We’ve been over on WordPress for many months now so it may come as a surprise to some of you that this is my first post since we moved into the new place.
It was my choice for the Toffee Family Sunday evening film this week and I chose the wonderful Dead Poets Society – a film that I haven’t seen for over twenty years. I was very impressed by how well it’s dated (yes, I know it’s a period film) and the two (not-so) Little Miss Toffees were suitably impressed and inspired.
Now, my previous choice was Steve Martin’s The Jerk – and I was hugely disappointed to find that it hadn’t dated well at all. The girls laughed dutifully at the correct points but I could tell that they were finding it hard going.
So, the question to all you ‘Spillers is what good and bad experiences have you had when revisiting favourite old films?
PS. Now that I’ve mastered (I hope) a basic post the Bhundu Boys Album Of The Moment can’t be too far away.
PPS. Wow – it worked!
Not what you had in mind, Toffee, but I’ve had a bad experience trying to revisit a particular film (for the first time this millennium) only this very weekend. My 25 yearold home taped VHS copy of Koyaanisqatsi has gone mouldy.
Koyaanisqatsi partly means life disintegrating – but look on the bright side – 5 plays on a new improved DVD and the images freeze anyway..
I tried to watch Alan Rudolphs ‘trouble in mind’ again a little while back – for a film that is part past and part future – it’s bloody 80′s all through. I remember Lori Singers acting being pants originally as well- but boy had I forgotten how pants.
Apart from that, ACE movie – if only for Divine not in a dress and Marianne, Kriss and Mark Ishams soundtrack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4W0jTamgUg&feature=related
Good call on The Jerk. I played it a year or so ago for some older teens thinking I split my sides at their age watching it so …..
…so they didn’t and I’m not sure why I did then either. It’s OK, just not great.
There are some great scenes (Pizza In A Cup!) and some brilliant set pieces but overall it’s …. just …. so …. laboured …. and …… sl .. o ….. w ………. .. .
Anybody remember a made-for-TV from the ’80s called Coast To Coast, with John Shea, Pete Postlethwaite and (gulp!) Lenny Henry? Better still, anybody got a copy of it?
The film that did not do it for me on second viewing was “2001- A Space Odyssey”. (1968) Admittedly the first time was on the big screen and it probably does not transfer well.
My favorite film to revisit is “Amores Perros”, (Love’s a Bitch) a Mexican film that brings the lives of 3 sets of people together with an horrific car crash. Maybe not one for the Kiddiewinkles, but a great watch for the grown ups.
‘Pink Floyd’s The Wall’: at the age of fourteen, that seemed like one of the greatest and most meaningful films ever made…
I think a lot of the films we split our sides watching as teenagers haven’t aged that well. I can still find them funny ’cause I remember the fun I had watching them, I suppose. Our kids never found them funny and I won’t even be trying them out on Mario (my grandson) when he’s old enough! One film I loved as a teenager (Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in The West) still does it for me but I find I have to watch it on my own!
For me some of this may be cultural because of course I grew up in the UK and now live in Spain. A lot of stuff that comes out of the UK leaves me cold now as I lack the cultural references (especially humour). A classic thet never fails, however, is Peter Sellers’ The Party but that’s probably because a lot of the humour is visual and we can all “get” it.
I still revisit older Almodóvar and with the exception of Pepa, Luci, Bom… most of it has aged, but gracefully!
In 1950 I saw a film that I thought was an absolute work of genius, I thought it was the funniest film ever made, I was 16.
The film was ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy. Within the last several years I noticed it was on one of the cable channels, I watched it. Didn’t crack a smile, turned it off after about 15 mins. Something had changed, probably me.
This is a good question. Since the film (clearly) hasn’t changed, what exacty has? We have of course but how much is it us and how much is it society.
One of the things I’m very concious of when watching older films with the Little Miss Toffees is how slow they are. In most popular modern films (Wall-E is a notable exception) we’re up and runnning and into the action within a couple of minutes. A film like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (to pick one of my favourites at random) takes time to build and develop the characters. There doesn’t seem to be the time to do that any more – they need clear plot lines and lots of happeings right from the start.
The films not the girls. Sigh …
Films I loved but can’t watch anymore for embarassment :
‘New York, New York’ DeNiro + Minelli = bad musical; ‘Rumble Fish’ watched it with my teenage daughter – it came across as ponderous rubbish; ‘Tron’ with my gaming-mad son – antiquated tosh (and not in a good way), even though I like Jeff Bridges and most of Nic Roegs’ films …
Usually can’t stand Robin Williams, but he was almost watchable in this, if I remember.
The Shoeteens usually roll their eyes at anything made before the 90′s. Did Watch to Kill a Mockingbird and the original Village of the Damned recently & got away with it, apart from some giggles at the special effects in the last one. Saw the crap St. Trinians remake & would be interested in how the originals hold up, but can’t find a copy out here.
Don’t see The Last Airbender. Bad humourless script, some awful casting, some cheesy fx & wrecked by rushing it out as 3D. Shame, as this could have been bigger than Star Wars. Both girls love the original animated series.
We just saw the Last Airbender, Shoey. I think you’re absolutely right about it. ALthough I must admit that one of the things that reminded me of the original Star Wars was the wooden dialogue/acting. There was no Harrison Ford to carry it though. It could have been really good, too. Honestly, I cannot see Aasif Mandvi in a serious role, without imagining him abusing Jon Stewart.
@ shoey – To Kill A Mockingbird has stood the test of time – and let’s hope it always will. A desert island film (and book, of course) if ever there was one…
I saw Steve Martin’s “The Brain” (is that what it’s called? where he falls in love with a brain??) – I seem to remember thinking it was hysterical years ago but I only found it moderately amusing this time. Probably something to do with being straight / sober these days.
The Man With Two Brains, I think, Ali. Got that on a VHS as well, somewhere.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_With_Two_Brains
The last time I saw The Man With Two Brains it was still hilariously funny.
My favourite quote:
Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr: The only time we doctors should accept death is when it’s caused by our own incompetence.
Dr. Necessiter: Nonsense. If the murder of twelve innocent people can help save one human life, it will have been worth it.
Since I don’t think anyone’s following this thread any more, I can now sneak in and remark on how much I loathed Dead Poets Society the first time round – it’s on the list of films I would happily never see again, terribly worthy and I would agree with most of the sentiments but the plot was so utterly predictable and ideologically driven… But then, since I actually thoroughly enjoyed the St Trinian’s remake, and thought it was almost as good as the Alistair Sim originals, I don’t imagine that anyone on here is going to take any notice of my film opinions.
Not that that’s going to stop me… I’ve thought of another cult film from student days that really doesn’t stand up on second viewing: Betty Blue. Whereas Manon Des Sources just gets better and better, as now I can not only appreciate Emmanuelle Beart naked (almost as good as Emmanuelle Beart in a maid’s uniform in 8 Femmes) but also revel in Yves Montard’s superb performance.
As you may be able to tell, Mrs Abahachi is away visiting her mother, I’ve had most of a bottle of wine, the cats are behaving themselves for a change, and I’ve had enough of William Mitford for the evening.