Re-Watchterpiece Theater: The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Re-Watchterpiece Theater is a series that explores the organic way that attitudes about films change after you watch them a second time, a third time, or more, further down the line than the original viewing.

Today’s Re-Watchterpiece Theater target is actually a direct result of TV. Specifically, I binge-watched NBC’s Hannibal– two seasons, 26 episodes- over the span of about one week. That I watched that much of it so quickly should tell you everything you need to know about my opinion of that show. Ultimately, it inspired me to re-watch the most popular version of everyone’s favorite cannibal, 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs. It’s a film I hadn’t seen in two decades. What changed?

Re-Watchterpiece Theater: Deliverance (1972)

Re-Watchterpiece Theater is a series that explores the organic way that attitudes about films change after you watch them a second time, a third time, or more, further down the line than the original viewing.

Late last summer, my family celebrated my parents’ 50th anniversary with a vacation in the Ozarks. My parents are from the Missouri bootheel and we’ve been taking family trips to the Ozarks my entire life. It was a fitting way to celebrate. On my drive down through the winding country roads from St. Louis, I drove deeper and deeper away from civilization. At one point, I saw a wooden plank tied to a tree, advertising simply that they had “Goats 4 Sale.” And down there in the Ozarks, you really are far, far away from anyone or anything that could ever bother you. “You know?,” I thought, “I really need to re-watch Deliverance (1972).” It took me 6 1/2 months, but it finally happened.

Re-Watchterpiece Theater: Magnolia

Re-Watchterpiece Theater is a series that explores the organic way that attitudes about films change after you watch them a second time, a third time, or more, further down the line than the original viewing.

Today’s Re-Watchterpiece Theater episode has been in the works for a long time, although it took an unfortunate event to make it happen. I’ve been meaning to re-watch Magnolia for at least a year now. My attitude about P.T. Anderson has changed so much in that time. And it took the tragic death of Philip Seymour Hoffman to serve as the spark.

Re-Watchterpiece Theater: The Pilot Episode of The Sopranos (1999)

Re-Watchterpiece Theater is a series that explores the organic way that attitudes about films change after you watch them a second time, a third time, or more, further down the line than the original viewing.

Today, Re-Watchterpiece Theater takes a mild departure from the norm. Rather than re-watching a film, this time I went after a TV show. Since James Gandolfini’s untimely death, HBO has lovingly honored him by placing the entire first season of The Sopranos back on OnDemand. Gandolfini’s death has caused a rebirth in interest in his tour de force role as Tony Soprano. Inspired by all of this, I’ve decided to take HBO up on their offer and revisit the first season of The Sopranos. It didn’t take long in the pilot episode for a lot of thoughts to start forming, especially deeper in comparison with my initial reaction to the show.

Re-Watchterpiece Theater: For Love of the Game (1999)

Re-Watchterpiece Theater is a series that explores the organic way that attitudes about films change after you watch them a second time, a third time, or more, further down the line than the original viewing.

There’s been an amusing and completely accidental quirk that has developed through the years of Re-Watchterpiece Theater. Lots of films and genres have received the Re-Watchterpiece Theater treatment. But today marks the fourth- FOURTH!- Kevin Costner film in the spotlight, joining JFK, Waterworld, and A Perfect World. I guarantee no other actor has appeared that much. Most likely, I’m trying to make sense of how and why Kevin Costner was a star. Today’s re-watchterpiece choice is one of his baseball films- For Love of the Game (1999). Was it any better or worse the second time?

Re-Watchterpiece Theater: The Seventh Seal (1957)

Re-Watchterpiece Theater is a series that explores the organic way that attitudes about films change after you watch them a second time, a third time, or more, further down the line than the original viewing.

Re-watchterpiece Theater is usually a vehicle for me to tackle questionable films, or films that are likely to elicit a much different response at this point in my life compared to the first time I watched it. And that’s what makes today’s choice so odd. The Seventh Seal has been one of my favorite films from the moment I saw it. It hasn’t even been that long ago that I last saw it. But sometimes, you find yourself in a Bergmany mood and sometimes, in that Bergmany mood, you find that you’ve learned some new tricks.

Re-Watchterpiece Theater: Mean Streets (1973)

Re-Watchterpiece Theater is a series that explores the organic way that attitudes about films change after you watch them a second time, a third time, or more, further down the line than the original viewing.

I recently flew to Florida. Since my flight was three hours long, I knew I’d need something to entertain me. And for absolutely no reason at all, Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets struck me as the perfect choice. Having already seen it, I knew that I’d enjoy it on some level. And as a Scorsese junkie, I know that his films are well worth multiple viewings. And yet, a second viewing of Mean Streets had eluded me. Had my attitudes about this film changed?

High Noon and the Failure of Re-Watchterpiece Theater

Re-Watchterpiece Theater is a series that explores the organic way that attitudes about films change after you watch them a second time, a third time, or more, further down the line than the original viewing.

I’ve given that definition about Re-Watchterpiece Theater every single time I’ve written about re-watching a film. 99% of the time, the idea has held true. Give yourself enough time between viewings, and you’re bound to experience some sort of organic, inherent shift in your understanding and opinion of it, even if subtle. That all changed the other day. Allow me to explain.

Re-Watchterpiece Theater: Trick ‘r Treat (2007)

Re-Watchterpiece Theater is a series that explores the organic way that attitudes about films change after you watch them a second time, a third time, or more, further down the line than the original viewing.
In case you can’t tell from what I’ve been writing lately, I’m completely in Halloween mode. That means it’s time for me to re-watch five or six horror films that I try to watch every October. Most of those films are older films, classics of the genre. But one stands alone as a horror newcomer. That movie is Michael Dougherty’s anthology horror from 2007, Trick ‘r Treat. I watched it for the third time the other day and determined that it deserved the Re-Watchterpiece Theater treatment.

Re-Watchterpiece Theatre: Children of Paradise (1945)

Re-Watchterpiece Theater is a series that explores the organic way that attitudes about films change after you watch them a second time, a third time, or more, further down the line than the original viewing. Thanks to Cinema St. Louis and the Webster University Film Series, I had an opportunity to re-visit Marcel Carnés poetic realist masterpiece, Children of Paradise (1945), over the weekend. It’s a film held in very high esteem, often ranking at the top of French film lists. Cahiers du Cinéma placed it as the 9th best film ever made, regardless of nationality or genre, in 2008. It’s often referred to as “the French Gone with the Wind“. I had it at #10 in the first iteration of my 50 Greatest French Films list, and then it fell to #28 in the second iteration. Seeing it on the big screen would surely give me a proper context of the film.