What to watch at home: Seven comfort movies for this week

Do yourself a favour and schedule one movie for each night – for two hours at a time, you deserve to watch something comforting.

Cinemas are closed, your friends are losing their jobs and you’ve been running on adrenaline for days.

Give yourself a couple of hours every night and forget, even for a little while, the madness outside your front day. All this extra time cooped up inside gives you a chance to discover some new favourite shows, or finally watch those Oscar movies you keep hearing about.

But, sometimes, there’s nothing better than giving in to something familiar, something beloved – an easy watch that you know will give you that proverbial hug, since real hugs are now out.

You want something light and funny but with heart – and preferably great performances and decent writing. These seven movies will fill that void. Maybe you’ve already seen them 17 times before, but every one of these are super rewatchable.

Schedule one per night for the next week and you’ll feel better about everything, even if it’s only for two hours.

(And now that we’re all stuck inside together but apart, we’ll do this weekly so check back next week for another selection of seven comfort movies.).

Let me know your suggestions below in the comments.

OCEAN’S 11

Movie stars! So many of them!

Oh boy, Ocean’s 11 is just a charisma bomb, and you want to be covered in all that charm shrapnel. Sure, Brad Pitt’s lapels are too wide and his shirts too shiny, but he is so damn delightful.

Even if you’ve seen Ocean’s 11 about seven times before, and you know all the ins-and-outs of their elaborate scheme to steal Terry Benedict’s millions, you’ll still revel in the cleverness of the plan when it’s revealed.

Crime pays – until Ocean’s 12.

Stream it: Stan/Foxtel Now

BRIDGET JONES’ DIARY

Just as she is

It’s actually criminal that Bridget Jones’ Diary wasn’t nominated for an Adapted Screenplay Oscar because it is so well written and structured.

Renée Zellweger as the loveable mess Bridget, with her short skirts and her chain smoking, is so winsome and easy to root for, even if she does make some terrible choices. This movie is also a nice reminder that if you ever run into Salman Rushdie at a book launch, he knows where the loos are.

Stream it: iTunes/Google Play

CLUELESS

Kids in America

If you pay attention, you can see how perfectly crafted this comedy really is – but you don’t even need to because the only thing you need to do is live in the world created by the movie.

The characterisation of Cher, transported by director and writer Amy Heckerling from Jane Austen’s Emma to the glitzy world of 1990s Beverly Hills, is truly a paragon in how to give your lead real growth.

Plus, the dialogue, the fashion, the soundtrack!

Stream it: Netflix

THE MIGHTY DUCKS

Division 5

Quack, quack, quack. Ducks fly together.

A little innocent, family friendly fun is exactly what we need right now, and there’s nothing more inspiring than an underdog team of ragtag kids finding the faith to believe in themselves.

And watching Gordon Bombay realise that having fun, trying your best and being a team is more important than winning makes your heart just swell – metaphorically, of course.

Stream it: Disney+

SENSE & SENSIBILITY

Emma Thompson: actual genius

Now, Emma Thompson wasn’t only nominated but actually won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for this Austen movie directed by Ang Lee.

A character study in contrasts, this captivating movie about the impoverished Dashwood sisters – passionate Marianne and reserved Elinor – has men on horseback, people being polite and Harriet Walter’s barely concealed barbs.

Stream it: Netflix

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

Who are you going to be next week?

When Tom Hanks went quiet for a few days around day eight after testng positive for the cornoavirus, I feared the worst. We couldn’t lose Tom Hanks, we just couldn’t.

Anyway, Hanks is excellent as the FBI agent foil to Leonardo DiCaprio’s Frank Abagnale Jr, a consummate conman who can take on any identity – a pilot, a doctor, a lawyer – but will never escape the burden of his daddy issues.

Stream it: Netflix/Stan/Foxtel Now/Amazon Prime Video

JUNO

Juno also has a great soundtrack

Sure, it has a bit of a pro-life message – something screenwriter Diablo Cody has since said she regrets – but Juno is funny, emotionally raw without being depressing, and features some amazing performances from Ellen Page, J.K. Simmons and Jennifer Garner.

It’s sweet, sassy and has a brilliantly calibrated tone and rhythm.

Stream it: Foxtel Now