With rare exceptions, I only watch movies once.

You hit upon something that I was thinking about posting. I sometimes avoid rewatching movies that I found 'magic', as I don't want to break the spell of fond memories. And if I do rewatch those kind of movies it often leaves me with a lesser opinion of a film I once held dear.

We're all different and we all get to relate to the world and movies in our own ways. So that's why I say, celebrate the differences.

Don't forget the flip side of that. That film you dismissed on your initial viewing and then rediscovered as a gem on a later viewing.

True enough and it has happened for me that way.

I think everyone here is missing two primary questions. First, who is this Rare Exceptions? Second, why only watch movies once with this person? C) Who names a kid, Rare Exceptions? Three questions then.

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I should note that for those films which I have watched and watched and watched, the seams do start to show. At a certain point, you go beyond the appreciation of suspense (first viewing), and the enjoyment of form (repeat), and move on to engineering aesthetics. That is, you appreciate how it is made, why things are there. You are not just experiencing or re-experiencing, but savoring the elements, the purpose, the technique, etc. I've watched Blade Runner more times than I count. It is visually dense, metaphorical, ambivalent, slow (in a good way--Blade Runner is a mood, a place we inhabit for a time), but the appeal was more than this inherent rewatchability. People obsessed with the film were reverse engineering how the magic trick was achieved. Some were future film makers. Others were just people hoping to learn how something like that is achieved--in so doing, there is a deeper appreciation of artistry involved. Even here, however, you reach a point where you "max out" your viewing. I have Blade Runner basically memorized after watching it endlessly and making my own fan edits of the the film. I have worn it out, but what a journey it was, and what a joy to have a film that had so much to offer.

Fair enough then

For what it's worth, I usually try to space out rewatches to prevent this from happening. For the most part, it works pretty well.

Reenacting the ambulance scene in Good Time, where the security guard ingests several gulps of LSD out of an old sprite bottle, goes a hell of a long way in helping one to forget details in previously seen films. Sadly, the rewatches tend to go poorly, as the other folks trying to watch the film have trouble concentrating while you are in the room clapping and drooling, gibbering away in strange, never before heard languages.

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You know, I saw Johnny Dangerously once.




ONCE.

I watched Synecdoche, NY three times in 24 hours, and I got something different out of it each time.

Ever seen the underrated Warren Beatty movie "Dollars" (1971)? Near the end of the movie there's an amazingly thrilling and funny scene involving ingestion of LSD, but I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it.

This is something I think about too. Whenever I am discussing movies with friends, they often talk about this or that movie that they have watched dozens of times and just love. I can understand it, I have seen "Harold and Maude" perhaps a dozen times, but I rarely watch a movie more than once or twice. Here is why: There is not enough time in my life to see all the films I want to see. If I can remember the details of the movie, then unless it has value in multiple watches, as have been noted before, like Lynch films, I will pick a "new to me" film over anything else.

Some people have "comfort food" movies that they keep on in the background or watch when they are blue, but I've never found cinema to have that effect on me.

That reminds me, I had a professor in college teaching first century Jewish history under the Romans (this was at a secular college, in the comparative religions department) and he was kind of a funny guy with a wry sense of humor. One day he looked really tired, took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes, and said he had been up late grading papers, and while he was doing that he was watching Blue Lagoon (a 1980 film with Brooke Shields) and his comment was funny -- he said "the great thing about watching Blue Lagoon is that you don't have to watch it."

Lately, I only want to watch a movie I haven't seen before, but despite having over 2,000 movies on my IMDB watch-list, none of them grab me.. I think it's why I just said, "screw it", and saw "Mikey and Nicky" for the 10th time, because I knew I'd enjoy it.



Also, if I'm not into a movie within 20-30 minutes, I cut my losses.

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It depends. Some movies, even ones I like a lot, are "once and done" movies. Others can be repeated, although 20 times is unlikely. Sometimes when I'm doing what I do on the web, generally late at night, I just want something audio-visual in the background and TV is annoying, so one of my repeatable movies is good. I don't want to half-watch something new while I'm distracted with other activities. In others, there's something I really like, such as the music, imagery, etc, so those get re-viewed. It's like returning to my favorite restaurant for a meal do-over, or enjoying a beach sunrise, something that happens every day.

I have a long list of movies like that, only mine include titles like The Attack of the Slime People.

My academic propensities make me want to do a study about concentration and the need for external distractions. If I don't have two things going on at once, I get frustrated at the one. It's some sort of ADD thing, but bad movies in the background have fewer side effects than the meds for ADD, etc.

I think you're right. Someone should do a study on this. I know that there is research showing that if you have a two screen set-up with your "work" on one screen and your "distraction" on the other, that people (reportedly) will be more productive as they will be visually "nagged" by their work on the corresponding screen. A well-worn movie might keep that distracted child in our brains occupied for a time. Then again, the best way to focus is to cut the B.S. and knuckle-down (i.e., there is no such thing as multi-tasking).

I think this might be a reason movies are being so dumbed down -- they know the audience can't concentrate as half as they did before the cell phone craze. I got in the business in 1999, and within a few years, I saw the changes all around me, the country/world, and despite all my first-hand knowledge on this, and my refusal to ever get a "smart phone" (I won't hesitate to turn it off for a day or week, especially during a movie - there's always e-mail), but STILL, when I watch a movie on YouTube, I'll minimize, and do something (usually not of importance), but because of this constant need to be stimulated every second. "Oh, this scene is going to be slow" and minimize.

I'm just the opposite I need complete concentration to get into and enjoy a movie. If the radio was playing in the background or someone was playing with their phone, it distracts me, I could still 'look at' the movie but I couldn't be 'in' the movie.

I've been watching a 2018 series called "You" and I'm almost done watching Season 1. It's amusing because now and then I get this funny feeling I've seen this before, just flashes of moments, like casting a bearded John Stamos to play the shrink and the lead character pretending the lover he's talking about for his sessions is a man, rather than the woman it really is. This seems awfully familiar to me... Yet, because 98% of the time it seems fresh and new, I keep watching.

So, if I watch a movie more than once, that's "comfort food"? What about if I listen to the same album or symphony several times?



IMO, a comfort food movie is one like "Tombstone" or "Back to the Future." It's light. It's fun. It does not challenge. I don't think of re-watching Irreversible or 2001 or Schindler's List as such as comfort food, but I've seen all three more than once.



That stated, there is an aspect of "familiarity" which appears and appeals in most rewatch situations. Yet, it seems a bit derogatory to compare all rewatching to eating Mac and Cheese or mashed potatoes, doesn't it?