Repeated Viewings
Slate has put together a list of movies that a few selected directors, writers and critics name as being the movies they’ve rewatched the most. (†Ann Althouse) It’s an interesting list, though I can’t exactly say why. I suppose it’s really just an outlet for creative types to weigh in on their favorite movies.
I very rarely watch movies more than onceâ€â€Âon purpose, at least. Sometimes, I’ll see a movie I love on TV while flipping past, and I’ll get caught watching. For people of my generation, it’s considered de rigueur to have watched the Star Wars movies over and over. Yet I think I’ve only watched Star Wars through Jedi each only 2 or 3 timesâ€â€Âthe most recent was once through for my kids who hadn’t seen any of them before (and didn’t even know about Luke’s dad!). I could probably count on one hand, and still have a few fingers to spare, movies that I saw more than once during its theatrical release.
Here’s a short list of movies that I think I’ve probably watched more than once (and really, it’s just a chance to spout off about movies I love): Chung King Express, Miller’s Crossing, Raising Arizona, Barcelona, Gross Pointe Blank, the Lord of the Rings movies (once in the theater and once through each of the extended DVDs), Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, O Brother Where Art Thou, Napoleon Dynamite, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon, Tampopo, The Manchurian Candidate, Psycho, Vertigo, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. There are probably a few more, but I’ll bet not many. And even though I love them, I’d be surprised if I watched any of those movies as many as three times all the way through.
Posted on June 28, 2006, in DVD, Movies. Bookmark the permalink. 29 Comments.
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BTD, good list. I’ve got a lot of similar ones too:
Braveheart, Cable Guy (I know, I’m the only one in the world who likes this flick), Shawshank, Raising Arizona, Dumb & Dumber, Terminator 2, Quiz Show, Empire Strikes Back (the only one of the 6 I actually enjoy), Goldeneye, Holy Grail, Anchorman, Fargo, Bourne Identity, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Tommy Boy, and the film I’ve probably seen more than any other:
Major League
“You know, you might think about taking Jesus Christ as your savior instead of messing around with all this voodoo stuff.”
“Ah, Jesus. I like him very much. But he no help with curve ball.”
“Are you trying to say that Jesus Christ can’t hit a curve ball?”
I never get tired of The Untouchables or The Godfather Part II. In something non-mobsterish, Annie Hall is one for me.
David J, I also love The Cable Guy. I thought I was the only one.
I have seen all of the Pixar movies at least a dozen times each because they are my kids’ favorites. I like them too, but I wouldn’t watch them that much if it weren’t for the kids.
Movies I’ve rewatched the most of my own volition: Peewee’s Big Adventure
Dr. Strangelove
Nightmare Before Christmas
Beetlejuice
Mars Attacks!
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Rear Window
Gattaca
Harry Potter and the Prrisoner of Azkaban
It’s a Wonderful Life
Christmas Vacation
I would rewatch a lot more movies if I could afford to buy DVDs.
I forgot Batman, Batman Returns, and Batman Begins.
Vertigo? Really? That might be my least favorite Hitchcock. I always thought it dragged. Other than that, my list is pretty similar to yours, Greg, except I’d add The Impostors, a couple of James Bond movies (probably Goldfinger and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) and The Pink Panther.
Oh, and Mars Attacks! Definitely.
Rear Window is a very good choice, too. I think I’ve seen it a couple times. I’d watch it again.
I liked The Cable Guy, but I don’t think it would be on my repeat viewing list.
Allison, The Cable Guy requires a really “dark” sense of humor mixed in with quintessential Jim Carrey out-of-control-ness. Most people are uncomfortable with both, let alone a mixture of the two. I roar when I watch it.
Tom! I totally forgot Christmas Vacation! We watch that one all the time.
And didn’t the AFL or whatever it is recently vote It’s a Wonderful Life as the most inspirational American film of all time?
Movies I’ve seen several times, off the top of my head:
The Spitfire Grill
The Journey of August King
Agnes of God
Clean Slate
Ruben and Ed
Raising Arizona
And of course, all the Monty Python and Chevy Chase movies.
One I’ve been wanting to watch again and again but haven’t had time–and no one else wants to watch it with me:
Serenity
Wow. I could barely watch Agnes of God once, let alone multiple times. That takes fortitude.
I’m happy to report, I’ve seen
The Searchers
about 25 times since I first experienced it, at the Utah/US Film Festival (later called Sundance) in 1978.
Susan M–I would watch Serenity with you again. And maybe again after that too.
I was and occasionally still am a repeat movie watcher. It used to be the comfort of something predictable. Now, I’m older and my life is inherently predictable so I’ve fallen out of the rewatching habit.
I worked at a treatment center and the girls (patients/consumers whatever the hell you call them) loved watching movies over and over and over.
Which means my list includes Fast and the Furious, Titanic, and Ever After. I hope God repays me for that time since I was doing good works. He’d better.
I love Agnes of God. Of course I haven’t seen it in years, but I used to rent it all the time. My favorite scene is when Meg Tilly does that stigmata martyr thing and flings herself against the wall.
I saw Agnes of God onstage with Amanda Plummer — terrific actress! It was wonderful.
I’ve decided to watch Adaptation repeatedly following this thread. Don’t ask me why — just sounds like a good idea.
i must have seen Dazed and Confused at least 15 times. i’m pretty stoked to pick up the new criterion collection dvd of it.
and for some reason during one summer in junior high several friends and i watched Summer School 20+ times. saw it again on tv the other week and couldn’t figure out for the life of me what we saw in it.
Try Bill Murray’s The Man Who Knew too Little. Bill gets caught up in international intrigue, while he thinks that it’s just interactive theater. Great!
Maybe you were a bit, um, dazed and confused yourself, Mike?
I love that Bill Murray movie, but I think I’ve only seen it once.
I hardly ever read anything twice (Harry Potter being one of the few exceptions – I’m a little obsessed with figuring out certain mysteries)
But I am a huge movie rewatcher. I tend to rewatch the movies that I connect with emotionally (Christmas Story, Some Like it Hot) or provide fantasy level daydreaming (Godfather, Singing in the Rain) As such, I tend to buy a lot of DVDs, but my litmus test is whether I’ll watch it enough to “make back” the purchase price.
So my list (other than mentioned above):
Goodfellas (I always seem to put this on when I’m cooking Italian)
Clueless
Wild at Heart
the Quiet Man
Blues Brothers
Guys & Dolls
Rushmore
Love Actually (the trip to Wisconsin really cracks me up.)
the bbc Pride & Prejudice
Bull Durham
Room with a View
Moonstruck
Princess Bride
Election
Valley Girl
Grosse Point Blank
and in the timely coincidence catagory – I’ve been rewatching Philadelphia Story, a little bit at a time, every morning this week while I have my coffee. It is one of the most perfectly written movies I have ever seen (small quibbles with certain characters’ points of view aside). Just brilliant.
I think that I have seen, both directly and by being exposed via others watching, Major League, about 100 times… My repeats:
Godfather 1 and 2
Rear Window
You’ve Got Mail (I know, I know…)
Princess Bride
Amadeus
Heat
Wild at Heart (a deep sound from Bobby Peru…)
Angel Heart
All Pixar/Disney, by default like the rest of us…
Legends of the Fall
Next Stop Wonderland
LOL- Jennifer – I thought I was the only latent Valley Girl fan out there. Awesome!
Whenever I’m in a bad mood, I love watching The Birdcage with Nathan Lane and Robin Williams. Robin Williams’ little dance (Madonna! Madonna! Madonna!) cracks me up every time – and Nathan Lane is hilarious everytime he opens his mouth (Darling, have you eaten? You look haggard!). I’ve been watching this movie a lot lately.
The Birdcage is worth watching if only because it is the last recorded moment of Robin Williams being funny. Good pick.
I have a cousin who was in the Birdcage. I’ve never seen it.
Is Major League the movie with Tom Hanks? “There’s no crying in baseball”? Cuz yeah that’s one I never get tired of.
Susan- that’s a great line from A League of Their Own.
P.S. right now I’m watching Sophie’s Choice: for the first and last time.
yes, Sophie’s Choice is not a real pick-me-up film. But it is a remarkable film, and prolly Streep’s finest.
#25 – Yes, it is good. I read the book, which is turning out to be better than the movie (as usual). I just can’t get over the fact that the Ally McBeal guy is in it. He was such a freak on Ally – it’s hard to take him seriously in this.
Valley Girl opened a whole new world of music for me, beyond Duran Duran.
Plimsouls, Sparks, etc.
and I love Nick Cage in that movie.
Also, the Breakfast Club.
You’ll all hate me for it but here’s my list of most watched:
(in no particular order)
True Lies
2001
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Thing
Die Hard
If I picked more than 5 I could add a lot more. Probably T2 would nearly be in there as would the Matrix or even Matrix Reloaded. But I tend to just watch a few scenes from each now (especially Matrix Reloaded which has the freeway chase but not much else great).