"Great" films that wear out...

I think it's the opposite for me. The better the film, the shorter it feels. ANH and most Star Wars just flies by. Some Star Trek movies are the same. The Undiscovered Country, one I've seen so many times it's stupid, goes by so fast for me, I am always a little sad at the end. And it's not a movie that's worn out its welcome either.

I'd say some things that I loved when younger, like the Transformers series *I know- not a movie*, is something that I tried to watch now and couldn't get past the first episode. It was just horrible, and I'll just leave it at an enjoyable memory as a child.

So many movies I used to love are quite hard to get through now. Gremlins is one. It's a great movie in a lot of regards, but it just drags on for me now. Even more recent movies like, the Transformers... Just a blur or shaky scenes that never ends. The Bourne series. I loved those. But they're hard as well now unfortunately, and the latest one was so stuck on the old formula, that one dragged on for me a bit too.

I mentioned this in the Solo thread and I wonder if it's just weird'ol me being....well weird'ol me :lol

Basically here's how it goes: we'll take SW a new hope as an example-when I got a VCR back in the mid 80's (around '87) I watched ANH a lot,a whole LOT and even back then I kinda liked it and yet could see that for all the hoopla it wasn't that wonderful of a film,good yes but not amazing.

The way it goes and it's been this way since my binge watching the first ever SW film that when I really don't like a film and I watch it too much I get to the point that I'll notice the thing feels shorter and shorter even if it's a two plus hour film.

With SW it's tattooine,the death star,attack on the death star,the end in that order and what is a two hour movie feels like an hour and a half or less...still that way today if I watch it (and it's been five years about since I watched it last)

It's worse for films I look at now and cringe like back to the future or raising Arizona if I sit and watch them it feels like the worst ten minutes of my life.

Yet some dumb films I really liked,love even,don't suffer from this for example a few of the 60's Toho rubber monster movies like Godzilla Vs the Astro monster are still slow and last...does this make sense?

Anybody else? You have films that seem way shorter then when you watched them the first time? Films you liked? Or ones that you didn't? Is it just me?
 
I've tried watching a lot of my favorite 80s movies over the last few years and many don't hold up. Sixteen candles stood out as particularly bad.
 
I rewatched Adventures in Babysitting a few years ago. I thought it was the funniest thing when I was little but it was so painfully bad that I could barely get through it when I rewatched it.

Sixteen Candles holds up for me still. There are definitely a few movies that I used to love growing up that have not aged well though. Some movies are better left to memory than being revisited.
 
"The Maltese Falcon".

I'll never tire of watching any of the Bogey/Bacall films,
but the last time I tried to watch "The Maltese Falcon" I was so bored I was irritated.
Turned it off less than halfway through :(
 
2001: A Space Odyssey.

Watched it over a dozen times in my teens and early 20s.

Can't do it anymore. Except for the Dawn of Man opening scene, which I think is eternally riveting. But the rest is just painfully slow to watch at this point.

One of Kubrick's masterpieces. But I unfortunately OD'ed on it.

The Wook

ps~An added bonus for me with the Dawn of Man opening, is that my main man. Stuart Freeborn, made the ape masks and suits. Which prepped him for the challenge of making Chewie's mask a decade later.
 
Hush yo mouth! ;)

I get burned out on a lot of films and have to come back years later to revisit them, after some time away from them I am fine.

Case in point, I have not watched any one of Kubricks Masterpieces in 5 years, and with the 2001 thread here watched it, and had to break out all of the others.

Just got done with Ten Commandments, and Ben-Hur.

Heston was the man!

Back in the 80’s I found out where he lived and cruised his street hoping to get a glimpse of him maybe taking a short jog but he never appeared :lol

One of my buddies dared me to go up to the gate, and buzz it, dressed up like a tennis pro, which I probably would have gotten in and promptly thrown out when Chuck realized I couldn’t play a lick :lol



2001: A Space Odyssey.

Watched it over a dozen times in my teens and early 20s.

Can't do it anymore. Except for the Dawn of Man opening scene, which I think is eternally riveting. But the rest is just painfully slow to watch at this point.

One of Kubrick's masterpieces. But I unfortunately OD'ed on it.

The Wook

ps~An added bonus for me with the Dawn of Man opening, is that my main man. Stuart Freeborn, made the ape masks and suits. Which prepped him for the challenge of making Chewie's mask a decade later.
 
"The Maltese Falcon".

I'll never tire of watching any of the Bogey/Bacall films,
but the last time I tried to watch "The Maltese Falcon" I was so bored I was irritated.
Turned it off less than halfway through :(

I'm starting to notice that happening, too. One movie was The African Queen which I just couldn't get through even though I love Bogart and Hepburn. And then, about a year ago, I re-watched one of my all time favorites, Raising Arizona, and was horrified to find my attention wandering like crazy. If I can become bored watching RA, I thought, then my world no longer makes sense! It actually spooked me.

So, I suspect there are two things going on here. One is what Wook suggested, that you can very easily o.d. on a favorite movie. All the little things about it that once surprised and amazed you become overly familiar. It may still be a solid movie but the thrill is gone.

The second and more disturbing thing that may be occurring is that our attention spans are being rewired over time due to exposure to an ever increasingly sped-up world, which obviously includes the pace of storytelling in movies and tv shows. Not sure there's any way to fix that short of abstinence.
 
The second and more disturbing thing that may be occurring is that our attention spans are being rewired over time due to exposure to an ever increasingly sped-up world, which obviously includes the pace of storytelling in movies and tv shows.

Does that mean we're becoming Millennials--only without the vim, vigor, and waistline of youth?

I'm so depressed.
 
In my 11yr old head and heart definitely ... but it’s slipped to one of the greatest in the intervening years :$


giphy.gif
 
In my 11yr old head and heart definitely ... but it’s slipped to one of the greatest in the intervening years :$
Two years ago I would have said that. But I watched them all with my kids recently. (machete order) and for the first time in my life, A New hope has replaced ESB as my favorite movie ever. (even as a little kid, I liked empire more)

Honestly, ANH is perfect. There is absolutely no fat whatsoever, and the pace is wonderfully slow for a constantly engaging action movie. And on top of being a wonderfully edited and scored space opera, it's a perfect fairy tale.


In 500 years, people will think of luke skywalker the same way they think of Cinderella or Peter Pan.
 
Two years ago I would have said that. But I watched them all with my kids recently. (machete order) and for the first time in my life, A New hope has replaced ESB as my favorite movie ever. (even as a little kid, I liked empire more)

Honestly, ANH is perfect. There is absolutely no fat whatsoever, and the pace is wonderfully slow for a constantly engaging action movie. And on top of being a wonderfully edited and scored space opera, it's a perfect fairy tale.


In 500 years, people will think of luke skywalker the same way they think of Cinderella or Peter Pan.


giphy.gif
 
And that last part is why I don't want my 5 year old son to see the cynical meta-narrative that is The Last Jedi.

My son looks up to Luke as if he is his big brother, his protector. The other day, a man from work named Luke called me when I was at home.

You wouldn't believe the look on his face when I answered, "hi Luke"

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
 
And that last part is why I don't want my 5 year old son to see the cynical meta-narrative that is The Last Jedi.

My son looks up to Luke as if he is his big brother, his protector. The other day, a man from work named Luke called me when I was at home.

You wouldn't believe the look on his face when I answered, "hi Luke"

You're a good father. :cheers
 
Two years ago I would have said that. But I watched them all with my kids recently. (machete order) and for the first time in my life, A New hope has replaced ESB as my favorite movie ever. (even as a little kid, I liked empire more)

Honestly, ANH is perfect. There is absolutely no fat whatsoever, and the pace is wonderfully slow for a constantly engaging action movie. And on top of being a wonderfully edited and scored space opera, it's a perfect fairy tale.


In 500 years, people will think of luke skywalker the same way they think of Cinderella or Peter Pan.


Watched the OT and PT with my kids too , when they were kids ( sigh! ) I miss those days :cry...
Thing is I grew up loving Star Wars more than TESB and ROTJ - don’t get me wrong all were terrific to varying degrees , though I originally wanted the poor ‘ nobody ‘ to end up with the beautiful girl ...
Star Wars was akin to my first kiss or first crush ... nothing could compare ( talking sci-fi / fantasy films ) .
Unfortunately , like I said earlier - things changed the older I got ...

@Wook , that gif (?) you posted of Sheldon reacting - made me choke laughing so hard ! TA !
 
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Watched the OT and PT with my kids too , when they were kids ( sigh! ) I miss those days :cry...
Thing is I grew up loving Star Wars more than TESB and ROTJ - don’t get me wrong all were terrific to varying degrees , though I originally wanted the poor ‘ nobody ‘ to end up with the beautiful girl ...
Star Wars was akin to my first kiss or first crush ... nothing could compare ( talking sci-fi / fantasy films ) .
Unfortunately , like I said earlier - things changed the older I got ...

@Wook , that gif (?) you posted of Sheldon reacting - made me choke laughing so hard ! TA !
My first introduction was a double feature in 1982 of the first two films at age 6.

So there wasn't really a "first". So I just always preferred ESB.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
 
Lot of stuff I watched as a teen that now mean nothing to me,somethings I didn't like I now do like Blade Runner I thought that movie awful as a teen :lol

SW is odd I don't actually hate it but I also won't get all wound up about it and will admit watching it now it just seems shorter and less interesting but still decent,even films I enjoy like Ghostbusters I watched so much that now I sit and watch it and find myself going "hey,wasn't this longer?"

Screenshot (650).png

You wouldn't get all "wound up" about it, but it's your avatar AND your signature?

Odd, to say the least...
 
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