Movies that hold up to repeate viewing

POSTED BY: SergeantX
UPDATED: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 00:26
VIEWED: 11686
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SERGEANTX

Saturday, April 23, 2005 7:33 AM

I'm sure most everyone here has noticed by now how well Firefly episodes age. They just seem to get better every time you watch them. I've even been a little frustrated at the fact that you really can't expect new viewers to fully appreciate an episode until they've seen it two or three times.

I'm wondering what it is about some movies (or television shows, though less often) that makes them stand up to repeat viewings. I have a growing collection of movies that seem to share this element. In fact, they're really the only kind of movies that seem to me worth buying on DVD.

To be clear, I'm not necessarily saying these movies are better, especially if the intent is for them to be viewed only once. There are many great movies that I'd have no interest in owning, because you pretty much get it all in the first serving. The movies I'm talking about reveal themselves over time. They always seem to be holding something back, some little quirk or previously unnoticed angle that gives you a little more insight into the soul of the work.

I'd like to see if we can discuss what elements make a movie worthy of this kind of digging. But first I'll list a few movies that I think exemplify the kind of thing I'm talking about.

Joe vs. the Volcano - Like many of the movies I'm referring to I didn't really get this the first time I saw it. In fact I hated it and almost walked out of the theater. It wasn't until it dropped into the ranks of cheap movie channel filler in the early nineties that I fell in love.

The Big Lebowski - For my money, the funniest comedy of the nineties, with the possible exception of Office Space. Which brings up an interesting point. Office Space is a classic, but it really doesn't share the quality I'm looking for here. What's the difference?

Twin Peaks - How this ever made onto broadcast television is one of the greatest mysteries of the twentieth century. Makes me wish Lynch had managed to get Mulholland Drive produced as series as was originally intended.

The Truman Show - Seeing this repeatedly has convinced me that most of the critics really missed the point of this movie. It's usually tagged as a commentary on reality television programming or somesuch, but the heart of the movie is really much deeper and more inspiring than just that.

Anyway, I'm interested in what you all have to say, so I won't impose too many of my own observations just yet. If there is one immediately obvious trait that all these have in common, I'd have to say it's a certain poetic sense. When the dialog, or even the imagery, holds up to repetition almost the way song lyrics do, that's the magic. Or at least part of it.

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

AURAPTOR

Saturday, April 23, 2005 12:00 PM

Quote:

The movies I'm talking about reveal themselves over time. They always seem to be holding something back, some little quirk or previously unnoticed angle that gives you a little more insight into the soul of the work.

I had a short list of movies, then re-read this part ....I'll have to get back and think about this a bit.

SGTGUMP

Saturday, April 23, 2005 12:29 PM

I have to agree with you on The Big Lebowski. Also there is:

Clerks
Braveheart
Raising Arizona
Pulp Fiction
Reservoir Dogs
Star Trek VI
Terminator 2
Gangs of New York
The Matrix

That's a short list of some of the movies that I could watch about 10 times a year each. I also own them all on DVD, except Raising Arizona. That's still VHS. Also There is Donnie Darko, I don't think a person could watch that just once.

EMBERS

Saturday, April 23, 2005 12:58 PM

in no particular order:
A Hard Day's Night
King of Hearts w/Alan Bates
Pirates of Penzance with Kevin Kline
The Big Chill with Kevin Kline
Enchanted April
Gosford Park

(actually that is chronological order...)

DECKROID

Saturday, April 23, 2005 1:21 PM

There are movies that are truely bizarre and "out there" that you don't get the 1st time. Or you get, but you don't quite get it all.

Some of these movies you have to hunt down, some of them just accidentally come across your path, and others are sometimes forced upon you.

A great resource for the older movies of this category is Turner Classic Movies.

Here are some of my favs and why:

Casablanca: A movie telling Americans to either poo or get off the pot disguised as a romance flick. Yes, getting invloved in the war effort is going to be hard, will get people killed, but can we afford not to?

Jacob's Ladder: A great movie that, like Fight Club, had me re-watching it a few times to pick up on all the clues to what was really going on.

Sunset Boulevard: I like it when movies don't assume that we are stupid. They can show us something on paper, or a pained expression of someone's face and not have to re-iterate it. One of my favorite flicks.

Shawshank Redemption: This one was forced upon me by TNT. I liked it before, but after seeing it on so many times, I really picked out some of the great dialouge pieces and saw it for the classic it is.

There are many wonderful movies that you need to watch more than once to fully see what the writer and cinematographer and the director were saying. Its always a joy to find these. Then again, I also have a list of movies I like to watch again just because they are simple great flicks:

The Longest Day
Pulp Fiction
Glory
Princess Bride
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
From Here to Eternity
Hero (with Jet Li, not Dustin Hoffman)
Tommy Boy
Lilies of The Field
The Great Escape
Any of the Wallace and Grommit movies
True Grit
Sparticus ... I AM SPARTICUS!!!
Ghost in the Shell
In the Heat of the Night

Ok, ok. I guess one could make an arguement that I watch too many movies. But I like 'em.

Oh one more to add to the list. I can't say for certain that it will be considered a classic by anyone else but me...

Serenity: A movie that rose from the ashes like the Phoenix. A failed (if you call Big Wig Execs missing the point failing) TV show moves to another medium and is one the most anticipated movies of the year (amongst the people I know). This is going to be one of those "Go see it many times in the theater to get the full vision" types. This is the movie that will make me build my own wee theater in the garage. (The wife thinks I need a hobby.)

EST120

Saturday, April 23, 2005 2:40 PM

some of my picks:

1. se7en - please do not flame me for it. :( i actually do like the movie. some people on this board i know really hate it. still, every time i see it at the end, i always hope that mills is going to take the high road and not kill john doe. always.

2. angel - do tv shows on dvd count? i could watch reruns all day. of course, on this board there have been plenty of reasons to watch episodes over again for all the nuances that were missed the first time.

3. major league - just fun for me. having lived in cleveland and being an indians fan, the movie has a special place for me. makes me miss the city a little bit sometimes.

of course, there are many other movies that i watch over again just because i like them, but that is not really what this thread is about.

BTW, i would love to hear your expansion on the truman show. i thought it was better than the critics labeled it.

CHRONICTHEHEDGEHOG

Saturday, April 23, 2005 2:53 PM

In no particular order:
Leon - Love this movie, only gets better.
Blade Runner
Donnie Darko
Memento
(I know I'll get blasted for this but) A.I - Artificial Intelligence. Hated it at first, finally after 5-6 viewings realised that the film DOES need the ending it has, and it really isn't just a tacked on a happy ending.
Spirit of the Beehive - Have only seen it once but I can guarantee it's going to turn into one of my favourite movies of all time, just as soon as I can understand what the message was...

Would also agree with:
The Big Lebowski - Funniest movie ever.
The Truman Show - Brilliant social commentary.

CALHOUN

Saturday, April 23, 2005 3:10 PM

Dune (David Lynch version). No one else mentioned this, is that a commentary on me?

The new Battlestar Galactica series is an excellent example of picking up on little nuances which enhance the show with every viewing.

I have watched Toy Story 1 & 2 with my kids on a few occasions and every time picked up on subtle, classic gags missed on previous viewings. Loved them. I think Joss had something to do with them didnt he?

CHRISISALL

Saturday, April 23, 2005 3:35 PM

Repeat viewings is my specialty!

Blade Runner
Dune- 1984
Dark Angel- S1
Hero
Solaris-2003
Planet of the Apes- 1968
The Abyss
Tai Chi Master
Star Trek The Motion Picture
And,
Titan AE - 'cause Joss touched it.

All these absolutly have more for you the second and twenty-second times.

My kinda thread Chrisisall

MANWITHPEZ

Saturday, April 23, 2005 3:39 PM

I LOVE Tai-Chi Master! That movie is so cool. Wait...you're talking about the one with Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh, right?

Kaylee: "What's so damn important about being proper? It don't mean nothing out here in the black."
Simon: "It means more out here. It's all I have..."

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