We all have days when the only thing that will help our mood is to watch a very particular movie. And trust me, there’s a movie for every mood you could have: good, bad, sad, happy, you name it. So here’s a list of all my go-to moody movies. (And fair warning, they all come from the early 2000s.)
Cheerful
This one’s a pretty easy one because if I’m in a good mood, I’m not as picky about what movie I want to watch. One of my go-to happy movies is The Pacifier. It’s about a Navy Seal Lieutenant who is assigned to protect five children–and their pet duck. It’s happy, dramatic, adventurous, and full of everything you could need in a movie. Plus, it stars Vin Diesel, and you can’t go wrong with Vin Diesel acting in a kids movie.
Funny
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who like Napoleon Dynamite and those who don’t. I think it’s one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen, and I will quote it always and forever.
Intelligent
I don’t know if you can quite call this a mood, but whenever I’m feeling particularly smart, I want to watch a documentary. (Actually, I watch documentaries when I’m in any sort of mood.) There are a lot of great docs on Netflix that I could recommend, but I recently went through a killer whale phase where I only watched documentaries on orcas (don’t ask me why, but they were very interesting). Blackfish is a well-known one that I really like. (Also, Swimming with Killer Whales, a BBC doc, is pretty cool.)
Romantic
Princess Diaries 2. It is absolutely cheesy, and I absolutely love it.
Melancholy
When I’m feeling blue, I like to watch an equally blue movie to make me feel even worse (not a good coping mechanism, I know). I typically Google, “Saddest movies on Netflix” and then pick one from the list. One of the saddest movies I’ve ever seen is Forrest Gump. This one is so sad that I haven’t watched it again since the first time I saw it. It left me feeling blue for days, but it also somehow helped my sad mood? I don’t know why sad movies always make me feel better, but they do.
Mysterious
National Treasure with Nicolas Cage. You know how some people say they can quote entire movies? Well, I am not exaggerating when I say I can literally quote the entire movie start to finish. This has been my favorite movie since the first time I watched it.
Cranky
If I’m grumpy, I don’t necessarily want to stay grumpy like I do when I’m sad, so one movie that will always — and I mean always — cheer me up is Holes with Shia Labeouf. Phenomenal movie and also one of my favorite books.
Stressed
I usually need to watch a Disney movie if I’m feeling really stressed. Hercules or Tarzan have been played over and over (and over).
Music or Musical
If I want a movie about music, I love Tom Hanks’ That Thing You Do (1996). If I want an actual musical, Newsies with Christian Bale has been my favorite musical since I was a kid.
Action/Adventure
If I’m feeling kind of hardcore or powerful like I can take on the world, I want to watch Bourne Ultimatum (or Bourne Identity or Bourne Supremacy). All three always inspire me to want to always be on my A game.
So no matter what mood you’re in, grab some popcorn and enjoy any one of these early 2000s classics.
Majoring in Visual Communication Design, Class of 2020
Favorite Book: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Favorite State: Kentucky
Favorite Study Spot: The library
Favorite Song: Yellow by Coldplay
Favorite Drink: Dunkin Donuts (or as I like to call it “Dunky Donuts”) $2 iced coffee
Favorite Shirt: My green 25-cent Alaska T-shirt from the thrift store
Tags: #entertainment, #guide, #moods, #movies
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