Originally Posted by Annie
House of Sand and Fog- I’ve forgotten, did any character survive this?
I wouldn’t watch that movie because I read the book. The book was compelling…but I didn’t like the ending.
Pan’s Labyrinth. Phenomenal film I’d like to scrub from my memory forever.
OP by olivesmarch4th
Agreed.
The Piano. Scarring for several reasons, not the least of which is Harvey Keitel’s full-frontal… But it was just so bleak and cruel and awful. Great movie, but no thanks.
The Notebook. I saw where it was going, sobbed uncontrollably for probably the last third of the movie, and I don’t have the emotional resources to sit through that again.
My daughter was assigned to watch Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List by one of her teachers. We have both of those movies, and she very brightly and naively said she would watch Saving Private Ryan and then Schindler’s List, one right after the other.
After SPR, I turned to her and said, “Are you ready to watch Schindler’s List now?” She very quietly said no and went to her room. She did watch it the next day.
My sister and I talk about this often. Yes Phillip Seymour Hoffman was great as Truman Capote, but the film was tough to get through, and neither of us plans to watch it again. Million Dollar Baby, and Mystic River, same thing. I think Clint Eastwood has a lot to say as a filmmaker, and I respect these movies, but the hard parts are too hard.
When I do revisit movies it’s because I want the kind of comfort that comes from familiarity. I find scenes in which a character is really and truly humiliated, or gets his heart irreparably broken painful to watch, so those usually only get one viewing from me.
No Country For Old Men and The Dark Knight. I actually genuinely love both of them and would list them as two of the finest films ever made. But I don’t need to watch them multiple times to appreciate them…
Clearly you didn’t read the book as a child. I was more vexed by the advertising campaign that made it seem like a Narnia knockoff than the actual story, which at least had the balls to keep the point of the book.
Every father should see it, and no dad will want ever to see it again.
This. I think that it actually made scars on my soul.
I heartily recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it, but I won’t go near it again.
Threads. Excellent, if low-budget, movie about a nuclear holocaust in Britain. Very, very depressing and bleak. I saw it on Google Video and let’s just say if there ever is a full-scale nuclear exchange, I think I’d rather be in the big city that gets nuked immediately.
You beat me too it. You stop laughing in the beggining then they threw the whole holocaust thing on you. And all the while they’re in the camp, he’s still being his cheerful funny self. The second part would be funny if you could overlook EVERYTHING else that’s going on 
Grave of the Fireflies is the same way. Watched it once and loved it. Got the DVD haven’t been able to watch it again since it’s so damn sad.
Seconding The Piano.
Adding The War Zone (with Ray Winstone and Tilda Swinton) – it was good, but…ugh, incestuous sexual abuse.
Also, Nil by Mouth (also with Ray Winstone) – it was good, but…ugh, spousal abuse.
(Ray Winstone, I do love you, even though you scare the shit out of me. I’d watch Sexy Beast again.)
For different reasons, I Capture the Castle with Bill Nighy and Romola Garai. I saw it in my early 20s and it kicked my ass into gear, inspiring me to quit my soul-crushing job the very next day and go join the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. I don’t want to see it again, because I don’t want to ruin what it meant to me at that time in my life.
Saving Private Ryan Saw it in the theatres, never want to see it again. I understand why vets were having a hard time watching it.
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin Liked it, but don’t want to see it again.
Try Barefoot Gen. It’s more, umm, bleak than harsh. Does that make sense?
But he won the tank! — (cries like a little girl)
There are lots of movies that I consider good, but I see no point in re-watching them.
There is only one movie that I won’t watch because it’s just too emotionally disturbing. That would be Man Bites Dog. I’m not even sure I like this movie because I hate every character in it. I just can’t deny that the movie got its point across.
There is also one episode of The Shield that I can never watch again. Everyone one who saw it probably knows what I’m talking about.
Monster’s Ball.
It really is a great movie. But it’s so damn depressing. Berry did deserve her Oscar.
Has* anyone *besides me seen War/Dance?
This is probably blasphemy on this site but, my God, I can’t imagine ever wanting to sit through any Lord of the Rings film again. I can appreciate how well they were made and everything, and I actually enjoyed them while I watched them…but the thought of devoting 10 or 11 or whatever-it-is hours again to view them again…nope, no way.
Passion of the Christ.
No matter what you believe that movie was harsh to sit through.
Yeah, DVDs are good for that, but un/fortunately I saw it on the big screen at the DC Gay & Lesbian Film Festival many moons ago. There was even a Q&A with the director afterward, which I have a vague memory of being pretty darn good, but can’t really remember anything that happened, probably because I was still shaking a little the whole way through it. 
Even if I tried watching it on DVD now, and skipping the scene in question… I’d still remember the scene, a bit more clearly than I’d wish to.
Gargh. Still makes me queasy.