Losing Touch with Films

I was tinkering with my favourites list recently and thought back to films I used to like watching but haven't seen in years. Some of these, like Mephisto, might have been on the list but are so hazy in my memory that I can't grade them any more. Another one I really enjoyed was Pee Wee's Big Adventure – again, lost in the mists of time.

Has anyone else lost touch with old favourites, or is it just me ?

I used to love films with Louis de Funès some 30 years ago. I don't care of any of those any more.

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You can call it the art of fighting without fighting.

Wait 'til you get old .... you might be like me and able to substitute days for years
It's not all bad though .... really don't need that large a collection in order to be able to watch something 'new' every day

for sure. There are lots of movies I used to watch that I haven't watched again. The goonies, The Witches of Eastwick, Short circuit 1 and 2, Tron...

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I recently tried Back to the Future and had to shut it down after about 8 mins. Kind of bummed I reacted that way since I've always thought of it as a film I held close. Apparently not. Saw Just on the of the Guys fairly recent and still enjoy that one. I felt BTTF was too "commercially perfect", if that makes sense. I'll have to go back some other day and reappraise it. Just one of the Guys on the other hand was corny but didn't try to be this perfectly orchestrated, string pulling movie, so watching it was a breeze.

Films I seriously need to catch back up on would be Labyrinth and The Princess Bride. I normally do not watch films twice these days but I could sure do with catching back up with them.

From the title I thought this was about losing touch with "modern" films/pop culture, which is increasingly the case for me. Less and less interested every year...
As for the real subject matter, there's some old faves I haven't seen for far too long like Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Going to have to rectify that. Have "reconnected" with some I hadn't seen for 20 years recently like Psycho II, Trading Places and Splash thanks to Blu ray, and loved them all over again.

Well I have that problem as well . I don't watch nearly as much TV or films as I used to.

Love Dirty Rotten Scoundrels . "I've got culture coming out of my ass"

I've just given my top 10 a further overhaul, dropping some old favourites again due to time going by and not having had contact with them. It strikes me as a more honest reflection of where I am now.

The new list:

Münchhausen
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Alien
Falling in Love
By the Sword
Harlequin
Ulysses
The Pornographer
Career Girls
Romy and Michele's High School Reunion

The old list:

Münchhausen
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Alien
Falling in Love
By the Sword
Le Bossu
Ulysses
Harlequin
Carry On Don't Lose Your Head
Career Girls

Aguirre, the Wrath of God was in the original list as well at one point. Looking at the new list I find it interesting how much fantasy is in there, even in some films on a subtle level.

In my youth I definitely used to watch alot of Tarantino: Pulp Fiction (1994) and Reservoir Dogs (1992) at least once a week. In my later years (creeping on 30), I don't hold him in the same esteem as I used to.

Aside from Inglorious Bastards (2009), I've only seen his newer movies once. Thought I enjoyed them, I never really had the strong urge to rewatch Django Unchained (2012) or The Hateful Eight (2015).

What did you think of Kill Bill or Jackie Brown?

I think Jackie Brown (1997) is, criminally, his most underappreciated movie, and at this point, would rather watch that again before Pulp Fiction. I loved both Vol. of Kill Bill , and I've been meaning to give them another watch. Its been a bit since I've watched either of them.

I think I appreciate Jackie Brown a lot more now than when it came out.

I went through a period where I distanced myself from my old favorites and broadened my horizons. I doubt I'm the only one who has looked down on the movies they used to love once their tastes matured and their scope expanded.

But this phase passes, or at least it did for me, the pretentiousness fades and I've been able to re-appreciate the films I enjoyed as a teen. Do I still consider them favorites? For the most part, no, but I can make a few drinks and have a good time watching them without shaking my head at how ignorant or tasteless I was and smugly considering how much wiser and more cultured I am now, like I might have in my early 20s.

I think with me it's about guaging the ones that matter the most or that I connect with at this point in time. There are films that I like parts of more than the whole – The Company of Wolves is a case in point. The first sequence with the Huntsman is my favourite ever, but I wouldn't class the film, great as it is, as a personal favourite.

The other thing that can be difficult is ranking films from different genres, but again I think it's about feeling a connection and how strong it is. That's why my top 5 are pretty much set in stone.

The big one would have to be Fight Club, mainly because of how much of my original appreciation stemmed from missing the greater point it was trying to make underneath its immediately tangible criticism of consumer culture.

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