Pajiba

Tim Burton's Batman

I was kind of surprised by how unmoved I was by the Indiana Jones trilogy the second time around.

But before anybody jumps on me I still like them alot.

Star Wars - A New Hope

I loved it so much when I saw it in the theater that I felt transformed in some way.
Trying to watch it now is painful because, as DR said, it's hard not to pick it apart or wince at some of the wooden performances. Even the special effects (which were SO freakin' cool at the time) seem a bit amateurish.
There are times when I wish I had never seen it
a second time.
a second time.

and thanks for givin' them outsourcers what-fer, dustin. my hardee's ad is gone.

Oh geez. Juno, definitely. Agree on Napoleon Dynamite too.

Awwwwwwww, figgy. It hurt to admit it.
It was so magical and incredibly perfect for it's time that seeing it again decades later (and completely jaded by modern cgi) took away a lot of the magic. That's why I wish I hadn't watched it again. I will always remember how I felt after that first time, though.

Um, American Beauty.

I was a sophomore in high school when I first saw it and I cried like a baby at the end because it was just OMG THE BEST MOVIE EVER. Out of curiosity, I watched it again and again to see if it would continue to make me cry (and I loved it so much the first time around). I downloaded the '70s tunes that Lester listens to.

I don't outright hate the movie now, but I feel some sort of secret shame when I see it on TV or something because I remember how much I used to revere it.

I'd have to add The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I think it was just from a complete overload. I watched them OBSESSIVELY for years and years, and eventually it just all became too much. Now I can barely watch The Two Towers without cringing. It's a good lesson to learn...don't watch ANY movie too much. You'll just start seeing the imperfections and it'll all become too damn much.

Ooh figgy, yes I forgot about those. I watched those obsessively for ages and ages. Now I have no desire. Total LOTR overload.

The Graduate

I saw it for the first time in the middle of my Junior year at college. And may Godtopus strike me down if that movie didn't speak to me on levels I didn't know existed.

Now it's almost 10 years later, and I watched the movie again for only the second time ever a few months ago. I still recognize the quality of the film, but boy howdy it's no longer a movie aimed at me. I kinda got bored with it.

I still think it's a good movie, but I don't know that I'll be putting on my DVD player for another good decade.

Didn't you used to be Dustin Rowles? Or did you change your name to Whinypants McGee?

Seriously? You rarely watch a movie twice? Let me ask you this: when you see a painting you've never seen or listen to a song you've never heard for the first time...

Do you only look or listen once?

Movies take months and years of technical work and brainpower and creativity from so many and from the sound of it the only thing you bother to focus on is how it makes you feel when leaving the theater?

Maybe you all can only see the bad in these movies upon a second viewing because all the movies you all are mentioning weren't that good to begin with?

The hallmark of a good film/filmmaker should be that you always see something new every time you watch. Not just the first.

That would be Tank Girl. I was so into loving it I didn't realize that it treated me pretty awfully.

Hell, I didn't like Napoleon Dynamite the first time.

Repeat viewings are much like the leap of faith you take in any love affair. Yes, there's a risk, but when you still find a film so worthy of your love, that makes the love all the more rewarding. That's one of my primary tests for what makes a truly great film: does it hold up to repeat viewings?

No film is going to be completely unassailable, of course, but there are those select few that you can watch over and over and still find almost that same buzz. (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind is in fact one of those for me.) To complete the analogy, they are most akin to those friends and family in our lives that have our unconditional love.

Man, what a downer dirv topic. I'm going to go watch "The Princess Bride," play with some puppies, and try to recapture some of my youthful naivete.

Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility. I still think it rocks, but I've seen it so many times the excitement is gone. It's like the only movie my Mom watches, though, so I just shut my trap and watch whenever I visit.

I'm a little over the LOTR movies, as well.

Dead Poet's Society.
I'm just too cynical to enjoy it now.

The first Austin Powers movie. I haven't seen it in ages. Once I thought it was cute, but now Mike Myers just bugs me.

Amen, Some Guy. Not every movie's worth a second viewing, but ones that hold up a second time are worth it. Some movies are even better a second time around, when you can look at a lot of the technical stuff you missed the first time.

Movies I've fallen out of love with? Just Like Heaven. I don't know why I thought it was so funny the first time, but now it's just an embarrassment on my DVD shelf. Mark Ruffalo I still love you.

I'll second American Beauty -- what I thought to be profound ten years ago now seems like nothing more than a paean to self-absorption. It's for people who can't believe they're not properly appreciated, a trait I used to lug along with me like Navin dragging Shithead but have since tried to leave behind. Maybe I just don't like being reminded of my smug, hipster past.

Sorry, that should be "I realize that the brothers were aping Rorschach from Wathcmen,"

Also, The Neverending Story. I played the hell out of it as a kid. It was practically the only film I would watch. But after some time away to grow up, I caught it on cable and couldn't make it through. It saddened me.

Pretty much any Christopher Guest movie (and, yeah, I'm lumping Spinal Tap in there too). I went through a phase where I would watch them over and over and over, and would use them all (but especially Waiting for Guffman) as friend gauges, but now I'm so ridiculously indifferent to all of them.

I couldn't even muster up any enthusiasm for For Your Consideration and I still have yet to see it. Sigh. And that's why you don't watch the same four movies a dozen times each.

Empress of all Russias (looooove your name, btw), Sense and Sensibility is one that I keep waiting to fall out of love with, but after something like 200 viewings it hasn't happened.

Tales From the Crypt presents: Demon Knight. I fucking loved that movie when it came out on DVD. Billy Zane was still highly bangable. Jada Pinkett had no Smith. Thomas Haden Church hadn't fought with Emo Spidey yet.

That movie cracked my shit up while also having lots of blood, demons, and William Sadler. It took me forever to get it on DVD and I was so excited. Excited until I realized that I was no longer in love with this movie that I had once adored. We had grown apart and I didn't see any future for us. I've asked Demon Knight to be friends and it agreed. I think it only agreed because of how hard it is to find premium shelf space in my neighborhood.

Who knows, maybe one night I'll have a little too much to drink. Maybe I'll pick Demon Knight up off the shelf and slide it into my player. I'll push all of the right buttons and then settle back for some action. Perhaps our love can be rekindled, if only for 90 short minutes. I hope it can.

I would still like to see a diversion where people list movies they only liked after repeat viewings. That intrigues me, and I have a few of my own.

Unbreakable. I hated it so much that I cursed loudly as we left the theater. I cussed all the way home. Then, my Mom bought it when it came out on DVD and I decided to watch it again. I don't love it, but I do like it now.

Anchorman was another that I hated in the theater and LOVE now. Oh, Mr. Burgandy! I'm so sorry that I didn't understand you when we first met!

The only film I can think of that I fell out of love with was "Sweeney Todd". Saw it with friends in theaters and had a wonderful experience. Bought it as soon as it came out on DVD, watched it again, it was kind of fun, but altogether dull in places. Now my teeny bopper sister adores it and I can no longer stand it.
I agree with many of the people on here that I do not fall out of love with many movies. Well, rarely at least.

Chasing Amy.

I looooved that movie for a good 2 years. Then when I got a bit more of the origin of this story (Kevin Smith's inability to cope with a girlfriend (Joey Lauren Adams) who'd had a lot more life (and sexual of course) experience than him), I started to think: Why the hell didn't he make THAT movie? Why'd she have to be a lesbian? I never understood the need that he had to use that lame, oh so lame, plot device. If Chasing Amy was about a guy falling in love, then having a hard time dealing with, a girl that's far more experienced than him, I'd see it again. Now, meh.

Also, Memento: brilliant movie, but because of its particular structure, it's very hard to see it twice with the same "BANG" it had the first time around.

Adaptation blew my mind on first watch, to the point that I rewatched it countless times to initiate various friends, but there came a point when it started to feel pointlessly meta.

Another vote for American Beauty and Garden State, both movies I loved when they came out and now find almost unwatchable. I also recently re-watched Clerks and could barely make it through, especially knowing what's become of Kevin Smith.

tamatha,

I cannot watch Practical Magic, but for different reasons. I loved its quirkiness and the idea that filming it would have been fun, pretty silly as a story, but it was an all in good fun watch. It introduced me to Lime in 'da Coconut, so I can't hate on it.

However, I have short hair now. The sisters' hair in that movie is the reason I grew mine long and kept it that way for YEARS. I'm trying to resist the urge to go back, for at least a little while longer...

I nominate EVERYTHING MILLA JOVOVICH HAS EVER BEEN IN. Especially The Fifth Element and, to a lesser extent, Ultraviolet (don't hit me!). The woman is just flat-out entertaining. Oh and the near-constant nakedness didn't hurt either.

Yes. Oh, yes.

And Practical Magic - Nicole Kidman as a hottie bad girl. Still works for me.

I used to LOVE Corpse Bride. Not feeling it any more. The Depp character is too consumptive and the musical numbers are not that good and it's just boring. Now. Then, I had the poster on the wall.

I used to love Nightmare Before Christmas, and now I'm just "meh."
I never liked Corpse Bride. I think I'm pretty burnt out on Burton altogether. I don't know WHAT to think of the new Alice in Wonderland movie.

Also, I used to LOVE love love PCU, but I haven't seen it in a while. I wonder if I'll still like it. It has George Clinton in it, I'll definitely still like that part.

2001 a Space Odyssey, I convinced myself that I "got" it in high school and it was magnificent. I watched it last year post-undergraduate and was pissed off. Love affair over.

Also just picked up Flight of the Concords Season 1 and got bored about 6 episodes in. It's all downhill after the David Bowie episode.

leuce7, you are most definitely not the only person who watched Models, Inc. and loved Carrie Moss even back then. Some people that I know *cough*me*cough* may even check sometimes to see if it's coming out on DVD because they really enjoyed that show during its first season.

Ahem, anyway, my big movie that I fell out of love with is Grease. I loved that movie as a kid (like many other people), but I watched it so many times, that I can't imagine ever watching it again.

I watched Blazing Saddles (and all Mel Brooks movies) at least a million times when I was growing up. Maybe even a million and one. Ah. We were so in love with our betamax.

I still have lines from those movies come to mind at odd times. When I'm with my sister one of us will say the line and we'll hoot and howl.

So we tried to watch it again last year. OMG Made it through about 20 minutes. I know it's all one big spoof, but I still couldn't watch it without cringing so much it hurt my face.

Maybe I'll try High Anxiety. I have fond memories of nurse Deisel's boobs.

mysharona, according to the interwebs, Bastion yells out Moon Child at the end of Neverending Story. I had always wondered what he yelled out myself, and now I feel a little differently about the ending of the movie. I hadn't imagined a name like Moon Child at all.

Che,

I don't mind it being inaccessible, but I'd watch "The Conversation" any day over "Apocalypse Now." Or, if I wanted my madness in the jungle kick, "Aguirre, The Wrath of God."

Off-topic, but Woot is running a UA movies special, 12 movies, $24.95. They aren't all great, but there's some keepers there.

I know I'm going to get pilloried for this, but I loved Monty Python and the Holy Grail in college, and then a couple of years ago had a disastrous date in which the woman kept quoting it all night long. It was then that I had an epiphany - Holy Grail was funny in college, but I didn't want to spend the rest of my life viewing that as the zenith of humor. Needless to say, things ended badly (both the date and my feelings for the film).

Some Guy: AMEN!

I've lost a little of my love for Pajiba knowing that there are people here who only watch a movie once and then toss it away. That's the best part about a good movie, that it improves upon multiple viewings (even crappy movies do this).

Old movies you love are like comfort food. Not adventurous, not new, not anything to write home about but wonderful all the same. A new movie can disappoint and on those days where you just can't take another disappointment there's nothing better than some mashed potatoes and a copy of Ferris Bueller or Blazing Saddles.

on top of that, how is one ever to pick up on all the wonderful movie quotes that the young kids like to bandy about willy nilly with only one viewing?

start watching the ones you love more than once. Cuz after all, you don't bang your lady once and never return. You come back for seconds. Good movies, good food, and good sex always deserve a repeat performance.

movies I have lost my love for: Shakespeare in Love. It's just so damn stupid now that I've got a legit education under my belt.

City of Angels

But I'd just called off my wedding and wanted anyone blissfully in love to get hit by a mack truck, so there you have it.

I loved Dances with wolves when it first came out. I was 16 and I remember crying when I left the cinema. So beautiful...so profound..
Now I recognize it for what it really is: Kevin Coster masturbating to a picture of himself for three hours.

I found a great dating site_____W e a l t h y D a t e r. C O M_____. .where you have the opportunity dreaming about dating a millionaire and make it true! u dont have to be a millionaire.but u can meet one. I thought everyone needed to meet some miracle after all the terrible stuff in the news and the economy .-----------------------------------------------

I think this diversion should be renamed

"Movies you thought you loved until you found out everyone else had discovered them too"

I understand that we mature, and we sometimes see holes in things when we reconsider, but I hate the whole 'cult' thing. Napoleon Dynamite was freaking funny, who cares if it's forced- all 'cult' films are made that way. No quirky film ever turned out that way by accident, they are all written for a cult audience, and the minute the merchandise ends up in Hot Topic or Forbidden Planet, all of a sudden the film was "trying too hard" and made for posers.

Truth is, Napoleon Dynamite was forced and unsubtle but it was funny, and I laugh every time. Donnie Darko was flawed but a cut above the rest. American Beauty was pretentious, but moving.

Unless someone doesn't realise that the camera is rolling, they're *trying* to do whatever they're doing. It's all pretentious cause it's all written, staged and filmed. And the second time you watch it, it's exactly the same film, you're just more of a self-righteous arsehole this time round.

In the privacy of your own room, regardless of whatever you want to tell your friends about how much you're over last year's cult darling, you can hold no pretensions and just enjoy films for what they are.

Where is the loyalty, people?!

Wow. My third ever post = RANT

I've lost a little of my love for Pajiba knowing that there are people here who only watch a movie once and then toss it away.

I lost a little of my love when I realized there were people who still equate one man' experience as somehow a general policy or something.

Where is the loyalty, people?!

That seems to be the problem, if I a reading these other posts correctly. Many of these comments revolve around the same thing: time and/or multiple viewings eventually spoil a film.

It just seems like you fellas who are so ready to decry the comment diversion are too focused on the first line, and not really paying attention. After reading these comments, I kinda see where Dustin is coming from. Quite a few folks have worn their favorites out, or had bad experiences with them, or just grew out (not outgrew) of the movie. The movie didn't change, we did. So yes, there is the possibility that it just doesn't feel like it used to. The chance of this happening increase with every viewing, so Dustin simply averts this in his own way.

The idea is moderation. Not that you have to go all "movie aesthetic" and restrict yourself, but just hold off on watching the movie every single time it is on. Some films are just not built that way. It isn't that they are fundamentally bad, just not something that should be rigidly adhered.

PS. Another film for consideration: Serenity. It is still great, but I have had some lackluster experiences involving getting family members/friends to watch it (especially with my sister, who complained about the Operative haircut) which has cast a pall over it. I manage to find myself in the mood for it every once in a while, but I just can't pop it in constantly anymore.

By the way, who would ever consider American Beauty comfort food? That has to be one fucked up life to lead, where a person is like "I need a pick-me-up. I know, American Beauty!"

Yeah, American Beauty is a really good call. It just feels so forced and cliche these days, despite all the zingers in the script and some fine acting by everyone. I'd also have to pick - er - Pretty Woman, which I loved when I was 11. And Bowling For Columbine and Elizabeth and Forrest Gump. There must be some others.

I haven't read all the comments, so perhaps someone's already suggested doing this the other way round - films that you realise were good and that you were profoundly wrong about. I'd have to nominate - shamefully - The Big Lebowski.

The Big Leb?! . . . Stone her! Stone the witch!

you're just more of a self-righteous arsehole this time round.

Sometimes, sometimes not. It can be the loss of self-righteous arsehole-ness that leads you to wonder what you saw in a movie in the first place. What ruined American Beauty for me was that I suddenly found Lester Burnham's actions deplorable -- it's not heroic to declare yourself superior to a situation of your own making. It isn't necessarily moralizing to recognize that a moral question is being asked of Lester, and that Alan Ball comes down fairly resolutely on the untenable side.

I rarely watch a movie twice.

This is so the opposite of me. Some movies I watch over and over again because they're the cinematic equivalent of comfort food (bonus if I have actual comfort food to go along with them). Sometimes I want to be able to appreciate the technical elements or other aspects once I know the plot/story and don't have to follow that as closely. If it's a series, sometimes it's interesting to see the first films, knowing what happened later, putting together the threads that run through them all. Other times I'm seeking the experience of viewing the movie at another age or in another frame of mind, even if there's a risk that I'll no longer like something I once loved. That's the nature of life, right? Recently I've been re-watching some "classics" with my fourteen-year-old son (e.g., Stripes), and it's interesting seeing them through his eyes.

The Ring is a great one, TylerDFC. That fucked up me and an entire theater full of people who couldn't get into 8 Mile (I guess that could have been a red flag). Bought it when it came out on DVD and mehhhhhhhh.

The Dark Knight.

I saw this movie three times in theaters and fucking loved every minute of it. I got the DVD and it took me two days to watch. Now, if I pop it in, I just skip to the Joker scenes.

-Napolean Dynamite
(but I could watch the dance scene on an endless loop and not tire of it)
-Rudy
(pumped me up like no other in high school- showed it to my wife a few months ago and was thoroughly embarrassed)
-Burn After Reading
(the only Coen bros movie I've ever turned against (Int. Cruelty and Ladykillers having not made the first cut)
-Super-size Me, Bowling for Columbine
(many 'timely' documenaties seem to lose relevance and watchability after a few years)
-Return of the Jedi

I refuse to watch Dumb and Dumber and Billy Madison, wanting to preserve the love I had for them when I watched them both monthly in high school

Eternal Sunshine, on the other hand, has grown on me every time I've rewatched it...

You guys can look this up on youtube or the script, it really is "Moon Child."

The movie I've fallen most out of love with is definitely (through absolutely no fault of the film itself) would be The Usual Suspects.

Let me explain:

One of my roommates from sophomore year was a HUGE Kevin Spacey fan. Our other roommate and I were shocked (shocked!) to hear that, despite this, he'd never seen The Usual Suspects, so we popped my copy of it in, roommate fell in love, blah blah blah.

Problem is, the roommate loved it a little TOO well.

Our apartment was a pretty good size, but there were only two bedrooms and a loft. The loft was a perfectly serviceable living area and we'd rotate who'd be in a room and who'd be in the loft. During the time of the Usual Suspects marathon, I was in the loft. I woke up more times than I could count to the man in the hospital screaming "Keyser Soze!"

So, perhaps, it's not that I've fallen out of love with this movie, but more that familiarity bred contempt. It's been about four years since I've watched it, but given my over-exposure, you can hardly blame me for wanting to avoid it for awhile.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I loved it the first fifty or so times I watched it. Now, I can't stand it.

American Ninja. I truly thought it was phenomenal when it first came out on video.

I told a teenage friend that Cannon were the future of the movie industry. WTF ever happened to Dudikoff anyway?

My pick is "Lost in Translation." When I saw it in the theater, I LOVED it. It really worked for me; then when I rented it from Netflix to show to some friends, it really didn't work at all. It was sort of long and sort of boring in parts and Scarlet was kind of whiny.
I have a theory that seeing it in the theater made a difference because of the size of it. In the theater, I was just as enveloped and surrounded in the colors, sounds, and tone of Tokyo as the characters were. On tv, not so much.
Has anyone else experienced something similar with this or another film?

I remember feeling that way about Napoleon Dynamite as I was leaving the theatre.

Oh, Vermillion, you said "aesthetic" when you meant "ascetic." That's so cute!

For me, it's probably "Empire Records." Loved it in the late '90s, can't endure it now.

To add:

I fell in love with Monty Python and the movies in college. Sometimes I WAS laughing because my boyfriend was laughing, but other times I genuinely liked the flicks.

Then in my mid-20s I watched them all again and thought "what the hell? This shit isn't even funny!"

But lately (late 30s now) I've been re-watching them again and damn if I don't get it now. I guess I had to get over a major case of the stupids just to understand a lot of it, but it makes me hoot now.

So yeah, I think you can love, then not love, then love again.

The whole theme of Napoleon Dynamite is the buddy system. No more going it alone.