Saturday, October 18, 2008

Browsing movies

I really enjoy movies. And I have a confession to make, to those of you who don't know me, I'm a re-watcher. Yes, I delight in throwing a movie into the machine that I've seen a multitude of times, because I know how it will make me feel -- and I want that!

Come on -- there are more of you out there. What movies do you re-watch, and why? The comments are open!

Last night, I encouraged good ol' Metro to go play poker at a friend's place (He would like to point out that he broke even.). I knew I was in an escapist movie mood, and figured it would be easier to watch what I wanted without him! (Oh, he's patient and all, but understandably not that great with the re-watching thing...)

So I watched my new DVD copy of The Little Princess (1995), based on the book by Frances Burnett Hodges, one of my childhood favourites. Even though I hadn't seen this one in years, I was not surprised to see that it was directed by Alfonso Cuaron, who directed the most delightfully moody of the Harry Potty films (Prisoner of Azkaban). Everything in the film The Little Princess is essentially in two colours -- a dark green representing all that is dark and unpleasant, and sunny yellows and golds to represent all that is magical and good. It works beautifully.

And despite having seen the film a few times, I still sobbed like a baby. I love films!

Then, not having had enough, and having a purring cat, a fireplace, a little bowl of barbecued peanuts, and a beer, I threw in my VHS copy of the movie The Fifth Element (1997). I absolutely adore this film, and have watched my VHS copy to fuzzy-wavy-lines-of-VHS-death. The next time I see a DVD copy, I'll to pick it up (I've been resisting...but I want the extra features!).

Browsing IMDB this morning, I came across the most delightful bit of cross-movie pollination! I discovered that the wacky mugger in the Fifth Element...



...is the delightful romantic lead Nino from Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (the actor Mathieu Kassovitz)



I love finding these connections!

Talk to me of movies!

Lori

8 comments:

Norlinda said...

I'm a great rewatcher too. You're talking to someone who has seen Return of the Jedi 21 times and counting.
I don't really rewatch the entire movie, at times I just rewatch certain scenes.

alejna said...

Ah, I am unabashedly a rewatcher. In fact, do you remember that list I posted of my favorite 100 movies? (2 lists of 50, really.) One of the criteria I had for that list was that I had to have seen the movies more than once. There are quite a few movies that I like quite a lot, but have yet to rewatch. (I'd still like to see a list from you, you know.)

What I rewatch tends to vary by mood. My most recent rewatch is "Peking Opera Blues," which I hadn't seen in about 10 years. Other recent ones have been "Cold Comfort Farm" and "Gosford Park," which are old standbys. (Perhaps I've been on a 20s-30s light-hearted costuma drama kick.)

The movie I've seen the most (more than 20 times) is probably still "the princess bride," though not so much in recent years. "The Long Kiss Goodnight,' "the Fugitive," "12 Monkeys," "The Professional" (Luc Besson!) and "Supercop" are up there, too.

(Sorry about any weird typing/punctuation. I'm doing this one-handed.)

Lori said...

@norlinda
Yes, I always knew you were a rewatcher...we have so much in common! And I agree with you, sometimes it's just certain scenes that will give you what you want -- another reason to love DVDs!

@alejna
Oh, I know your list. We have a surprising number of films in common (trashy and otherwise!). I probably won't come up with a list of my own, though. Mostly laziness, but I'd also be afraid that I'd miss some... :-)

I can certainly understand the rewatching of movies like Gosford Park -- each time you watch it, you probably catch something new!
Movies I've seen the most in recent years would include Tank Girl, Fifth Element, Amelie, Spirited Away, The Princess Bride (surprisingly, I don't seem to own that one anymore...must have lent it out) -- as you can see, I appreciate escapism.

The Long Kiss Goodnight was fun, but the piece that I carry with me on that is the "De da di de da...my keys are in my right pocket...de da di de da...the gun in the left" -- I hum that to myself every time I put my keys in my jacket pocket.

Anonymous said...

Rewatching? Absolutely. It's like rereading a favourite book. And usually it's something I loved before I developed any taste. I've seen A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum about 35 times since 1968; and Cat Ballou about 20 times. (Sadly, I haven't seen Cat Ballou since the 70's; they just don't re-air it now.)

Lori said...

@pj
Gadzooks! I saw Cat Ballou on a greyhound bus in the mid-90s! Also, contemplated getting a copy of Barbarella the other day...resisted. :-)

TN said...

Oddly enough I'm just about to sit down and re-watch Local Hero for the first time in years

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085859/

or

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085859/

if that doesn't work - i'll post you the DVD! It's such a great film

TN said...

2nd link should be

http://www.watch-movies.net/movies/local_hero/

duh!

Lori said...

Hmm...don't know that movie! Will investigate!

:-)