A Thinking Reed

Repeat business

Written by

Lee M.

in

The other day I was re-watching It’s a Wonderful Life (a cliche, I know) and was struck by how I never get tired of watching it. Can’t say that about too many movies. It got me thinking about what other movies I can watch again and again. Here’s some I came up with:

Star Wars trilogy (the original, duh)

Indiana Jones trilogy (well, the first and the third anyway)

Ghostbusters (Best. Dialogue. Ever.)

Lord of the Rings trilogy (though it remains to be seen if this will stand the test of time)

Casablanca

A Man for All Seasons

How about you?

Comments

16 responses to “Repeat business”

  1. Chris T.

    A few of yours make my own list–certainly it’s hard to do without the Star Wars trilogy and Casablanca. I would also add the Cohen Brothers’ ouevre (esp. Big Lebowski and Fargo), The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, and Ironija Sudby (The Irony of Fate, a Soviet New Years’ comedy).

    Reply
  2. Eric Lee

    – The Goonies (will most likely be my favourit-est movie ever)
    – Ghostbusters (I agree, some of the best dialogue EVAR!)
    – The Big Lebowski
    – Mulholland Drive (or anything David Lynch, pretty much)
    – This is Spinal Tap (absolutely. classic.)
    – The Evil Dead movies (especially the last two)
    – Mallrats (used to watch Dogma a lot too)
    – Office Space

    This is not exactly a movie, but I watch my DVD copy of Depeche Mode: One Night In Paris every time I paint or do anything particularly artsy.

    And, this isn’t even a movie, but for about a year and a half in high schoolI used to go to sleep every single night to the Braveheart soundtrack.

    Reply
  3. millinerd

    Almost all of Woody Allen’s mid-career.

    Reply
  4. Russell Arben Fox

    Hmmm…actually, there’s quite a few. The Black Stallion, The Right Stuff, Kenneth Branaugh’s Henry V, Rear Window, Singin’ in the Rain, and Babe are just a few. I watch a lot of movies over and over again. The LOTR films may make that list as well.

    Oh, and insofar as holiday films go: definitely, the George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol.

    Reply
  5. Lee

    I’ve always liked that version of A Christmas Carol too – I remember we used to watch it in school. Though I’m told that the b&w version with Alistar Sims is the canonical one.

    Reply
  6. jack perry

    I loathe ирония судбы (“The Irony of Fate”) and if I am forced by my (Russian) wife to watch it again I will drive my car out onto an iced lake (or river or whatever), walk back home, take a shower in my coat, and walk back into the freezing weather. I loathe it that much!

    I honestly can’t think of any films that I could watch over and over.

    Reply
  7. Russell Arben Fox

    “Though I’m told that the b&w version with Alistar Sim is the canonical one.”

    Well, I definitely have some opinions regarding that claim…

    Reply
  8. Jennifer

    Yes, the Star Wars trilogy, especially The Empire Strikes Back.

    Swingers: one of my favorite movies

    You’ve Got Mail: I don’t know why. I’m not a big fan of the other Hank/Ryan movies, but I like this one.

    Cold Mountain: Because it’s so damn tragic.

    Meet Me in St. Louis: something I’ve enjoyed since childhood.

    The best for last: while not a movie, I must mention the BBC/A&E production of Pride and Prejudice from the mid-90’s.

    Reply
  9. Chip Frontz

    Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

    Reply
  10. Andy

    Definitely the Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies. I would add the Back to the Future trilogy. Time travel is just such a fun idea.

    Also….

    The Princess Bride
    Ragtime
    The World According to Garp
    Monty Python and the Holy Grail
    Young Frankenstein

    Reply
  11. d.klein

    I am shocked that you did not include Roadhouse on that list.

    Reply
  12. Eric Lee

    Oh, I forgot one that not many people like but I love:

    UHF

    😛

    Reply
  13. Chris T.

    Jack–

    All I can say is, На вкус и цвет, товарища нет! I can see how it might get irritating, though.

    Reply
  14. Marvin

    Anything with Al Pacino. Have any of you seen him as Shylock in the recent Merchant of Venice? Frightening. Tragic. Awful. Compelling. All the usual Pacino adjectives.

    Being a damned pater familias myself, I second the sentiment regarding the Cohen brothers, especially O Brother Where Art Thou?

    And I’m man enough to claim The Sound of Music. Are you?

    Reply
  15. Lee

    An emphatic “yea” to Melancthon’s Princess Bride nomination.

    Dan, I’m still absorbing my first viewing of Roadhouse. So much to take in…

    Marvin, my wife is actually a big Sound of Music fan, so I have in fact watched it multiple times. But every time I watch it I want there to be more Nazi-related intrigue and less singing….

    Reply
  16. The young fogey

    My choice for this list is The Family Man, the 2000 update of It’s a Wonderful Life. Its only flaw is the occasionally cloying, intrusive soundtrack; other than that it’s spot-on. A Catholic story that’s not preachy nor churchy.

    Life is far enough removed from our time to be written off as nostalgia; Man still packs a punch.

    Reply

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