The Men Who Stare at Goats, starring George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges and Ewan McGregor, is about a secret, psychic military unit. Just a few things this unit does: Attempt to kill goats by staring at them and examine the use of Barney the Dinosaur’s theme tune on Iraqi POWs. Oh, and it’s based on a true story.

Wait, what? Yes, this is not a mistake, this movie is based on a true story. It does make you think: maybe other movies are also based on true stories. Here are ten movies and TV shows I wish were based on true stories - and maybe they are…

10. Joan of Arcadia (2003)

Why do I wish it was true? I think there’s a saying: if you talk to God, you’re religious, if God talks to you, you’re a psychopath. But what if God was really around to talk to? He’s supposed to be smart and insightful… He’s had a few glitches though: he didn’t prevent the Holocaust or Sex and the City (both the series and the movie).

Here, a teenage girl is approached by all sorts of different people - each claiming to be God delivering instructions for her next mission. Her family and friends know nothing about the young girl’s encounters, as she grapples alone with what may be encroaching insanity and fulfilling her mysterious assignments.

9. 12 Monkeys (1995)

Why do I wish it was true? If time travel was possible, I would go meet myself in the past and tell myself how great I’m going to turn out.

When a man enters a hospital claiming to have journeyed back in time from the future to stop a killer virus from exterminating mankind, a beautiful psychologist decides he might be more than delusional. Terry Gilliam populated this labyrinthine film with twisted characters and eerie revelations.

8. Jurassic Park (1993)

Why do I wish it was true? Cats and dogs are no fun as pets. Wouldn’t a pet Tyrannosaurus Rex be nice? No thief in the world would dare try and steal something from the house and you wouldn’t even have to buy him any food, he’d find it himself. One possible minus – if you thought picking up your dog’s poop was unpleasant, picking up after your T-rex could be even less.

A megalomaniacal millionaire asks two dinosaur experts to act as consultants on his entrepreneurial endeavor - an amusement park with DNA-cloned live dinosaurs. While touring the park, the joyride turns to terror when an impending hurricane, an unscrupulous engineer and rebellious dinosaurs begin to destroy the park.

7. Life On Mars (2006)

Why do I wish it was true? If you get critically injured you get to travel back in time to the 70s. If you die maybe you get to live in the sixties, and I hear they were famous for free-spirited women. Once I had my share of fun, I might even prevent the Vietnam War and save JFK.

After a car accident, modern-day police detective Sam Tyler wakes up in 1973. Is he crazy, in a coma, or back in time? While trying to answer that, he still has crimes to solve, albeit with low-tech, highly aggressive 70s methods. With a powerful cast, wry humor, and clever use of period music and details, this mystery crime drama has been remade and sequel-ed.

6. True Blood (2008)

Why do I wish it was true? It’s not the vampire part that excites me, but Anna Paquin’s talent: mind reading. I would no longer have to pay pennies for people’s thoughts. I would absolutely love to know what certain people I encounter in my life think, although I suspect some don’t think at all.

Sookie Stackhouse is a telepathic waitress living in Bon Temps, Louisiana, who falls hard for Bill Compton, a Civil War veteran and… vampire. The coexistence of humans and vampires is uneasy, and people are dying. This show blends supernatural horror, sex, and mystery, with just a little bit of social commentary thrown in for good measure.

5. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (2004)

Why do I wish it was true? It would be nice to know that an afterlife exists, and even nicer to know that a heaven exists. It would give people something to look forward to. One possible problem: suicide rates might increase.

Eddie, a lifelong maintenance man at the Ruby Pier amusement park, is an impassive man of few words and a self-effacing modesty. His 83rd birthday marks the movie’s opening, and also his death, as he is injured while trying to save a young girl. We are then treated to Eddie’s experiences in the afterlife, where he is greeted by five people whose lives were intertwined with his in more or less unexpected ways.

4. Looking For Eric (2009)

Why do I wish it was true? If all you need to do to make Eric Cantona appear before you is smoke some weed, then I’m going to smoke a whole lot of weed, and bring Messi, Kaka, Ronaldo, Rooney, Gerrard, Lucio and Cantona and start my own soccer team. Who’s going to beat us? I’ll also try to bring Shaq, just to see if the trick works in basketball too, and maybe even convince him to star in a sequel for Kazaam.

Ken Loach directed this dramedy about Eric, a Manchester resident whose life may be falling apart around him even as his love for football endures.

3. The Seventh Seal (1957)

Why do I wish it was true? If all you have to do in order to stay alive is beat death in a chess game, then I’m going to watch Kasparov videos all day long for the next 60 years. Although a life spent watching chess DVDs all day long is not a life well spent.

Antonius Block, a knight, returns from a 10-year crusade to find his homeland ravaged by the plague. When the black-cloaked figure of Death appears to claim him, Block, whose war experiences have left him cynical about the existence of God and the afterlife, challenges Death to a game of chess to stall for time and gain some insight into the meaning of life before passing on.

2. Click (2006)

Why do I wish it was true? With that kind of remote, there would be no more commercials! Quality of life would increase by 1000% at least. I have just been informed that there is a similar invention called Tivo, I’ll check it out.

Adam Sandler is tempted by the eccentric Christopher Walken to buy a remote that allows you to fast-forward through all of the boring and unpleasant parts of life. But Click is about more than just how much fun that would be. It also reinforces the idea of making time for the most important things in life, with family at the top of the list.

1. Contact (1997)

Why do I wish it was true? We know pretty much everything there is to know about humans; most of them are quite boring, and not that good-natured. Aliens might be a bit more interesting with their cool technologies and oval heads.

Devoted astronomer Dr. Ellie Arroway undertakes an emotional and spiritual journey after receiving the message she’s waited for all her life - a mysterious signal beamed in from alien beings, who pass along instructions for building and piloting a craft that will presumably survive the passage from Earth to their home.

What movies or series do you wish were true? Men in Black? Inglourious Basterds? Lost? Notting Hill? Comment and let us know.

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