# Films that don't stand up to repeat viewing. \[Possible Spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744 "2008-04-17T16:46:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/21 "2008-04-17T21:27:25Z")
Somebody here on the SDMB said it best: Jack Burton is a sidekick who thinks he’s the hero. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/22 "2008-04-17T21:31:26Z")
[QUOTE=TWDuke] Is that a quote from the movie? I had to read it a couple of times to figure out what the hell you meant, but I kind of like it. For me, **The Usual Suspects** does not hold up, not because it has a twist ending but because it has a twist ending thatbasically invalidates the entire movie. All that stuff you just watched? I was lying. _Pthbthhh._ Similarly **No Way Out**. Having the big reveal depend on keeping the audience in the dark about something the POV knows from the beginning (heck, it’s a central fact of his existence) isn’t clever writing, it’s cheating. [/QUOTE] Totally disagree on both counts. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/23 "2008-04-17T21:57:12Z")
[QUOTE=Rocketeer] Somebody here on the SDMB said it best: Jack Burton is a sidekick who thinks he’s the hero. 😃 [/QUOTE] Yeah, it was way ahead of its time in slyly riffing on the genre cliches: you expect the muscle-bound all-American truck driver to be the hero who gets the girl, and the wiry Chinese kung fu guy to be the comic sidekick, but for all his wisecracking Jack’s just a shade dim, a few steps behind the play, and only _thinks_ he’s the lead: some fine work by Kurt Russell there. It’s still one of the few Hollywood movies I can think of where the Asian guy turns out to be the romantic lead. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/24 "2008-04-17T22:00:23Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] I hate to say this because it used to be among my top 5 favorite movies, but when I watched _Annie Hall_ with my kid recently, it was flatter than the Florida panhandle. I was really stunned by how poorly it aged – when it first came out, I liked it so much I sat though it twice. [/QUOTE] That’s odd. I watch Annie Hall maybe three times every year. It hasn’t been getting one bit less brilliant for me. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/25 "2008-04-17T22:00:45Z")
Does this count? I can’t watch movies like **Dances With Wolves** or **Sophie’s Choice** again because I can’t take the emotional ride. Good the first time, but traumatic. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/26 "2008-04-17T22:02:41Z")
I thought Ghost was very good the first time I saw it. The second time i turned it off. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/27 "2008-04-17T22:03:54Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] The Matrix- Seeing it the first time I was mostly caught up in the jaw-dropping action scenes and didn’t pay much attention to the depth of the story/mythology. Surprise! There is no depth. Just a bunch of moronic pseudo babble that makes no sense but is written to sound incredibly intellectual. I try to watch it nowdays to enjoy the action but the dialog just nauseates the hell out of me I can’t stand to watch it. The Dark Crystal- I loved this movie as a kid and watched it multiple times. Watching it nowdays reminds me of how much I hate the muppets in anything besides the Muppet Show and how they ruined Return of the Jedi. Just a bunch of cheesey puppets. [/QUOTE] I disagree on both counts. The Matrix (especially 2 and 3) reveal a lot more on subsequent viewings as they’re completely riven with symbolism. Also it takes some people a few watches to actually work out what’s going on (I had to explain it to a friend of mine who is by no means dumb but just hadn’t grasped what was so cool about the plan-within-a-plan thing with Zion/the machines). The Dark Crystal is my favourite movie and I’ll happily watch it now as I did as a kid, it’s not nostalgia making it a great film, it simply is a great film. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/28 "2008-04-17T22:21:26Z")
I disagree about Fight Club. Its better for a second viewing. There’s all kinds of subtleties that you see second time that you missed the first time ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/29 "2008-04-17T22:24:39Z")
I’ve seen _Annie Hall_ several times, too, and like I said, it’s always been a favorite until just recently. I’m fully prepared to believe it’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/30 "2008-04-17T22:39:05Z")
I’m very fond of Down With Love, but the very funniest scene in it only works once. I won’t spoil it except to say it’s a monologue. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/31 "2008-04-17T23:12:37Z")
Agreed on “The Matrix”. I was into it the first time. A while later my cousin put the DVD on, I made it about ten minutes and all I could think was “Boy this is just dark”. Never saw part 2, thank god. Saw part 3 on a blind date. At an IMAX theatre. Her choice, not mine. Holy jeezus it stank. Rotten in every way. It was like reading the world’s worst book in Very Large Print. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/32 "2008-04-17T23:17:51Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind gets worse every time I see it, to the point where I’m not even sure why I liked it to begin with! [/QUOTE] :eek: That’s nothing but madness. This movie could only be improved by kate winslet nudity. Even without it, SSofSM is utterly brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/33 "2008-04-17T23:38:13Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] :eek: That’s nothing but madness. This movie could only be improved by kate winslet nudity. Even without it, SSofSM is utterly brilliant. [/QUOTE] I thought it was really brilliant and meaningful when first I saw it. But now it just feels pretentious and moody. Maybe I only liked it b/c I saw it with my then boyfriend. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/34 "2008-04-17T23:44:59Z")
Few of them do for me. I like watching movies, but rarely re-watch. Sometimes when I’m channel flipping I’ll stop on a movie I’ve seen and watch it a while, but I won’t sit and re-watch a movie too often. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/35 "2008-04-18T00:58:39Z")
Years back, I had a lot of fun watching \*[Two Thousand Maniacs!](http://imdb.com/title/tt0058694/) \* at a party where a diversity of chemicals were ingested. A couple of years afterward, when I rented and watched it with a girlfriend, she broke up with me. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/36 "2008-04-18T03:54:07Z")
A while back I found _The Wall_ in the used bin at the video store and decided to buy it, since I loved it so much as a teen. My wife lost interest after about fifteen minutes, and I can’t remember if I made it to the end. I still like the music, but the film did not age well at all. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/37 "2008-04-18T04:36:23Z")
[QUOTE=Scissorjack] Yeah, it was way ahead of its time in slyly riffing on the genre cliches: you expect the muscle-bound all-American truck driver to be the hero who gets the girl, and the wiry Chinese kung fu guy to be the comic sidekick, but for all his wisecracking Jack’s just a shade dim, a few steps behind the play, and only _thinks_ he’s the lead: some fine work by Kurt Russell there. It’s still one of the few Hollywood movies I can think of where the Asian guy turns out to be the romantic lead. [/QUOTE] Well the DVD has Kurt Russel and John Carpenter discussing how this is the central joke of the film and the trouble some people had with it. Plus, the movie has Kim Catrall, and she is always worth multiple viewings. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/38 "2008-04-18T12:49:38Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight] A while back I found _The Wall_ in the used bin at the video store and decided to buy it, since I loved it so much as a teen. My wife lost interest after about fifteen minutes, and I can’t remember if I made it to the end. I still like the music, but the film did not age well at all. [/QUOTE] Really? Oh man, I never get tired of that movie. Edited to add qualifier: it could have to do with the fact that the first many times I saw it, lo these many years ago, there was some additional chemical involvement. So my nostalgia might be a little more intense, in addition to just loving the music and the imagery. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744/39 "2008-04-18T19:23:17Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] I thought the movie was okay the first time around, but I caught a bit of the John Lennon scene a while back and found it jaw-droppingly horrible. The dubbing was incredibly bad and the whole scene was dumb, morbid and weird. Looking back at it I can’t believe it didn’t ruin the movie for everyone. [/QUOTE] God, that scene is embarrassing! - I had forgotten it, and as someone pointed out, one must’ve been blinded by the CGI at the time. - Wish I never saw in on YouTube. Now I’m annoyed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-dont-stand-up-to-repeat-viewing-possible-spoilers/445744.md?page=1)