The movie I've seen the most
Slate.com has published a rather thought-provoking compilation of some of film fans' most watched movies. What a terrific idea. Which movie have you seen the most? Not your first. Not your favorite. The one you've seen the most often.If you're like me, you've never been much for the big holiday classics (like "the Wizard of Oz,") but yet the movies you saw as a tireless child skew the results toward a certain generation of cinema. My first instinct was to say "Star Wars" (now known as "Star Wars-- Episode IV,") but that film slightly predated the VCR revolution for my interests, and I think I actually saw it more in my imagination, reading books, and by acting out the plot with action figures. The strong contenders from the pre-teen VCR period would have to include "Fletch," "Three Amigos," and "Airplane!" If push came to shove, my most watched movie might be Steve Martin and Carl Reiner's "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid." (That one's a beauty!) And it sounds pretentious, but I've seen "Citizen Kane" quite a few times at this point.
But if I had to bet the wardrobe, I think I'd have to go with "Groundhog Day." My brother had it on tape. It made my Top 50 films list last year (Top 50 reviews posted in the Archives December 2004 through March 2005,) which means I gave myself permission to buy it on DVD. And I just can't turn it off when it comes on cable, which is often. Then again, maybe it's the nature of the movie's narrative that makes it seem so familiar.
Which movies am I forgetting?
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Quote of the day: Democratic strategist Steve McMahon on Hillary Clinton (and others') support for the criminalization of burning the American flag, "What's politically pragmatic is not necessarily what's pleasing to the left. But pragmatism is what wins elections for Democrats."
Here is Arianna Huffington's response: "Really? And which elections would those be, Steve? 2002? 2004? And it wasn't just Hillary. Kerry, Biden, Boxer, Durbin, Kennedy, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Obama, and Shumer all also voted against the (Constitutional) amendment but for the criminalization bill because, according to the (New York) Times, "Democrats who voted for the [bill] in effect bought themselves the right to claim that they had voted against flag desecration, potentially inoculating themselves against possible charges of lacking patriotism in a general election campaign." In other words, they earned the right to declare that they actually voted against flag desecration before they voted "for" it (by voting no on the amendment). Yep, that's exactly the kind of pragmatic thinking that "wins elections for Democrats"!
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Groucho Marx: "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
posted by CM @ 6:47 PM
6 Comments:
If I had to guess, I would say the movie I have seen the most is probably "Field of Dreams". I had it on VHS, have it on DVD, and always watch it if I come across it on cable. I think it's the Iowa in me that makes me like it so much.
I own a lot of comedy DVDs, but I find that I more often than not pick an action film to watch from my collection. I would say my most watched DVD at this point is probably "The Rock".
I would have thought "The Natural" would have been near the top of your list of most watched. I remember seeing that quite a few times when coming over to your house.
Yes, I've probably seen the Natural the most. I agree that most of the movies I've seen multiple times were in childhood. I just don't watch movies over and over any more.
In fact, even my always expanding DVD collection is composed entirely of music concerts and TV shows. I figure if I want to watch a movie even 3+ times a year, I can rent it 3 times a year. It'll cost me about the same.
Chris, other ones we had on videotape that I think you may be forgetting are Caddyshack and Splash. And also I remember a couple summers at the babysitters house and watching Raiders of the Lost Ark multiple times.
I forgot about "The Natural."
I know I've seen The Jerk while over at your place a few times. I always felt you two must watch it a lot, but now I realize you were only trying to send me a message by watching it while I was there.
I wouldn't worry too much about it RS. I don't think they were sending me a message by watching "The Natural" when I was over there. Unless they now think it's time for me to dust off my spikes and my ball glove with "Veenstra" still written on it and give it another try. I can just imagine walking into the Cubs dugout and telling Dusty Baker...... "I used to play in high school".
Isn't that how Phil Nevin got signed?
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