# The ONE movie that will always make you stop channel surfing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 27, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235 "2010-07-27T21:42:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/101 "2010-07-28T17:11:23Z")
I don’t channel surf all that often in the age of DVR and internet. But when I do, there are a number of movies that can make me stop. I have a hard time picking just one, but the most likely to suck me in is probably The Blues Brothers. All the great musical sequences - Ray’s Music Exchange, Bob’s Country Bunker, Aretha Franklin fer gawd’s sake - “Don’t you blaspheme in here!” Oh yeah. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/102 "2010-07-28T17:14:56Z")
The Longest Day. Most awesome cast, ever. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/103 "2010-07-28T17:16:42Z")
[_Arsenic and Old Lace_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036613/) Classic Hollywood comedy doesn’t get much better. ---
**Author:** ![MN\_Maenad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@MN\_Maenad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MN_Maenad)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/104 "2010-07-28T17:17:02Z")
Some great choices already, but I always stop for \*The Mummy \*(Brendan Fraser version). Lots of pretty people, and great tongue-in-cheek humor. “Look what I’ve got!” _meow_ ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/105 "2010-07-28T17:19:01Z")
Well, I would have said The Fifth Element, but just to be different - **Big Trouble in Little China**. ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/106 "2010-07-28T17:23:54Z")
Armageddon. ---
**Author:** ![Loisseau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@Loisseau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loisseau)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/107 "2010-07-28T17:40:21Z")
Any of the Bourne series. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/108 "2010-07-28T17:55:54Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > So many good ones here. I think I’d stop for 2/3rd’s of these, but the one that will make me stop every time - Road House. It’s not a great movie, but it’s a great Guy’s Movie. Sam Elliott, “Pain Don’t Hurt”, throat-rippin’, ass-kickin’, and Jeff Healey settin’ it all to music. I’d be ashamed by this choice, but testosterone won’t be denied. This is mine, too – it happened just last night, as a matter of fact. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4bbf92/32.png) [@Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Hamsandwich)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/109 "2010-07-28T17:57:51Z")
I was a pretty disillusioned kid growing up, but **Harold and Maude** snapped me out of that funk. Stops me dead in my tracks every time. “What gives you that… special satisfaction?” “…I go to funerals.” ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/110 "2010-07-28T18:32:32Z")
Snatch ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/111 "2010-07-28T21:50:46Z")
_Godzilla_ (1956 original, not cheezy-sleezy remake). ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/112 "2010-07-29T00:55:10Z")
_Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_ (Gene Wilder version) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/113 "2010-07-29T01:36:53Z")
What’s particularly amusing about this thread are the number of responses that are movies that haven’t aired on tv for decades (to the best of my knowledge), or if they get aired it might be once in a blue moon. I mean, it’s right there in the thread title! How can a movie qualify as one that you would “always stop channel surfing for” if it is never on tv? I’m gonna go with the greatest bad movie of all time, **Point Break**. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/114 "2010-07-29T02:35:13Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Shawshank Redemption Damn!!! Too. Many. Good. Choices. But if there’s only ONE choice, I think this would be it. Don’t we get a second, maybe a third choice? doesn’t matter I’m TAKIn’ one. 😃 Usually one of the Molly Ringwald three will do it. Night of the Comet. ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/115 "2010-07-29T03:26:59Z")
**Stardust**. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/116 "2010-07-29T03:58:10Z")
> [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#): > > > [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > > > So many good ones here. I think I’d stop for 2/3rd’s of these, but the one that will make me stop every time - Road House. It’s not a great movie, but it’s a great Guy’s Movie. Sam Elliott, “Pain Don’t Hurt”, throat-rippin’, ass-kickin’, and Jeff Healey settin’ it all to music. I’d be ashamed by this choice, but testosterone won’t be denied. > > This is mine, too – it happened just last night, as a matter of fact. Funny, considering your user name. Since you reminded me, if they ever put it on TV, “Local Hero” might override “Road House”. Interesting, in that they’re polar opposites. It’s such a great movie, really immerses you in it’s offbeat, quaint, quirky universe. “You’re a shit, Happer! Craphound!” “How do you do business with a man who has no door?” “The ethics are the same.” “You’d like to buy my church?” “Not as a going concern. . .” And possibly my favorite scene, “I’d make a good Gordon, Gordon.” ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/117 "2010-07-29T04:01:13Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > > [@zoid](#): > > > > Shawshank Redemption > > Damn!!! > > Too. Many. Good. Choices. > > But if there’s only ONE choice, I think this would be it. Don’t we get a second, maybe a third choice? doesn’t matter I’m TAKIn’ one. 😃 > > Usually one of the Molly Ringwald three will do it. > > Night of the Comet. Great 80’s movie! “We’re gonna play a game I call, ‘Scary Noises.’” “Oooh, an E-ticket attraction!” “Daddy would’ve gotten us Uzis.” ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/118 "2010-07-29T04:15:57Z")
The Godfather is the main one for me. But there are others that are close and I’m going to mention them regardless of the “one movie” rule: Any 80’s John Hughes movie. Office Space. Trainspotting. Any Lonesome Dove series except the crappy, not based on one of the books one. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus\_alba](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quercus_alba/32/4061_2.png) [@Quercus\_alba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus_alba)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/119 "2010-07-29T04:16:57Z")
God help me… ☹ _Independence Day_ :o ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/120 "2010-07-29T05:38:43Z")
I’ve got a dozen that I will stop on no matter how many times I’ve seen them. Most of them have been chosen by others already. Notably absent is _Citizen Kane,_ which will be my contribution. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235.md?page=7)