You are stuck in your Covid-19 quarantine safe space. You have watched all of the Tiger King you can stand (I have seen none of it.) and you cannot take HGTV for one more minute. There are sites that are listing movies and books, but they are depressing. Here, I will list some movies and maybe a book or two that will entertain you and lift your spirits.

Movies and books take us away from the world we inhabit and give us a reprieve from the Niagara Falls of bad news coming from the legacy media. The New York Times has a list of “classic” books that are fine, if your goal is to be suicidal. One of our very own Victory Girls’ writer’s daughter was sent a list from something called the “Quarantine Book Club”. It includes some drivel about women having better sex under Socialism. I am going to call bovine manure on that one. No. What you need are movies and maybe a book or two that will lift you above this current calamity.

Here is my non-depressing list:

1. “The Best Man”: We have all but forgotten that this is a Presidential election year. Joe who? I love this movie, starring Henry Fonda, so much. The movie was taken from a Gore Vidal (ugh!) stage play. Before Presidential candidates were sanitized for our protection, you could go into the party conventions without a clear front-runner. Backrooms, infidelity, mental breakdowns, hints of homosexuality, and a dying President are all a part of the action. This movie was made in 1964, but is still relevant today.

2. “Live Free or Die Hard”: Also known as “Die Hard 4.0”, Bruce Willis is back to save the world again in 2007, with Justin Long as his sidekick. Hackers threaten life as we know it. But, John McClane is on it. My favorite part is when they are stuck in a D.C. area tunnel and pursued by bad guys in a helicopter. McClane aims a car up and takes out the helicopter. The dialogue is my kind of dialogue:

Matt Farrell:
You just killed a helicopter with a car!

John McClane:
I was out of bullets.

John Wayne would be so proud.

3. “Air Force One”: Okay, so we had one Presidential politics movie and one action hero movie. What do you get when you combine the two? Harrison Ford as an action hero President in this 1997 movie. Never bet against the Red, White & Blue and “Get off my plane”.

4. “Wag the Dog”: I had to include this 1997 Dustin Hoffman/Robert DeNiro movie because part of me feels like we are getting played with the Covid-19 quarantine. In this movie, a fake war is created to cover for a President’s sexual peccadilloes. I don’t think that President Trump is involved in this current situation, but something is off.

5. “Duck Soup”: Speaking of leaders and war, here is a great Marx Brothers movie from 1933. Rufus T. Firefly become the leader of the Freedonia. The country is bankrupt in many ways. The mirror scene with Harpo is awesome, but Groucho’s song and dance number, “The Laws of My Administration” is the best.

6. “Lincoln”: Daniel Day-Lewis as President Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln are great. The scene of the three young soldiers repeating the Gettysburg Address to Lincoln, himself, is worth the movie.

And here is one book to read: The Screwtape Letters. That’s just in case you forget who wins in the end.

So, there are six movies and one book for your Covid-19 quarantine. I may come back with more if this goes on much longer. Stay in and stay safe.

Featured Image: Dan Keck/cropped/Public Domain