What are your "once is enough" films?

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  • What are your "once is enough" films?

    Hi all,
    With the anniversary of Schindler's List coming up and my local theater showing it, I got to thinking about these types of films. Ones that are good solid movies, great acting and story, but for me at least are only good for one viewing.

    So I wondered what films are good enough once for you all? Whether it's the subject matter or after the twist of a film is revealed it takes away from seeing it a second or third time, which good films out there were great once but you probably wouldn't see again?

    I have a few....
    Schindler's List
    Seven (Se7en)
    Johnny Got His Gun

  • #2
    Re: What are your "once is enough" films?

    The Sixth Sense (but that's probably on a lot of people's lists)

    I thought it was good when I watched it, but what's the point of seeing it again? There were some who wanted to make a sequel and somebody asked Haley Joel Osment, who still pretty young, what he thought of that.

    His answer was something like: "What's the point? What would it be about -- I STILL see dead people?

    About a week after I saw it, I was sent to do some phone work at smallish, Disney office in Dallas. (I think it had something to do with distribution.) They had posters all over their walls of their current movies and The Sixth Sense was one of them.

    I did feel sorry for a woman I overheard talking to her friend. The friend had seen the movie and told the woman that she would really like when she saw it.

    "Not now -- some idiot told me the ending.:

    Who would do that?

    I would put Seven on this list too. I keep trying to get people to watch it, but I have no interest in seeing it again. But talk about screwing with your emotions.
    "I just couldn't live in a world without me."

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    • #3
      Re: What are your "once is enough" films?

      Originally posted by Darthclaw13 View Post
      Hi all,
      With the anniversary of Schindler's List coming up and my local theater showing it, I got to thinking about these types of films. Ones that are good solid movies, great acting and story, but for me at least are only good for one viewing.

      So I wondered what films are good enough once for you all? Whether it's the subject matter or after the twist of a film is revealed it takes away from seeing it a second or third time, which good films out there were great once but you probably wouldn't see again?
      True, many films are only good for one viewing, especially those whose twist endings make them no surprise on the second go 'round. On the other hand, another viewpoint would be to watch them again to see them for their merits in how well they conceal their surprise endings. There's hardly a movie, having made the decision to see it once, that I would not see at least twice if not more often. Some stories just keep on giving.

      The Man Who Would Be King: over 20 times
      Dances With Wolves: over 15 times
      The Grand Budapest Hotel: 12 times
      Spy Game: over 10 times
      The Prestige: over 6 times
      The Rocky Horror Picture Show: countless times


      These are among a few that I've seen multiple times, and there are many more that I've seen two or three times. This is largely a function of the advent of cable television and otherwise it would not have been as likely or possible for me to achieve those viewership numbers in a movie theater (although some do).

      But this thread is about movies that we would NOT see twice, and aside from truly poorly made films, I have to say that I do enjoy seeing more than once movies such as The Sixth Sense, Seven, or The Usual Suspects. Where a "trick- ending occurs, the only difference for me is to wait longer between viewings of those films.
      “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: What are your "once is enough" films?

        Originally posted by TigerFang View Post

        But this thread is about movies that we would NOT see twice, and aside from truly poorly made films, I have to say that I do enjoy seeing more than once movies such as The Sixth Sense, Seven, or The Usual Suspects. Where a "trick- ending occurs, the only difference for me is to wait longer between viewings of those films.
        I get that. I might watch Seven some time in the future, but I still remember how much that wrung me out emotionally.

        SPOILER -- SPOILER -- SPOILER (Highlight to read)
        The ending. I knew Brad Pitt's character would probably spend his life in prison for murder, I knew the antagonist would win his sick game. I still wanted Pitt to pull that trigger and would have been completely disappointed if he hadn't.

        The Man Who Would Be King: 0 times
        Dances With Wolves: 0 times
        The Grand Budapest Hotel: 0 times
        Spy Game: 2 times
        The Prestige: 0 times
        The Rocky Horror Picture Show: 0 times

        Seriously we must be from different planets.
        "I just couldn't live in a world without me."

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: What are your "once is enough" films?

          usually awards-season stuff that doesn't land with me as strongly as some critics but that i feel obligated to at least give a fair shot, e.g., Shape of Water, Birdman, Argo.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: What are your "once is enough" films?

            Originally posted by StoryWriter View Post
            I get that. I might watch Seven some time in the future, but I still remember how much that wrung me out emotionally.

            SPOILER -- SPOILER -- SPOILER (Highlight to read)
            I completely agree with your “SPOILER” comment, StoryWriter.

            Originally posted by StoryWriter View Post
            The Man Who Would Be King: 0 times
            Dances With Wolves: 0 times
            The Grand Budapest Hotel: 0 times
            Spy Game: 2 times
            The Prestige: 0 times
            The Rocky Horror Picture Show: 0 times

            Seriously we must be from different planets.
            That's what makes the galaxies go ’round!

            Originally posted by JoeBanks View Post
            usually awards-season stuff that doesn't land with me as strongly as some critics but that i feel obligated to at least give a fair shot, e.g., Shape of Water, Birdman, Argo.
            Same here. So much so as even NOT waiting until they hit the cable circuit but actually going to a movie theater and purchasing a ticket and some popcorn (*gasp*).
            “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: What are your "once is enough" films?

              Most superhero films are one and done for me. Ones that are big on effects but not so much in rich characters and conflicts that are dimensional. But the Christopher Reeve Superman I and II are among the few exceptions.

              Films that are good but maybe overly melodramatic and message pounding are one and done movies. Movies like Million Dollar Baby, Crash, etc. (My bad, Paul Haggis).

              Those and most biopics/based on true events films. I've read about you, appreciate the cinematic treatment .. but that's it. Serpico, Goodfellas again some of the few exceptions.

              What makes me watch a film again and again is the different avenues the screenplay takes the premise -- and how well it executes at every turn. If it's too straight forward, too big on what doesn't matter much, I tend not to watch again
              "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
              -Maya Angelou

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: What are your "once is enough" films?

                Let's not forget:

                Sophie's Choice

                Once was enough. I have actually watched a few bits and pieces since I first saw it, but I cannot watch that film from start to finish again. I guess I would do it if I were sitting on the couch with a beautiful girl who had never seen it (heh ), but I am not going to make an emotional investment in it by watching it by myself.

                My reason for not wanting to watch it from beginning to end is twofold.

                (1) The horrible subject matter.

                (2) My original viewing was a magical moment, which I cannot reproduce. I originally saw it on cable years ago, soon after it came out, when I was in medical school. It was a very special moment for several reasons. I happened not to be under tremendous stress from school at that time. It was a nice evening. I turned down the lights, sat on my couch, and watched. It was magical. And I was flabbergasted at how well Meryl Streep handled the German dialogue, in view of the fact that she does not speak the language.

                Other films that I would not watch again (many, actually, but I cannot remember them unless someone else brings them up) ... and I am not including films that I would say are just trash or junk:

                Seven
                Heaven's Gate

                As for films that I can watch repeatedly ... That would be most of the ones that I have ever seen.

                Reds
                One of the greatest films ever, in my opinion. Sprawling and long, but epic, and it taps into real history.
                Others, which I would like to see from time to time but which are no longer shown on cable (or only very seldom), probably for social and political reasons:

                JFK (the Oliver Stone film)
                The Deep State does not tolerate anything that runs counter to the accepted narrative that America has no conspiracies. The film does not get everything right, but it at least points to the fraud of the Warren Commission.
                Eyes Wide Shut
                It used to be shown around Christmas time on cable, but not any more. A really great film, in my opinion, but not well understood and certainly not properly appreciated. And it hypothesizes a degeneracy of the upper-upper-elite, and that is never appreciated.
                And that is it.

                "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: What are your "once is enough" films?

                  I've seen Requiem for a Dream exactly once and will never see it again. I recognize that it's well done, but once in a lifetime is more than enough!

                  On the flip side, I've watched Mulholland Dr. like ten times.

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                  • #10
                    Re: What are your "once is enough" films?

                    Originally posted by lostfootage View Post
                    I've seen Requiem for a Dream exactly once and will never see it again. I recognize that it's well done, but once in a lifetime is more than enough!

                    On the flip side, I've watched Mulholland Dr. like ten times.
                    There was a fifteen-year interval between my Requiem for a Dream viewings, and that may double until its next viewing.

                    On the flip side, I've watched Mulholland Falls about ten times.
                    “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

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                    • #11
                      Re: What are your "once is enough" films?

                      I love a rewatch so there are very few films that I won't watch again. I saw mother! twice which should prove the point. That said I don't think I'll ever watch Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles again. Very good film but an incredible test of patience.

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                      • #12
                        Re: What are your "once is enough" films?

                        Empire by Andy Warhol.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: What are your "once is enough" films?

                          Requiem for a dream, I went out of the theater totally traumatized. I was still in high school, but I'm sure, I don't want to watch it again.


                          I can watch a film a hundred times if I love the atmosphere, the characters, mostly the characters. My DVDs of Prisoners, The Silence of the Lambs, Twin Peaks (serie) are worn out...

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                          • #14
                            Re: What are your "once is enough" films?

                            Some of the aforementioned films - Schindler's List, Requiem, etc. are on my "watch once a year" list.

                            Once was enough:

                            The English Patient
                            Shawshank Redemption
                            Any and all Nic Cage movies

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                            • #15
                              Re: What are your "once is enough" films?

                              Originally posted by TigerFang View Post
                              There was a fifteen-year interval between my Requiem for a Dream viewings, and that may double until its next viewing.

                              On the flip side, I've watched Mulholland Falls about ten times.
                              Heh! I'll have to check out Mulholland Falls again. I saw it so long ago I don't quite remember it, but reading the blurb on IMDb, I think I'd love it now.

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