Movies That Have Grown on Me
Do you ever watch something that you don't like the first time around? And then you go back and re-watch it and find that you actually enjoy it quite a bit? I do that kind of often--my opinions are somewhat changeable :-P--so here are some of the most notable movies that have won me over. ;)
State Fair
The first time I watched this I felt somewhat 'meh' about it; it was nice, but not great. But I quite like it, now. It's very cozy, yet something about it is almost a little wistful, to me? Maybe because it's so extremely vintage and One Wishes For Simpler Times, and all that . . . I don't know. :-P
Anyhow, again, I like this very much now. The music, especially, has grown on me.
White Christmas
I was definitely 'meh' about this the first time I watched it, but I re-watched it this past December and it made me cry, so. And then I showed it to my mom and she cried, and I cried again, so.
I still don't think many of the songs are all that great, but the storytelling and friendship messages are wonderful and potent. <3
The Lorax
This was so weird, initially; but I saw it again and low-key loved it. Knowing who the voice actors are makes it a good 70% better, but it's also just funny. And it's kind of got a point, so, that's good!
The Lord of the Rings
Yes, indeed! It is true! I was initially underwhelmed by this cinematic epoch. Luckily, that didn't last long.
the Marvel franchise in general
I still don't like the genre itself very much, but I've realized that I watch the movies for the characters instead of for the genre-specific elements. That's enabled me to enjoy them more.
Return to Me
When I first tried this chick-flick, I was still at the time in my life when I was scandalized by any sexual innuendo and when it automatically disqualified movies for me. Now, I still believe in saving sex for marriage, and I still believe that certain behaviors in chick-flicks are wrong, BUT I have come to grips with my current personal standards for what I can and cannot watch in a romantic movie at this particular stage, and I have come to realize that certain remarks or situations that I couldn't handle when I was a few years younger do not bother me now. (At least, not in the sense of preventing me from enjoying a movie even if I disagree with a certain comment, etc.) So, this movie, when I re-watched it some number of months ago, now thoroughly charmed me. It's a very, very sweet movie with humor and sadness and strong relationships and all kinds of good things.
State Fair
Anyhow, again, I like this very much now. The music, especially, has grown on me.
White Christmas
I still don't think many of the songs are all that great, but the storytelling and friendship messages are wonderful and potent. <3
The Lorax
The Lord of the Rings
the Marvel franchise in general
Return to Me
What are some movies (or books or TV shows) that have grown on you?
I don't think I've ever rewatched something I didn't enjoy the first time? (Rewatches, like rereads, are super rare for me, period.) But I know what you mean with a lot of these examples--how something that might've bothered me a ton or felt "meh" to me as a younger person, is more enjoyable now that I'm older.
ReplyDeleteI'm the same way with the Marvel movies! I am emphatically NOT--I repeat NOT--a fan of action movies in general [explosions and car chases = boring], but I adore these films in particular because they're so character-centric and so wholesome & inspiring.
Gotcha. (Oh, interesting!) Yeah, it's interesting how all that can evolve over the course of one's life.
Delete"[explosions and car chases = boring]" << GIRL I FEEL. Yeah, some of the characters are really great.
What an aesthetic photo of Legolas :0 And ikr, Lorax is just a hidden gem!
ReplyDeleteI myself haven’t seen/read anything that grew on me, as I usually don’t view/read anything a second time if I don’t enjoy it (I have had things I enjoy turn sour though). My older brother didn’t like Monty Python’s Holy Grail the first time through, which mortified me as I love it, but we rewatched it recentalty and he adored it. So... there’s that :’
Right?! ;D It's thoroughly fun.
DeleteThat makes sense. (Oh, it stinks when that happens!) Ah, you know, I have not actually seen any of Monty Python yet. I've heard about it, of course. ;)
Ahh yes, I need to go back and re-watch White Christmas and The Lorax. Interestingly enough, I was just thinking about The Lorax movie recently. :P I was actually kind of surprised by just how genuinely funny it was the first time I saw it... I think I was expecting it to be an overly crazy environmental "Save the earth" kind of thing, but really, there wasn't a whole lot of that... it was just funny mostly. xD And the themes/points they bring out in it were good, too.
ReplyDeleteOne that has grown a bit on me would probably be Tangled. The first time I saw it, I thought it was kind of meh (probably watching it with my brothers and their commentary throughout didn't help in my opinion much :P); but then a while after that, I saw part of it again on TV, and thought, "Why did I not like this so much?" Anywho, I haven't actually seen the entire movie again since then, but I'd really like to and be able to give it a second chance, because looking back on it, it was actually a pretty good movie I think. xD
Sorry, that was a bit rambly. :P Lovely post, Olivia, and I hope you're having a fabulous day! :)
Yes!! Oh, really?! Heh, neat coincidence. ;-P It's a nquality movie!
DeleteOh, yes!! Me too, actually. (But that's more because I was honestly creeped out by it the first time I saw it. :-P) Yeah, it's a really good movie!
Nuh-uh! It wasn't rambly. :D Aww, thanks! You too. :) <3
I wasn’t overwhelmed by the plot of State Fair to say the least but Dana Andrews was SO handsome, and I loved Margy’s clothes. I’m not sure I loved White Christmas at first, but I liked it, and for many years its been a favorite. I enjoy the humor. The Lord of the Rings faded on me rather than grew; I was at the sans a sense of humor, melodramatic epic age when I watched and now I must be in the more humorous, cynical age. I don’t like the Avenger movies, I mean the ones with Avenger in the titles. I’m getting sick of the superhero movies a bit except for the surprises, I don’t think they grew on me, more like faded again.
ReplyDeleteWe watched Disney, Veggietales, and PBS kids almost exclusively until I was 14 or 15, then a VERY few movies were added, LoftR and a few old movies as well as Jane Austen movies at sleepovers, it wasn’t until I was legally an adult that we started on superhero movies, Netflix, etc. With this and my personality, I was a prim, fairly easily startled/frightened little miss as a teen even early twenties missing a sense of humor as before mentioned.
I watched Seven Brides for Seven Brothers as a teen shocked me at first. I thought Adam’s “Bless Your Beautiful Hide” was so vulgar. I needed a few years to try it again. Needless to say, I do think it’s quite funny now.
I watched Friendly Persuasion at a latter age (but still one that liked melodrama apparently) which is a quiet movie that quietly got to me. I think I needed my sisters to help see the homey humor as well.
The first half of us (I'm the oldest) wasn't allowed to watch Pirates (which probably worked out well, since I doubt I would've liked it at that age), but my younger sisters brought it in as teens, so I watched with them, and I think I enjoyed them, but they (especially) Jack did have to grow on me.
The plot of SF is nothing spectacular, but it is a nice movie. Ooh, TLOTR! I still love them deeply, but I get what you mean. Yeah, I haven't been huge on the actual Avengers movies so far, but I do like some of the characters/individual films.
DeleteGotcha. Well, hey, I mean, I was freaked out by Tangled when I was like 11 or 12, so . . . I get still being easily startled/frightened pretty late in life. :-P
"Bless Your Beautiful Hide" IS really vulgar. So, I get that. xD But it is a funny movie.
I should look into Friendly Persuasion.
Cool! I love the Pirates movies, but I don't think I love them as much as I did when I first watched them. I do love Jack, though. ;)
Oh my, yes!!! *ahem* The most notable example of a book that grew on me is undoubtedly Persuasion by Jane Austen...
ReplyDeleteThe very first time I read it, I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I was not impressed. I mean, it was sweet and old-fashioned, but it felt very long (which it is definitely NOT) and rather dry to me. It took me 2 whole months to finish it, even though I am normally a fast reader.
But for some inexplicable reason, I felt compelled to pick it up and read it again just 2 weeks later, and this time I read through it in one day! Still didn't love it, but I did find so much more interesting! And then 3 months later I read it again, and really really enjoyed it. And again another 3 months later. And finally on the 4th reading it made its way to the very top of my list of favorite books...never, I fear, to be removed. <3 <3 <3
I have now read it a total of 6 times, and I am feeling quite ready for a 7th!!! :-P
~ Catie
Ooh! Yeah, I read Persuasion a couple years ago in high school, and I have to say that I was slightly underwhelmed. I love the story of Persuasion--it might actually be my favorite of Austen's--but . . . yeah. I was slightly disappointed by the book. :-P It'd be interesting to see if that opinion would change if I were to re-read it.
DeleteI'm glad you have one you love so much, though! (And, hehe, "never, I fear, to be removed" << I understood that reference. ;) <3)
OH yes, this happens to me a LOT. With books and movies. I've discovered the past few years that movies I really despised in my teens are actually very good -- the original 3:10 to Yuma and Hour of the Gun, for instance. And that movies I liked a lot as a teen I am sometimes now just very ho-hum about. (But movies I loved as a kid, I almost always still love. I just had issues as a teen, I guess.) And this goes for books too -- I found The Great Gatsby to be very disappointing when I read it around age 23, and then I read it again when I was about 35 and was blown away by it. So now I'm gradually finding and rewatching/rereading things I remember just not liking at all, and sometimes I find gems!
ReplyDeleteAnd sometimes, I was right in the first place. (Like I still HATE Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, and I don't care who knows it.)
I had a feeling you might relate, Hamlette! (Hah, "I just had issues as a teen, I guess." << Didn't/don't we all. ;-P)
DeleteI've read Gatsby twice, and while I still don't really like it, I think I at least understand a little of why others do.
Ooh, that sounds like a great experiment! I'll have to file that away for use when I'm in my 30s.
Haha! I haven't read any Steinbeck yet. I don't really want to, but I get the feeling I'll need to/should someday. :-P
I suppose it's good to try Steinbeck. I've read a couple things by him and just found them... problematic. In the books of his I've read, he tends to put characters in situations where there are no good choices -- you can only choose between doing bad or doing evil. And then he sort of sneers at you and says, "How can you condemn this person for their action? They had no choice!" Which is very artificial and unrealistic and unfair. This is actually part of why I haven't gotten into The Hunger Games yet -- I feel like I'd have a similar reaction to that world where all the good choices have been artificially removed by the author.
DeleteIs real life full of very hard situations where the only good choice is the hardest and feels impossible? Sure. But we're not robots with only two or three choices. Even if the only good choice means we have to die... we still have that choice.
So, um, no... I'm not a Steinbeck fan. But I'm going to read The Grapes of Wrath anyway because I now possess my Grandpa's copy, and he was a farmer who lived through the Depression, and he liked that book enough to own a copy and write his name in it, so I want to read it to remember him.
But I'll probably still not be a Steinbeck fan.
Ooh, yeah, that would probably irk me too. I actually have a similar rationale about The Hunger Games and similar stories . . . there are just certain premises that I know would cause problems for me, so I steer clear of them.
DeleteAnd I like how you explained that about authors artificially removing ALL (morally) good choices. You're right, not very realistic.
That's a neat story about your grandfather. <3
Glad to see that Marvel is on this list. XD I adore the characters, even though I can see how flawed the movies themselves are, but also, I love superhero action movies, so I suppose that helps. XD
ReplyDeleteThat would definitely help. ;D But yeah, I like the characters!
DeleteI like this post! It was quite fun. I may be tempted to copy you on this one sometime. ;)
ReplyDeleteAs to films that have grown on me...I could probably think of more if I gave it a bit more thought, but the two that came first to my mind were Miss Potter and Christopher Robin. First time watching those I merely thought they were "okay", but perhaps lacking in detail and a real solid story line. On the second viewing they were much improved and only got better with the third and fourth and however many times I've seen them now. They're both SO good!!! :D
Aw, thanks! I'm glad you liked it. And please do! ;)
DeleteOoh, yes! I liked Christopher Robin right off (though it didn't touch me like Goodbye Christopher Robin), but I didn't like Miss Potter when I watched it. So maybe if I watch it again I'll like it more! :)
Yes! I have this happen so often! The most notable is How To Train Your Dragon. For some reason the first time I watched it I did not like it at all. Then, last year my sister started watching it a lot and I watched it with her a few times. Oh my word, that movie is gold!!! I love it so much!! I watch it so often now, I can't even count how many times I've seen it!
ReplyDeleteOoh, How to Train Your Dragon! I think I felt similarly. I didn't love it the first time, but when I re-watched it recently I realized how fabulous it is! I mean, the humor. And the MUSIC. Ahhh. <333
DeleteYES!! I love the music!!! <3
DeleteYes, totally agree! White Christmas was just like that for me, too - it grew on me.
ReplyDelete*gasp* There was a time you didn't like the movies of LOTR?!! OLIVIA!! Just kidding. ;) Fair enough! But I'm certainly glad you've changed your mind. :D
Let's see, what else has grown on me... (or perhaps even have become more and more precious the more times I've viewed them)... "Wonder", "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", "Miss Potter" (I agree with Alyssa!), "Pirates of the Caribbean".... ehh... I can't think of anything else atm. :P But I'm sure there are others, hidden somewhere in the vast depths of my mind, haha.
I KNOW. 'Tis an infamous tale. I'll tell you all about it someday. ;) Haha, me too!
DeleteI want to try Miss Potter again! I only saw it once.