Revisited Films

[Senator Jack]

Well we had that Weird and Forgotten thread a few months back, and Antonioni's Blowup had come up, and since I hadn't seen it in over twenty years, I added it to my Netflix queue. All those years ago I had watched both it and The Passenger, and I remember not getting either of them. I had thought perhaps I wasn't smart or experienced enough to understand them, but after twenty years, I still don't understand how Antonioni is considered to be a great director. Nothing seems to happen in his films. Scenes are overly drawn out, the dialogue isn't at all interesting, and really, nothing happens in his films. Characters just wander about with no purpose or volition.

So what films have you revisited after some time and how did you feel about them the second time around. Were they better than the first time you saw them, or were you thinking, 'Why did I like this?'

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Feraud]

Three films I distinctly remember watching when I was young are -
The Ox Bow Incident
12 Angry Men
To Kill A Mockingbird
The stories about justice, race, ignorance, perception always seemed to stick around.
Within the last 6-8 months I had opportunities to see the films again.
With an additional 20 something years of Life under my belt I see these films as good if not better than when I first viewed them.

 

[Twitch]

Just recently had my daughter get me Gone In 60 Seconds the 1974 original from Netflix. Wanted to see if it was as dynamic as I remembered it. I was completely disappointed with the 2000 Nicolas Cage version. The chase lasted about 8-10 minutes whereas in the original it was 40 minutes.

No this is no tight drama with reknown actors but a well choreographed chase with countelss crashes. It is the perfect thing for when you want to just be entertained and not get cerebral in some convoluted plot.

www.gonein60seconds.com

 

[TM]

Senator Jack,

If you are interested in Antonioni, try Zabriskie Point. Once you get past the opening student unrest sequences, it kicks in. The cinematography of the sequences where lead (non) actor Mark Frachette is on the run is really good. Characters in the foreground overwhelmed by billboards in the background. And, of course, the ending sequence where the house explodes in slow motion. Perfectly matched to the Pink Floyd song Careful with that Axe, Eugene.

Always wondered about that house. Who designed it?

Tony

 

[imoldfashioned]

Libeled Lady

One of those films for me was Libeled Lady (1936). When I saw it in high school at a revival house it was my absolute favorite, I thought it was hysterical. 10 years later when I saw it again I was scratching my head--it's perfectly enjoyable but nothing extrodinary. Although I do have a soft spot for movies where William Powell does physical comedy.

 

[Quigley Brown]

Senator Jack,

If you are interested in Antonioni, try Zabriskie Point. Once you get past the opening student unrest sequences, it kicks in. The cinematography of the sequences where lead (non) actor Mark Frachette is on the run is really good. Characters in the foreground overwhelmed by billboards in the background. And, of course, the ending sequence where the house explodes in slow motion. Perfectly matched to the Pink Floyd song Careful with that Axe, Eugene.

Always wondered about that house. Who designed it?

Tony

I've about given up hope that they'll ever release it on DVD.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Twelve years ago, I saw Black Devil Doll From Hell (1984) for the first time.

I saw it again last night.

Twelve years later, it still stinks.

.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Some films I can watch over and over again, and they never get old -- any of the Busby Berkeley musicals from 42nd Street up thru Hollywood Hotel, for example. Or any of the Marx Bros. Paramount films. Or any Lloyd or Keaton silent. Or anything with Carole Lombard. Or anything with Cary Grant.

But there's other films that, while they're very *good* films, I just can't watch them very often because they're just too powerful. For example, I first saw D. W. Griffith's "Broken Blossoms" when I was 7 years old -- and even for one so young, the emotional power of the film was so intense that I never forgot it. I didn't see it again until nineteen years later, and the experience was every bit as intense. I actually taped it that night -- seventeen years ago -- and still have the tape, but I haven't watched it yet. Maybe in a few more years I'll be ready to see it again.

 

[mikepara]

When really too young

..To be up after midnight I watched a Christmas Ghost Story called "lost Hearts" It really scared me then. [Bare in mind I lived in a haunted house for 7 years, there is no if's or but's regarding Ghosts. They really are fact]

I saw it again at christmas and the anticipation was much more scary than the picture. Left me disappointed.

 

[Feraud]

Speaking of ghost stories, I saw The Uninvited many years ago when I was young. I find the movie as thrilling today!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

One movie triggers a Pavlovian response in me: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947). The ending breaks me down; I pretty much fall apart for a few minutes. I've seen the film five times, and every time the same thing occurs to me. It's embarrassing.

.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Magic Christian

When 'The Magic Christian' first came out in 1969, I thought Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr were hilarious together. Watching it as a teenager I remember thinking how clever and witty some of the scenes were.

I bought the video for my collection and sat it aside for years. When I pulled it out to watch it with a friend who said he loved Peter Sellers I was frankly embarassed for mentioning it. How disappointing it is all these years later as viewed by an adult! It was like watching something put together by a bunch of fraternity brothers as a gag! Just silly - most of those "clever" gags fall flat and are just un-funny.

Some films just don't pass the test of time and 'Magic Christian' has lost it's magic! The one saving grace is Raquel Welch though!...say no more!

-dixon cannon

 

[Marc Chevalier]

fftopic: Back in the late '80s, I saw Raquel Welch and her (then) 18 year-old daughter enter a dance club I was in. They could have been sisters. Every man in that club just stopped and stared. You could almost hear their jaws drop.

.

 

[magneto]

I saw part of "The Searchers" 10+ years ago when I was...er..humorlessly doctrinaire ("ooh, western=bad"!), then rented it a few weeks ago and found it completely entertaining and the JW character complex and engaging.

That's funny Senator Jack, I also re-saw Blow-Up recently ...just resigning myself to the non-linearity and the burden it puts on the viewer to fill in errata or understand the elusive meaning of things (i.e. the students in the car, the signif. of the tennis game, etc)...I enjoy it as atmosphere, period piece (that's about the last year from which I will watch a movie though) .

 

[Rosie]

I saw "Gone With the Wind" years ago and still being young couldn't get over the Prissy, Mammy and the older male slave characters, I just watched it to see how silly they behaved and it kind of angered/saddened me. I watched it again a few months ago and, it actually is a great movie, I quite enjoyed it.

Also, when I was a younger teenager, I wouldn't watch any movie (not television shows but movies) in b&w, I thought they were all silly .

NOW, when am I NOT watching TCM or any other pre 1950 movie?

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

As a young kid I saw,...

"The Haunting" at the local drive-in. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009NHB6/103-9574819-5547844?v=glance&n=130

Back then it was called "Hill House". They had changed the name for some reason.
There is a scene in the movie where two of the participants in the study of this haunted house have retired for the evening. One of the ghosts begins this horrific and totally chilling commotion in the hallway outside of their room. It was absolutely terrifying then, and is still, I think just as intense to this day.
Most of the movie is filled with campy acting and does not hold up to today's cinematic standards, but this scene is still electrifying.

 

[Senator Jack]

I had watched Antonioni's L'Avventura (1960) last year, and found it to be another picture that went nowhere. A girl disappears, they search for her, she's never found. There's a difference between pictures that make you think, and pictures that make you say 'So what?'

Compare to Lynch's Mulholland Drive. All the absurdity does come together at the end. You just have to sit through it a few times to figure it out - and from the very first frame at that. At least Lynch throws you a bone to gnaw on, Antonioni hands you empty plate and says 'bon appetit.'

I watched Bunuel's The Phantom of Liberty last night. It's a series of absurd vignettes, but it works as each vignette is interesting. What I found odd about it is that it was made long after the Theatre of the Absurd was quite established, so it came across like a Monty Python episode rather than a work of art.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Twitch]

Without getting off topic too much, I wonder what favorite films you all watch on a regular basis. I like Sam Peckinpaw's The Wild Bunch and watch it probably 4 times a year. The cult classic The Warriors is a fav that I look at on a similar schedule. W.C. Fields It's a Gift is my favorite W.C. and I watch it a couple times a year.

 

[Roger]

fftopic: Back in the late '80s, I saw Raquel Welch and her (then) 18 year-old daughter enter a dance club I was in. They could have been sisters. Every man in that club just stopped and stared. You could almost hear their jaws drop.

.

Tawny Welsh is absolutely gorgeous. :eusa_clap The exact image of her mother. Even when she did her lay-out in 1995 she was exceptional.

 

[Roger]

The Apartment

With Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine . I can watch this over and over again, because it is so realistic in it's portrayal of people in offices. lol I still think Fred MacMurray's portrayal of the adulterous boss was fabulous.