As Roger Ebert once noted, movies are “empathy machines.” Also, you might just find a new favorite filmmaker along the way (like I did with Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun via The Criterion Channel).
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You should always be craving new experiences, but, let’s face it, sometimes… Okay, a lot of the time you just want to watch a great movie you’ve already seen, one that’s guaranteed to work its particular magic every single time. These are comfort food films, and they are re-watchable for a myriad of reasons. Some are rousing, while others give you a good cry. The best evoke the full range of emotions.
There’s also tremendous pleasure to be found in watching a wildly magnetic movie star operate at the height of their charismatic powers. Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, Denzel Washington, and the sadly retired Maggie Cheung throw off a charge like none other, even in movies that prove unworthy of their talents. Tom Cruise is another actor who’s always worth watching. Mostly. Feel free to skip “The Mummy.” But at his best, there are very few actors who can match his high-wattage charm. And when you plug him into a masterfully constructed film stacked with a murderer’s row of acting talent, you get the kind of classic that, with one click of the remote, can make your troubles instantly vanish. So, it’s not surprising to learn that one of his very best movies is tearing up Tubi’s streaming charts at the moment.
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