Films I Can Happily Watch Over and Over Again

Book Blogger Appreciation Week Le0pard13 at Lazy Thoughts From A Boomer posted a fun meme today called “Films I Can Happily Watch Over and Over Again.” The purpose of the meme, as you would expect from the title, is to make a list of films that you will watch over and over again and still never get tired of them.

The rules for this meme are as follows:

1. Provide a non-exhaustive list of films you’ll happily watch again and again.
2. There is no rule 2.
3. Reprint the rules.
4. Tag three others and ask them to do the same.

Ask me to do this again tomorrow and you may get a list that looks fairly different, but for today at least these are the ones that immediately popped to mind as being ones I’ll pull off the DVD shelf over and over or will stop to watch whenever I’m flipping channels and they’re on.

As for tagging, I’d love to hear what @PopCultureNerd and @Fyrebear from Twitter have to say, and I’m gonna tag a couple of people via Facebook as well who will hopefully share their lists here. Please feel free to share yours as well… or comment on my list. 🙂

14 Comments

Elizabeth A. White
September 19, 2010 - 8:46 PM

Great list Jen! The ones that definitely jumped out at me are The Empire Strikes Back, The Crow, The Usual Suspects (an exception to my “discovery” theory), and Heathers. Oh, and My Cousin Vinny.

Susan, I agree with Chris that it’s cool you played the Event Horizon card. An offbeat film that has an oddly strong pull for us every time it’s on.
Chris
September 19, 2010 - 8:29 PM

Susan, that’s really funny that you mention “Event Horizon.” By all accounts it is not a “great” movie but every time it is on I watch. It’s creepy and Sam Neill is awesome in it. Great call with that one. It’s a fav of mine.
-Chris
Jen Johnson
September 18, 2010 - 11:11 PM

My Fair Lady (My absolute favorite movie.)

GiGi, The King and I, Singing in the Rain, The Sound of Music, The Wizard of Oz, Hello Dolly, Rocky Horror Picture Show, To Catch a Thief, Niagara, Harvey, Roman Holiday, Sabrina, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, To Have and Have Not, The African Queen, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, La Femme Nikita, Three Colors: Blue, The Crow, Hero, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Dead Again, The Usual Suspects, 12 Monkeys, Shop Girl, The Matrix, Heathers, Clue, A Fish Called Wanda, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Princess Bride, My Cousin Vinny, Noises Off, Mr. Jealousy, Shooting Fish, Shaun of the Dead, Army of Darkness, Office Space, The Replacements, The Ref, You’ve Got Mail, Harry Potter Movies, most Disney/Pixar full length cartoons, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, A Midwinter’s Tale, Hamlet (Mel Gibson), Much Ado About Nothing (Emma Thompson/Kenneth Branagh), and many, many more movies based on plays by Shakespeare.
SueGooGaiPan
September 18, 2010 - 9:35 PM

Oh! And “The Full Monty.” 🙂
SueGooGaiPan
September 18, 2010 - 9:33 PM

I’m tired, but I’ll give it a shot. Not necessarily movies I rent to watch over and over again – more like, if they’re on I’ve gotta watch ’em to the end.

Office Space is definitely on my list. Just brilliant in so many ways.

A movie called “Auntie Mame” is one of my favorites and even though it’s 143 minutes long but I still watch all the way through. I have a copy of the book as well. It’s based on a true story and Rosalyn Russell is just wonderful in it.

Fried Green Tomatoes… Just love Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy in this movie.

Event Horizon… by far one of the creepiest movies I’ve ever seen. Only Alien (the original) has scared me more (and yes, it’s on the list too).

Sabrina – because I love Katharine Hepburn and in the movie she goes to Le Cordon Bleu so I get to watch cooking – another fave as you know. (and even the Greg Kinnear/Harrison Ford version is pretty good too.)

The Way We Were. Barbra and Bob are wonderful together. Where I learned that movies don’t have to end the way I think they should and they can still be good.

I’ll second “Love Actually.” One of my favorite movies. I always watch it around Christmas. Colin Firth just melts my heart in this one as do all of the story lines in this film.

Life is Beautiful – Hillarious, romantic, and gut wrenchingly heartbreaking. Just sitting here thinking about it I’m tearing up. My husband also stole a line from it (Buon giorno, Principessa!) and wrote it as the greeting in the first email he ever sent me. I adore Roberto Benigni. To see him at his comedic finest watch Johnny Stecchino.

Any Coen brothers movie. “O’ Brother…” and “Raising Arizona” of course being the top two.

Christopher Guest movies – Best in Show, Princess Bride, Spinal Tap

I also like those odd ones you can’t predict – like M.Night Shyamalans movies or Memento.

I think that’s it for now. I’ll think of more after I’ve signed off. 🙂
Elizabeth A. White
September 18, 2010 - 6:58 PM

Yes! Stripes totally rocks!
Shannon Danner
September 18, 2010 - 6:55 PM

Oh yeah… I almost forgot this one: Stripes (with Bill Murray). That movie is TOO funny! 🙂 Add that to my list. 😉
Elizabeth A. White
September 18, 2010 - 2:53 PM

I understand what you mean about the discovery aspect, PCN. Most of the movies I’ll watch over and over are driven by action, great dialog, or are just plain stupid/funny; not things that are dependent upon a discovery or “ah-ha!” factor.

There are definitely “discovery” type movies that I couldn’t watch repeatedly, things like The Sixth Sense or The Crying Game where once the twist is known that pretty much seals things.
Shannon Danner
September 17, 2010 - 8:41 PM

Hey, Beth, I love your list. Some of those movies I’ve never seen, though, and I need to rent them (mostly the cops and horror flicks). Some of my favorite movies include: The Matrix, Office Space, all the Harry Potter films (especially The Goblet of Fire), Pirates of the Caribbean (all three, but Dead Man’s Chest is my fav), Pulp Fiction, The Wizard of Oz, The Chronicles of Narnia (The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, & Prince Caspian), Disney princess movies (Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid are my favs), Lilo & Stitch, Drum Line, Hard Days Night, any film with Jimmy Stewart or Humphrey Bogart (Key Largo), any Hitchcock film (Psycho). I’m sure there are more, but that’s it for today! 🙂
Pop Culture Nerd
September 17, 2010 - 7:54 PM

Hey, lp13, not only did you volunteer to bring the heat, you’re also going to put popcorn on yourself for us to eat off of? You have got a FREAKY side.

Your list is full of great movies, Elizabeth. I can’t really participate in this meme, though, because I rarely re-watch movies, no matter how much I love them. Exceptions: Original STAR WARS trilogy, RAIDERS, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, LOVE STORY (long story) and LOVE ACTUALLY. (Gah, didn’t realize until this moment I kinda sound like a sap.)

I think it’s because I can never re-create that first time, that excitement or tension that comes from not knowing what happens next. I learned this the expensive way. If I loved a movie I saw in a theater, I used to buy the VHS or DVD as soon as it was released. Then I’d watch it and think, “It’s not the same.” And it ends up on the shelf, never to be watched again. I stopped buying DVDs several years ago. If I want to see the extras or deleted scenes, I borrow them from the library.
Elizabeth A. White
September 17, 2010 - 4:34 PM

Ha! I knew what you meant. Sounds like a plan. √
le0pard13
September 17, 2010 - 4:23 PM

I just about spit up when I re-read what I wrote in comments. Obviously, I meant I’d host the movie HEAT! Don’t let me wife see that one ;-). Thanks for your gracious understanding, Elizabeth :-).
le0pard13
September 17, 2010 - 4:17 PM

Wow! No wonder we get along so well, Elizabeth. We have so many movies in common! Just about all of these films are in my video library. Some of these I almost put on my list. Fantastic movie list, my friend. Tell you what. When I’m in town, I’ll stop by and we can watch Big Trouble in Little China, and when you’re in L.A., I’ll host the Heat at my house ;-). The popcorn is on me! Thanks.
Chris
September 17, 2010 - 4:11 PM

That’s a great list. Obviously we have a HUGE overlap in lists. Ronin, Heat, No Country, Manhunter, Jaws, Aliens, Predator etc etc. Watch’em every time! =)
-Chris