# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/141 "2010-08-06T17:07:33Z")
So many possibilities. But if I absolutely, positively had to choose just ONE, it would be… _The African Queen_ “I now pronounce you man and wife. Proceed with the execution.” ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/142 "2010-08-06T17:17:30Z")
Any number of great westerns, but the recent **Broken Trail** with Robert Duvall and Thomas Hayden Church gets my vote. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/143 "2010-08-06T19:02:45Z")
Many of my favorites have already been mentioned (The Princess Bride, Willow, Harry Potter and the \_\_\_\_\_\_, The Shawshank Redemption). If I could pick three, I’d throw in Ocean’s Eleven (the Clooney version) and Steel Magnolias as well, but since I can only pick one, Bull Durham has to be it. Hell, I have a cat named Crash. “YOU’RE A COCKSUCKER!” ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/144 "2010-08-06T23:13:54Z")
The Commitments, though it’s rarely ever on tv. ---
**Author:** ![Peanut7316](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@Peanut7316](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanut7316)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/145 "2010-08-07T02:03:59Z")
Batman and Robin. (I’m a poor poor soul) ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/146 "2010-08-07T06:54:05Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > > [@CanvasShoes](#): > > > > Damn!!! > > Ditto’d. I dunno what it is about Shawshank. I’ve seen it at least a dozen times. But if it’s on, fuck me, I’m gonna watch it again. This has burned me like five times on work nights. It’s glacially slow, it’s a bit rose-tinted towards criminals and there’s not a single live woman in it (except for the brief intro.) It’s extremely predictable. I still love it. It’s like the perfect meditation on surviving through suffering and tedium. Brokenness then acceptance. Defiance then redemption. > > /the guy who has it permanently on Netflix streaming Well, it’s got Morgan Freeman. There’s just something about that guy. And it’s imaginative… The whole Rita Hayworth poster thing (since you’re a fan, I’m sure you already know the Stephan King short story was called Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption"). I know, I have the DVD, so it’s not as if I can’t watch it any time I want, but if I’m surfing and I see it, there ya are. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/147 "2010-08-07T12:37:22Z")
Shaun of the Dead. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235/148 "2010-08-07T21:18:45Z")
**Amadeus**. “My dear young man, don’t take it too hard. Your work is ingenious. It’s quality work, and… there are simply too many notes, that’s all. Just cut a few and it will be perfect.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-movie-that-will-always-make-you-stop-channel-surfing/548235.md?page=7)