Multiple viewings

[The Rick]

What shows or movies get better after multiple viewings?

One tv show that pops out for me is Futurama. I end up only moderately enjoying episodes on the first watch. I find that I enjoy them far better after the second and third viewings.

Discuss

[Jacknife]

I'll throw Freddy Got Fingered out there. That movie absolutely sucked the first time I viewed it, but after repeated viewing it may be one of the funniest films ever.

[Alf]

Scent of a woman. 24. The wire.

[virms]

Curb Your Enthusiam. Mainly because I laughed so hard the first time around I missed some jokes.

I am sure there are several others.

[Jimmy Zero]

For me, The Big Lebowski gets better every time I watch it.

[stylepoints]

Of coures ive seen movies like Star Wars and Spaceballs tons of times and they never get old. The opening scene of Super Troopers with the stoners takes it all. I've seen that one scene hundreds of times, many times back to back in rewind. That scene is pure perfection.

It is a lot to take in the first time. One of those rare times when watching something more makes it better.

[Mik]

All Christopher Nolan films, including The Prestige, much to Alf's chagrin.

[virms]

So are you likimg dark knight rises a bit more, Mik?

[Mik]

I haven't seen it since it came out on blu ray. But I preferred it more the second time around. It's still my least favourite Christopher Nolan film (obviously not including Insomnia...possibly).

[Alf]

All Christopher Nolan films, including The Prestige, much to Alf's chagrin.

Next time you are down south or I'm up there we need to sit down and watch it together.

[Mik]

I would love to.

[Alf]

It would start with a vicious argument and end in glorious passionate bum sex.

[virms]

No wonder mik likes nolan films with repeated viewings.

[VHS]

28 Days Later
Big Lebowski

And recently, Finch's Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

[virms]

Still haven't seen it. Have it ready to watch, just haven't pulled the trigger. Heard so many mixed reviews about it I just haven't committed myself.

[VHS]

Still haven't seen it. Have it ready to watch, just haven't pulled the trigger. Heard so many mixed reviews about it I just haven't committed myself.

Seriously, I was bored out of my mind during my first showing but warmed up to it much much later.

[Bert]

Friends and Scrubs TV Show wise.

I don't watch many movies multiple times. I did like Big Lebowski more the second time, when I saw it in a theater.

[Atty]

Airplane! gets better every time I watch it. Vertigo is one where the first time I saw it, I thought it was quite good and the second time I thought it was one of the best movies I had ever seen.

The Nolan films were a great call for this thread. I like every single one better on repeated viewings. TDK was weird in that it kind of reset, for me, at one point. I had seen it so frequently after release that I felt burnt out on it and that I'd overrated it. I didn't watch it for awhile and when I finally did, BOOM, I absolutely adored again.


As for TV, Modern Family jumps to mind. I get more out of the episodes every time, especially early episodes as the actors were well set in their characters from the start and I get more out of them now, knowing their characters.

[T.I (uh oh)]

I've watched Heroes season 1 about 5-6 times, and I love it more everytime. However it also makes me angrier everytime when I remember how the ruined everything in seasons 2-4.

[The Rick]

I've watched Heroes season 1 about 5-6 times, and I love it more everytime. However it also makes me angrier everytime when I remember how the ruined everything in seasons 2-4.

Yup.

King of the Hill
Monty Python's Life of Brian
The Fugitive(Harrison Ford version)

[Bert]

I thought it only lasted 2 Seasons. :eek: I remember being so excited when I saw ads and teaser trailers for Season 1. :(

[Mills]

I think I've watched the OC season 1 about 15-20 times, I can't get enough of it. Season 3 is the drizzling shits though

[wardy]

Arrested Development
The Wire
The Office

[Bert]

I think I've watched the OC season 1 about 15-20 times, I can't get enough of it.

Well, I guess I'll download Season 1. I like Ben McKenzie on Southland.

[T.I (uh oh)]

The OC is quality. Season 3 is well worth enduring just to see Willa Holland in Season 4.

[Mills]

I loved season 4, in quality its 1, 4, 2, 3.

Southland is great too. I have about 3 ROH dvds then start cranking out breaking bad

[darkhorse]

Movies:
Kentucky Fried Movie
Nice Dreams
Office Space

TV:
King Of The Hill
Liquid Television
Strangers With Candy
Wonder Showzen

[Bert]

I thought of another movie. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. So fucking good. One of my favorites.

[McBain]

Arrested Development
The Wire
The Office

Good suggestions.

Also, The Sopranos.

While I'm not sure if it gets better but it certainly never disappoints when watching it again and again...

Back to the Future.

[Wooooo]

V for Vendetta

[wardy]

Hahahah

[Simon]

Arrested Development
The Wire

These were the two that immediately came to mind for me. There are a shit-ton of shows that are great and so have great replay value, but I would say that Arrested Development and The Wire are two shows that NEED to be watched more than once to get everything out of them.

With Arrested Development, there are jokes in earlier episodes that are based on things that happen later on (the obvious example often cited is Buster saying "I don't know what I'd do without my hand" when talking about his chair in the shape of a hand, an episode or two before his arm is bitten off by a seal). That is incredibly clever writing - every show has callbacks to earlier moments, it's a staple of comedy writing, but I can't think of a show prior to Arrested Development that consistently used call-forwards. It's brave and confident writing that assumes viewers will rewatch the show. That's before you even take into account all the background stuff that you won't necessarily notice on your first run through the series.

In The Wire it's a little more subtle - nothing happens that is reliant on you re-watching the show, but there are several plotlines that fly under the radar on a first viewing, only to take on a much larger significance when you rewatch them. The first season is notoriously slow going on a first watch (as is the second), but on repeat viewings when you know the narrative and can relax a little bit watching it, there is so much packed in that it boggles the mind. The best example I can think of is Stringer's attempts to go legit in series 3 - it's a bit of a sideline until the season nears its climax, but that plot builds right from the start of the season.

[WizoOzz]

Definitely Arrested Development and Futurama for me. Also, my kids have taken a liking to the Wayne's World movies - and while the first one is definitely greatness, I forgot how much actual funny shit was in the second.

[Fro]

The Wire for sure
Inglourious Basterds

[The Rick]

The cartoon versions of The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings
Looney Toons & Merry Melodies

[Chris]

Serenity improved immensely after I watched Firefly.

Up just gets better and better every time I watch it.

Hot Fuzz was something that I didn't really "get" right away. I think I just expected a different type of comedy. Now I absolutely love it.

TV-wise, I gave up on season 1 of 24 after a couple of episodes. I went back to it a year later, got hooked and carved through the rest of the series. I wasn't that keen on the second series of I'm Alan Partridge, but it has really grown on me over time. Still prefer the first series though.

[Mik]

There's so much subtext and stuff happening beneath the surface in Mad Men, that it really does reward multiple viewings.

[Bert]

If I ever make it through my first viewing of Mad Men without falling asleep I'll consider it.

[McBain]

Man, Mad Men is the balls! I love it even more than Breaking Bad.

[The Rick]

There's so much subtext and stuff happening beneath the surface in Mad Men, that it really does reward multiple viewings.

I have to disagree. Many of the moments do not bear the same weight on the second watch. The same goes for Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. I love watching them the first time though.

-The Godfather Parts 1&2
-The Karate Kid
-Raiders of the Lost Ark
-Temple of Doom

[Mills]

Ive never been able to get into the indiana jones series byr, ffs:

TOP GUN
THE GOONIES

How did I neglect to mention these

[Aero]

Ghostbusters. As a little kid, I loved it, but when you grow up and actually understand the rest of the jokes, it's that much better.

And I can't cite any specific reasons why, but Inglourious Basterds definitely fit this. Liked it much better the second time around, and even a little more after I watched it on TV about a week ago.

[Tainted Eclipse]

deadwood. the writing and acting are so good, theres tons of awesome little moments, dialogue exchanges, etc in every episode, that you'll never remember them all so theres plenty to keep enjoying each time through. i've watched it 3 times now and havent been bored of it.

[Version 6]

Arrested Development is the big one for mine.

It's so layered that there are jokes from earlier episodes that you won't understand until you've seen later episodes. It really rewards repeat viewing more than any comedy I've ever seen.

[Fro]

Arrested Development is the big one for mine.

It's so layered that there are jokes from earlier episodes that you won't understand until you've seen later episodes. It really rewards repeat viewing more than any comedy I've ever seen.

I can see that being true given that I've always found Arrested Development to be hugely overrated. I should probably give it a second viewing.



And I can't cite any specific reasons why, but Inglourious Basterds definitely fit this. Liked it much better the second time around, and even a little more after I watched it on TV about a week ago.

Amen brother. Huge grower for me. I now consider it a classic.

[McBain]

Gonna have to re-watch Inglourious then, didn't grab me the first time, but usually a big fan of Tarantino. Even found Death Proof really enjoyable fun.

[Pete Cash]

I watch Seinfeld pretty much every night and still love it. If I can be arsed ill write up a few hidden little visual tricks in the wire like (season 4 spoiler)

Brody is killed in a gun fight where a dude comes at him from an angle while someone kills him by walking up to him in a l shape movement. Like a bishop and a knight in chess. Brody speculated in season 1 that a smart ass pawn could survive.

[McBain]

Nice!

[Judas Iscariot]

Like Commie Pete, I watch Seinfeld constantly. Sometimes I see an opening and think for a second, "Holy shit, an episode I haven't seen?" but it's just wishful thinking as I've seen every episode 50 times.

This makes me fully confident that Seinfeld could have gone on for the rest of my life and I'd never, ever get tired of it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hSIIoyTKJA

[Pete Cash]

re: the wire: Its an interesting show because its so blatant with the way it beats the audience with the authors view points on economic equality, the war on drugs, the nature of capitalism, and other areas that some people would get quite bothered about being preached at about and I have never heard anyone really complain about the wire being too political when as I said David Simon is pretty obvious about it.


Another one with the Greek. So lets say season 2 spoilers specifically.

The Greek according to David Simon (its even on the Greeks wikipage so this itself is not all that tricky to work out with some googling) represents out of control capitalism. Which continues the theme of the author not being scared to attack his audience with his own viewpoints but more interestingly to me is the parallels between characters or situations.

The most obvious one is D and Jimmy in season one and Bunny and Stringer in season 3 but one between situations is this one.

The police often let drug dealers go to try and catch the bigger fish. This is exactly what the FBI is doing with the Greeks. The Greek operates on two sides of these fantastical wars that are just creations of the US government. He profits on the "bad" side of the war on drugs and he gets protection on the "good" side of the war on terror.

I've often thought about doing a wire rewatch thread but am far too lazy to probably even finish the series.

EDIT

Judas put in a post about Senfield between McBains and mine so it looks like im saying Larry David and Jerry Senfield hit you over the head with their opinions of the war on drugs. That said they are brutal with the nihilism

[McBain]

re: the wire: Its an interesting show because its so blatant with the way it beats the audience with the authors view points on economic equality, the war on drugs, the nature of capitalism, and other areas that some people would get quite bothered about being preached at about and I have never heard anyone really complain about the wire being too political when as I said David Simon is pretty obvious about it.


Another one with the Greek. So lets say season 2 spoilers specifically.

The Greek according to David Simon (its even on the Greeks wikipage so this itself is not all that tricky to work out with some googling) represents out of control capitalism. Which continues the theme of the author not being scared to attack his audience with his own viewpoints but more interestingly to me is the parallels between characters or situations.

The most obvious one is D and Jimmy in season one and Bunny and Stringer in season 3 but one between situations is this one.

The police often let drug dealers go to try and catch the bigger fish. This is exactly what the FBI is doing with the Greeks. The Greek operates on two sides of these fantastical wars that are just creations of the US government. He profits on the "bad" side of the war on drugs and he gets protection on the "good" side of the war on terror.

I've often thought about doing a wire rewatch thread but am far too lazy to probably even finish the series.

EDIT

Judas put in a post about Senfield between McBains and mine so it looks like im saying Larry David and Jerry Senfield hit you over the head with their opinions of the war on drugs. That said they are brutal with the nihilism

I re-watched the Wire for the first time recently, and absolutely loved it. So glad I did it. You're right with what you say about the core message of the show, and with how people don't seem to criticise it. Maybe it's because the message comes through the story telling predominantly as opposed to the dialogue and characters - few of whom can really be called out as leftists.

[WizoOzz]

Ghostbusters. As a little kid, I loved it, but when you grow up and actually understand the rest of the jokes, it's that much better.


A million times this. Watched it recently, and while as a kid I thought the movie was awesome, being able to appreciate the actual humor in the movie now made it even more a classic. It's a shame that the second one doesn't hold up quite as well.

[virms]

I just got dpne rewatching all of Seinfeld again. Glorious show and what Judas saying about thinking you are watching an episode you think you haven't seen is spot on. Had several episodes play out that way only to get about 10 minutes into them and be like...oh yeah.

The constant call backs also make this tremendous. When George picks up the habit of talking about himself in 3rd person and stretches it out here and there over a couple of seasons is great.

[Fro]

Yeah, I've spent more time watching Seinfeld than any other show or film by a very large margin. I'm just about at the point where I don't usually flip to it anymore since I've seen every episode literally about 35 times each, but I still watch it on occasion. It has immense replay value and is simply the quintessential American sitcom. I think it'll still be in syndication 50 years from now.

[Tempest]

I've gone through Buffy and Angel a stupid amount of times.

Other than those, I tend to go through Arrested Development and Boston Legal every couple of months. Arrested Development is so unique to me as it's probably the only thing that I find funnier each time I watch it all.

[Pete Cash]

Yeah, I've spent more time watching Seinfeld than any other show or film by a very large margin. I'm just about at the point where I don't usually flip to it anymore since I've seen every episode literally about 35 times each, but I still watch it on occasion. It has immense replay value and is simply the quintessential American sitcom. I think it'll still be in syndication 50 years from now.

Its been my go to bed time show for a good few years. Rotating through senfield is my v for vendetta.

Even its most obvious weakness (jerry can't act) is brilliant. How much more callous and funny does it make the scene where he is mugging an old lady for the marble rye and he smirks through the line "give it to me you old bag"

I could talk about the show for ages. Even late senfield is very strong it just takes a tonal shift when jerry replaces Larry David as show runner. Who doesn't love the psychotic George over the last two seasons.

I'm sure a lot of people are turned off the show by the fact its such a monolith in the world of comedy but its worth giving it a shot. A lot of the humour is quaint with the invention of mobile phones but it still holds up.

edit
also season 4 is like the peak of sitcom brilliance. From the hilarious meta plotline around getting a pilot produced ( George perfectly playing Larry David melting down over the concept of success), the beginning of the cruelty to Susan the show writers loved, the contest. Its just such a brilliant series of tv.

[mth]

Cool to see folks talking about Seinfeld as me and the wife just picked up Seasons 3 and 4 on DVD and are marathoning through them right now. We got 1 and 2 a couple months back and plowed through them. All I can say is I absolutely agree with what's being said about it. Fantastic show and the replay value is incredible.

A million times this. Watched it recently, and while as a kid I thought the movie was awesome, being able to appreciate the actual humor in the movie now made it even more a classic. It's a shame that the second one doesn't hold up quite as well.
For me, the more times I've seen the second one, the more I like it.

[McBain]

I should give Seinfeld another chance at some point. I have some British mates that dig it but generally it didn't really have the success here that it did in the States and I never really gave it much of a chance.

[darkhorse]

At first I didn't give Seinfeld much of a chance either. Now it's one of my favorite sitcoms along with Married With Children and Sanford And Son.

[Pete Cash]

I should give Seinfeld another chance at some point. I have some British mates that dig it but generally it didn't really have the success here that it did in the States and I never really gave it much of a chance.


It is weird because friends was so successful in the UK yet is a much more friendly happy comedy and Seinfeld didn't really work when its essentially a show about 4 unpleasant people doing mean things to innocent people. The best British sitcom in the last few years (Peep Show) is very close to Seinfeld in humour style. (and a lot of Mark's plotlines seemed to mirror George Costanzas)

As I said it suffers for how influential it was. Give it a chance and consider the idea of 4 fucking jerks being jerks while doing not much of anything was ground breaking. Larry David had to fight NBC to get them to play the The Chinese Restaurant it was such a ground breaking idea. Even then they made him play out the episode really really late in seasons 2s run. The thing is at that time the show Cheers had all but perfected the US sitcom and then Seinfeld came along and just destroyed the concept.

Friends is a harmless show and all but Seinfeld is much funnier, darker and grimier you would think Brits who basically brag about their sense of humour would have preferred the actually cutting edge funny show but here we are. The first season isn't brilliant by any stretch but is still amusing enough TV (there is only a handful of episodes. I believe its one of the shortest season orders in history NBC was so convinced it was going to fail. ) but from season 2 onwards its pretty much episode after episode of brilliance.

I mean the character Elaine Benes is still probably the best female character in comedy. She is well rounded, educated, her life doesn't revolve entirely around men, she is funny and confident. Its actually a shocking state of affairs when some 20 years later she is still largely an exception in TV rather than the rule.

EDIT

Just on the Peep Show/Seinfeld comparison here is George discussing his relationship with Susan

GEORGE: We ordered the wedding invitations today,, Nothing can stop it now. Nothing. It's here! It's happening. Can I do this? I can't do this...Look at me. Look at me I can't do this, I can't do this (manic) Help me Jerry, help me.

JERRY: why don't you just break it off with her. tell her it's over

GEORGE: I can't

JERRY: Why not?

GEORGE 'Cause I can't face that scene. You know what kind of scene that would be? i'd rather be unhappy for the rest of my life than go through something like that. (forceful) I CAN'T, I CAN'T. I tried to psyche myself up a million times I cannot go through that.

JERRY: All right take it easy, just take it easy.

GEORGE: What about a letter?

JERRY: A letter.

GEORGE: I...I...write a letter and then I..I go to China. I disappear in a sea of people for like six months, a year you know just while things simmer down. Ehm.. Ehm...Dear Susan. I'm sorry. I made a terrible mistake. I'm really , really sorry.

JERRY: That's it?

GEORGE: What? Too short?

BOTH: Seems a little short, yeah..

JERRY: You can't go to China What about your job?


Which is pretty identical to the Mark/Sophie arc.

[I steal cable]

I pretty much agree with every TV show mentioned in here so here's my contribution....

a bit of a 'mah' one, but NCIS

I know a lot of you guys would have only viewed an episode of NCIS by pure accident when looking to see CSI/CSI Miami on 5+

Prolly thought nothing of it. I know I didn't when first watching it.

I made the mistake of watching more than 3 episodes in a row. Little bits of those episodes connected, not for some massive story arc, but just to little references that happened in the past.

anywayz, yes, most of the story lines are very predictable, but it's really cool re watching a TV show where they refer to previous seasons/episodes with such random things.

tony's cap has ventilation

[Mills]

i hated ncis til they killed Kate off, then it got better.

[Mr_Nobody]

Justified is like this for me. I'll take this season for example. I feel that Justified has been one of the best shows on TV over the last couple of years, but this season I've kind of found a little lacking, until the last few episodes, because it's all coming together. Little things from earlier in the season are coming back, so I've went back and watched from the beginning of the season, and love how they've done this season, because everything is coming full circle, even in some cases, from previous seasons.

Most of Quinton Tarantino movies have not been favorites of mine when I've first watched them. I hated Pulp Fiction the first time I watched it, same with Reservoir Dogs, but on repeat viewings of them, I really like them.

[Pete Cash]

I am starting to dig Justified. Great show.

[virms]

I think this season of Justified has been great. Really enjoyed how and when raylon and boyd met for the first time this season. I actually stopped the scene and restarted it because the chemistry and delivery was so great.

Big fan of the Drew Thompson storyline as well. I figured out who it was a bit too late and I am not sure why I didn't see it coming as all the signs were there.I also loved the slight references to his character on Supernatural. "BALLS"

The Arlo story arc this year was really a nice side story. Added much depth to Waylan. Actually all the side stories this year have been pretty great.

I still mark out watching this show as my previous job actually had me working quite a bit in Harlan and Cumberland. They don't film the show there obviously but some of the cast and the camera crew came down to do still shots and talk to locals. My buddy got to meet Timothy Olyphant (sp) which more or less amounted to a handshake and Timothy trying to lay low. Nobody really recognized him at the time but he wanted to stay very low key.

[Pete Cash]

Raylon and Boyd are electric when they are on screen together.

[The Rick]

Yea I have come around on Sienfeld. I hated it so much through its original run. Just a sort of a dislike formed when it went into syndication. Over time, I have found many episodes that I really enjoy. That may or may not have happened with Friends also :shifty:


I would have to give a nod to Fawlty Towers. I caught a few episodes here and there growing up. Each time I watch an episode, I enjoy more and more of it, and the series as a whole.

[MikeHunt]

Firefly.

[Bert]

Season 3 is the drizzling shits though

Wow, you weren't kidding. These storylines are awful.

[lotjx]

TV: Star Trek, TNG and DS9. Babylon 5. Buffy. Angel. Seinfeld. Sons of Anarchy. Archer. Top Gear (UK). Cheers. Batman, Superman, JLU. Ghost Hunters. Destination Truth. Doctor Who. HIMYM and Big Bang.

Movies: Star Wars, Star Trek, Ghostbusters. Superman I and II. Most of the Bonds. Mel Brooks films. Princess Bride. Alien. Aliens. Die Hard. Nolan Batman. Marvel films. Godfather. Universal Monsters.

[Fro]

DRIVE.

I know this movie was pretty much loved by all but for some reason I thought it was a letdown when I saw it in theaters. I think it was part overhype, part not expecting the gratuitous violence and part Ryan Gossling barely saying 100 words in the whole movie.

Regardless, just gave it my first watch since then and it was fucking brilliant.

[Simmo Fortyone]

edit
also season 4 is like the peak of sitcom brilliance. From the hilarious meta plotline around getting a pilot produced ( George perfectly playing Larry David melting down over the concept of success), the beginning of the cruelty to Susan the show writers loved, the contest. Its just such a brilliant series of tv.
Agreed.

The Contest is the funniest 22 minutes of television ever produced.