#519 Glue movies

Neil Pasricha

What’s your glue movie?

For me, I’m completely sucked in anytime I accidentally stumble on A League of Their Own while flipping channels. Yes, watching Tom Hanks and Geena Davis scratch out wins on the ball diamond always hooks me like a fish ’til the credits roll.

See, glue movies are any movie you can’t stop watching whenever you see them on TV.

Nope, don’t matter how many times you’ve seen ’em, don’t matter if you own ’em already — just forget the laundry, skip the dishes, and make your lunch tomorrow, people. You’re stuck in a glue movie so start popping corn and pouring Pepsis because you ain’t going anywhere.

Now, I was chilling in my friend Nick and Julie’s basement apartment the other night when we started chatting about glue movies. After I spent five minutes spilling potato chip crumbs all over my T-shirt while describing Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell’s on field chemistry, Nick started up a rant of his own.

“You know, you would think my glue movie would be The Usual Suspects,” he began. “I can pick it up anywhere and knowing the twist makes every scene more interesting. Like, what’s true, what’s made up? I’ve seen it twenty times and I still don’t know. But then again, it’s completely unwatchable when edited for television. In the police line-up scene they say something like ‘Hand me the keys, you giant cockroach.‘ It’s awful. So… now that I think about it my glue movie is definitely Heat. Long movie, understated performance by Deniro, the best bank robbing scene in history, and enough relationship stuff so Julie gets into it.”

It was a good argument and Nick was satisfied with it. He took a long swig of his drink and nodded his head a little bit as he came to terms with his glue movie selection. Then I performed a classy Thumb & Index Finger Pre-Lick, we let a minute pass in silence, and Julie went off like a rocket:

“My movie is definitely The Mighty Ducks 2,” she started, excitedly. Nick and I looked at each other but she ramped up. “Look, I’m smiling just thinking about it. I had a crush on all the boys from the first movie, but I can only responsibly love them closer to the legal age of consent. Plus, they had a girl on the team and I always dreamed of being that female hero. And I generally love movies with kids because they remind you of actors before they were big. I mean, I loved Joshua Jackson in Dawson’s Creek because of the ducks,” she finished.

Nick shrugged and nodded, I furrowed my eyebrows and gave a dramatic thumbs up, but Julie wasn’t quite done.

“Oh yeah!” she beamed. “And the movie taught me everything I know about hockey which can be summarized in three words: Ducks fly together. This is what I yell whenever Nick’s watching hockey.”

We smiled and laughed because it was clear these movies really do hold a special place in our hearts.

Maybe you’re glued to the screen waiting for the redemption in Shawshank, nervous for the courtroom drama in My Cousin Vinny, or eager for the trip home in Adventures in Babysitting.

But no matter what, watching your glue movie is like hanging out with an old friend who pops by for an unexpected visit. After pouring a drink and settling into your couch dent, the memory pops and nostalgia drops start sparking and sizzling in your brain. Suddenly you’re reminded of drives to the movies in mom’s minivan, crashing on the couch with friends, or sharing an old fave with a new flame.

So stick with your glue movies, everybody.

They’ll be yours forever.

AWESOME!

— Email message —

“Hi Neil, I think toilet-top literature is awesome. It’s the casual games of reading. You can pick up where you left off… read it short bursts. Hello old friend… Come here often? An important consideration is whether the book has natural breaking points because sometimes we need cues to get up and rejoin society. Toilet-top literature is also a window into the lives of your friends. What are they going to have in there for you? Ikea catalog? Mad Libs? Or if you’re lucky The Book of Awesome?” – Ryan
Photos from: here, here, here, and here

359 thoughts to “#519 Glue movies”

  1. Ummmm… Cool Runnings??? really no one?? I know its not the best movie, but no matter who I’m with every time that movie comes on everyone in the room is glued. My other personal glue movies are Sister act 1&2, Willy Wonka with Gene Wilders genius self, Forest Gump, and I have of course have been stuck in front of the tv all day long with lifetime on.

  2. OH
    EM
    GEE!

    how, How HOW could I have forgotten the greatest double-jeopardy Glue movie duo of ALL TIME??

    The Godfather & The Godfather Part II.

    (hangs head in shame.)

  3. Love this one!!!

    For me, my #1 glue movie is “The Breakfast Club.” Oh, such a classic. I have every line memorized, yet each time I watch it, it feels like the first time!!! :)

  5. Mine is definitely Shawshank Redemption. Does not matter that I have seen it a thousand, million times, I still am glued to my seat if I had to land on this classic while channel surfing. It is pure awesome!

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  7. Ok, I love this post- glue movies are definitely awesome.
    There are a ton of movies that I love and will watch over and over, but the one that automatically gets me glued is A Few Good Men. It doesn’t matter what I was watching- if it’s on, I watch it. I think I have only seen the unedited version once- but I have watched it on tv countless times! The final courtroom scene is just too awesome to resist.

  8. i never thought of it …
    but i know which one’s mine!
    its Karate Kid, the first one.
    so i wrote this down on my blog, as well.
    thanks for letting me think about it!

  9. Remember The Titans. I HAVE to watch it everytime it comes on.

    “You make sure they remember FOREVER, the night they played the Titans!”

    SOOO GOOD!

  10. Woooo, loving this ! :D

    I have more than one glue movies, but I don’t know how many I’ll remember, le’s see… Eh…

    L.A. Confidential, American Beauty, Equilibrium, As good as it gets, Something’s gotta give, Green Mile…

    So many more though, including tv series like Seinfeld, Twin Peaks and Scrubs, which I’ve seen the complete series like three times each (except for Scrubs), but I just can’t stop lookin’.

  12. One of my Glue Movies: “As Good As It Gets”. As I get older and grumpier, I can really relate to Melvin (Nicholson).

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  15. just found this site (via cake wrecks) and had to comment….
    Sure, I have a few glue movies – but does anybody else have glue books? I mean books you notice standing on their shelf, you think “how was that exact scene again?”, reread it – and bang, you`re hooked again reading that whole book for the umph-teenth time…

    I think it’s awesome – anybody I told thinks it strange.
    Is this happening to anybody out there, or is it just me?

  16. Forrest gump and Ferris Bueller’s day off.

    I LOVE FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF.

    Cameron…Oh, poor cameron. <3

    1. What a great movie! Definitely a glue-movie for me. :)
      “Let my Cameron go….!”

  17. My glue movie is Forrest Gump. I can’t stop watching at least part of it any time it comes on T.V., which is a lot. It’s on at least twenty or thirty times a year.

  18. Mine would be:
    Reality Bites- “I’m bursting with fruit flavor”
    “He’s the reason why Cliffs Notes
    were invented”

    Clueless- “Do you prefer fashion victim or ensemble-y challenged?”

    Empire Records- “What’s with today, today?”

    Anything that reminds me of the 90’s.

  19. titanic…..which sucks because i lose 3 hours of my life every time i catch it on cable!

  22. Dubbed TV version of Sixteen Candles when the dubbing screws up:

    “They’ll laugh their heads-asses off!”

  25. Oh, glue movies, I had no idea there was a name for you!

    I have a few…Forrest Gump, any of the 3 original Star Wars movies, and any really bad horror movie. lol. Such a guilty pleasure.

  26. 1. Jurassic Park

    2. Superbad

    3. Any of the original 3 Star Wars

    4. Any of the Lord of the Rings

    5. DUMB AND DUMBER!!!

  27. I’m not sure there are any particular movies that I HAVE to watch whenever they come on TV, but there in any given channel flipping I could find a glue movie for that moment.

    that being said, Parent Trap (Lindsey Lohan) and Sweet Home Alabama, and of course the aforementioned Mean Girls and Leagally Blonde are awesome and definitely movies I would definitely watch on TV even though I own them. Many more as well. PT and SHA are my “comfort movies” for when I’m sick or missing home or just sad/upset I put them in as I go to bed so I can go to bed thinking happy thoughts and quoting every line in the movie!

  28. Mine is definitely Titanic. Even though it’s three plus hours long. I can’t NOT.

  29. I have many, including any one of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Princess Bride, but the first one I thought of was definitely Edward Scissorhands. :)

  30. Nemo! I love this film and I can see it every single time with pleasure…since I am a kind of Dori! hahahaha

  33. My glue movie has always been “Star Trek: First Contact.” I just love the ADS (Awesome Data Scenes), of which there are plenty, such as when Data acts like he’s not frightened when he clearly is and when the Borg Queen says, “Do you always talk this much?” and then Data replies with, “Not always, but often.” Best Quote Ever. Also, there are plenty of scenes where you smirk to yourself because of, like, an inside joke like when Zefram Cochrane says “Engage!” and when the Doctor says “Please state the nature of the medical emergency.” and then Beverly Crusher says “Twenty Borg are about to burst through that door!!! Buy us some time!!” and then the Doctor says, “That’s not in my programming! I’m a doctor, not a doorstop!” Then there are those awesome scenes like the First Warp Flight and First Contact When Like That Vulcan Throws His Hood Back Calmly and Dramaticly At The Same Time and the scene when Worf repairs his space suit with a random Borg part he found and the 0.68 seconds scene (another ADS) and the list goes on….. but its eleven so I have to go to bed now. Kthxbai!

  34. Blast From The Past
    High Fidelity
    Bridget Jones
    Drop Dead Fred
    Knottinghill

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  37. I Am Sam, and its amazing soundtrack
    Spitfire Grill
    What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
    Garden State
    Beautiful Mind

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  44. Reblogged this on 1000awesomefriends and commented:
    Ok, in our blast from the past Awesome Things, this post is definitely a classic, with plenty of comments and discussion. For me, Lord of the Rings is definitely a glue movie and I wouldn’t think twice about doing an all-day marathon with the extended versions. What about for you?
    Good news, it seems we have two means of submitting posts, one through the submit page, and regular contributors will receive a request to become “contributors” soon so you can write your own posts, add photos and get ready to share your Awesome Thing with the world! The countdown to May 1 is tick-tocking, so get your posts ready!

  45. Armageddon, Princess Bride and The Green Mile

    Bear, John Coffee and Fezzik are all great characters. Nothing gets done when these movies are on.

  46. It sounds like you are generating issues your self by wanting to clear up this concern instead of looking at why their can be a difficulty to begin with

  47. The Mummy, oh goodness it’s so bad it’s good and I can quote it word for word.
    All those corny Halloween and Christmas specials don’t go un watched either, and now that I don’t have cable, I actually go looking for them. Aaaah so good.

  49. Year round, “Sharkboy and Lavagirl”, any movie musical,”Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium” and “School of Rock”. At Christmas, “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”, “The Year Without A Santa Claus”, “Muppet Christmas Carol”, “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” and “Frosty the Snowman”.

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