Movies that you watch over and over again

[Stephen Tashi]

What are some movies (or TV episodes) that you enjoy watching over and over again? - say at least once every two years.

I often play old science fiction movies while I'm sitting at a worktable trying to fix something. The films don't have my complete attention, but there are a few I play over and over. "Battle of The Worlds", "The H-man", "Secret of the Telegians". Less often, there are "The Return Of the Living Dead" and "Tucker and Dale versus Evil". and "Planet Terror".

 

[Bystander]

over and over again?

T
The "endless loopers?" My favorites: spaghetti westerns; (Hill, Eastwood, and Van Cleef); all the Dirty Harry; All Quiet on the Western Front; Charade; anything by Hitchcock, Besson; Guardians of the Galaxy; Red Dwarf; need more?

 

[OmCheeto]

I watched all 7 seasons of "Elementary" 3 times this year. I had seen one episode in the past 3 years, but it apparently didn't interest me. But then I watched another episode at the end of May, and I decided to watch the series from the beginning. In the past, I don't think I've ever watched a TV series more than once, except for a handful of vintage shows from my childhood. But for some reason I've watched several series/movies more than once this year:

• An Unfortunate Series of Events
• Future Man
• Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
• A Young Doctor's Notebook, and other stories
• The Umbrella Academy

There are a handful of movies that are either rich enough in content, or just too funny, that I enjoy watching every few years:

• Dr. Zhivago
• Contact
• Idiocracy
• Bladerunner
• Total Recall
• Men in Black
• The Fifth Element

 

[mathwonk]

There are dozens of movies I have watched multiple times, from Seven Samurai, Target, One eyed jacks, Rear window, 39 steps, The lady vanishes, North by northwest, Witness for the prosecution, The best days of our lives, Dr. Strangelove, Deer Hunter, The godfather, Shawshank Redemption, To kill a mockingbird, High noon, The thin man, From here to eternity, Bourne Identity, Fugitive, Raiders of the lost ark, Good morning Vietnam, Witness, Runaway Jury, 12 angry men, and Bridge over the river Quai, to Cars, Ratatouille, Dumbo, the Jungle book, Sound of Music, My fair lady, Singing in the Rain, You can't cheat an honest man, Sullivan's travels, Tom Jones, Groundhog Day, Butch and Sundance, The Sting, Some like it hot, Don Juan de Marco, Alice, The Birdcage, Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire, Field of Dreams and Affair to Remember.

But the all time classic, still watching it within the last month, after over 50 years, is Casablanca; (also watched Maltese Falcon again last night, for the fantastic/hilarious performances, Bogey, Greenstreet, Lorre, Cook, Astor, Bond,...). There was one other Bogey movie I could always watch over and over and still be entertained, not because it was so wonderful, but mainly because it was so confusing I could never remember quite what happened: The Big Sleep. You'll know what I mean if you watch it.

 

[berkeman]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086197/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080487/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086879/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
https://www.moviehousememories.com/real-genius-1985/

 

[mathwonk]

3 out of 4 ain't bad.

 

[pinball1970]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086197/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080487/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086879/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
https://www.moviehousememories.com/real-genius-1985/

Caddyshack!?

 

[berkeman]

Caddyshack!?

Yep! "The pond would be good for you..." LOL

 

[Klystron]

If you watch "Groundhog Day" over and over again, how would you know?

 

[Stephen Tashi]

There are many videos that I like to watch again provided someone who hasn't seen them before is present. I enjoy seeing other people react. "Dr. Strangelove" and episodes of "Inspector Montalbano", "Danger UXB", and "Foyle's War" are examples.

 

[Dr Transport]

Some movies I watch because of the time of the year, A Christmas Carol with Alastar Sims is one I never miss. Van Helsing with Kate Beckensale also comes to mind, I don't go looking for it, but if I run across it, I'm done, I finish watching it. The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara is another favorite at St Patricks Day.

I can also say that no matter what I catch every Peanuts tv show, been watching them since I was i diapers and will watch them until I am in diapers again.

 

[pinball1970]

If you watch "Groundhog Day" over and over again, how would you know?

You would know what movie you had seen, if you were ground hogging with the film at the time of viewing then you not know you were watching the same film but you would still know he was still re-living his life.
If causality is shot, like it is in the film, then you are in a mental institution on strong meds.

 

[pinball1970]

Yep! "The pond would be good for you..." LOL

It's rubbish. That's all I can say sir.

 

[BillTre]

Two Christmas movies I have seen more than once:

• Die Hard (there is a X-mas party going on and it ends with a family reunion)
• Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (Horror Santa/Elves kid centered story, combined with weird folktales, in Finland)

 

[pinball1970]

Jaws, Die Hard, Independence day, the Towering inferno, Back to the Future, Critters, Meet Joe Black, T1,T2, contact, Cat on a hot tin roof, Ben Hur, Titanic, Phenomenon, 2012, day after tomorrow, the Gauntlet, Shawshank, the producers, Blade, Harry potter, Million dollar baby, Alien, 12 Angry men, the Birds, the Omen, Raiders of the lost arc, Magnum force, the enforcer , 7, the great escape...I'll post more

 

[hutchphd]

But the all time classic, still watching it within the last month, after over 50 years, is Casablanca; (also watched Maltese Falcon again last night, for the fantastic/hilarious performances, Bogey, Greenstreet, Lorre, Cook, Astor, Bond,...). There was one other Bogey movie I could always watch over and over and still be entertained, not because it was so wonderful, but mainly because it was so confusing I could never remember quite what happened: The Big Sleep. You'll know what I mean if you watch it.

I'll take To Have and Have Not over Casablanca. With my favorite line "Its more fun when you help"...

Are there no Mel Brooks fans in this group? Zero Mostel in The Producers.

 

[pinball1970]

I'll take To Have and Have Not over Casablanca. With my favorite line "Its more fun when you help"...

Are there no Mel Brooks fans in this group? Zero Mostel in The Producers.

19th

 

[BillTre]

Are there no Mel Brooks fans in this group?

Young Frankenstein

 

[Klystron]

There are many movies I have seen once, enjoyed watching but never plan to repeat, although if someone special asked me to watch with them I would. "Schindler's List" and "Hired Hand" come to mind.

Some movies are too difficult and convoluted to understand first viewing but become more enjoyable on repeat. "Jacob's Ladder" and Quentin Tarantino movies -- "Reservoir Dogs", "Pulp Fiction", "Hateful Eight" -- fill this criteria; seem to improve when watched again.

Some movies and many "cable series" are just fun and entertaining to watch repeatedly. I joked about "Groundhog Day!" internal recursion but Harold Ramis had a message about desperation, redemption and love that bears repeating. "Casablanca", "Have and Have Not", "Maltese Falcon" indeed all Bogart's classic films still enetertain with familiar characters overcoming plot devices and twists of fate in a new light.

I am watching "Throne of Blood" for the nth time. I want to shout, "Watch out, Captain Mikki! Do not trust the ambitious general OR his deranged wife." Who will rule the Cobweb Forrest?

 

[DennisN]

What are some movies (or TV episodes) that you enjoy watching over and over again? - say at least once every two years.

Nowadays I don't do so that often, I tend to watch things I have not seen.

The Sting

Gosh, that's a good movie.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086197/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

It's amazingly good.

If causality is shot, like it is in the film, then you are in a mental institution on strong meds.

For those who like movies with unusual/broken timelines I heartily recommend Memento¹. I usually don't like unusual/broken timelines, but Memento is an exception because it's so well done and important in the movie. I like Groundhog Day too.

Back to the Future ... T1,T2 ... contact ... Alien

I've seen those five movies many times.

Are there no Mel Brooks fans in this group?

Yes, there are, count me in!²

There are many movies I have seen once, enjoyed watching but never plan to repeat, although if someone special asked me to watch with them I would. "Schindler's List" ... come to mind.

Yeah, same here. It's not quite an easy-going movie.

"Jacob's Ladder"

I remember that I liked it very much.

Notes:
¹ Memento on Rotten Tomatoes. Memento trailer:


² Blazing Saddles, The Waco Kid clip :

 

[Bystander]

unusual/broken timelines

Source Code, not for everyone, but it has its moments.

 

[pinball1970]

Nowadays I don't do so that often, I tend to watch things I have not seen. Gosh, that's a good movie.It's amazingly good.For those who like movies with unusual/broken timelines I heartily recommend Memento¹. I usually don't like unusual/broken timelines, but Memento is an exception because it's so well done and important in the movie. I like Groundhog Day too.I've seen those five movies many times. Yes, there are, count me in!²Yeah, same here. It's not quite an easy-going movie.I remember that I liked it very much.

Notes:
¹ Memento on imdb. Memento trailer:


² Blazing Saddles, The Waco Kid clip :

As a kid I did not like blazing saddles as a big guy punches a horse which did not sit well with me. The beans flatulence scene I thought was silly and I was too young to see the irony and satire.
Years later it made a lot more sense and there was one scene that stuck out as a comedy moment.

A film made in the 70s that would be in bad taste in the 80s and then funny again in the 90s

 

[epenguin]

The question doesn't ask for the best movies. Maybe I wouldn't put my best movies in the often rewatch category.

For one thing, for my generation, a lot will depend where are you saw it in the first place, whether you saw it in the cinema because that is where you get the greatest impact. And this is not the same thing if you are at home amidst various distractions. So I have often passed certain classics I love when they came on TV. ( of course, I really ought to make an effort and set aside a time and download some of these.)

So one can nominate a film which is not really the very top notch but good and somehow ReWatchable. The one that first comes to my mind in that category is "Barry Lyndon".

Looking it up I found that it's critical acclaim was lukewarm, or rather hot-and-cold, at first but has only improved since. It was celebrated, plus and minus , for its "painterly" and static qualities, which no doubt contribute to watchability. But I found the storyline carried me along well enough, at least for the first two thirds until we get to the hero's declining years.I have seen the film half a dozen times and would not mind watching again if it came along on TV.

I got hold of the military march on the first viewing; I did not notice until about the third that the same musical theme is taken up in different versions, military march, then as a wistful-sounding soldiers' song, and then again as courtly chamber music possibly in more than one version. I learned today it is called the Hohenfriedburger March, possibly composed by Frederick the Great.

In fact maybe the film is like Frederick the Great's musical compositions, not really Great but vaut le détour.

You can hear the march here and see some clips from the film, as well as others from various German history

 

[Buzz Bloom]

"Casablanca", "Have and Have Not", "Maltese Falcon" indeed all Bogart's classic films still enetertain with familiar characters overcoming plot devices and twists of fate in a new light.

But the all time classic, still watching it within the last month, after over 50 years, is Casablanca; (also watched Maltese Falcon again last night, for the fantastic/hilarious performances, Bogey, Greenstreet, Lorre, Cook, Astor, Bond,...).

Hi Klytstron and mathwonk:

I am a Bogart fan also. My favorite, even better than "African Queen" is "Beat The Devil". I first saw it as a teenager when it first came out. I have watched it many times since, most recently a few months ago with a friend who had never seen it.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Regards,
Buzz

 

[Buzz Bloom]

A Christmas Carol with Alastar Sims is one I never miss.

Hi Dr:

My favorite Allister Sims movie is "Green for Danger" (1944). Sims plays a detective. I saw it a long time ago, and again recently. It is based on a mystery novel published in 1942 which I have not read yet, but plan to soon.

Regards,
Buzz

 

[Buzz Bloom]

Source Code, not for everyone, but it has its moments.

Hi Bystander:

"Source Code" is a favorite in the virtual reality category. My top favorite in this category is "The Thirteenth Floor" (1999).

Regards,
Buzz

 

[Buzz Bloom]

Back to the Future

Hi pinball:

I enjoyed the humor in Back To The Future", but since I am very fond of well plotted time travel stories, I was disappointed in the inconsistent plot. There are two kinds of time travel plots: (a) you can change the past, and (b) you can't. I much prefer (b). My favorite time travel movie is "12 Monkeys" (1995), with "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986) a close second. I have seem both of these multiple times.

Regards,
Buzz

ADDED
I had a senior moment and forgot that I had a different favorite time travel movie. It is "The Time Traveler's Wife" (2009).

 

[Buzz Bloom]

• Dr. Zhivago
• Contact
• Idiocracy
• Bladerunner
• Total Recall
• Men in Black
• The Fifth Element

Hi Om:

I like your list except for "Dr. Zhivago" and "Idiocracy". I did not like the Dr because it was too long (3h 17 m) and too slow for my taste, and perhaps also the culture was too difficult for me to understand motivations. I never saw "Idiocracy". The other five I have enjoyed many times.

Regards,
Buzz

 

[hutchphd]

When I first saw "Idiocracy" I thought it was the dumbest, most overreaching film I had ever seen. Little did I realize how rapidly prophetic it would become.
On a lighter (and more childish) note my top ten would absolutely include "Bedazzled" (the Stanley Donan one with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore). How can you not love nuns jumping on trampolines!

 

[OmCheeto]

When I first saw "Idiocracy" I thought it was the dumbest, most overreaching film I had ever seen. Little did I realize how rapidly prophetic it would become.
...

bolding mine

That's kind of what the author recently said; "I never expected #idiocracy to become a documentary." [ref: tweet]

...
I like your list except for "Dr. Zhivago" and "Idiocracy". I did not like the Dr because it was too long and too slow for my taste, and perhaps also the culture was too difficult for me to understand motivations.
...

Dr. Zhivago might be my #1 favorite movie of all time.