The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 29

The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 28

The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 27

The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 26

The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 25

The 20 Most Rewatchable Films In My Collection: Part 24

The 20 Most Rewatchable Films In My Collection: Part 23

The 20 Most Rewatchable Films In My Collection: Part 22

The 20 Most Rewatchable Films In My Collection: Part 21

The 20 Most Rewatchable Films In My Collection: Part 20

The 20 Most Rewatchable Films In My Collection: Part 19

The 20 Most Rewatchable Films In My Collection: Part 18

The 20 Most Rewatchable Films In My Collection: Part 17

The 20 Most Rewatchable Films In My Collection: Part 16

The 20 Most Rewatchable Films In My Collection: Part 15

The 20 Most Rewatchable Films In My Collection: Part 14

The 20 Most Rewatchable Films In My Collection: Part 13

The 20 Most Rewatchable Films In My Collection: Part 12

The 20 Most Rewatchable Films In My Collection: Part 11

The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 10

The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 9

The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 8

The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 7

The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 6

The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 5

The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 4

The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 3

The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 2

The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 1

For the month of February, I will be trying to come up with what for me are the 29 most rewatchable films in my collection. I buy a lot of movies, and i'm always so eager to see new films that it really takes a special film to be something that i want to, or more importantly that i make time to, watch multiple times. Sometimes a film is so complex that the plot or themes will foster a desire within me to rewatch it more times. Sometimes it is just a levle of immense beauty that i wish to experience it again. Sometimes it's because the film is one of my favorite films, and i feel a need to watch it every few months. Whatever the reason, these are films i'm most likely to grab off the shelf and start watching, even when there are a (probably embarrassing) large number of unwatched movies in the collection.

So, the plan is to do one a day, and see how well that goes.

It should be noted that these films are in no specific order. I'll pick all 29 out, but which one i talk about which day will be based on little more than random choice, or some reason that that particular film was on my mind that particular day. For instance, i just finished watching Terrence Malick's most recent film Knight of Cups, so it feels natural to start with one of my favorite films, Malick's Tree of Life.

Tree of Life can be a pretty divisive film. Most people seem to love it or hate it. Malick's work in general can be pretty divisive, but even amongst Malick fans people seem to be at very extreme ends of opinions regarding it. Some seem to feel that it comes across as pretentious, and some just feel that it attempted to achieve something great, but fell short of its lofty goals. For me the film works on a variety of levels. It's probably my favorite Malick film, just barely edging out The Thin Red Line.

The cinematography alone makes the film worth watching, but there's a lot more here if you're patient and open minded. For one there are the tremendous performances, maybe none better than that of Brad Pitt. I usually like Pitt just fine, but i'm rarely wowed by his acting. In The Tree Of Life however, I thought he achieved things in his performance that were above and beyond what he had done previously. His performance is probably my favorite one to watch in Tree Of Life. That's not to say that Chastain and the 3 children in the film aren't excellent as well, but Pitt seems to rise above it all.

Where Tree of Life excels for me, even beyond the performances and the gorgeous visuals, is the way it travels through the main character's childhood in a way that mimics how we remember our own childhood. While the film is not devoid of plot, it instead chooses to focus on moments and memories that make up a mosaic of important experiences that make up the process or growing up. We travel through moments of joy, shameful actions, parental discipline, acts of defiance, and more often than not, scene after scene showing the wonder of being young and experiencing things for the first time and learning from the experience. There is a central thread that pulls through the entire film (interestingly enough this is the same thread that i tend to feel is lacking in Malick's next two films, To The Wonder and Knight of Cups) that leaves you feeling as if you grew up with the family in the film. I feel this thread even more deeply on subsequent viewings of the film, which is probably a reason that i come back to it as often as i do. Of course the fact there aren't many other films in my collection that look this beautiful on my television doesn't hurt either.