channel surfing and movies you just can't resist

As there are more and more channels to surf through with our remotes in hand it's a wonder anyone watches a show from start to finish anymore. For some it's the 24 hour news channels, for many food networks and home improvement shows, on the occasional lazy weekend you get roped into a marathon of a favorite show like Law and Order or a show you would never lay claim to watching - Flavor of Love comes to mind.

For me each and every time it is a movie that sucks me in on any given night. As an avid movie fan I own a decent amount of films. I have 2 DVD players and a VCR and considering my child is a toddler, it is not difficult for me to watch a movie without commercial interuption. However, regardless of the fact that I own it in DVD and VHS if Shawshank Redemption shows up on TNT on any given evening I am going to stop and watch it. At times I am compelled by it. For me movies provide an odd sense of comfort, a normalcy and connectivity to my memories. It's difficult to describe and truly has no ryhme or reason. It's a non caloric comfort food.

Think of the holidays - every year people revisit holiday films like It's A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story. "It's not the holidays without watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Many people feel this way. I remember growing up when it is was just network television and VCRs weren't common place. Once a year The Wizard of Oz would come on and we would plan for it and gather around the TV as siblings to watch it. That of course and Battle of the Network Stars. And while convenience has expanded providing access to movies and classic TV shows in a way like never before, I still find something comforting in happening upon a movie I adore on TV. It's like a chance meeting and can in an instant redirect your mind and day.

I am a bad example because I watch movies over and over, yet even my mother who rarely if ever watches a movie twice has been susceptable to what I am talking about. On more than one occasion I have called to see how she is doing and she will tell me that she stumbled onto Pretty Woman and couldn't help but watch it again because she adores it so much. I think we all have movies that we can't resist on a regular basis.

For me there are the usual suspects (no pun intended) like West Side Story and Shawshank Redemption. For me, more often than not I will stay up late watching a sappy movie like Steel Magnolias and I can never resist Hitchcock, particularly Jimmy Stewart's Hitchcock collaborations. If Star Wars is on somewhere (the original three, not the recent ones) there is no getting me off of the couch. I can recite the likes of The Princess Bride and Soapdish but contine to watch with glee whenever the occassion arises.

Like a favorite meal, you relish in the familiarity and find comfort in the satisfaction it provides.