Second Chance Saloon

[johnnysix]

So tonight I'm having myself a "second chance" movie night. I picked out 3 films that I kind of wrote off the first time I saw them. I either started watching and turned off or watched them and didn't like them. Being the nice guy that I am, I thought I'd pick out 3 movies that I think could benefit from lowered expectations or a different perspective and give them a second chance.
The three movies I'm watching are:

The Village
Van Helsing
National Treasure

I think in light of my disappointment in "The Happening", I may be able to appreciate The Village a little more. I thought it was Shaymalan's worst by far at the time. We'll see if time has changed my view.

I considered Van Helsing a stinker. The tone seemed inconsistent and I wasn't quite expecting the campy nature of it. I remember thinking how cool the film could have been (Hugh Jackman.... Universal Monsters???). I'm hoping I can watch it again and have a better experience by embracing the camp.... but I have my doubts about this one.

Finally, I never really gave National Treasure much of a chance. I'm not a Nicholas Cage or Jerry Bruckenheimer fan. However, Indy 4 was a bit of a letdown for me and with the new Mummy film coming out soon, I thought I'd give this a second go. I know a lot of people who say it's pretty fun.

So... anyone out there thinking of giving any films a second chance? Or have any stories of films you may have re-evaluated on second viewing??

[tsmith15]

Batman Begins keeps growing on me as time goes on because I have hated batman in the past but Dark Knight has converted me so I keep changing my view of Begins retrospectively (and I plan to re-watch i some time).

I also liked Shrek 2 more the second time I saw it (still not very good).

[shandavio]

Good idea. I recently did that with The Godfather (glad I did, that was an amazing film), and I'm going to do it very soon with 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[az0madman]

I'll have to do that with Seven Samurai. I don't know how many times I've got it from Netflix but never watched it because 3 hours for a black and white, subtitled movie seems a bit intimidating.

[gabe_utsecks]

I'm going to do it very soon with 2001: A Space Odyssey.

I planned on doing the same. I liked 2001, but I am pretty sure that I need to see it again.

[shandavio]

I planned on doing the same. I liked 2001, but I am pretty sure that I need to see it again.

I started, but, like I said in another thread, it was too boring, and didn't grab my attention. I know it's supposed to be "art", and Kubrick IS my favorite director, but I don't watch movies for art. I watch them to be entertained. I'll look at art if I want to see art. I'm sure as far as art goes, it's great; I don't want to say the film was bad or not worth it - it's just not what I'm looking for as far as entertainment goes.

However, I downloaded it and I'm going to give it a go either in the next couple hours, or later tonight.

[johnnysix]

I picked up 2001 in HD and am gonna give it a crack. I've always kind of liked it anyway. Despite my best intentions, I still couldn't find much love for Van Helsing.

I fell in love with The Thing and Escape from New York at second chance saloon. I remember watching both movies when I was quite young and not liking them. However, it was many moons ago that I rediscovered them and they both now rank among my favourite films ever.

[puddlefish]

I liked Beowulf in the theatre, but I absolutly LOVED it on second viewing. It's now one of my most watched DVDs.

I think I need to give The Prestige a second go, because it annoyed the hell out of me in the cinema...

[gabe_utsecks]

Kubrick IS my favorite director, but I don't watch movies for art. I watch them to be entertained.

He is my favorite director too. The only think I didn't like was what I thought its message was. If I had done a little research beforehand and found out Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke's beliefs were, I would have gotten a much different message, and I probably would have absolutely loved the film.


I think I need to give The Prestige a second go, because it annoyed the hell out of me in the cinema...

I liked The Prestige more the second time, though I liked it to begin with, and I liked it much less the third time. The Illusionist was waaaay better the second time too, and it surpassed The Prestige for me.

[keltic-rage]

First of all to the original poster, dd you SEE lady in the water, that is by far his worst movie. IMHO. I liked National Treasure, kinda had Indy feel to it, but I understand if you didn't.

This is an interesting topic to me, going back and watching movies that we didn't like the first time??? I am really not sure if I have that much time on my hands? I mean I do watch alot of media but there is so much good stuf I am not sure I wish to waste it on stuff I don't care for....

Though I admit to trying to get through 2001 a half dozen times.....damn that movie is boring!!!!

[johnnysix]

First of all to the original poster, dd you SEE lady in the water, that is by far his worst movie. IMHO. I liked National Treasure, kinda had Indy feel to it, but I understand if you didn't.

This is an interesting topic to me, going back and watching movies that we didn't like the first time??? I am really not sure if I have that much time on my hands? I mean I do watch alot of media but there is so much good stuf I am not sure I wish to waste it on stuff I don't care for....

Though I admit to trying to get through 2001 a half dozen times.....damn that movie is boring!!!!

I did see Lady in The Water. I liked it. At least it actually had a structure that resembled a movie. To me, The Happening seemed to tell you all it was ever going to in the first 20 minutes. After that, it's just one event after another.

I also want to say that I did re-watch The Village and I really liked it. I think I perhaps missed out on the whole "billionaire" thing the first time. It's actually quite moving in places.

[tsmith15]

So I did watch Batman Begins yesterday and it was very good. Gives me even more hope for Dark Knight.