What's Your Favorite Sick Day Movie?

by Daniel Crooke

Any film fan knows that when they’re feeling under the weather, there’s at least one silver lining to spending the day in bed: the opportunity to put on a movie in the middle of the day. Just like the definitive cure for the common cold, it’s up for debate how to maximize your debilitated duration. Is this the ideal time to finally begin binge-watching The Americans? Should you opt for the comfort food route, watch old favorites, and boost your health with the warm and fuzzies? Or is this a golden opportunity to burn through your Netflix queue and finally watch the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner and Melanie Lynskey starring vehicle I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore?

Now that the seasons are changing it’s that time of the year when coughs and sneezes materialize so ubiquitously around you that they begin to sound like street noises – so it’s time to strategize your sick day viewing head-on.

As I’m currently in the thrilling throes of nose and throat congestion, I’ll share my selections first. Perhaps it’s the general dread of missing out on real life while your day revolves around Vitamin C but I always go for something slice of life with a bit of movie magic schmaltz around the edges, with a cast of real people in a very specific milieu. So yesterday Nicole Holofcener’s lovely first feature Walking and Talking was just what the doctor ordered. 

How about you: what do you like to watch when you're sickly and stuck at home?