Another of my silly questions...

[Hollis]

Good morning,

If an idle mind is the devil's workshop, then they must be setting production records between my ears! Well, here comes that silly question I promised. What reason would you give for watching the same movie repeatedly? It's not like it holds any secrets for you any longer, and the story certainly hasn't changed. You know how it begins, how it ends and virtually every line of dialogue between the two. Even if the film won multiple Oscars, there's little chance that after seeing it several times you've missed anything of consequence. I guess if you're in the industry and you're looking at someone's particular technique or if you're a serious student of film you'd probably have good reasons to watch and review the same thing over and over. But most of us aren't and we're only casual observers (well, maybe a little more involved than most.) So why do we do it? I'd genuinely like to know. Case in point: "The Best Years of Our Lives" is on now and I've seen it dozens of times, yet here I go again. Thanks for your time. I hope everyone has a great holiday and remembers what it is we're celebrating.

Patriotically,

Hollis

[jdb1]

Hollis, I don't think watching a movie repeatedly is so strange. After all, we like to hear our favorite stories and songs, and look at our favorite paintings and photos, over and over. There are elements in a favorite movie that spark endorphins or something like it, and we want to experience that good feeling again and again.

What really makes this exercise worthwhile if you find some work of "art" that, on re-viewing, shows you something new that you've previously missed. That increases the pleasure factor considerably. But it doesn't have to do that, does it. Sometimes we just want to re-experience the laugh, the excitement, the tears, for no other reason than that we can.

Lordy, when I think of how many years I've been watching I Love Lucy -- from earliest childhood. In fact, when I first saw those episodes, they were new -- that's how long it's been. I can probably recite every episode by heart, and yet I still love to see them performed, and I still laugh in the same places. It's the good feeling I get from that show that brings me back. And there are so many others that do the same thing for me.

[mrsl]

Hi Hollis:

I think it's just something in or about the movie that sticks to you. By that I mean a scene that makes you feel as if you are there with them on the screen, e.g. traveling across country in a big covered wagon.

With others it's something that makes you Wish you had been there. e.g. I could watch the Halloween scene of Meet Me in St. Louis a thousand times and every time I wish me or any of my following family was able to experience a Halloween like that. I grew up in a great neighborhood where ages were not defined, but by my time, trick or treat was the ONLY way to go. No bonfires, no tricks, etc.

Finally, others just leave you with such a 'feel good' feeling, or a 'head in the clouds' aura. e.g. 'feel good' for me would be just about any musical. A 'head in the clouds' would be Casablanca - the story and ending just carry me away to the Casbah, and I sure don't need any help from C. Boyer.

I'm with you Hollis, I'd like to hear other folks reasons.

Anne

[ken123]

The reason I watch The Best Years of Our Lives again & again is because it is anti - American Marxist film, or at least that's what GOP & Dixiecrat Congressmen called it, at the time of its release. Actually is a film glowing with humanity, almost as much as the best John Ford film, the scenes with Cathy O' Donnell (especialy ) sends my heart fluttering.

[movieman1957]

Whether it is fun or enjoyment it is the familiarity of something that makes me want to watch again. Like Judith and "I Love Lucy" it triggers a memory or something you enjoyed that makes you want to have that feeling again.

Introducing things to my children and their enjoyment often makes it a family thing. It gives us a chance (excuse) to be together. That adds to the fun.

[cinemalover]

There are very few movies that I will watch again without at least a few years seperating my last experience with the film. If I watch any movie too often, no matter how much I enjoy it, it loses that freshness to me and will then alienate me for some time thereafter.

The best time for me to watch a repeat viewing of a film is when I'm sharing something with the kids for the first time, or sharing a classic film with my wife that she has never seen before. Then I am watching it through their eyes more than my own, and trying to anticapate their reactions to my favorite parts.

There are a few movies that I will ocassional pull out to play like a favorite song. I put them on just to experience the ambiance of the movie. These are often films that make for great group experiences, for example, The Magnificent Seven. It's a film that with its rousing score and black and white interpretation of evil is fun to cheer as the baddies bite the dust. It requires no strain of the brain to enjoy and lose yourself in the action.

I am actually in the process of planning a boating adventure that will include my Dad, my Uncle, my Brother and his son and my son. Six guys on a boat for 4 days. You know I'll be taking some of my favorite DVDs for the group to share as the evenings wind down.

[ChiO]

It varies by movie, but as others have said, it may:

(1) Trigger a memory
(2) Have a wonderful story or performance(s) or visuals

But for those movies I enjoy most, I disagree with Hollis' statement that:

It's not like it holds any secrets for you any longer, and the story certainly hasn't changed. You know how it begins, how it ends and virtually every line of dialogue between the two. Even if the film won multiple Oscars, there's little chance that after seeing it several times you've missed anything of consequence.

My favorites do hold secrets and the stories reveal themselves in new ways...and I can usually find something of consequence that I've missed before.

[charliechaplinfan]

I think sometimes it's just easy and comfortable to watch a must loved movie. I don't have to switch on the old grey cells to much, I can just go with the flow.

There are some performances that just carry me with them. I know it's corny but An Affair To Remember. I can't break away from that journey once it's begun. If I do, they might never get reunited

[mrsl]

Although it's hard to find the right words to explain, several people here have chosen better words than I could. The one thing none of us mentioned is what I wrote about in this thread under What Films have you see Lately? while watching The Long Grey Line, I saw and heard a few things I never realized before, so in addition to the feelings we get, we also have that little game we play of watching for things we hadn't seen before.

Anne

[Mr. O'Brady]

One word: comfort. I never sought comfort in eating, smoking, drinking, or drugs, and since I don't run anymore, I just plop myself in a chair instead and watch my favorites, from "Best Years" to "Mockingbird" to any O'Brien movie, preferably alone. If someone's there, all I hear is "How can you watch that again?!" I often get quite upset when people complain that TCM is showing repeats, since they're often the movies I love.

[MissGoddess]

My reasons have already been stated by various posters, including ChiO's about finding new things to discover on repeat viewings.

I am someone who tends to watch things according to what "mood" I
am in. Sometimes I need something melodramatic and heartrending
so I will revisit one of my favorite romantic dramas, sure that they
will satisfy that craving. And other times I am in the mood for a particular film. "Craving" was a good word to use because there
are times when I just have to see a certain movie no matter what,
usually one of those with a character I closely identify with.

[Ayres]

I do find something new every time. Especially if I watch with someone--either someone who has seen it many times and points their favorite aspects out to me, or someone who never has seen it, and reacts with delight or sorrow to what's going on. That's a vicarious thrill of first-timedness. That's why I teach movie appreciation, so that I can get that.

[MichiganJ]

For me, some movies are like time machines. When I watch a classic Universal horror film, or one of Roger Corman’s/Vincent Price Poe movies, I’m instantly transported back to my childhood home, the bunk beds in the room my twin brother and I shared, (shag red carpet on the floor, stereo with turntable and 8-track player in the corner, model bi-wing airplanes suspended by fishing wire from the ceiling...).

Other movies I see with new eyes, despite having seen them many times before. It’s like listening to The Beatles. I know every note of every song very well, but sometimes you just pay attention to McCartney’s melodic bass line, and hear something that you just never heard before. With movies, sometimes I’ll pay particular attention to the secondary characters, and am astonished to see things I’d never noticed before, that brings even more clarity to the film.

And then some movies, The Best Years of Our Lives among them, are simply brilliant and you never want them to end.

I’m reminded of a quote that Roger Ebert cites by British film critic Derek Malcolm in defining a great movie as one that you could not bear the thought of never seeing again.

That said, there are many “classics” that I’ve seen too many times; most of them being the annual Holiday ones. For some reason my wife absolutely loves White Christmas, and wants to watch it every year. For years I acquiesced, but found myself simply staring at how impossibly thin Vera-Ellen was, and how she could possibly have the energy to walk, let alone dance. And what’s up with all of the turtlenecks? She even wears one when in her jammies... (See what I mean about having seen it too much...)

I’ll be curious to see how the younger generation react to seeing the movies from their youths and whether they will hold them in such high esteem. Since they can (and do) watch the same Disney cartoon again and again (and again and again), will they have any special place or are they already worn out? I know for me, the anticipation of Creature Features finally airing Ghost of Frankenstein made that movie much more enjoyable (and, let’s face it, I know it’s pretty bad, but I still love and watch it regularly).


---Kevin

[Bogie]

I'm one of those people that have a hard time with watching a movie more then once but there are certain things that i'll watch over and over again. I will usually watch Bogart movies because I just love his acting style. I'll watch some comedy movies more then once because I like to throw my mind away once in a while and just enjoy a film.

[moira finnie]

While most replies to Hollis' thoughtful question mentioned really fine movies as ones they would watch repeatedly for several reasons, I sometimes watch mediocre movies simply because they are amusing. Late last night, for instance, Reveille with Beverly (1943), by no stretch of the imagination a "great" movie, was on, and--yup--I watched for the third time as I prepared to sleep.

Not just because it has Duke Ellington, Count Basie, the Mills Brothers, an underfed Sinatra who looked as though he'd been dipped in something shiny just before filming, and a good rendition of "Cow Cow Boogie", but also for the truly demented qualities of Ann Miller's vigorous tap dancing and high seriousness in the "V for Victory" closing number, complete with flaming letter V on the stage floor. I kept thinking about how the fire marshal allowed a massive sweeping velvet curtain get awfully close to those jets of fire, but then, I went to sleep with a smile on my foolish face, happy that such an absurdly entertaining movie could be made.

Then I wondered if Stan Freberg might come out of retirement to discuss the influence of this particular scene on his commercial for the "Great American Soup" once again starring the still fiercely determined dancer Ann Miller back in the '70s.

Movies don't all have to be classics to be repeaters, do they?