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having trouble getting through a few classics (1 Viewer)

Tim_Stack

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Aug 22, 2003
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Okay - after another frustrating loss by my beloved R. Sox (I'm about to wash my hands of this season) I pop in The Seventh Seal. This is my second time renting this - the first time I was kind of depressed and didn't want to watch a movie featuring Death. So, this time, I fall asleep. The same thing happens every time I try to watch Fellini's 8 1/2 (three times now.) I love the classics and subtitles aren't the problem...anyone else have trouble getting through certain flicks without dozing?
 

Patrick Sun

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Are you tired when you start watching the films (like at night time)? Sometimes if you want the films in the morning (on a weekend), it helps with your attention span.
 

TommyT

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Heh heh, we're probably gonna get blitzed for this by the You Must Love This Film Unconditionally Crowd. :D

I have the same problem with The Manchurian Candidate, orig vers. I get to the part where Sinatra & Janet Leigh are talking on the train & I lose completely lose interest. And people keep telling me its a classic & I MUST watch it 'til the end.

Other films I get bored with:

The Graduate - Seems just a bit too dated. I've watched it all the way thru once or twice but it just doesn't speak to me. Must mean more for the baby boomer generation.

Midnight Cowboy - Pretty much the same reason, comes off as dated.

The Searchers - I think what really bugs me about this one is that its impossible to keep track of the passage of time. Supposedly it takes place over several years but I've never been able to figure it out.

Young Frankenstein - Mel Brooks humor just doesn't do it for me.
 

Lew Crippen

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Even widely acknowledged masterpieces and master directors are not necessarily universally acknowledged.

For example, one noted critic, commented that he could not stand Jules and Jim—this during the time that the New Wave was seen as the second coming. If you check out some of the discussion in the S&S thread, you will see that even among forum members who are fans of these ‘classic’ films, there is much room for debate.

I do think it worth the effort to try to see what others see in these films, but in the end, not every film strikes a chord in every viewer.

To cite a personal example, I have no doubt watched Ivan the Terrible a good half dozen times over the years—the last time about a year ago.

Now I admire Sergei Eisenstein as a master and think that many of his films are true masterpieces and I can see much of the technical craft in these two films, I just can’t get past much of the artifice. I don’t really think that I know more than those many, many knowledgeable critics who love the film—but for me, ‘Ivan’ just does not do it.

But I’ll probably try again in a few years—there still exists the possibility that I’ll see what others do.
 

Tim_Stack

Second Unit
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Aug 22, 2003
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Well, I wasn't tired last night and 8 is a normal time for me to start a flick...but only a few movies do this to me. It is so constant that I use them as a sleep aid if I want to take a nap during the day :)
 

Moe Maishlish

Supporting Actor
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Mar 30, 1999
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I know what you mean...

I'm still unable to finish watching Casablanca. I get to about the halfway point and just can't sit still - it's SOOOO BORING to me! People keep telling me how it's the best movie ever made, but I just can't get into it!

I've been forced to sit through Gone with the Wind, and god-almighty what TORTURE that was! It's not a "chick flick" thing for me - I like some other date-worthy material... I just found this movie incredibly lethargic & boring to watch.

Moe.
 

Ray H

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I also had a hard time with the Searchers. When I finished, I didn't really like it. It just came off as too strange to like. It seemed too goofy at times.
 

Brook K

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I tend to fall asleep pretty often in movies whether I find them boring or love them and it doesn't really matter what kind of movie it is either.

Just recently I fell asleep during Hellboy (boring), Hour of the Wolf (outstanding) and fell asleep 2 or 3 times during The Leopard which meant it took me 3 days to finish it and while it was somewhat disappointing there were elements of it I thought were great.

I used to be able to watch 3 movies in a night no problem (though that was pre-children). Now I consider myself lucky if I make it all the way through one.
 

Jeff Gatie

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Sir, get yourself to a Doctor quickly, better yet call an ambulance, because I'm pretty sure all signs point to the fact that you are dead:D !
 

LanieParker

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Apr 15, 2004
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There are many movies that I just cannot get through no matter how hard I try. As far as classics go.... Casablanca is the worst for me. I just cannot get past a certain point before bordom sets in.

As for newer movies... it took me 8 viewings to finally get through The Matrix and fully understand it. I kept falling asleep everytime my husband popped it in.
 

Matt Pelham

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I have similar problems with The Seventh Seal. I just find it utterly and completely uninteresting, and hard to follow as well. Can't make it past the 30 min mark.
 

Leo Kerr

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I think I saw most of Casablanca once.

I may have seen part of Maltese Falcon once...

I have never, nor do I ever desire to see GWTW.

THere are a lot of those 'great classics' that make me cringe at the thought... I once saw them described as 'people with slicked back hair smoking at eachother,' as all the guys have the shoe-polished hair and 'smoke dramatically' at one another.

I saw 7th Seal once in a film history class. Liked it, but don't need to see it again. Likewise, Grand Illusion.

I've seen Eisenstein's Battleship Potenkien several times.. each time it's taken me the first ten or fifteen minutes to get into it, but I've never regretted watching it again once I'm into it.

Even now, I generally consider great public or critical aclaim to be a bad thing... and nothing is quite so dangerous as "won several academy awards!" Warning! Warning! Looser of a film!

Maybe I'm just too cynical?

Leo Kerr
 

Malcolm R

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Yeah, I made a similar post in another thread that I was having a hard time getting through, and appreciating in any way, a lot of classic films.

Though for me, "Casablanca" is one of the handful I've really enjoyed. :D
 

Moe Maishlish

Supporting Actor
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Mar 30, 1999
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992
Almost forgot to mention Lawrence of Arabia! I picked this snoozer up when it was first released on DVD as "highly recommended" by friends & family.

Holy hell, was I bored out of my mind!

Slow, meandering, and in love with itself this film was! An epic of snoozeriffic proportions! A couple of redeeming scenes (one or two attack sequences) kept this film from sinking as far down as GWTW in it's insominia prevention levels, but boy oh boy was I disappointed with the end result.

I know, I know... I can just feel the "What?!? You didn't like LOA? HEATHEN! Get thee from our sight!" comments. :D

I'm starting to feel like Elaine from the "English Patient" Seinfeld episode... ;)

Moe.
 

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