently leave my couch.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:25 AM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Back when it used to be on TV all the time, I lost multiple entire days to that The Stand miniseries.

Also, Greg Nog, you've got the edit window, so you might want to take out Clue before my wife starts sending you MeFi Mails proclaiming her undying love for you. That or through in Back to School and just take her off my hands.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:27 AM on November 9, 2012


Escape From New York, every time.

And Executive Decision.

Basically all Kurt Russel all the time.
posted by hellojed at 11:28 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


Let's see... Based on the current round of cable movies, I would have to suggest The Birdcage and Easy A.
posted by maryr at 11:29 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


Just a red herring.
posted by maryr at 11:31 AM on November 9, 2012


Am I right to keep this list limited to movies that are likely to be shown on TV?

Any Die Hard
Any of the three Indiana Jones movies
Any Alien (other than Resurrection)
The Fifth Element
Pitch Black
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
The Rock
Gremlins
Reign of Fire
The Relic
posted by brundlefly at 11:31 AM on November 9, 2012


Big Trouble in Little China, The Fifth Element and Dune seem to have been incomprehensibly omitted from his list.
posted by bonehead at 11:31 AM on November 9, 2012 [5 favorites]


Any of the Back to the Futures, even the boring parts of III.
Boat Trip
How High
Aladdin
Any Harold and Kumar
Mrs. Doubtfire
Pulp Fiction
Spaceballs

... the dumber the movie, the more likely I am to watch it on TV.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:32 AM on November 9, 2012


Greg Nog: "The great thing about Reign Of Fire -- if you're interested -- is that there's dragons, and then they fight the dragons, and the dragons fly around. Also, the dragons breathe fire. And they hit the dragon with the axe."

You left out the Star Wars reenactment.

Also: dragons.
posted by brundlefly at 11:32 AM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Also the entire Miyazaki catalogue.
posted by bonehead at 11:32 AM on November 9, 2012 [6 favorites]


For me it would be the continuous Laurel and Hardy channel...
posted by jim in austin at 11:33 AM on November 9, 2012


What are you doing tonight, Napoleon?

I'M WATCHING THE WHOLE MOVIE AGAIN GOSH
posted by Curious Artificer at 11:35 AM on November 9, 2012


'Harold & Maude'.

dammit.
posted by pxe2000 at 11:35 AM on November 9, 2012 [3 favorites]


Last Fourth of July, I just left the TV on whatever channel was continuously showing Independence Day for like two and a half runs of the movie.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:36 AM on November 9, 2012


my cousin vinny
groundhog day
posted by lulz at 11:36 AM on November 9, 2012 [4 favorites]


my cousin vinny
groundhog day


How did I forget these? They should be like 3 and 4 on my list.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:37 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


Buckaroo Bonzai, The Big Sleep, Annie Hall, Groundhog Day, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (not dubbed), La Cage Aux Folles (original version, not dubbed), Pulp Fiction, Seven Samurai and Arsenic and Old Lace.
posted by kinnakeet at 11:37 AM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Nthing The Princess Bride. And I have to add: Twister.
posted by rtha at 11:37 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


Clear and Present Danger. Over and over and over. How dare you bark at me like some junkyard dog!
posted by phaedon at 11:38 AM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


And I have to add: Twister.

Owing to the discussion of Clue, I briefly forgot about the actual movie Twister and thought this was some movie adaptation of the game I didn't know about.

I really want to see this movie now, and I never will, and it's all your fault.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:40 AM on November 9, 2012 [4 favorites]


Real Genius, Remo Williams, (fast times at) Ridgemont High, Ravenous... the four R's

fill the spaces with Midnight Madness and Thank God It's Friday. We're good!
posted by SharkParty at 11:41 AM on November 9, 2012


Jumanji is pretty good too...
posted by maryr at 11:42 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


From Justin to Kelly
The Apple
Crossroads (The Britney Spears one)
Bring It On: In It to Win It
Satisfaction
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Crossroads (The Ralph Macchio one)
Repeat.

Watch while strapped to a chair, eyelids forced open, lab workers occasionally dispensing eye drops
posted by Dr-Baa at 11:42 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


Movies Where Things Go Boom is the name of my channel. it is the best channel.
posted by elizardbits at 11:43 AM on November 9, 2012 [7 favorites]


Ctrl+F
Strangelo... "Phrase not found"
Crtl+W
posted by benito.strauss at 11:44 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


eddie murphy raw
any mel brooks movie
iron man 1 & 2
the doors (good music)
fridays
captain america (eye candy; so sue me)
charlie chaplain (w/ robert downey jr)
singing in the rain
woodstock
spinal tap
star wars (the originals)
evil dead 1, 2, 3

god i miss television before a toddler now it's more like:

iron man 1&2
avengers
star wars (any)


that's it. all day. all night.
posted by stormpooper at 11:47 AM on November 9, 2012


I could also be pretty happy watching Roll Bounce, Drumline, You Got Served, Crossover, all the Step Up movies, and everything else that uses the exact same Karate Kid plot to highlight a specific hobby.
posted by SharkParty at 11:47 AM on November 9, 2012 [3 favorites]


An oldie but a goodie: Kind Hearts and Coronets. Alec Guinness in drag kills me every time.
posted by bonehead at 11:47 AM on November 9, 2012 [5 favorites]


The Fifth Element
Star Wars
Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi
Excalibur
The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Love Songs (Les Chansons d'Amour)
The Devil Wears Prada (up to the point where they go to Paris)
Metropolitan
Lawrence of Arabia
posted by dnash at 11:49 AM on November 9, 2012


Wowbagger grunted. He watched the majesty of creation outside his window for a moment or two.
"I think I'll take a nap," he said, and then added, "what network areas are we going to be passing through in the next few hours?"
The computer beeped.
"Cosmovid, Thinkpix and Home Brain Box," it said, and beeped.
"Any movies I haven't seen thirty thousand times already?"
"No."
"Uh."
"There's Angst in Space. You've only seen that thirty-three thousand five hundred and seventeen times."
"Wake me for the second reel."


I don't think any of these channels would survive much continuous watching... movie watching of this nature occurs in the midst of channel-surfing, a state in which you're by definition willing to be inert and watch basically whatever passes by. The bar for sustained viewing is as low as it gets.

For me these movies have become one of the weird casualties of a combination of digital video recording and cheap and substantial on-demand offerings. I just don't channel surf anymore, and I honestly can't remember the last time I caught myself having spent half an hour watching a movie - with editing and commercial interruptions! - and thought "oh for crying out loud I own this on DVD!"
posted by nanojath at 11:49 AM on November 9, 2012


I co-sign "The American President". Will watch. EVERY. TIME.
posted by ColdChef at 11:51 AM on November 9, 2012


Dr. Strangelove
Full Metal Jacket
Aliens
Predator II
Princess Mononoke
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Wargames
Airplane
The Avengers (Wedon version)
New Star Trek
Spaceballs
Blazing Saddles


Cut a bunch out to fit a 24 hour cycle (assuming an average run time of 2 hours)
posted by Hactar at 11:52 AM on November 9, 2012


Also I am somehow incapable of turning off any of the Spy Kids films once they are on. AND I HATE KIDS.
posted by elizardbits at 11:52 AM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Left out Delicatessen and City of Lost Children. I need a 28 hour day.
posted by Hactar at 11:53 AM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Oh, and D.E.B.S.! How could I forget? And Bring it On, of course.
posted by rtha at 11:53 AM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


I'm a gourmand. British quota quickies + Jean Gabin's films from the '30's + late '80s/early '90s indies + Tarkovsky + Dreyer + Hitchcock + Jeremy Renner + Daniel Craig + "The Apartment."

On preview: Also, "Hot Fuzz" and "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."

See also Slant's Top 100 of the '90s.
posted by Currer Belfry at 11:53 AM on November 9, 2012


Any MGM musical - I would actually be happy watching nothing but MGM musicals ever. The cornier the better.

Other movies I can't not watch:
Mars Attacks
The Princess Bride
Airplane
Spinal Tap
The Fifth Element
Ferris Bueller
Clue
Any big disaster movie - Independence Day, Armageddon, Dante's Peak, Volcano - they're all the same to me - and they all suck me in
Anything with Bogart
Footloose (the original)
The Outsiders
Real Genius
posted by Dojie at 11:54 AM on November 9, 2012


I HATE KIDS.

As long as you don't hate spies.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:54 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


I feel like this only counts if the movie isn't good. At some point you're not watching it because you can't stop, you're watching it because it's good. I say the line is drawn exactly at The Rock, which is simultaneously good and bad.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:55 AM on November 9, 2012 [3 favorites]


Alexa Vega from "Spy Kids" is all growed up. You pervert.
posted by ColdChef at 11:55 AM on November 9, 2012


For some reason, I can't not watch Diggstown or Tombstone if I'm flipping around cable.
posted by stifford at 11:57 AM on November 9, 2012


People, stop listing your favorite movies and start listing the ones that actually air on Saturday afternoons.

Dodgeball.
posted by Cyrano at 12:00 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Tom Hanks' filmography is chock full of these. I will compulsively sit and watch all of these all the way through for no good reason:

- Splash
- The Money Pit
- Big
- Turner & Hooch
- The 'Burbs
- A League of Their Own
- Forrest Gump
- Apollo 13
- Toy Story (all three)
- Cast Away
- Catch Me If You Can
- The Ladykillers (Coen bros version)
- Charlie Wilson's War*


That said, there are also plenty of Tom Hanks movies -- the rest of them, basically -- I'll gladly flip right on past.

*never seems to air on television; probably too good
posted by Sys Rq at 12:02 PM on November 9, 2012


They'd also need to show a different MST3K episode every night at midnight, just like in the Good Old Days of Comedy Central.

YES. PERFECTION. This is such a great collaborative effort, MeFi and guy-who-originally-made-the-post!

I could so set up a livestream channel with this. 80 gigs of MST3K + many of these movies at my disposal means I could go at least 197 days with that movies all day + MST3K every midnight without repeating the MST3K, at least. THIS IS SO TEMPTING.

The Fifth Element is honestly the first movie that pops into my head every time for 'a movie I would happily watch' and although I'm not surprised that's a common sentiment it still makes me happy.

I guess I'd also add That Thing You Do and Catch Me If You Can. I am also inordinately fond of Escape from New York/L.A., Running Man. Oh and Mars Attacks!

Goddamn there are so many good movies out there that are so repeatable.
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 12:02 PM on November 9, 2012


Blade Runner
The Big Sleep
The Maltese Falcon
Dark Passage
Out of the Past
North By Northwest

Yeah, I watch a lot of TCM.
posted by juv3nal at 12:04 PM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


If Metafilter weren't such a boyzone, The American President would already have been mentioned at least twice.

1. This is EXACTLY what I was thinking right before I reached this comment.

2. Also The Cutting Edge and While You Were Sleeping.
posted by Linda_Holmes at 12:04 PM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


Many of mine have already been mentioned (and count as "good" movies in my book) but here are a few old relics I always get sucked into when I see them on tv:

Trading Places
Animal House
The Blues Brothers
Diner
posted by mbatch at 12:04 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Little Shop of Horrors
Princess Bride
Top Gun

And to my deep and never-ending shame:

Stick It, Bring it On, and Mean Girls.
I cannot walk away from those movies. I blame years of gymnastics, a mis-placed love of Eliza Dushku, and Healthy Lindsey Lohan.
posted by teleri025 at 12:05 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


When I had cable, "What About Bob?" was my weakness. Probably would still be. Couldn't not watch it.
posted by Infinity_8 at 12:05 PM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


Okay, yeah, going against the boyzone grain: Legends of the Fall.
posted by bfranklin at 12:06 PM on November 9, 2012


I definitely threw in movies that I consider "good", but for me, I think the big test is whether I get so emotionally invested in the movie that it drains me. So Iron Giant and Ravenous, mentioned upthread, are both phenomenal, but I can't have them in my queue because they don't have the same sense of "lazy saturday morning passivity" that reels me in without deeply involving me.

I can accept that. I mean, I agree with you that the Blues Brothers counts, and it's unquestionably good. I was mainly reacting to people picking Films, and for these purposes the quality of the movie is basically an irrelevant variable.

Also, in the interests of something less explosion centric, I submit Can't Hardly Wait.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 12:06 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Charlie Wilson's War*

This was on TMC weekly for almost 9 months last year.
posted by elizardbits at 12:06 PM on November 9, 2012


Clearly, you people are my people.

Star Wars IV
Blade Runner, final cut
Fifth Element
Aliens
Terminator 2
A Clockwork Orange
Singin' In The Rain
Princess Bride
Star Wars V
Star Trek II
American in Paris
Almost any Bond Movie (preferably Connery, maybe some of the earlier Moores)
Star Wars VI
posted by adamrice at 12:08 PM on November 9, 2012


Oh, are we moving on to "Less Boyzone Must Watches?"

"Steel Goddamn Magnolias." Drink THAT juice, Shelby.
posted by ColdChef at 12:08 PM on November 9, 2012 [4 favorites]


("Can't Hardly Wait" is an overlooked classic)
posted by ColdChef at 12:09 PM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


It occurs to me that it wouldn't be tough to rip all the movies that would be on my ideal movie channel to a media pc, program (or randomize) a line-up, and let them continually stream to my television.

Fortunately, I don't think my wife would let me do it.
posted by fings at 12:10 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


"Steel Goddamn Magnolias." Drink THAT juice, Shelby.

Oh god I gave blood last week and might have blacked out a little bit and all I could think of was drinking the goddamn juice, Shelby.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:12 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Old-school Disney Channel Original movies (Luck of the Irish, Halloweentown).
Tremors. All of them.
A Knight's Tale.
The Great Race.
How to Train Your Dragon.
Anything by Mel Brooks, including (especially) censored-for-cable Blazing Saddles.
Anything with Vin Diesel or The Rock. Double if they are babysitting or otherwise dealing with kids.
Almost anything Sean Connery.
Any movie about Highly Trained Government Operative who is framed/betrayed and must use his Highly Specialized Skills to clear his name and take down the Bad Guy/Bad Organization.
posted by specialagentwebb at 12:12 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


10 PLAY "ALIEN
20 PLAY "THE TERMINATOR"
30 PLAY "THE THING"
40 PLAY "DIE HARD"
50 GOTO 10


So you want your network to play "ALIEN 20 PLAY" and the to THE TERMINATOR something called "30 PLAY "?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:16 PM on November 9, 2012 [5 favorites]


Anything by Mel Brooks, including (especially) censored-for-cable Blazing Saddles.

My favorite censored for TV moment came from watching The Blues Brothers on Comedy Central. They basically bleeped everything in the scene where the nun is hitting Jake and Elwood with the ruler, and so it looked like a movie where two guys are just beaten by a nun for no reason.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 12:16 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Old-school Disney Channel Original movies (Luck of the Irish, Halloweentown).

OOOH - Teen Witch!

Top that!
posted by Dojie at 12:17 PM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


Yeah, here's my girl-list, culled from movies that were actually shown on cable once in awhile

(1) Shawshank Redemption (ok, that one's not particularly girly, but come on! Andy and Red have the slashiest bromance of all!)
(2) Thelma and Louise
(3) Steel Magnolias
(4) Fried Green Tomatoes
(5) Dirty Dancing
(6) Any musical, especially if it's Cabaret or Chicago or White Christmas
posted by muddgirl at 12:18 PM on November 9, 2012 [3 favorites]


Dirty Dancing is my go-to jewish holiday movie, along with Fiddler (obvsly) and Some Like It Hot.
posted by elizardbits at 12:20 PM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


Oh, and The Birdcage.
posted by elizardbits at 12:20 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Somehow singing and dancing and crossdressing and pogroms are the epitome of judaism to me.
posted by elizardbits at 12:20 PM on November 9, 2012


I once met a woman who had an indexed binder that contained a dvd of every MST3K, and if nothing interesting were on TV, she would put in a random dvd from that binder for background noise.

Reader, I married her.
posted by nicething at 12:21 PM on November 9, 2012 [8 favorites]


O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Office Space
Idiocracy
The first hour of Full Metal Jacket
The Transformers (1986)
The Vito Corleone bits from The Godfather II
Galaxy Quest
posted by Gary at 12:25 PM on November 9, 2012


Does anyone else know Blow Dry? (highly under appreciated Alan Rickman flick). I put this on the same level as The Cutting Edge and Best In Show.

The things I list aren't my 'favorite movies' but I think I should probably own just because I sincerely would watch them whenever the option was offered.
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 12:26 PM on November 9, 2012


For some reason, if I see The Pelican Brief on TV, I must watch it to the end. Last weekend I even rented it On Demand, because I had never seen it without commercials before. (For the record it's better with commercials, more time for snack fetching). So,

Pelican Brief
All of the Ocean's (the Brad Pitt/Geo Clooney ones)
Notting Hill
Any of the Bourne's
And if Christmas movies count, White Christmas (the one with Bing Crosby)
posted by SweetTeaAndABiscuit at 12:27 PM on November 9, 2012


All Kenneth Anger, All The Time.
posted by shakespeherian at 12:28 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Oh, and speaking of Alan Rickman, Love Actually and the Robin Hood where he plays the Sheriff of Nottingham. Oh, and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

I'm stopping now.
posted by SweetTeaAndABiscuit at 12:30 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Oh, and every broadcast day starts with the opening speech from Patton.
posted by Gary at 12:30 PM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


Oh god, my list is so girly.

The first two That's Entertainment!'s.
Strictly Ballroom
Shirley Valentine
The Neverending Story
Legend (tiny Tom Cruise for the win)
Singin' in the Rain
Auntie Mame (Rosalind Russell but NEVER Lucille Ball version)
Grease
parts of Grease II (Michelle Pfeiffer!)
Batman Returns (Michelle Pfeiffer again!)
Raising Arizona
Pretty much any other Coen Brothers movie
Yours, Mine and Ours (Lucille Ball is good in this one)
What's Up Doc
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
Funny Girl
Xanadu (with booze only)
posted by emjaybee at 12:32 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Damn it! Forgot The Craft, which is the Best Teenage Mean Girl Witches movie ever.
posted by emjaybee at 12:33 PM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


Auntie Mame (Rosalind Russell but NEVER Lucille Ball version)

Oh, yes yes yes, I should've put that on my list too.
posted by dnash at 12:34 PM on November 9, 2012


Steel Magnolias! Crimes of the Heart (with Sissy Spacek, Diane Keaton and Jessica Lange)! Anything with Julia Roberts and/or Hugh Grant.

I'm having a serious movie nostalgia moment.
posted by SweetTeaAndABiscuit at 12:35 PM on November 9, 2012


No Romy And Michelle's High School Reunion? You shame me metafilter.
posted by The Whelk at 12:39 PM on November 9, 2012 [3 favorites]


Love Actually is glorious at all times.
posted by elizardbits at 12:41 PM on November 9, 2012 [4 favorites]


"Love Actually" is the movie we watch at Christmas now, instead of the old standbys.
posted by ColdChef at 12:43 PM on November 9, 2012


I'm pretty sure my wife's channel would just be Love Actually and The Family Stone looping endlessly, with How the Grinch Stole Christmas thrown in when it's actually getting toward December.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:43 PM on November 9, 2012


It is perhaps unsurprising given how much time I spend on a website that you folks also frequent -- but oh my god, would I watch the fuck out of the movie channel's you would program.

(Also, the fact that I am equally in love with the alleged boyzone lists and those posted to counter it might be the best not-sex thing about being a gay man.)

The only additions I'd have would be basically anything by Billy Wilder or Alfred Hitchcock - especially the lighter stuff of either. If North by Northwest starts, I always watch the opening credits but if I don't turn it off somewhere between he sents his secretary out for the cab and he accidentally answers the phone for George Kaplan, I'm done for the next 125 minutes. And watching Double Indemnity has happened so much that even my partner can quote the best parts verbatim.

For what it's worth, Dirty Dancing is actually my family's couldn't-be-less-Jewish holiday movie.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:01 PM on November 9, 2012


(though that may be because it was the only one we can always all agree on -- the fact that my dad is a sucker for not putting Baby in the corner is one of my favorite things about him)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:02 PM on November 9, 2012


There's something weird about these endlessly watchable movies for me. I wouldn't necessarily put any of these on my list of favorite movies (except Dirty Dancing and Princess Bride probably), but I just really like watching them. They're reliably enjoyable movies to spend a couple of hours with, and they don't demand a ton of attention or emotional investment. They're prime viewing for curling up on the couch on a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon. My list:

Basically anything Mel Brooks, though especially Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
Princess Bride
The Fifth Element
Prince of Egypt
(I watched this about 50 times as a child because it was always on HBO. And I will still watch it if it comes on again, while singing along with "Deliver Us.")
Emperor's New Groove (If you haven't seen this lately, I promise it is still hilarious, perhaps even more hilarious than if/when you watched it as a child.)
Dirty Dancing
Meet Joe Black
(There's just something about the soothing pace of the movie, especially with added commercial breaks, and Brad Pitt's preternaturally good looks...)
Airplane
Someone Like You
(I don't entirely know why this is the rom com I always end up rewatching, but there it is.)
Miss Congeniality

I also think Fantastic Mr. Fox would be one of these for me if it was on cable more often.
posted by yasaman at 1:02 PM on November 9, 2012


Movies I would actually watch nonstop in one long continuous loop, for real:

Bad Boys
The Matrix
Aliens
There's Something about Mary
Attack The Block
posted by cashman at 1:03 PM on November 9, 2012


If you want a vision of my perfect TV channel, imagine Crimson Tide playing on TV — forever.
posted by cthuljew at 1:03 PM on November 9, 2012


When I was a kid I recorded Star Wars off of the TV (before the VHS release). For about a year, I watched about half of it every day while getting ready for school. Although I don't think I got the intro.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 1:07 PM on November 9, 2012


Honestly, my real favorite movies ever are the three Lord of the Rings movies. However, I don't like to watch them any other way but start-to-finish, so they fail the test of movies you always watch if you come across them on TV. (And my real, real, favorite way to watch them is one after the other, in the extended DVD versions. Which I will be doing Thanksgiving weekend at some point.)
posted by dnash at 1:08 PM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


I'm not reading this whole damn thread right now.

Has anyone mentioned Sam Raimi's "The Quick and the Dead"?
Because I will continue to watch the shit out of that movie.
Also:
Aliens
Pi
Blade Runner
Dreamscape
The Usual Suspects
Hardware
Twelve Monkeys
And several other movies which I'm sure have been mentioned already.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 1:09 PM on November 9, 2012


Talking about watching on repeat, my kiddo went through about 2 years (from 6 to about 8) of watching some part of The Santa Clause EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. I knew that damn movie by heart and even which parts I would hear him guffawing at EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.
posted by SweetTeaAndABiscuit at 1:11 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Oliver!

I first saw it as a kid, it came on HBO one December, and I think I watched it about 10 times in that month. The "Who Will Buy?" number I still say is one of the best musical sequences ever put on film.
posted by dnash at 1:12 PM on November 9, 2012


SweetTeaAndABiscuit: At some point, my little brother watched The Lion King often enough that I could recite every single line of the movie by heart. And did on several occasions.
posted by cthuljew at 1:15 PM on November 9, 2012


Backdraft.
Passenger 57.
posted by jonnyploy at 1:18 PM on November 9, 2012


Movies I could probably watch over and over: When Harry Met Sally, Gone with the Wind, The Philadelphia Story, Galaxy Quest, Once Upon a Time in China 2, The Goonies, Batman Returns

Actual movies I've come across cable that I've been unable to switch from: Stepmom, Something to Talk About, Gone with the Wind, Tombstone, Sixteen Candles, The Rock, National Treasure
posted by zix at 1:22 PM on November 9, 2012


Soapdish w/ R.D. Jr, Kevin Kline, Sally Field, and Whoopi Goldberg is the most underplayed-on-TV flicks, and it's my best can't-not-watch flick. Air Force One ("Get off my plane!") and Dumb & Dumber always secure me to the couch. Hunt for Red October, Casino, Goodfellas, and The Godfather are a few of the great films I can't ignore.
posted by Lukenlogs at 1:23 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


We had a rule in my suite in college that if Dirty Dancing was on, we would watch it. Period. I don't even know how much we actually liked it. We just had to watch it.

My channel would involved The Princess Diaries (just the first one), Mean Girls, Bring It On, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Clueless and lately, Easy A. Clearly, this is the best slumber party lineup ever.
posted by darksong at 1:30 PM on November 9, 2012


More than a few movies are like this for me. Mrs. eyeballkid and I have had this discussion in the past.

Primarily for me it's either of the first two Underworld movies, and they are on all the damned time so I'll find myself hitting the sack at 2 am on a weeknight and having to deal with only four hours of sleep the next day. I'm fucked if they ever run them back to back at midnight. Also, if you were to ask me anything about either of those movies, I probably couldn't give you much detail. That's not a joke about being infatuated with Kate Beckinsale or anything (tho, yes, super hot in those movies). It's that those movies are close to playing a grindy video game. Things are exciting, but I can barely recall the details. Resident Evil movies also do this to me.

For films I actually remember, enjoy, and drop the remote and get comfortable when I flip to them: Galaxy Quest, yes, every single time. Predator too. Pulp Fiction, for some weird reason Notting Hill, Blade Runner, Office Space, Some Kind of Wonderful, Ski School (greatest film ever made), Fifth Element, Aliens, and the two Godfather movies.
posted by eyeballkid at 1:36 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Lukenlogs, this is where I go "Soapdish? I thought I've seen every RDJr movie ever made I don't remember oh, ...oh my.

*return to Netflix queue*
posted by The Whelk at 1:39 PM on November 9, 2012


The African Queen
Cool Hand Luke
Unforgiven
Evil Dead 2
Phantasm (WHAT? SHUT UP. COSCARELLI IS A MISUNDERSTOOD CINEMATIC GENIUS)
Finding Nemo
Raiders of the Lost Ark
It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad World
posted by BitterOldPunk at 1:58 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Oh oh oh and Young Frankenstein
posted by BitterOldPunk at 1:58 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Seen in the first comment in the OP's link: Beastmaster

Oh hell yes...that's one of those movies that was shown constantly on local stations as an afternoon feature back in the day...it was like the Shawshank Redemption of the mid 1980's.
posted by Esteemed Offendi at 2:10 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


I swear I used to get the Beastmaster Channel. I think it was always on cable somewhere, like Law and Order, for a few years there.
posted by thelonius at 2:19 PM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


Lukenlogs, this is where I go "Soapdish? I thought I've seen every RDJr movie ever made I don't remember oh, ...oh my.

*return to Netflix queue*


Whelk, you MUST watch Soapdish immediately. It is AMAZEBALLS. Sally Field! Whoopi Goldberg! Kevin Kline! SOAP OPERA MADNESS.
posted by emjaybee at 2:22 PM on November 9, 2012


I am somewhat amazed that The Whelk has not seen Soapdish!

Now I want to see it again as well. It's been too long.
posted by rtha at 2:26 PM on November 9, 2012


Oh man, so many good choices here...For me, though, the one movie that jumps to mind is no one seems to have mentioned is High Fidelity. I know that it is fundamentally a movie about relationships and, sure, that part speaks to me, but the backdrop of a small corner record store and the crazy characters that inhabit it is really what makes this movie soooo good.

College-me would also like to include Dazed and Confused and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, both of which I see are also absent from everyone else's list. Now-me would include much more sci-fi/fantasy/eccentric stuff, however.

I'm pretty sure my wife would invoke veto power over the remote if such a channel ever actually existed, however.
posted by mysterpigg at 2:27 PM on November 9, 2012


The Naked Gun
Miller's Crossing
The Blues Brothers
Die Hard
Road House
Brick
The Empire Strikes Back
Hard Boiled
Caddyshack
Goodfellas
Tango and Cash
Sexy Beast
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:32 PM on November 9, 2012


Repo Man
Buckaroo Banzai
Weekend at Bernie's
Beverly Hills Cop
Singing in the Rain
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Au Bout de Soufflé
Face Off
Blade Runner
Repo Man
posted by chavenet at 2:48 PM on November 9, 2012


Star Wars
Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi

Until the first hint appears on screen that these are the special editions, rather than the originals.

I actually can't really watch movies on tv anymore, certainly not on commercial channels where a ninety minute movie takes all evening; I get itchy and nervous and have to switch channels. But I can watch football matches or football talkshows with no problem, even when it's all about showing all the action from the Italian C/1 division.

If I did still watch movies, Amazon Women on the Moon would be an always watch, as would any Leslie Nielsen movie, Rocketeer, Galaxy Quest of course, any sort of light comedic sf.
posted by MartinWisse at 2:50 PM on November 9, 2012


Once Upon a Time in China I
Once Upon a Time in China II
Once Upon a Time in China III
Hero
House of the Flying Daggers
Red Cliff
Fong Sai-yuk
Ong Bak
Raising Arizona
Once Upon a Time in the West
A Room with a View
Strictly Ballroom
posted by chaoticgood at 3:07 PM on November 9, 2012


Oh! and Earth Girls Are Easy. Geena Davis always draws me in.
posted by adamrice at 3:13 PM on November 9, 2012


The Goonies
They Live!
The Burbs
Joe vs. the Volcano
Big
Annie Hall
Down by Law
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
The Man with Two Brains
Detour
House on Haunted Hill (Vincent Price)
Young Frankenstein
posted by anoirmarie at 3:46 PM on November 9, 2012


Zombieland
posted by A dead Quaker at 5:11 PM on November 9, 2012


In no particular order:

Dirty Dancing
The Cutting Edge (toepick!)
Super Troopers (meow)
Silence of the Lambs
Serenity
Princess Bride
Bring it On
Office Space
Team America: World Police
Girls Just Want to Have Fun (really, any movie with a climactic dance scene)
A Fish Called Wanda

and this is only what I can think of now (&what above post reminded me of). If such a channel existed it would be Very Dangerous for my produtivity.
posted by maryrussell at 5:50 PM on November 9, 2012


Judging by comments on this thread Galaxy Quest may just be the most watchable movie ever made.

I'd say most of the above, and any William Powell/Myrna Loy comedy. And Powell's My Man Godfrey.

Add in Midsomer Murders and that's it for me.
posted by monopas at 6:17 PM on November 9, 2012


Oh my hell, I'm saving this thread for the next time I don't know what to watch. Also, I think I must have watched Brazil at a formative stage - it's the most brilliant, perfectly devastating film I never want to see again in my life.

Sigh.
posted by Space Kitty at 6:43 PM on November 9, 2012


Jaws
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
In the Line of Fire
The Jackal
Fried Green Tomatoes
Dolores Claiborne
The Shawshank Redemption
The Birdcage
The Pelican Brief
Trading Places
Sophie's Choice
Notting Hill
True Romance
Being There
posted by maggieb at 7:00 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


These are not my favorite movies! These are in some cases movies I loathe, but I have certainly found myself sitting involuntarily slack-jawed in front of all of them, wondering whether I'll manage to put on pants at all that day:

12:00 Two Towers
3:00 Bring It On
4:30 Empire Records
6:00 Home for the Holidays
8:00 Josie and the Pussycats
10:00 Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
11:30 The Secret of NIMH
1:00 Ghostbusters II
3:00 Scrooged
5:00 Big Trouble in Little China
6:30 The Craft
8:00 If Lucy Fell
10:00 The Truth About Cats & Dogs
11:30 onward spent unclenching my fists and wiping the grimace off my face due to the 8:00 to 11:30 lineup
posted by ausdemfenster at 7:54 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Oh man, I just thought of another one: Starship Troopers

Fascist propaganda, giant bugs, Denise Richards as the *smarter* love interest. How could you possibly look away?
posted by jacquilynne at 8:05 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


You're telling me nobody has said Robocop? Because Robocop.
posted by RobotHero at 8:06 PM on November 9, 2012 [3 favorites]


And I didn't think of Robocop because jacquilynne just mentioned Starship Troopers. I thought of Robocop because I watched Robocop yesterday and was thinking of watching it again today.
posted by RobotHero at 8:10 PM on November 9, 2012


12:00 AM - Groundhog Day
1:41 AM - Spies Like Us
3:23 AM - The Bourne Identity
5:21 AM - Star Trek (2009)
7:27 AM - Mystery Men
9:28 AM - Sneakers
11:34 AM - Galaxy Quest
1:16 PM - My Man Godfrey (1936)
2:50 PM - Serenity
4:48 PM - Starship Troopers
6:57 PM - Glengarry Glen Ross
8:37 PM - A Fish Called Wanda
10:24 PM - Clue

I almost get Glengarry into prime time. And I did have UHF in place of My Man Godfrey but was reminded of the latter by monopas and I didn't want to come up with some excuse for squeezing 3 extra minutes into the day. Starship Troopers was on the list already, though, hot damn.
posted by mountmccabe at 8:39 PM on November 9, 2012


Bring it On (any of them)
Clueless
The Princess Bride
Independence Day
Men In Black
Super Troopers
Half Baked
Dirty Dancing
Steel Magnolias
Grease
GroundHog Day
any of the 3 Santa Clause movies
Hocus Pocus
posted by SuzySmith at 8:44 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


No mention of The Sand Lot?

Really?

Also, you forgot 20-30 minute snippets of david lynchs dune that you only catch in out of order sequences because it was on some day long repeat / marathon, you saw the dune worm scene like five times in one day, but didn't know the plot of the movie until the second day when you caught the opening scene and finally watched it all the way through in the right order.
posted by mrzarquon at 12:00 AM on November 10, 2012 [3 favorites]


Also, everything by Hal Ashby.
posted by mrhappy at 1:02 AM on November 10, 2012 [1 favorite]


Strange Days is one for me, but unfortunately it's not on very often.
posted by ver at 1:10 AM on November 10, 2012 [1 favorite]


Withnail & I !
posted by ver at 1:38 AM on November 10, 2012 [1 favorite]


Unforgiven.

That is all.
posted by Skot at 2:43 AM on November 10, 2012


Dragnet.
posted by jonnyploy at 4:34 AM on November 10, 2012 [2 favorites]


My dad's would be Blues Brothers, Terminator 2, and Animal House, over and over forever. Those are the only movies he'll sit all the way through. Maybe every once in a while pepper in that scene from Toy Story where Woody gets smashed up against the window in the pizza truck.
posted by phunniemee at 4:59 AM on November 10, 2012


Oh, Metafilter, I love you so much, especially after the recent election thread. But...but...I don't even... No "Grosse Point Blank"? It's like I don't even know you people.
posted by wintermind at 6:39 AM on November 10, 2012 [2 favorites]


And True Lies! I don't know how I forgot that one.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:32 AM on November 10, 2012


As other have mentioned:
Dirty Dancing
Alien, Aliens
Jaws
Pulp Fiction
My Cousin Vinny
Groundhog Day
Star Wars (original only. Hell, I saw it 7 times in the theater alone. I counted one time.)

And also:
Brokeback Mountain
Risky Business
Misery
The Godfather
A Christmas Story
Stand by Me
Fargo

I love this thread.
posted by SLC Mom at 11:13 AM on November 10, 2012


Just re-watched District 9.
Bloody hell that film holds up well, like an inverse 5th Element.
posted by fullerine at 1:30 PM on November 10, 2012 [2 favorites]


To Have and Have Not
Hard Day's Night
Man Who Fell to Earth
Blast from the Past
Magnificent Seven
Forbidden Planet...Morbius! Look at your gauges!
posted by condesita at 6:20 PM on November 10, 2012


No, no, that's just 1 day.

You need to program 365 days. A year seems about right for the rotation. That's really only about 2,500 movies (c'mon. you have to schedule in sleep or you will go INSANE).
posted by mrgrimm at 7:46 AM on November 12, 2012


I don't think anybody's mentioned these 2 gems:

Runaway Train
Thunderbolt & Lightfoot

...and +1 on:
Cool Hand Luke
Bladerunner
16 Candles
Risky Business
posted by Bron at 10:55 AM on November 17, 2012


This is so random, but I would add:

Trading Places
Chinatown
The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg
Exit Through the Gift Shop
The Wire
posted by Golden Eternity at 11:27 AM on November 17, 2012


If I had to add some to the good movies that I can and will watch over and over and love to death that haven't been listed: Snatch, Out of Sight, Diva, Rosemary's Baby...

But in the spirit of movies I am compelled to watch no matter how dubious they are:

Dune
88 Minutes
Copland
Excalibur
Spartan
No Way Out
Erin Brokovich

(More recent shameful contenders I'm hoping to get over:)
Your Highness
Moneyball
National Treasure
Tropic Thunder
Fool's Gold
posted by fleacircus at 7:23 PM on November 17, 2012


Here is a channel of movies I will sit down to watch if they appear on the television and I happen to be near a couch or recliner...

Ghostbusters
Princess Bride
Office Space
Big Trouble in Little China
Iron Giant
Toy Story
Fifth Element
Earnest Goes to Camp
Pee Wee's Big Adventure
Wrath of Khan
Star Wars Trilogy (Original Recipe)
Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail
Monty Python's Holy Grail
Baron von Munchausen
Time Bandits
Brazil
Twelve Monkeys
Fight Club
Jaws
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Rocky I, III and IV
Heavy Metal
Rock and Rule
Aladdin
Gone in 60 Seconds
Hackers
War Games
Tron (O.G.)
Sneakers
Better Off Dead
Uncle Buck
Breakfast Club
Pump Up the Volume
UHF
Repo Man
Buckaroo Banzai
Jurassic Park
The Crow
Event Horizon
An American Werewolf In London
Teen Wolf
Back to the Future Trilogy
Evil Dead 2
Armies of Darkness
Spider-Man trilogy.
LOTR Trilogy
Anchor Man
Something About Mary
Me, Myself and Irene
Stuck on You
The Mask
Truman Show
Field of Dreams
The Longest Yard (original)
Rushmore
The Royal Tannenbaums
Scrooged
Caddy Shack
Blues Brothers
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:27 PM on November 17, 2012


The Brat Pack movies. It doesn't matter that I own them all. If they come on TV I'll watch them commercials and all.


Why yes, I am a girl who came of age in the '80s. Why do you ask?
posted by deborah at 11:47 PM on November 18, 2012


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