Hey, thanks for saying so! I'd hopefully be more articulate and detailed than "utter trash through and through" and give real criticsm in it. The issue with that is that when I find a movie to be bad, I forget the movie, and so I don't really retain details of what was bad or how, I just remember it being really bad. (bad acting, bad writing, bad directing, bad story.)

Or like I said a thread where you can go all gooey inside talking until your fingers bleed about it. Get you interested enough to rewatch films and movies again more often than you do. Easy to miss stuff on your first watch even if you have a trained eye and mind. ;)

Usually I can discern if a movie is worth a 2nd/multiple watches (to me), and often enough after some time passes and reflection happens I will say to myself "maybe I should watch that again to give it a second chance, maybe I missed something", once in a great while it is worth re-watching, but usually my first evaluations are pretty spot on, either not worth a 2nd watch, or worth multiple watches.

It's amazing how movies can change over multiple viewings. There are some movies I've seen 15 times and I get something new from them each time, they become a different experience or a deeper/more enriched experience or become different beasts. Some are able to deliver close the original experience too, which is always great for a great movie.

A couple weeks ago I rewatched Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (probably my 5th or 6th time seeing it), and this time, right at the beginning, while I'd understood the subtext on previous viewings and felt the emotions, it brought tears to my eyes this with one of the early exchanges between Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien expressing their love for each other by saying "other things."

My last view of Altered States was totally different than previous viewings (probably my 8th time watching it.)

For me, the amount of time between viewings matters a lot. For movies I've seen more than 4 times but still want to see again, I usually like to wait 5 years between viewings at this point in life. If it's something I've seen more than 10 times, it's every 7-10 years at this point.


I had watched Children of Men at some point, and hated it, then maybe 3 years later decided I'd give it a 2nd chance, maybe I just wasn't in the right mood or it was hitting me wrong for whatever reason. I turned it off in 10 minutes because it was just as bad as I remembered it being. No Country For Old Men is another that was like that. A movie that gets lots of praise and a good number of people think is exceptional that I find to be utterly horrible.

Yeah well it's usually obvious if a movie is good quite early since so many film makers fail with the basics. A movie is visual so its most potent tool is making the camera work towards that goal. Not necessarily directing because that is a bit separate from camera work. If the camera isn't handled well that shows early and if so I have to fall back on characters, acting performance, plot and so on. But I've found that if the camera work lacks so will the rest of the movie. Kurosawa and Leone are kings for me. :)
Anyway the movie can still be good in a visual media kind of way but maybe not in a cinematic one. So therefore second watches when I've gotten over the bad camera work can be interesting.

What enrich my second watch is mostly how the characters and the story interacts. Now that I know the story and how the characters have reacted it makes it much more interesting for me to see those two things grow together. What if thinking is also great at this points. :)

To be honest Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon bored me to tears. I didn't even make it through it all I'm ashamed to say. Probably caused by me only having watched Kung Fu and Hong Kong criminal films before watching a more serious drama like Asian film. It just wasn't my kind of film. Hero on the other hand I enjoy a lot. I guess it's more straightforward or something. Hero is good for rewatches too.

Don't think I've watched Altered States. Its premise looks great.

Well generally I don't rewatch films for their thinking potential. If I do I do it because of the same reasons I reuse any kind of media. It gets me the emotional kick I crave at the time. For example The Goonies will never win any awards. But I've found that Richard Donner have a special knack for creating a world that feels solid and puts you right in there. One reason for me to rewatch films too. :)

Well I tend to stop to rewatch films and movies when I can't stand knowing every second of them. ;)

I don't understand how you didn't like Children of Men. To each his own I guess.

What made the movie great for me were these tense, edge-of-your-seat moments emphasized by the apocalyptic, depressive setting. It was written and shot in such a realistic way that in pretty much every suspenseful scene I was sure the leads were not going to make it. It was a breath of fresh air after having seen so much of that typical Hollywood-fare where none of the leads are in any real danger (like, I don't know, every superhero movie ever made in any case).

Plus the subject matter was pretty original as well.

I don't always agree with the Oscars, but here the nomination for the Academy Award for best writing (adapted screenplay actually) was deserved.

Edit: clean-up

This is also what tends to do it for me too, even beyond the 2nd watch too, and is what I was getting at with Crouching Tiger, which I agree, is a bit more boring than I'd like it to be, but it is visuals make up for it, imo, to be multi-watch-worthy (at least a few times, but I wouldn't have watched it again this time if my partner wasn't sure/couldn't remember it / if she'd seen it before or not.) I also love the blend of martial arts + love story, which is a bit more unique thematically than most films and another reason I like it (not like I think it is superb or anything, I'm certainly not meaning to tout it, though I do recommend perhaps giving it another chance at some point.)

I love martial arts movies, (kung fu a lot), if the martial arts and choreography is well done, regardless of camera-work (though better camera work on the martial arts is very good to have, of course), story, acting, or whatever else. I can sit through some bad shit (like a few of the older Jackie Chan movies) if there is premium kung fu going on to watch.

And yep, there are many reasons to watch movies. I do find a lot of movies re-watchable for thinking potential, some things can get really deep, or are complex or mysterious and need multiple watches to even begin to get a fuller understanding of.

I love dramas, and it doesn't matter the country of origin, if it is done well, I can most likely get emotionally involved and "feel" them pretty deeply, and love doing so. I can like any movie of any genre if it has quality writing and directing. Sometimes the acting doesn't quite come off great, but you can still feel what the writer and/or director are going for, and so it is still very effective at doing its job. Sometimes there just isn't the ability to have better than camera work that simply serves as a conduit for getting across some great writing, directing, and/or acting. And then some camera work is understated and effective, even though it doesn't have cinematic/motion feel to it (something like Tape.)

Altered States is a trip, I highly recommend being on some sort of mind-altering substance if that suits you. It's one of those few that I think should be watched under the influence of something (my preference is always cannabis) - others in that group are Fear and Loathing, The Wall, hmmm, there are a few others, not sure atm, but Altered States solidly belongs in that category (even perhaps more than those 2!)
Ehhh, I didn't get any of that in Children of Men. The acting was bad, the writing was bad, the directing was bad. All of the moments felt contrived and didn't pull off what they were going for for so many reasons. The concept was ultimately ill-conceived as well, it really made no sense. I didn't find the subject matter original at all. And they didn't really convey what was going on, it was just like "oooh, tense tense chaos and run run run!" I remember the writing almost making me puke (that is most of what sticks out, very similarly to No Country for Old Men. Just. SO bad.) Again, I can't think of many details because I don't remember it really. If we were to sit down and watch it together I could take you from moment to moment and explain what I think is bad about it. But that'd be torture for us both, probably.

It's good to see that some fellow GOGers are passionate about movies. I guess I should watch Children of Men. I've missed the chance to watch the film when it first came out.

I've watched Altered States, yet although it's a good film I didn't enjoy it much. Ken Russell had finer moments in his film career; some of his biopics stand out for me like Mahler or Lisztomania.

Anyway, my turn!

Orlando?

Looks like a young Tilda Swinton, but maybe it just looks like her, so I'm going to guess at, The Last of England or Edward II?

*Edit, Looks like drealmer may have got it.

tis

You're fast! Correct.
Yes, it's indeed the young Tilda Swinton.

Woo! Cool! I was pretty sure! It's a great movie!

Alright, I'ma keep it going. Pic inc. in a few. A bit lesser know/more obscure this time...


---------------------------

someone eventually will be able to get it if I ever show the main actress and / or actor (not super well knowns, but someone is bound to know who 1 of them is and figure it out, I think.)

I love the old Hong Kong martial arts films for one reason. They're so fabulously stylish and stereotyped! The eastern equivalent of a pulp fiction western novel. So therefore I do not agree on old Jackie Chan martial arts Hong Kong films. I do think they're great cinema. :)

If the world the movie creates works I agree. Otherwise it would just be an intellectual excersice and that I find boring. I need motivation and/or emotional investment in it for it to be interesting.

I have never liked drama for dramas sake. If the drama is fueled by for example the involved's situation yeah it's a needed ingredient but drama for dramas sake like in soap operas. Nah.

I only do alcohol. It's Friday so Cheers! :P

No no, never drama just for dramas sake, that is more melodrama genre. Blah indeed!

I like an interesting story that is well told with round characters and meaningful themes.

Some of my favorite dramas are:

The Fisher King
The Elephant Man
Magnolia
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
cheers! I rarely will drink alcohol, I only really do cannabis! happy fryday!

I'm glad we agree on Drama and I've been thinking for years I should try to watch Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon again. Maybe I will after your suggestion. :)

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
That's a truly great film. A bit on the melancholy side and that is a big reason why I avoid Dramas. They tend to be bitter sweet or depressing. But yeah the ride they give can be worth it. It's the road and not the goal eh? ;)

Fryday. Yeah alcohol fries the brain. Among other things. ;)

Edit: I came up with a Drama I actually enjoy a lot. The Nephew.
Another one. By the Sword.