Like home: 20 feel-good comfort movies

Cozy up for a holiday in the English countryside and on the beach as two women swap homes for the winter. The best part is? They're played by Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz, two actresses who can make even the sappiest of material feel like a vacation.

Is it the best child performance ever? Maybe. Is it a comedy that everyone can enjoy? Absolutely. There's something about watching Lindsay Lohan trying to get her parents back together that's just so rewarding.

Forget the monkeys for a second. They're terrifying. The Wizard of Oz is a Technicolor delight that reminds us that there's no place like home, watching a great movie on the couch with the lights off.

You don't have to wait for the holidays to watch Will Ferrell play an elf. This comedy is hilarious year around, thanks to a delightfully optimistic spirit.

It's a bunch of dudes pulling off a heist. George Clooney is cool. Matt Damon is class. Don Cheadle is funny. Brad Pitt eats food. It's electric!

Not all high school movies are dumb comedies about teenagers getting stoned. Some of them are smart comedies about teenagers getting stoned. Richard Linklater's high school throwback is a whipsmart comedy about his adolescence.

Italy? Check. Pasta? Check. Sunshine? Check. A Tuscan villa straight out of a postcard? Check. Under the Tuscan Sun checks a lot of the vacation film boxes as a recent divorcee finds her footing on wine-soaked soil.

It's the funniest movie ever made, period. There's nothing more hilarious in cinema than the one-liners in this parody.

It's cute and fluffy like a stuffed animal. Paddington turns a bear into a Chaplin-esque creation whose pratfalls make you say "awe" mid-chuckle.

Audrey Hepburn's performance will stand sentry for centuries like the iconic buildings that surround her. Her whimsical princess is one of the most lovable characters in all of cinema, as she spends a day with a reporter in Italy.

There's black comedy and then there's Arsenic and Old Lace. A comedy centered around a mentally unstable family of killers who are ruining Carey Grant's night, this one still has the original audience rolling in their graves...with laughter.

The greatest comedies toe the line between smart and stupid, and this one is genuinely stupid. Will Ferrel and John C. Reilly are brothers who never grew up in this outlandishly funny film.

Almost every Federico Fellini film is a comfort film for movie fans, thanks to his gloriously unique style, glamorous fashion and warm spirit. And Amarcord is no exception. Its story about his childhood unfolds like a childhood daydream. Everything is colorful, and everything is larger than life. 

This might be the most exuberant musical ever made. The sets are a pastel swirl of candy colors; the characters are fleshed-out humans, and the entire town dances like no other. Jaques Demy's story of a small town is cinematic comfort.

Jane Austen's novels aren't always comforting, but they are graced with notes that build to an overwhelming joyous ending. Sense and Sensibility is the greatest of her screen adaptations, the story of two sisters looking for love.

How can a movie about a sea monster be comforting? Hayao Miyazaki, that's how. The animated director turns the story of a fish-turned-human into a cute fairytale that's gorgeous to look at and mesmerizing to experience.

Harry Potter casts a spell unlike any other, building a universe that is as enchanting for children as it is for adults. It's no wonder so many people return to these movies as adults. 

It's a comfort movie for almost every guy out there. Matt Damon's journey from broke whizkid to successful adult is a real heartwarmer, and very few movies make you root for their protagonist like this one.

A day of travel becomes a life-changing experience of spontaneity for two singles. An experience Richard Linklater captures with equal spontaneity through his languorous pace, Before Sunrise makes you feel like you are there on screen.

There's fencing, fighting, monsters and true love. What more can you want from a comfort film? The Princess Bride is a wonderful mix of comedy, adventure and true love.