How do you choose movies you want to watch?

[Luke]

I still do not understand why would people watch a movie more than once.

Man do I hear you on this one.

I once had a hamburger, never again. Why would someone ever eat the same food twice? Spaghetti? One and done. Once I've eaten something I've had the full experience and never want to re-live it as there is nothing to gain. I've been there done, that already. Nothing new to learn.

[noiseredux]

I still do not understand why would people watch a movie more than once.

Man do I hear you on this one.

I once had a hamburger, never again. Why would someone ever eat the same food twice? Spaghetti? One and done. Once I've eaten something I've had the full experience and never want to re-live it as there is nothing to gain. I've been there done, that already. Nothing new to learn.

word. No matter how many years go by, I still remember every little detail about that one and only bowl of mac n cheese I ate in 1989. It was delicious, but of course pointless to revisit.

[indecks]

Other movies are not exactly bad, but are very stale like Chinatown , Seven Samurai , The French Connection..etc. Maybe they are like really deep and its build up is very artistic for the art critic but for the average viewer, not sure what is the big deal.

wait... wait wait. Hang on a sec.

Did.. did you just say Seven Samurai is stale? Seven Samurai is one of the greatest films in history. It's a Kurosawa film, which is already awesome, and it's beautiful, amazingly shot, has a great story that has inspired MANY other films/shows (the greatest of which is arguably The Magnificent Seven), and stars the incomparable Tohsiro Mifune, a brilliant Japanese actor that I wish time and age had left alone.

I can understand not loving Seven Samurai. But stale? No way man. It's not stale.

[Gunstar Green]

I usually go "that looks cool" and then I watch it. I rarely care who the director or actors are unless I'm specifically watching it because it's critically acclaimed.

As for watching movies more than once there are some that I enjoy no matter how many times I see them, it's like riding a roller coaster, the ride is pretty much the same every single time but I still enjoy it. Of course most movies I can only stand to watch once. Some I can watch years later and sometimes I've forgotten things that make the movie somewhat fresh again.

[RCBH928]

I still do not understand why would people watch a movie more than once.

Man do I hear you on this one.

I once had a hamburger, never again. Why would someone ever eat the same food twice? Spaghetti? One and done. Once I've eaten something I've had the full experience and never want to re-live it as there is nothing to gain. I've been there done, that already. Nothing new to learn.

IF you have a favorite movie I understand, but I dont buy 3 DVDs and watch each one 3 to 6 times.

Your analogy is not exactly right, consuming food and watching a movie is not the same. With watching a movies its like some one giving you a piece of information. Imagine some one telling you "Did you know that the sky is blue?" it might be interesting the first time. But imagine he comes to you the next day and says "Did you know that the sky is blue?" , then he repeats it for 3 to 4 times.

With food, you get hungry and crave for food few times a day, giving you the chance to relive the experience of eating the hamburger again. Unless you watch a movie again and think "oh, whats going to happen now? this is so exciting" , then its like having a hamburger 2 seconds after you just had completed your first. Not the same is it? Maybe a 3rd hamburger after that? or 4th because its a new experience.

[RCBH928]

Other movies are not exactly bad, but are very stale like Chinatown , Seven Samurai , The French Connection..etc. Maybe they are like really deep and its build up is very artistic for the art critic but for the average viewer, not sure what is the big deal.

wait... wait wait. Hang on a sec.

Did.. did you just say Seven Samurai is stale? Seven Samurai is one of the greatest films in history. It's a Kurosawa film, which is already awesome, and it's beautiful, amazingly shot, has a great story that has inspired MANY other films/shows (the greatest of which is arguably The Magnificent Seven), and stars the incomparable Tohsiro Mifune, a brilliant Japanese actor that I wish time and age had left alone.

I can understand not loving Seven Samurai. But stale? No way man. It's not stale.

It was very long and quite boring to me, although the story seemed good but stretched out. Again, the average viewer does not analyze the composition and camera angles of a movie. He sees it as an entertainment source, just like people who listen to music do not count the notes or how complex the playing it out on an instrument it must be. If they like the tune they will buy it.

From the perspective of a film or music critic it might be a totally different story.

[indecks]

Other movies are not exactly bad, but are very stale like Chinatown , Seven Samurai , The French Connection..etc. Maybe they are like really deep and its build up is very artistic for the art critic but for the average viewer, not sure what is the big deal.

wait... wait wait. Hang on a sec.

Did.. did you just say Seven Samurai is stale? Seven Samurai is one of the greatest films in history. It's a Kurosawa film, which is already awesome, and it's beautiful, amazingly shot, has a great story that has inspired MANY other films/shows (the greatest of which is arguably The Magnificent Seven), and stars the incomparable Tohsiro Mifune, a brilliant Japanese actor that I wish time and age had left alone.

I can understand not loving Seven Samurai. But stale? No way man. It's not stale.

It was very long and quite boring to me, although the story seemed good but stretched out. Again, the average viewer does not analyze the composition and camera angles of a movie. He sees it as an entertainment source, just like people who listen to music do not count the notes or how complex the playing it out on an instrument it must be. If they like the tune they will buy it.

From the perspective of a film or music critic it might be a totally different story.

I mean zero disrespect here, but how old are you?

[AppleQueso]

I still do not understand why would people watch a movie more than once.

Man do I hear you on this one.

I once had a hamburger, never again. Why would someone ever eat the same food twice? Spaghetti? One and done. Once I've eaten something I've had the full experience and never want to re-live it as there is nothing to gain. I've been there done, that already. Nothing new to learn.

IF you have a favorite movie I understand, but I dont buy 3 DVDs and watch each one 3 to 6 times.

Your analogy is not exactly right, consuming food and watching a movie is not the same. With watching a movies its like some one giving you a piece of information. Imagine some one telling you "Did you know that the sky is blue?" it might be interesting the first time. But imagine he comes to you the next day and says "Did you know that the sky is blue?" , then he repeats it for 3 to 4 times.

With food, you get hungry and crave for food few times a day, giving you the chance to relive the experience of eating the hamburger again. Unless you watch a movie again and think "oh, whats going to happen now? this is so exciting" , then its like having a hamburger 2 seconds after you just had completed your first. Not the same is it? Maybe a 3rd hamburger after that? or 4th because its a new experience.

By your logic, things are only good the first time experiencing them. You've pretty much said exactly as much. Eating a hamburger for the 400th time is nothing like the experience of eating one for the first time, so what's the point of doing it again right?

If you seriously equate watching a movie to simply 'receiving information' then honestly I feel kinda sorry for you. People watch movies for reasons besides simply wanting to find out what sequence of events unfold.

[RCBH928]

@indecks

you seem to have very strong emotions towards that movie, what would my age has to do with anything? Even if I was 50 years old that movie would be 8 years older than me.
You are giving me ideas to rewatch that movie , maybe there was something I missed. Again I am not saying the story was bad, I liked it, I just felt 3hrs 27min is a bit too long for it.

@AppleQuesso

The thing with food is that your body puts you in hunger state again, making re-eating a fulfilling experience. I went to Fuddruckers 100's of times , eating a burger again is still satisfying if I am hungry . I am not sure if some one watched a movie 100s of time and still feels he needs to rewatch it again. Even if you do, after 3-4 times it should do it.

I'd watch a comedy to get a little more laughs again, but wouldn't it be like a joke you hear for the 10th time after a while??

and nope, I do not know of anyone that rewatches a movie other than the unfolding of a story. I have a friend that likes to rewatch Arnold's movies because he gets a kick out of some of the stuff he says like "get to the chopper" , but thats about it. I'd be happy if you tell me why would I want to rewatch a movie(unless I forget it after years) ..

[indecks]

Well, as I said I meant no disrespect. But usually people who think old/classic movies are stale are fairly young. And you didn't say that Samurai was long, you said it was stale. That implies that it's boring. I will agree that Samurai is a very long film, no argument there. But it is one of Kurosawa's best films, and quite literally a masterpiece, and a treasure of film making.

Also, your claims of not caring about anything other than the unfolding of a story tell me you could be quite young. I could totally be wrong here, and again I mean no disrespect. It's just that a lot of us here have grown up watching movies and have an appreciation for the 'painting' that goes into making a movie. And a lot of younger people don't see that. They see the instant gratification of the movie/game/song and don't look any deeper than that. Older ones do.

It all depends on the movie, but I'll use a current one as an example - Wreck-It-Ralph. On the outside, it's a little movie based on 'video games' in general, and is clearly meant for children. But for those that appreciate more about movies and grew up with a lot of classic games, it's also sort of a scavenger hunt. How many references to classic video games can you find? Did you see Dig Dug? The Princesses walking with Cammy and Chun Li? How the "Central Station" in the movie's game world is a big surge protector? How about all of the pictures on the wall of 'famous' Video game celebs, which is a nod to restaurants who have walls of fame with autographed pictures of celebrities on them. It's little things like that, that a lot of people look for in subsequent viewings. I don't care who you are or who you claim to be, no one gets everything out of a movie (a good movie, btw) in one sitting. There's always something new to catch.

As an aside - I will say I don't see how people will want to watch a movie more than once - in a row. My brother in law will do that. We'll watch a movie he's never seen at our place, and literally during the credits, he'll say "lets start it over." I don't see the fun in that. Maybe the next day, but not 2 minutes afterward.