To me, old movies are like comfort food

When I was little I couldn’t wait for Friday night. Why? Because Friday night in my household meant pizza from Papa Pizzano’s and movies from Video One. Yeah, Video One—a Pre-Blockbuster, mom and pop video store that would fine you if you didn’t rewind the VHS tape. Please be kind rewind, anyone?

Those were happy times for me. Not so much for my dad, though. He was the one stuck driving to pick up the pizza and then having to endure me renting Back to the Future for the hundredth time—weekend, after weekend, after weekend. He finally smartened up and bought me a copy for Christmas.

To this day I can sit down and watch Back to the Future and not get bored. As a matter of fact, when I’m sick, one of the first movies I turn on is Back to the Future. When I’m stressed out at work, I’ll go home and pop it in merely to have it as background noise as I sit in front of my computer.

It’s weird. There’s something so damn comforting about hearing Marty McFly proclaim his ignorance to the definition of a gigawatt. Or hearing Doc Brown recount the fateful night he slipped on his toilet seat, smacked his head and envisioned the key to time travel—the flux capacitor.

Yeah, I really love that movie. As a matter of fact, I love a lot of old movies from when I was growing up. To me, old movies are like comfort food. When you’re feeling blah, you can pop one in, watch the TV screen, and slip away to a time when the problems you had were so petty. So unimportant. I miss those days. I guess that’s why I’ll always have a copy of Back to the Future close at hand. Thank you, iPhone!

So tell me, what’s your motion picture comfort food? You know you have one.