Movies that you suddenly "get" after multiple viewings

[el bandito loco]

oh man there's tons. mostly because as a kid I watched whatever the fuck I wanted, and took everything at face value. shit like Robocop which when I was in kindergarten was just a cool superhero esque movie than as a teenager I was like oh this movie is about something, and it's not really about the guy who became a robot but this hyper corporate privatized world they're in.

another one in that vein was the Ang lee hulk. I saw it in theaters as a kid and thought it mostly sucked. Watched it again around 2010 and was like oh this is actually babies very first psychological horror movie and is pretty cool, now I love it I probably have seen it once a year since.

I also have this with most Michael Mann & Brian De Palma movies. not really that I didn't understand the plot in any of them when I watched em, but I didn't really come to appreciate what they do as filmmakers until way after the fact and after having seen certain movies of theirs a few times they're a lot more layered than I took them at face value as movies and in regard to characters.

side tangent, like I said as a kid I watched anything with the exception of when I was 7 or something I was in my living room looking at all the videos on the shelf and grabbed requiem for a dream, and started heading back to my room. My dad was like what movie are you gonna watch? And I couldn't pronounce it so I showed him the box and he said, well watch it if you want but you won't understand what its about at all. so I just put it back. It was the only time he ever said anything like that so I took his word for it. He was right, I don't think it would have fucked with me but I would have thought it was boring as hell and wouldn't have got it at all. Whatever I watched instead, most likely predator 2, power rangers, or lion king was more my speed.

 

[Lurker Child]

Master & Commander. It's not a movie about naval warfare, it's a movie about leadership. I didn't understand it until I was old enough to have actually mentored a guy 10 years younger than me.

This is a fantastic way to look at the film. It also explains /tv/'s moniker for it as "the film that women will never understand" lol.


As for the thread's subject, one film that comes to mind is Barry Lyndon. The way I would describe it is as "an 18'th century '2001 : A Space Odyssey' ". It's a film that I love not because of the plot or even particularly the characters but for the visual and audio treat that it provides. The lighting, the set and costume design - "every frame a painting" strongly applies to this film. There's also the music. That time period's music is some of my favorite, and here it only amplifies the kino - akin to how it does in Master&Commander.

It's exactly for these reasons that I describe the film as so above. I was fortunate enough to see 2001 with a live orchestra, and I felt exactly the same way about it, though more timidly since I prefer 18'th century Europe to space sci-fi. These films are sensational treats of sound and sense strung together with something resembling a plot. The plot is not the point. The point is Kubrick's insatiable visual autism playing out a harmony on film.

 

[Trananarama]

This is a fantastic way to look at the film. It also explains /tv/'s moniker for it as "the film that women will never understand" lol.

The women I know all love this film, though it could be that Paul Bettany was attractive at this stage of his career and he and Russell Crowe had good chemistry.

Anyway Tenet for me. My first watch I thought it was gibberish and did not understand it, almost hated it. But after a few watches I'm actually impressed by how few holes Christopher Nolan left in such a bizarre and complicated time travel plot. Almost every line delivers critical information, so I find rewatching it makes you feel like an autist gradually learning an instrument. Once you master it and get all the pieces down it feels good. Now it's probably my favorite in the Nolan catalogue.

 

[Pedophobe]

Primer I guess. It mostly made sense but the last 15 minutes or so barrelled through half a dozen plot twists without ever trying to explain them. Actually I'm still not sure I understand it.

The women I know all love this film, though it could be that Paul Bettany was attractive at this stage of his career and he and Russell Crowe had good chemistry.

It's funny because his character is grotesquely ugly (and worse yet shabby) in the book and his missus is the classic BPD psycho narc bitch from hell.

 

[Vibe_Guy]

Bladerunner

 

[el bandito loco]

Bladerunner

not even for all the various cuts and shit, but I think I would have got blade runner the first time i saw it as a teenager if it wasn't for the fact I was already familiar with the 25 years of every sci-fi film ripping it off after it came out. I was more like 'oh that's where this came from in this' 'oh that too, huh?' 'damn'. when I did see it.

 

[Maniacal Foreigner]

Almost every line in Tenet delivers critical information

I just wish I could fucking hear a line of dialogue in Tenet. That'd be a good start.

 

[el bandito loco]

Anyway Tenet for me. My first watch I thought it was gibberish and did not understand it, almost hated it. But after a few watches I'm actually impressed by how few holes Christopher Nolan left in such a bizarre and complicated time travel plot. Almost every line delivers critical information, so I find rewatching it makes you feel like an autist gradually learning an instrument. Once you master it and get all the pieces down it feels good. Now it's probably my favorite in the Nolan catalogue.

Tenet is by far my favorite Nolan movie, I didn't care to rush out and see it and my friend called me and told me he hated it and I'd love it, that it was a movie that I would make if I was able to write a competent script around shit I liked. I told him that didn't inspire confidence and he went "fuck it I'll put it like this: black james bond is assassinated on a mission. except it isn't an assassination, it's an initiation. into the FUCKING MEN IN BLACK. their mission? stop Darkseid in his boss Dark Side human avatar form from the comic Seven Soldiers from attacking time itself at various points in time to get the anti-life equation to destroy everything." I said no fucking way that is the movie, he said go see it, it looks great but is retarded psychobabble horseshit and you'll love it. I saw it, and that literally was the movie. I felt like it was made for me. I only saw it the once though I need to rewatch it. the sound issues didn't plague me at the theater I saw it at but I bet at home I'll have to fuck with my sound settings a shitload because every nolan movie's bass is absurdly loud and I always think I'll blow my speakers at regular speaking volume.

 

[Michael Wade]

Im gonna anime it up in here for a bit


Char's counterattack.



Ive seen this like 8 times and it's a movie that keeps giving me something.
First time I did not get it, the cast from the pervious shows is mostly missing, the kids are annoying and the villain was a good guy last season.

I hated it at first because I went in thinking it was going to be a classic progression of a good vs evil story, but it really throws you for a loop with all these flawed characters.

The reality about this movie and most of the director Tomino's work, is that he has always tried to depict flawed human beings driven beyond what they want. Forced by necessity, duty, or random circumstance into war. You've got a Brilliant commander who doesnt know how to be a father, A terrific solider with no ambition and poor leadership, A freedom fighter who only knows how to destroy and manipulate. A gifted child that is hopelessly naive. There's an anti war message sure, but I think the main theme is that people are not simple and many cant be understood. They are a walking mass of complexes and war brings out the best and worst of people at the same time. You could be psychic and you wouldn't be able to "get" how another person thinks or acts.

Your either going to love it or hate it, but there's a reason why this is ranked as one of the best gundam films. It's got onion layers. I will 100% admit its better when built upon watching 0079 and Zeta but it's a memorable experience all the same.


Also I gotta talk about Eatman


I love the shit out of this show. This is an EXTREMLY rewatchable and re readable series. Honestly it's great on it's own and it's not hard to enjoy, But I really dig the heck out of how it sets things up.

Your not given any setup on who or what the main character Bolt Crank is. His motivations, his past, his thought processes. NOTHING. You have to fill out who and what he is, from what he does. Slowly, you piece it together and get a rough picture based on the odd jobs he takes and his reactions.

The main takeaway that really elevates things for me is the fact that he's

Spoiler

an immortal, he's been already been active for a LONG time, and he's younger in the 1st season of the show and significantly older in the 98 series/manga

There's a fair amount of times in the books and show where the job's objective and contractor are completely obscured and only hinted at, so you have to keep thinking about who or what's going on. The pieces are all there like a puzzle, and I enjoyed how rewatching it showed everything clicking into place. It does not hold your hand.

Honestly as much as I enjoy the show the mangas are 10 times better. Without revealing what exactly he is, the sequel manga main dish actually gave out details about his childhood and motivations for being a continuous wanderer that were surprisingly really satisfying. There's even a moment that explains where his iconic clothes come from that was pretty moving.