What's another movie that's as pleasant as "Julie and Julia"?

This is a very good question. I await people’s answers. I wish I had one to give.

Hard question to answer. Most movies that I find as just “pleasant” are movies I personally I don’t enjoy that much. There needs to be some sort of conflict in order for me to care about the characters. And most movies that I do think of as pleasant, without a lot of gratuitous violence, are animated. But I’ll keep thinking of a movie to suggest.

Have you seen the Paddington films?

No animation. Thanks, but no children’s shows. Nothing cloying.

@rockfan, you can have conflict without violence. Drama without violence. Consider Jane Austen, for instance. (But no romantic comedies for me.) Pleasant and enjoyable to watch doesn’t necessarily mean insipid.

Some titles that come to mind are “The Big Sick”, “Secondhand Lions”, and “Win Win”. Uplifting and pleasant movies, without being too sappy.

Do you dislike animation in general? I’ve seen plenty of animated films that aren’t cloying.

Kiki’s Delivery Service, Ponyo. Both are pure joy.

You’ve probably seen all of the really good oldies.

I just watched “Fisherman’s Friend” on Netflix and it was very enjoyable. Set in Cornwall about a group of singing fishermen. Also “The Secret of Roan Inish’ an older movie set in Ireland. And a very old one “I Know Where I’m Going” with Wendy Hiller that is completely delightful. “The Gods Must Be Crazy” movies if you haven’t seen them. “Ladies in Lavender” with Maggie Smith and Judi Dench is satisfying and “The Best Exotic Hotel Marigold” is fun.

Ooh and “Stan and Ollie” is absolutely charming even if you don’t like Laurel and Hardy much. it really gets into their characters and their friendship. I’ve seen it twice.

Thanks for all the great ideas.

I loved “Secondhand Lions” and have seen it twice. I’ll look up the others you suggested, @rockfan.

I know and love all of yours, @janbb, except the first (will check it out), and I always enjoy Wendy Hiller. (Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller in “Pygmalion,” wow!) Wasn’t crazy about “Ladies in Lavender” itself, but Maggie Smith and Judi Dench, yes. And both Exotic Marigolds, despite how silly they were. “The Gods Must Be Crazy”—loved it. I’d like to see that one again too.

I’ve seen tons of oldies, @stanleybmanly, including a lot of Ozu and practically all of Kurosawa and some old British and French and German and others, but by no means all. I’m always interested in suggestions.

I don’t dislike animation as a matter of principle, @rockfan, but I don’t usually seek it out. Anime is not for me, nor anything Disney or Disneyesque from about the past half-century. The original “Snow White,” though, was and is a marvel. I didn’t mean to imply that animation is necessarily cloying but rather that I’m not looking for animation or anything cloying, which would include an awful lot of “family” movies.

@Caravanfan, I’ll check out both of yours—don’t know them.

Sometimes I like really quirky and oddball things, such as “The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe” (French, 1972). My list of favorites runs the gamut from “Ikiru” to “O Brother, Where Art Thou,” and when all else fails, I watch “RED” again, shooting and all.

The Artist floored me. It’s a silent film from 2011.

Hugo is beautiful.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? and anything else by the Coen brothers

Apollo 13

@Call_Me_Jay I don’t know if I would call “Raising Arizona” or “The Big Lebowski” pleasant.
I find them hilarious, but not “pleasant”

Yesterday, Salmon Fishing In The Yemen, and Jane Austen Book Club are three that I like to revisit regularly that are just nice.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8079248/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441952/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0866437/

I’ve been doing a lot of Mac and Cheese reading and watching these days.

A movie from the 1980s with Colin Firth called “A Month in the Country” is based on the novella by J.L. Carr, not Turgenev’s. It is lovely.

“Faces and Places” one of the last films by Agnes Varda is wonderful. It’s about a trip she made abwith the photographer J.R. around FRance photographing and post giant posters of ordinary people.

I second Hugo, that movie is absolutely wonderful

Glengarry Glenn Ross, Birdman, The Vast of Night, Ad Astra, What we do in the Shadows, Arrival, Ex Machina, Nightcrawler, Her, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Robot and Frank, The Man from Earth, Borat, Brüno, and many many episodes of Star Trek.

@rockfan A third on “Hugo.”

I think “Won’t you be my neighbor” was pretty pleasant. It had some scenes which were tear jerkers, and it had one scene where someone gets punched, but all in all, pleasant.

There are a few ‘Feel Good’ movies like “The Natural’ and ‘The Last Star fighter’ but my favorite, especially this time of year is ‘Pocketful of Miracles’.

Off the top of my head I can’t think of anything current, but I know I’ve seen some recently. My brain is not cooperating. Here are some movies from the past:

Legally Blonde

The Gods must be Crazy (kind of a cult classic, people love it or hate it).

Father of the Bride

Star Trek IV

I just saw Jay recommended Apollo 13, I agree with that too. If you haven’t seen Hidden figures it’s a must see.

I second “Won’t you be my neighbor”

Ha, I like this question. Not a big movie fan, but winter + covid + unemployment has been really getting me down lately. I loved Julie and Julia. I recently watched Mr. Deeds and felt the same effect. I had seen it a few times before and I knew it was silly and kinda dumb but I really did find it to be feel good and think I even described it the next day to a scoffing friend as “pleasant”.

I am watching The Artist again.

It is sappy. It may be a romcom. But it is an artistic feat. As I mentioned, it’s a silent film made in 2011.

@Jeruba It may not be the plain-Jane movie you are looking for but I could not help recommending it as a wonderful film without explosions and homicide.

If you like William Powell and Myrna Loy, you will like The Artist.

How about “My Life as a Dog”?

If you like William Powell and Myrna Loy, you will like The Artist.

And Asta. I forgot to mention Asta.

The Hundred Foot Journey

Shall We Dance (the original Japanese version)

Strictly Ballroom

The Winter Guest

Snow Cake

Amelie

Babette’s Feast

Milo and Otis

The Trip

@deni Are you referring to the original with Gary Cooper or the remake with Adam Sandler?

Cool Runnings
Friday Night Lights
A Night at the Opera
Gregory’s Girl
The Thin Man

@rockfan I didn’t know there was an original! I’m talking about the silly remake then I guess!

That makes way more sense, at first I thought you were talking about the original so I was surprised when you said it was dumb lol

“My Favorite Year”