I have come to a life-changing realization. Life-CHANGING, I tell you.
I now know what my favorite movie genre is.
CreepyHappy.
(As opposed to my blog post yesterday, which was just CreepyCreepy.)
(Sorry about that.)
(Also, sorry about the misunderstandings as to which parts were real and which parts only happened in my head.)
(Hopefully I have since cleared all of that up.)
Anyway.
CreepyHappy.
We watched the preview of Kiefer Southerland’s new television show, “Touch”, after American Idol last week, and this is what led to my epiphany.
For the first half hour of the show, I felt intensely uncomfortable and pained for the characters involved.
But there must be buildup for CreepyHappy to occur.
And the second half hour made it all worth it. CreepyishHappiness overwhelmed me.
CreepyHappy: Moments in movies, television or books that give you repeated chills while you simultaneously experience emotions of great joy, excitement, awe, or thrill. Chills could be related to events of the paranormal, supernatural, spooky in a good way, or just plain amazingness of the events at hand.
Apparently, however, most people define CreepyHappy as “comprehensively, conclusively, and on all counts cheesy”. Which sadly creates a ridiculously small number of CreepyHappy products in the world.
So I want to get chills and be happy all at once – is that really too much to ask?
My favorite CreepyHappy movie of all time, Dragonfly
(I didn’t even know 7% was possible, except maybe in the case of a Barbie movie or Anaconda 2.)
(Speaking of Anaconda, I also like movies with large snakes in them, no matter how obviously mechanical they are. Which makes me think I’m beginning to form a case as to my horrible taste in movies altogether.)
Back to Dragonfly. Rotten Tomatoes summarizes my favorite movie as such:
“Sappy, dull, and muddled, Dragonfly is too melancholic and cliched to generate much suspense.”
Okay. So maybe I’m just gullible and don’t see it coming before it happens, but I loved it, even despite Kevin Costner being the leading man. I loved it so much that I might have still loved it if Nicholas Cage had been the star.
This genre recognition also explains my favorite Christmas movie, Noelle, and my three favorite books, Ted Dekker’s Blessed Child
So now that I have identified this extremely important piece of the puzzle that is Rachel, I am on a mission to identify and watch or read all CreepyHappiness in the world.
Ghost, City of Angels, Dragonfly…and that’s all I’ve got right now.
What else is out there?
And don’t be afraid to recommend it just because it’s cheesy and cliché – because I apparently like that kind of thing.
City of Angels was just wrong. I was furious when that movie ended and that stupid log truck killed her. I would call that CreepyDemandaRefund.
Haha! I totally agree, but be careful about spoilers. You might ruin the chance for someone else to get enraged and throw things at their TV. :P
Actually was a really good flick, but every time I mistakenly watch a Nicholas Sparks-based movie I think of City of Angels. (Seriously??? They all die in the end??? Arrg!!!)
Yes. The whole death thing is just wrong. I’ve only watched one Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember) and it was intensely painful.
I forgot about the ending!!! You’re right. That needs to come off of the CreepyHappy list.
The Saint with Val Kilmer. It is intensely uncomfortable and yet happy at the same time. I loved it when I was younger but couldn’t even sit through the whole thing the last time it was on TV. It was so awkward I had to change the channel. (Disclaimer:I haven’t seen the whole thing in a long time, there may be some stuff in there that no one wants to see, I can’t remember.)
Don’t feel bad about your movie choices, I like weird movies. Like artsy independent, films with off-beat cinematography and plots so complex your “ah ha” moment doesn’t happen until the whole movie is over. Brick is the best example of this genre I can think of. But it is definitely not sappy, in fact it’s quite dark, so don’t take this as a recommendation. Just wanted you to know you aren’t alone in the poor taste in movie genres club.
I haven’t seen either of those!! I like artsy confusing movies too – as long as they are able to be figured out. Ones that have no explanation no matter how long you search for them on the internet (such as Mulholland Dr.) make me batty.
I love the Saint! Or at least I did when we went through a phase in high school where we watched it every friday night at different people’s houses so our parents wouldn’t find out we had a weird obsession with Val Kilmer. Why that was the thing we worried about???
It is so weird the things we think we should hide from our parents, isn’t it? I remember several completely inert and bizarrely random things I hid when I was a kid.
Like, for instance, I went through a phase that anytime Mom left me home alone, I’d make cinnamon roll icing and eat it by the spoonful. Powdered Sugar + Milk + Vanilla. Clearly, I was a bad, bad child.
I don’t know if this counts, but the movie “Signs” gives that feeling for me. It is definitely creepy since it has aliens and such but the message and the ending gives makes me very happy and the first time I watched it really moved me.
Again not sure if these counts and they are both very cheesey. One have Nick Cage in it so you if don’t like him you may pass. 1. Knowing (nick cage) 2. Push (Chris Evans). Knowings end and happiness maybe iffy but I think they were going for a happy ending.
I have to agree with Amy, “City of Angels” made me mad at the end.
I need to see Signs!! I don’t know why I haven’t. I’ll have to check out the other two also – thanks!!
You are hilarious!
Have you seen The Lake House (Sandra Bullock)? I watched it forever ago, but I think I remember it having a creepyhappy theme. Oh, and The Adjustment Bureau (Matt Damon)? That one might be to your liking…
Lastly, have you ever seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Jim Carey/Kate Winslet)? It’s one of my all-time favs — I’d say there’s definitely an element of creepyhappy in that one too. I love “weird/Indie” movies, as my husband says, so you may want to discount this last recommendation…
We LOVED Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind!! I haven’t seen The Lake House or The Adjustment Bureau – thanks for the recommendations!
You might like the movie Ink. It’s definitely creepy, but I liked it and found it happy at the end. I also agree with everything that Ashley said (except The Lakehouse, because I haven’t seen that one). Also good- Fetching Cody, Wristcutters-a love story, and the book Rooms.
Never heard of them! Thanks! I’ll check them out.
ESOTSM is an excellent movie! And there are some very good Barbie movies! At least ones that I quote on a semi-regular basis… (Left-ing! Left-a-roo!)
And now I need to go read the comments from yesterday because the post made me leave your site pretty damn quick!
Yes, Eternal Sunshine is awesome! I haven’t watched the Barbie movies yet because my friends gave me dire warnings of how mindlessly awful they were. Maybe I should give them a chance…
I think you would like most of m. night shyamalan’s movies…Signs, The Village, Lady in the Water…
Are they scary? I’m not a scary movie type, and I always thought he had that reputation…
I don’t like scary movies either, but The Village is one of my favorite movies of all time. There are “jump out and scare you” moments…but he always resolves his films well so there’s nothing scaring you after the movie is over- does that make sense? They’re certainly not “horror” movies…more like “suspenseful” movies.
Excellent! I need to see them for sure. Thanks!
I also loved “The Lakehouse”, but it’s the only movie that anyone has mentioned that I have seen, so I must not take to your newly-discovered genre. Or maybe it’s because I just don’t watch movies.
But I am right there with you on not appreciating Nicholas Cage or Kevin Costner as leading men – or having anything to do with a movie.
I have weird taste in movies too so don’t feel bad. I’ve never seen dragonfly but I did like City of Angels…until the end. Boo. And Eternal Sunshine is fantastic. My favorite happy movies (at least, movies that make me happy, because sometimes the bulk of the movie is not happy but the ending makes it all ok) are Amelie, Ever After, Waking Ned Devine (SO. GREAT.), Apollo 13 (makes me teary every single time), pretty much any adaptation of a “classic” book (Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, An Ideal Husband, Much Ado About Nothing, etc) and Big Fish (just pure fun).
It sounds like we have a lot of the same tastes – I’ll have to check these out! If you like classic book adaptations, have you seen Julia Stiles’ Shakespeare movies? “O” (Othello) and “10 Things I Hate About You” (The Taming of the Shrew) are awesome – I love them!
WellI have never even heard of any of these movies so I guess I don’t appreciate the genre. Or I watch movies with people who don’t. :) The only movies I can think of that I like that could fall into this category would be Just Like Heaven (Reese Witherspoon) and Mansfield Park – and that’s only creepy because she talks to you and it creeps me out when they look at the camera and speak to me. It’s a great movie other than one part that always grosses me out so I fast forward it.
I’ll have to check those out! Haven’t seen either one.
I’m so glad to know I’m not the only one with a Nicolas Cage aversion. It’s a given that I will completely and utterly dislike any movie with him in it. How is that man famous??!!
Anyhow, I’m with you on “Touch.” I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days after seeing it!!
I don’t know!! He has the same wild-eyed, wuss of a character in EVERY movie.
What is the movie with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo where she is a doctor? I can’t think of the name. But I do think it would fall into this genre, it was really quite a cute move, despite not having a clue what it is called!
I really like The Lake House and Signs. I also liked Touch last week and can not wait for it to come on in March. That was a real teaser. Awakenings was good.