Do movies have healing powers? The best movies to watch on a sick day

We are now entering that wonderful time of year known as cold & flu season. I am feeling a bit run down myself right now, all stuffy and coughing. This got me thinking about how I love to watch movies when I'm home sick. Just like I yearn for my softest bedding and chicken soup to make me feel better, it seems only natural to me to put on a favorite movie for comfort.

Can movies really help heal you? I know they make me feel better. The next time you're sick, why not try a movie? It will help you distract yourself from how miserable you feel and might keep you still enough to give your body's defenses a chance to work. So get your favorite blankie, keep your tissues handy, and put on one of these movies. (Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. Don't substitute watching a movie for getting professional medical advice and then blame me. Thanks.)

With that out of the way, here's my list of some great movies to watch on a sick day:

Pride and Prejudice (the BBC version)
Five hours of Jane Austen goodness, this is the best for when you need a lot of time to recuperate. It's quiet and slow-moving enough that you can fall asleep watching it and good enough that if you drift in and out you can enjoy any scene you happen to catch.

The Princess Bride
If you're not feeling up to reading (and you can't get your grandpa to come over and read to you) try watching this movie instead. Is there anyone out there that hasn't seen it yet? The familiarity of it will make it all the more comforting.

Star Wars: A New Hope
You don't want anything too mentally taxing when you're sick, and this movie is not at all brain-draining. Good is good, evil is evil, the ending is happy. You can also use it to inspire some visualization to fight your infection: imagine those X-wings are blasting away at the germs inside you, blowing them up like the Death Star. Feeling better yet?

The Pink Panther (the original, of course)
One for the "laughter is the best medicine" category, this movie stars the brilliant Peter Sellers as the bumbling (and slightly tragic) inspector. It holds up to repeated watching, too; even knowing the comedic moments that are coming, it is still laugh-out-loud funny.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off
This one may make you slightly jealous as you watch Ferris have all kinds of fun on his "sick day". Or it may make you a bit tired watching him run all around Chicago. Just try to enjoy it vicariously and plan on taking your own mental health day sometime when you're feeling better. Which hopefully will be very soon!

Did I miss your favorite sick day movie? Let me know!