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to think that there are certain films you should NEVER rewatch?

308 replies

PyongyangKipperbang · 09/07/2021 21:32

For it was The Breakfast Club.

I was the perfect age for it when it came out, mid teens. OMG they GOT me! Their parents were arses too, they understood what it was like. Loved it my whole life.

Watched it again at 40 with teens and just thought "What a bunch of whining little shits" It is now my least favourite film of all time! It should have stayed in my memory as once you are the parent of the "misunderstood" teen you realise what an utter prat you were when you were 15!

OP posts:
VienneseWhirligig · 10/07/2021 00:39

Streets of Fire and Breaking Glass. Love the soundtracks to both, but the films are questionable. At 17, I thought they were the absolute business.

Cruel intentions is also dodgy - the manipulation of Cecile, and the bet based on the premise of Kathryn letting her stepbrother have anal sex with her if he relieves Annette of her virginity. It seemed really subversive when it first came out, now as an adult I watch it and feel sick.

pollyglot · 10/07/2021 00:47

Sophie's Choice absolutely traumatised me weeks after the birth of my daughter. It was like a knife in my heart. 35 years later, and I could never contemplate seeing it again.

blueshoes · 10/07/2021 00:56

@pollyglot

Sophie's Choice absolutely traumatised me weeks after the birth of my daughter. It was like a knife in my heart. 35 years later, and I could never contemplate seeing it again.
I agree. I watched Sophie's Choice before I had children and was traumatised even then. Now I cannot even think about the premise of Sophie's Choice. I sometimes still hold a few scenes in my head which I push to the back.
AcrossthePond55 · 10/07/2021 01:00

I have never and will never watch Sophie's Choice. NEVER.

Charmtaste · 10/07/2021 01:02

Heathers. When I was a teen, I thought Veronica and JD were so cool. I now realise they are vile murderers. None of their victims deserved their fate.

Quaggars · 10/07/2021 01:34

Aw no see, don't be telling me Heathers is shit through the lens of being an adult Sad
Not seen for years (really want to go see the musical though!)
Christian Slater
Think he was the main reason I watched it to be honest, loved most things he was in lol

Quaggars · 10/07/2021 01:35

None of their victims deserved their fate

Not even all of the other Heathers?
(joke, no-one really deserves that)

mathanxiety · 10/07/2021 02:49

Grease.

Mine won't even entertain the idea of Wayne's World, they said it sounds lame
The lameness is the whole point. It's an ode to lameness.

Elderflower14 · 10/07/2021 04:32

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas.... The ending broke me... 😔 😔 😔 😔

Vanishun · 10/07/2021 05:39

Titanic, funnily enough - saw it when I was a fairly young teen and loved it.

It's not the worst film but we watched it again recently and I thought Rose came off as brattish and uncommunicative. I felt quite sympathetic to Cal and her mum really, neither of whom were delightful creatures but weren't total monsters.

Of course they both wanted her to marry well and be secure in their little circle. And of course they were worried about the smelly homeless yob who kept on intruding and was a bit of an arrogant wanker.

LeonardLikesThisPost · 10/07/2021 07:06

@VienneseWhirligig

Streets of Fire and Breaking Glass. Love the soundtracks to both, but the films are questionable. At 17, I thought they were the absolute business.

Cruel intentions is also dodgy - the manipulation of Cecile, and the bet based on the premise of Kathryn letting her stepbrother have anal sex with her if he relieves Annette of her virginity. It seemed really subversive when it first came out, now as an adult I watch it and feel sick.

Wouldn't be much of a plot if Kathryn and Sebastian WEREN'T manipulative, mercenary shells of people, that's the point of the film.

The thing I'm iffy about with that is the idea that teenagers could be as hard and jaded as the adult aristocrats of the original story, never quite bought that, although the casual cruelty of children is a common theme in film, so maybe?

DrSbaitso · 10/07/2021 07:18

@Vanishun

Titanic, funnily enough - saw it when I was a fairly young teen and loved it.

It's not the worst film but we watched it again recently and I thought Rose came off as brattish and uncommunicative. I felt quite sympathetic to Cal and her mum really, neither of whom were delightful creatures but weren't total monsters.

Of course they both wanted her to marry well and be secure in their little circle. And of course they were worried about the smelly homeless yob who kept on intruding and was a bit of an arrogant wanker.

Eh? Cal intimidated Rose pretty forcefully about how she would be forced to sleep with him once they were married ("you will honour me the way a wife is required to honour her husband"), said that the poorer passengers were "not the better half" of those on board (implication being that it didn't matter if they died) and then kidnapped a child and pretended to be her father to get into a lifeboat.

If anything, he was a bit overblown as a baddie.

I did feel a bit sympathetic to Rose's mother.

dayswithaY · 10/07/2021 07:40

I watched When Harry Met Sally as a 20 year old, loved it. Watched it again recently, and was absolutely horrified.

Harry is a creep who hit on Sally as soon as they were alone together. He makes her feel really bad about herself and is super critical of everything she does.

They finally sleep together when she is sobbing and emotionally broken. When they start kissing I was thinking - no, no, no don't take advantage of a crying woman!

After sex, she is so eager to please him and to get some affection and acceptance and just lies there in silence, it's just horrible!

And this is meant to be a love story?

Another horror show is Sandra Bullock pretending to be engaged to a man in a coma whom she has never met (While You We're Sleeping). The Nineties have a lot to answer for.

MrsToothyBitch · 10/07/2021 08:13

I'm glad Bill & Ted stood up. I love it. Most bodacious. I even caught my dad watching it enthralled one day! He was giggling away at Napoleon and the water park!

I liked When Harry Met Sally but won't rewatch. Cruel Intentions stands up ok to me as a piece of cinema but the second one doesn't! It's just bad! Toying with rewatching The Graduate but don't want this to happen either.

Sparklingbrook · 10/07/2021 08:17

@dayswithaY

I watched When Harry Met Sally as a 20 year old, loved it. Watched it again recently, and was absolutely horrified.

Harry is a creep who hit on Sally as soon as they were alone together. He makes her feel really bad about herself and is super critical of everything she does.

They finally sleep together when she is sobbing and emotionally broken. When they start kissing I was thinking - no, no, no don't take advantage of a crying woman!

After sex, she is so eager to please him and to get some affection and acceptance and just lies there in silence, it's just horrible!

And this is meant to be a love story?

Another horror show is Sandra Bullock pretending to be engaged to a man in a coma whom she has never met (While You We're Sleeping). The Nineties have a lot to answer for.

When Harry Met Sally was on BBC Iplayer (may still be) recently. I felt much the same as you. Having sex with a crying woman etc.

What did strike me though was how beautiful Meg Ryan was.

sashh · 10/07/2021 08:40

My heart sort of dropped at the sequel announcement. The original has it's problems, but I love it and really dont want to see them force another story from it. Even worse with Swayze being gone!

OMG my mind goes to weird and sometimes dark places. An image of a dirty dancing and monty python, in particular this bit.

TheValeyard · 10/07/2021 09:20

St Elmo's Fire - loved it when I was younger, but saw it recently and it appears to be populated by the world's most loathsome characters.

JorisBonson · 10/07/2021 09:31

I could never ever ever watch Nil By Mouth ever again, despite the incredible cast.

Ditto Mother!.

SchadenfreudePersonified · 10/07/2021 09:33

I thought Baby would go home/off to college and Johnny (who was still unemployed at the 'Time of My Life' dance?) possibly got his job back and went back to sleeping with those middle aged women that he claimed couldn't help themselves.

Yes, Sparkling. The ones who made him feel cheap by pressing money and jewellery into his hands, and who he only slept with to help his sister, (who died IIRC) and yet in spite of Gigilo-ing for yers he still hasn't got tuppence to scratch his arse with . . .

SchadenfreudePersonified · 10/07/2021 09:33

*years, not yers

FFS! Angry

AtomHeartMotherOfGod · 10/07/2021 09:34

@Frownette

I still like the Breakfast Club. How can you not love Molly Ringwald dancing?!
Absolutely - the 'We Are Not Alone' scene is one of the scenes that rescues the film for me.

Judd Nelson's acting when the teacher is intimidating him in the closet (sounds a bit dodgy but you know what I mean) is another, as well as the scene at the end. He really shows the sensitive soul who is there under his front, and exemplifies 'behaviour is communication' beautifully.

Sparklingbrook · 10/07/2021 09:34

Yes Johnny was not a catch by any means. Not much going for him really.Grin

SchadenfreudePersonified · 10/07/2021 09:40

And Trainspotting = because of the sheet scene

'Twas disgustin'!

But I couldn't understand how it came as a surprise - surely the entire house must have STUNK as he carried that sheet into the kitchen . . .

Palavah · 10/07/2021 09:45

@Lalliella

Doctor Zhivago.

Watched it as a teen - thought it was a romantic love story.

Watched it as an adult - he was a shit who cheated on his wife and didn’t want to help homeless people.

I watched it for the first time recently. Thought Julie Christie's character was by far the more interesting and sympathetic. All the 'poor tortured sole, what he went through!' - nope, he did whatever he wanted.
Palavah · 10/07/2021 09:46

Soul not sole!