Somtimes your favorite movie/book was only good in retrospect

[catherine]

I hated American Beauty and I never watch a movie or read a book twice.

I'm with IL. I adored American Beauty, but I have no desire to see it again.

I don't read fiction twice, but I've seen movies more than once for sure.

And DH has probably seen The Godfather, Shawshank Redemption, and Goodfellas so many times he can recite the dialogue.

[rosarugosa]

I only know of American Beauty as the name of a Grateful Dead album. I've never seen the movie.

[iris lilies]

I hated American Beauty and I never watch a movie or read a book twice.

I saw it twice in the theater. That and Atonement are the only two I have watched twice in theater.

But here we are talking about films that are not so good rather than good films and books.

[razz]

Neat thread, GP. Funny to read the choices each has made.

For me, it is seeing a live play more than once with different directors or if it is the movie, book and the live play on the same subject, the live plays are usually so well done. I get more involved with the characters on stage but rarely feel that way but rather more detached watching a movie with a couple of exceptions like Dr Zhivago.

I tried to read Gone with the Wind in my 50's and found it long and tedious. At age 13, I couldn't put it down and felt that I was living with the characters. When my mother called me, I couldn't believe my surroundings as I put the book down. The Scarlet Pimpernel is a delight over several times of reading it from age 11 to the present.

[pinkytoe]

When I was around 18, I read a fictionalized history of Sacajawea by Anna Waldo that I really enjoyed at the time. I dug it out last fall and tried to re-read and was struck by how sexist it sounded by today's standards. I couldn't finish it.

[LDAHL]

I read “Walden” and “The Meditations” at about the same time in my high school career, and was very impressed by both at the time. I tried reading both again recently, and while I’m still very affected by Marcus Aurelius, Thoreau seems like a smug, shallow poseur playing at philosophy.

“The Blues Brothers” really holds up for me, but “Animal House” just seems dumb.

[razz]

Is it the naivete of youth vs wisdom of having lived more years or something else that makes the difference?

[KayLR]

All the Planet of the Apes movies---ha!

Any of the sci-fi movies from the 70s or 80s. Loved them then....so corny now.

[GeorgeParker]

Whatever you do, do not track down "Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp" to rewatch - let it remain a fond childhood memory.

The Archie Show is still reasonably watchable, if you keep in mind that it was a comic book show for children. But I wouldn't binge on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGasdWY8NN0

And the various songs sung by The Archies are still just as good and just as danceable. Example "Jingle Jangle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eha7OpIc_FI (you get zero trivia points for guessing what popular bubblegum group that song was imitating. )

In the category of "I used to think it was funny but now it's boring and stupid": I Love Lucy and The Three Stooges.

[Gardnr]

I don't do reruns. Movies, TV shows, books. None of them. I don't find them at all interesting 2nd time around. I can't believe how many movies I've been given as gifts because "you loved that movie". Fodder for the thrift store-untouched DVDs.

That said, I did reread 1 book every year for about 12 years. Janet Luhr's Simple Living. The last time I read it, I didn't glean anything I was going to implement. I gifted it, falling apart, to a young woman that worked for me who wanted to start out life simple living style. She loved the gift!