Back in the 80’s, there was an article about clubs who would get together to watch Dirty Dancing, entranced by the story of a studly dance teacher who could look past Jennifer Grey’s hideous face and A-cups to love the person underneath.
But, by the time that story came out, I didn’t think it was such a big deal because I had read Matheson’s I am Legend well over 100 times. In the 90’s, I worked at a movie theater during The Matrix’ original run, and I have seen bits and pieces of it over 100 times.
Nowadays, thanks to cheap DVD’s, Costco, and Amazon, it’s not hard to build up a massive collection of films or books that you might only ever enjoy once.
So, I personally feel that if you buy a film, you expect to get enjoyment on more than one occasion. Have you?
Nothing even close to 100 times. I doubt there’s a book I’ve read more than four times and I can’t imagine why I’d want to. I remember what I read the previous times and there are too many things out I haven’t read for me to spend all my reading something I’ve already read. The fact that I’ve read a book even twice is either a sign of how much I loved it or a sign that at some point I found myself with nothing else to read.
Same goes somewhat for movies. I remember them, new stuff to see, etc. I doubt there’s a movie I’ve seen more than a dozen times and only a few more than a four or five.
I’ve seen Fight Club from beginning to end maybe fifty times. Nothing else has come that close to a hundred viewings. Books I usually read maybe three times.
No. not even close. It seems a really bizarre idea to me and yet I will fall in love with a piece of music and play it over and over again for hours. In fact I would possibly do it if I kept DVDs of movies but any I buy I give away after watching them.
Stephen King’s Rosie is my bedtime book, and I’ve read snippets of it well over 100 times. What can I say, it is a satisfying read. My favourites is where the heroine gets saved, and I like reading about the anger of the villain when I have some anger of myself to work out.
I only buy movies that I know I’ll want to watch multiple times, but “multiple” is no way in the triple digits – even my favorites I rarely watch more than once a year. Some Fred Astaire movies I *might *be up to 30 or 40 viewings, lifetime.
Books, definitely not. Some of my childhood faves probably got up to ten each or so – excluding Dr. Seuss or other “learn to read” books that take less than five minutes cover to cover. Alice in Wonderland could be up to 20. Books for adults – I’m not sure there’s any I’ve read more than two or three times. I’m never going to get through all the books I want to read in this lifetime, I don’t spend a lot of time re-reading.
When I saw the thread title I immediately thought of those books I read over and over to my daughter when she was little. and her taste ran to “The Berensten Bears”. I am sure there are titles we read over 100 times.
I’m not sure. I don’t really keep count but I don’t think so.
But in what world is Jennifer Grey “hideous”? I think she’s really pretty and definitely had a great body. And I think she was rocking a lot more than A-cups.
I’ve never kept count! But it certainly seems possible that I’ve read books or seen movies pretty darn close to 100 times. The usual suspects: (the movies are shown on a regular basis on TNT or another cable channel and when they air, I have them on in the background for no other reason than that I love them so much).
Gone With the Wind (both book and movie)
Lord of the Rings Trilogy (both books and movies)
Titanic, The Matrix, Rocky Horror, Chicago… older movies: Cabaret, The King and I, Now Voyager, All About Eve, Rocky, A Christmas Story (I KNOW I’ve seen this at LEAST a hundred times), The Quiet Man, A Summer Place) …very close to 100 times, the viewings add up over the years. Does TV count? I feel like I’ve seen every episode of both Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs a thousand times.
Oh, and on the buying movies to rewatch them I break that as well. I own about 350 DVDs. I stopped buying DVDs around three years ago when I realized that it has been a couple years since I’d actually watched a DVD I own.
I think the last time that drawer was even opened was two Thanksgivings ago when family was in town and I dug out some Disney DVDs to keep my young niece entertained.
There are certainly books I’ve read and movies I’ve watched many times. But I don’t think there’s any I’ve done a hundred times. My top reruns might be somewhere around twenty or thirty.
It’s probably a lack of focus on any one work. There may be twenty books I’ve read twenty times but there isn’t one book that outshines all my other favorites. Same with movies; if I had watched Casablanca three times this year I’d probably be thinking I’d rather watch The Godfather for a change.
Not even close. I know I saw Star Wars 26 times in the theater, but that’s about it. Even my absolute favorites would still reach the 40-50 mark, barely.
I’ve seen the original Terminator well over 400 times. Prolly close to that for Mel Brooks’ History of the World, Part 1. Off the top of my head, I could prolly list at least ten films I’ve seen more than 100 times:
A Christmas Story
Meaning Of Life
Holy Grail
The Fifth Element
Dark Star
The World’s Greatest Lover
Orgazmo
The Gods Must Be Crazy
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School
The Groove Tube
Big Trouble In Little China
Fletch
That’s 11 and I’m sure there’s more; even as a kid with just HBO, I used to watch the same movie over and over and over for days.* I would memorize whole scripts and do the lines aloud along with the actors. I was the only person I knew growing up who knew what a gaffer was and why he needed a best boy. Heck, until I was in college taking film classes, I never knew anyone else who read the credits for every film. I love movies, and have no problem watching a good one over and over and over and over again.
I know that I have many books I’ve read more than 20 times, a handful that may come close to 50 readings, but none that I can think of that would approach 100 reads.
*Once my buddy Blue Elk and I were building some display cabinets for a shoe company; very rush job that they needed to open a new store in LA or something so we were pretty much working around the clock, meaning I was at his place (his shop was on his residential property) for like 4 days straight. At some point we discovered that The Fifth Element was on a PPV channel, and as soon as it ended they started showing it all over again. I know that when the job was done, Elk and I were exhausted and we sat and watched that movie like 10 times in a row sitting in his living room. So the first viewing I had of TFE was followed by like 20 more in less than 72 hours.