I had some papers to grade this morning, and I turned on the television to have some sound distraction while grading. I flipped through thechannels and found A League of Their Own playing, and even though I have seen it numerous times, I got caught up in it again.
This made me realize that there are a number of movies I can watch over and over again, just because they are so good. What movies can you guys watch repeatedly? What characteristics of a movie make it appealing over and over again?
Stormy70
Shawshenk Redemption, Star Wars (original), Lord of the Rings, The Color Purple. All these will suck me in, even when playing on channels with bad editing and commercials. I can’t explain it. Oh, and Clash of the Titans. That one I can explain; my father took us to the drive-in and regular theaters to see it over and over again. I can also remember seeing the trailer for Star Wars in the theater, and looking at my Dad and little brother in disbelief. To my seven year old mind it was a dream come true. We saw that one over and over again as well… I have a great Dad!
Lamech
Does it need to be said? Bueller?
Terry
A League of Their Own and Ferriss Bueller’s Day Off are very good choices and relatively new movies; I would add some of the more obvious so-called classics, i.e., Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Some Like It Hot, Dr.Strangelove, Harold and Maude(which has an especially good set of music by Cat Stevens), Charade, The Philadelphia Story, Adam’s Rib, and The Third Man, to name but a small number. I can also watch some or all of these when they’re on even though I own at least two copis of each(DVD and VHS).
CadillaqJaq
In no particular order: “Major League,” Charley Sheen cracked me up… “Sneakers” with Redford, Poitier, Akroyd, McDonnell. “The Freshman,” Brando and Broderick, ;) Anything with DeNiro, Pacino, or Garcia, and of course “The Godfather” series except for III, and “Star Wars.” I’m really hooked on TV’s old “Law and Order” segments with Michael Moriarity. Lately I’ve watched “Band of Brothers” every time it was broadcast. Last night I watched “Blood Work” starring an aging Clint Eastwood… he should give up attempting love scenes.
Brian J.
Groundhog Day. Man, I could watch that every day.
Kimmitt
Heh, I love Groundhog Day. My big repeated movie is The Matrix. Otherwise, any reasonably good comedy will draw me in as I enjoy the anticipation of the good lines.
shark
Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 and Goodfellas.
CLASSICS
JohnO
Ditto to Stormy. Don’t know what it is about Shawshank, but I can’t turn it off. The others at the top of the must watch list are Where Eagles Dare, Band of Brothers (any episode), Willy Wonka and Office Space.
Al Maviva
Field of Dreams. Patton. Any Bond movie with Connery. (Pussshy Galore, eh?) Hoosiers. Barbershop. Friday. Das Boot. Saving Private Ryan. The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Searchers. A Wonderful Life. Caddyshack. (“So I got that goin’ for me… which is nice.”) Bueller. Anything with Jackie Chan, except the one with the suit. Unforgiven, Pale Rider, and The Outlaw Josey Wales. Paint Your Wagon. Cool Hand Luke. The Longest Yard. Breakfast at Tiffany’s. A Man for All Seasons. The Lion in Winter. Branagh’s Hamlet. Olivier’s Hamlet. Mel Gibson’s Hamlet. Lock, Stock, & Two Smoking Barrels; Snatch. Ocean’s Eleven (either version).
Matthew
Rooster Cogburn, Ground Hogs Day, The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Ten Commandments, Absence of Malice, Animal House, Shawshenk Redemption, Stripes, Kelly’s Heros, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
JKC
Animal House. Make of that what you will.
Aaron
I always recommend Grounhog Day to any teachers of ESL. ;)
bg
Just to add to some others I’ve seen:
Pulp Fiction and Tremors.
bg
Oh, and The Dirty Dozen. No matter when I join in, I have to stick around until Jefferson kicks it. I always think he’ll make it. I’ve actually been late for parties because of this.
Terry
In looking back over these comments, shark reminds me that I failed to mention one of my all time favories, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. This has terrific performances by Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw and others, and a great combination of action, humor and, in general, the best in edge-of-your-seat movie making.
The Sanity Inspector
The Stunt Man, with Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey, and Peter O’Toole.
Rick
In addition to maybe a half dozen mentioned upthread: Zulu, Glory, Fargo, and Eight Men Out.
Cordially…
Fargus
High Fidelity. The Princess Bride. The Big Lebowski. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Just some new ones for the list here.
derek
Also some new ones for the list. (Mostly recent films)
Back To The Future – all of them. Top Gun. Hunt for Red October. Edward Scissorhands. Magnolia. Anything animated by Disney and or Pixar.
Bob
Groundhog Day, High Fidelity, The Usual Suspects. What was the one with Tom Hanks as the gangster gunman whose family gets whacked and he has to go on the run with his son to revenge the murders? I saw that once, started watching it again and got interrupted and want to rent it again.
Office Space, too.
derek
Ditto to office space.
RW
Bob: Road to Perdition. And, save your money, it wasn’t that good.
Office Space, Shawshank, She’s the one, and especially Diehard. Can’t ever get enough Diehard.
For everyone who hasn’t seen it, go rent “The Notebook”. It’s the best love story/tear jerker that isn’t a chick-flick-romance movie that I’ve ever seen and is making the rounds via word-of-mouth. Great freaking movie.
Sean P
Action/ fantasy: Lord of the Rings, Star Wars (& Empire), Raiders of the Lost Ark. Comedy: Raising Arizona, The Holy Grail, Rushmore, Pulp Fiction and Bad Santa. Drama: Memento, LA Confidential. Romance: Amelie. Classics: Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Strangelove, The Godfather.
J Bowen
Sheesh, nobody likes “Trading Places”?
Also gotta have LOTR and some others you’ll never get me to confess.
JC, if you like Rosie O’Donnell in skirts you’ll love her in “Exit to Eden”. Leather, even.
wild bird
I watched a ABBOT and COSTELLO movie HOLD THAT GHOST and in it we see a sign reading gas 8 gallons for $1:00 and well i have seen THE FOG and remake of THE THING with WILFRED BRIMLEY as a scientists who freaks out
Sean P
“if you like Rosie O’Donnel in skirts you’ll love her in ‘Exit to Eden.”
Nice going, JB. Up to now I had erased all memories of the ad campaign for that movie from my mind. Now I can clearly picture Rosie in that black leather bustier and handcuff ensemble she wore on the movie poster.
slickvguy
Add “My Cousin Vinny” to the list. A great late-night view. Marisa Tomei is a riot. And Herman Munster as the judge! :)
And along with Pulp Fiction, either Kill Bill. I cannot turn to either volume of Kill Bill, without watching it. It’s hypnotic.